Paleostress Reconstruction from Striated Fault Data Sets in the Kirthar Fold Belt,Southern Pakistan

The Kirthar fold belt (KFB) is one of the N-S-trending portions of the thrust belts of western Pakistan. In the study area (some 150 km north of Karachi), the KFB consists of large-scale, open NNW-SSE anticlines that affect the outcropping Kirthar and Nari formations. From an analysis of more than 200 minor strike-slip and reverse faults from 14 different data stations, two main σ₁ directions were identified, ENE and ESE. The ESE stress is interpreted as the regional, primary stress field, and the ENE direction as a deflection of the former caused by the presence and activity of NNW-trending macrostructures (folds and strike-slip faults).     

Fault-related folding in the Ramshorn Peak area,Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt

The Ramshorn Peak area of the Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt lies in the toe of the Prospect thrust sheet along the eastern margin of the exposed part of the thrust belt. The terrain is folded with axes trending N-S and wavelengths ranging from 3 to 4.3 km. Thrusts occur exclusively along the eastern part of the map area where the toe of the Prospect thrust sheet is thinnest. The easternmost thrusts are backthrusts.Monoclinally folded rocks are thrust on less deformed rocks south of Ramshorn Peak. This fold and fault complex is interpreted to have formed by thrusting over a large oblique and small forward step. The oblique step is responsible for the formation of the monocline in the hanging wall of the thrust. All faults and associated folds are rotated by subsequent buckle folding.Second- and third-order folds (folds at the scale of the Ramshorn Peak fold and fault complex and smaller) appear to be isolated features associated with faults (fault-related folds rather than buckle folds) because they are not distributed throughout the map area. These folds were probably initiated by translation and adhesive drag. The early folding was terminated by large translation over a stepped thrust surface which caused additional folding as the hanging wall rocks conformed to the irregular shape of the footwall. The Rich model is utilized to explain the Ramshorn Peak complex because the fold is of monoclinal form and is an isolated feature rather than part of a buckle fold wave-train.     

Structure and tectonics along the inner edge of a foreland basin: The Hunter Coalfield in the northern Sydney Basin,New South Wales

From the early Late Permian onwards, the northeastern part of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, (encompassing the Hunter Coalfield) developed as a foreland basin to the rising New England Orogen lying to the east and northeast. Structurally, Permian rocks in the Hunter Coalfield lie in the frontal part of a foreland fold‐thrust belt that propagated westwards from the adjacent New England Orogen. Thrust faults and folds are common in the inner part of the Sydney Basin. Small‐scale thrusts are restricted to individual stratigraphic units (with a major ‘upper decollement horizon’ occurring in the mechanically weak Mulbring Siltstone), but major thrusts are inferred to sole into a floor thrust at a poorly constrained depth of approximately 3 km. Folds appear to have formed mainly as hangingwall anticlines above these splaying thrust faults. Other folds formed as flat‐topped anticlines developed above ramps in that floor thrust, as intervening synclines ahead of such ramp anticlines, or as decollement folds. These contractional structures were overprinted by extensional faults developed during compressional deformation or afterwards during post‐thrusting relaxation and/or subsequent extension. The southern part of the Hunter Coalfield (and the Newcastle Coalfield to the east) occupies a structural recess in the western margin of the New England Orogen and its offshore continuation, the Currarong Orogen. Rocks in this recess underwent a two‐stage deformation history. West‐northwest‐trending stage one structures such as the southern part of the Hunter Thrust and the Hunter River Transverse Zone (a reactivated syndepositional transfer fault) developed in response to maximum regional compression from the east‐northeast. These were followed by stage two folds and thrusts oriented north‐south and developed from maximum compression oriented east‐west. The Hunter Thrust itself was folded by these later folds, and the Hunter River Transverse Zone underwent strike‐slip reactivation.     

Neotectonics of the Somogy hills (Part II): Evidence from seismic sections

The Somogy hills are located in the Pannonian Basin, south of Lake Balaton, Hungary, above several important tectonic zones. Analysis of industrial seismic lines shows that the pre-Late Miocene substratum is deformed by several thrust faults and a transpressive flower structure. Basement is composed of slices of various Palaeo-Mesozoic rocks, overlain by sometimes preserved Paleogene, thick Early Miocene deposits. Middle Miocene, partly overlying a post-thrusting unconformity, partly affected by the thrusts, is also present. Late Miocene thick basin-fill forms onlapping strata above a gentle paleo-topography, and it is also folded into broad anticlines and synclines. These folds are thought to be born of blind fault reactivation of older thrusts. Topography follows the reactivated fold pattern, especially in the central-western part of the study area.

The map pattern of basement structures shows an eastern area, where NE–SW striking thrusts, folds and steep normal faults dominate, and a western one, where E–W striking thrusts and folds dominate. Folds in Late Neogene are also parallel to these directions. A NE–SW striking linear normal fault and associated N–S faults cut the highest reflectors. The NE–SW fault is probably a left-lateral master fault acting during–after Late Miocene. Gravity anomaly and Pleistocene surface uplift maps show a very good correlation to the mapped structures. All these observations suggest that the main Early Miocene shortening was renewed during the Middle and Late Miocene, and may still persist.

Two types of deformational pattern may explain the structural and topographic features. A NW–SE shortening creates right-lateral slip along E–W faults, and overthrusts on NE–SW striking ones. Another, NNE–SSW shortening creates thrusting and uplift along E–W striking faults and transtensive left-lateral slip along NE–SW striking ones. Traces of both deformation patterns can be found in Quaternary exposures and they seem to be consistent with the present day stress orientations of the Pannonian Basin, too. The alternation of stress fields and multiple reactivation of the older fault sets is thought to be caused by the northwards translation and counter-clockwise rotation of Adria and the continental extrusion generated by this convergence.     

准南逆冲褶皱带超压与逆冲断层持续活动

天山北缘准南地区的褶皱带为自新生代以来一直持续活动的逆冲构造带,由于逆冲断层的持续活动,形成了现今断层和相关褶皱。钻井资料显示,准南逆冲褶皱带内的超压层主要发育在古近纪安集海河组泥岩和紫泥泉子组泥岩之中,而该泥岩同时又成为逆冲断层发育的主滑脱面。通过多年来对准南地区地面地质调查、二维地震和三维地震资料的解释以及钻井证实,我们统计出准南逆冲褶皱带现存的逆冲断层倾角分别集中在两个区间: 30±5°和50±5°区间。应力分析表明,在持续挤压应力作用下,超压层(泥岩、页岩和煤系地层)中和超压层之下地层中发育的早期逆冲断层与晚期最大主压应力之间的夹角处在30±5°之间时,作用在断层面上的最大主应力与最小主应力比达到最小值,因此该断层最容易再次活动,形成最大的流体压力,因而断层周围的流体就会沿着最大主应力方向发生流动,断层本身就会成为流体运移的主要通道; 而早期逆冲断层与晚期最大主压应力之间的夹角处在50±5°之间时,作用在断层面上的最大主应力与最小主应力比较大,断层重新活动所需要的流体压力较高,导致断层作为流体运移的通道因被挤压而闭合。应力分析和钻井实测应力均指出,准南逆冲褶皱带发育的超压为挤压构造应力形成的超压。这些研究表明,准南逆冲褶皱带的逆冲断层持续活动,导致早期发育的断层在晚期应力作用下,断层倾角聚集在两个优势区间,油气沿最大主压应力方向运移,聚集油气则沿断层滑动面发育形成构造超压,导致该区域油气长期处于运移与聚集的动平衡状态。     

Late Cenozoic deformation in the South Caspian region: effects of a rigid basement block within a collision zone

Active deformation in the South Caspian region demonstrates the enormous variation in kinematics and structural style generated where a rigid basement block lies within a collision zone. Rigid basement to the South Caspian Basin moves with a westward component relative both to stable Eurasia and Iran, and is beginning to subduct at its northern and western margins. This motion is oblique to the approximately north–south Arabia–Eurasia convergence, and causes oblique shortening to the south and northeast of the South Caspian Basin: thrusting in the Alborz and Kopet Dagh is accompanied by range-parallel strike–slip faults, which are respectively left- and right-lateral. There are also arcuate fold and thrust belts in the region, for two principal reasons. Firstly, weaker regions deform and wrap around the rigid block. This occurs at the curved transition zone between the Alborz and Talysh ranges, where thrust traces are concave towards the foreland. Secondly, a curved fold and thrust belt can link a deformation zone created by movement of the basement block to one created by the regional convergence: west-to-east thrusts in the eastern Talysh represent underthrusting of the South Caspian basement, but pass via an arcuate fan of fold trains into SSW-directed thrusts in the eastern Greater Caucasus, which accommodates part of the Arabia–Eurasia convergence. Each part of the South Caspian region contains one or more detachment levels, which vary dependent on the pre-Pliocene geology. Buckle folds in the South Caspian Basin are detached from older rocks on thick mid-Tertiary mudrocks, whereas thrust sheets in the eastern Greater Caucasus detach on Mesozoic horizons. In the future, the South Caspian basement may be largely eliminated by subduction, leading to a situation similar to Archaean greenstone belts of interthrust mafic and sedimentary slices surrounded by the roots of mountain ranges constructed from continental crust.     

A Duplex Model for the Eastern Cape Fold Belt? Evidence from the Palaeozoic Witteberg and Bokkeveld Groups (Cape Supergroup), Near Steytlerville, South Africa

The eastern part of the Cape Fold Belt, near Steytlerville, South Africa, reveals a typical pattern of numerous, north-verging thrust faults and associated folds, interpreted as part of a large duplex structure that formed along the southern margin of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic. Steeply-dipping fore- and backthrusts occur in the Bokkeveld Group (middle Cape Supergroup), where strata are composed of predominantly argillaceous rocks, whereas in the more arenaceous Witteberg Group (upper Cape Supergroup) there are fewer recognizable and less closely-spaced thrusts. Open style folds characterize areas in which the Bokkeveld Group crops out, but in areas of Witteberg outcrop, folds, especially those adjacent to thrusts, are often overturned.In spite of a general absence of marker horizons, a displacement of at least 500 metres can be inferred for one prominent thrust, the Jackalsbos thrust. This fault, the northernmost in the area investigated, is probably the sole thrust in the duplex structure, linked through southward-dipping imbricates to a projected roof thrust (the Baviaanskloof thrust) cropping out immediately south of the study area.Displacements on imbricates within the duplex are difficult if not impossible to measure, but the net effect is certainly accumulative and incremental. Truncation by a roof thrust and subsequent erosional processes may explain why so few of the many thrusts so far identified in the eastern part of the fold belt can be successfully mapped, and their displacements measured. Normal and strike-slip faults, less common than thrust faults, formed during extensional tectonism related to the breakup of Gondwana, during the Mesozoic.     

南天山乌什前陆逆冲褶皱构造带的晚新生代构造地貌特征与地震活动

乌什逆冲断褶带位于南天山库车前陆逆冲褶皱构造带的西段,对该地区晚新生代构造活动的研究有利于加深对南天山前陆逆冲构造带的认识。本文通过对卫星遥感影像和DEM数据的解译分析,并结合研究区野外考察及典型地震反射剖面的分析,表明乌什逆冲断褶带东部地貌演化受褶皱生长影响较为深刻,发育一系列由新到老的冲积扇和风口。台兰河中游河流阶地和冰碛物均被秋里塔格断层错断,阶地断距为3.1～6.7 m,台兰期冰碛物(M_2)断距约80 m。秋里塔格断裂第四纪以来水平缩短速率约为1.23～1.59 mm/a。西部地区发育一系列逆冲断层,并发育典型的活动断层陡坎。乌什凹陷地震活动也具有明显的西强东弱的特点,地震活动具有沿断层呈带状分布的特点。乌什逆冲断褶带位于南天山造山带东西构造的转换地带,地震活动西部明显强于东部,且具有呈带状沿南天山及其山前逆冲断裂带分布的特点。历史地震分析表明上个世纪以来该区域未有7级以上地震发生,但其西部地区6级以上地震频发,随着阿克苏地区区域经济的快速发展和人口的快速增长,乌什逆冲断褶带的地震活动性应该引起地质学家更加深入的关注和研究。     

Mechanisms of thrust faulting in the gran sasso chain, central apennines, italy

The Gran Sasso chain in Central Italy is made up of an imbricate stack of eight thrust sheets, which were emplaced over the Upper Miocene—Lower Pliocene Laga Flysch. The thrust sheets are numbered from 1 to 8 in order of their decreasing elevation in the tectonic stack, and their basal thrusts are numbered from T₁ to T₈, accordingly. On the basis of their different deformation features, the major thrust faults fall into three groups: (1) thrust faults marked by thick belts of incoherent gouges and breccia zones (T₁, T₂, T₃); (2) thrust faults characterized by a sharp plane which truncates folds that had developed in the footwall rocks (T₅, T₆); and (3) thrust faults truncating folds developed in both the hangingwall and footwall units, and bordered by foliated fault rocks (T₇). The deformation features observed for the different faults seem to vary because of two combined factors: (1) lithologic changes in the footwall and hangingwall units separated by the thrust faults; and (2) increasing amounts of deformation in the deepest portions of the imbricate stack. The upper thrust sheets (from 1 to 6) are characterized by massive calcareous and dolomitic rocks, they maintain a homoclinal setting and are truncated up-section by the cataclastic thrust faults. The lowermost thrust sheets (7 and 8) are characterized by a multilayer with competence contrasts, which undergoes shear-induced folding prior to the final emplacement of the thrust sheets. Bedding and axial planes of folds rotate progressively towards the T₅, T₆, T₇ and T₈ thrust boundaries, and are subsequently truncated by propagation of the brittle thrust faults. The maximum deformation is observed along the T₇ thrust fault, consistent with horizontal displacement that increases progressively from the uppermost to the lowermost thrust sheet in the tectonic stack. The axial planes of the folds developed in the hangingwall and footwall units are parallel to the T₇ thrust fault, and foliated fault rocks have developed. Field data and petrographic analysis indicate that cleavage fabrics in the fault rocks form by a combination of cataclasis, cataclastic flow and pressure-solution slip, associated with pervasive shearing along subtly distributed slip zones parallel to the T₇ thrust fault. The development of such fabrics at upper crustal levels creates easy-slip conditions in progressively thinner domains, which are regions of localized flow during the thrust sheet emplacement.     

Crustal structure of the ancestral northwestern California forearc region from seismic reflection imaging: implications for convergent margin tectonics

Analysis of a suite of 2-D seismic reflection profiles reveals that the northwestern Sacramento Valley and eastern Coast Range foothills, northern California, are underlain by a system of blind, west-dipping thrust faults. Homoclinally east-dipping and folded Mesozoic marine forearc strata exposed along the western valley margin define the forelimbs of northeast-vergent fault-propagation folds developed in the hanging walls of the thrusts. Exhumed coherent blueschists of the accretionary complex and attenuated remnants of the ophiolitic forearc basement presently exposed in the eastern Coast Ranges are in the hanging wall of the blind thrust system, and have been displaced from their roots in the footwall. Deep, east-dipping magnetic reflectors in the footwall of the thrust system may be fragments of sheared, serpentinized and attenuated ophiolitic basement. Restoration of slip on the thrusts suggests that the Coast Range fault, which is the exposed structural contact between the coherent blueschists and attenuated ophiolite, originally dipped east and is associated with the east-dipping magnetic reflectors in the footwall. This interpretation of the reflection data is consistent with previous inferences about the deep structure in this region, and supports a two-stage model for blueschist exposure in the eastern Coast Ranges: (1) blueschist exhumation relative to the forearc basin by attenuation of the ophiolitic basement along the east-dipping Coast Range fault system in late Cretaceous; (2) blueschists, attenuated ophiolite, and forearc strata all were subsequently uplifted and folded in the hanging wall of the blind thrust system beginning in latest Cretaceous–early Tertiary. The blind thrust system probably rooted in, and was antithetic to, the east-dipping subduction zone beneath the forearc region. Active transpressional plate motion in western California is locally accommodated, in part, by reactivation of blind thrust faults that originally developed during the convergent regime.     

辽南中生代造山期缩短滑脱与晚造山伸展拆离构造

该区的构造格局主要由早期近东西向紧闭的褶皱带和晚期北北东向构造组成。早期的南北向缩短构造以龙王庙平卧褶皱和大小长山岛的直立紧闭褶皱为代表,分别具有扇状间隔性压溶劈理和透入性轴面片理,褶面倒向以北为主。北北东向构造切割近东西向构造,表层表现为北西西向薄皮逆冲推覆构造,浅层构造具有扇状压溶劈理的紧闭褶皱,深层表现为基底与盖层间的拆离断层及其下的韧性剪切带。早期的研究者将该断层作为辽南推覆构造底部的滑脱面,现今则压倒性地采用变质核杂岩的构造理念。根据相关剪切带早期面内褶皱发育,晚期伸展褶劈理发育,通过运动学涡度和应力状态分析,论证早期滑脱-推覆到晚期伸展拆离的演化过程。野外观测证明,辽南基底变质岩西侧的金州断层为一伸展拆离断层,它切割东侧的董家沟断层,前者平行于下伏糜棱岩中的同向伸展褶劈理,后者平行下伏糜棱岩的糜棱面理。金州拆离断层的形成及其东侧的隆起标志着辽南构造体制从缩短到伸展的转折。根据相关的年代学研究,这一构造体制转化发生在早白垩世(约120～107 Ma)。该区最新的构造事件是北东-南西向的缩短,相关的北北东向的右行走滑断层与晚白垩世以来的郯庐断层活动方式一致。     

Geological and archaeological evidence of active faulting on the Martana Fault (Umbria–Marche Apennines,Italy) and its geodynamic implications

This paper examines the morphotectonic and structural–geological characteristics of the Quaternary Martana Fault in the Umbria–Marche Apennines fold‐and‐thrust belt. This structure is more than 30 km long and comprises two segments: a N–NNW‐trending longer segment and a 100°N‐trending segment. After developing as a normal fault in Early Pleistocene times, the N–NNW Martana Fault segment experienced a phase of dextral faulting extending from the Early to Middle Pleistocene boundary until around 0.39 Ma, the absolute age of volcanics erupted in correspondence to releasing bends. The establishment of a stress field with a NE–ENE‐trending σ₃ axis and NW–NNW σ₁ axis in Late Pleistocene to Holocene times resulted in a strong component of sinistral faulting along N–NNW‐trending fault segments and almost pure normal faulting on newly formed NW–SE faults. Fresh fault scarps, the interaction of faulting with drainage systems and displacement of alluvial fan apexes provide evidence of the ongoing activity of this fault. The active left‐lateral kinematic along N–NNW‐trending fault segments is also revealed by the 1.8 m horizontal offset of the E–W‐trending Decumanus road, at the Roman town of Carsulae. We interpret the present‐day kinematics of the Martana Fault as consistent with a model connecting surface structures to the inferred north‐northwest trending lithospheric shear zone marking the western boundary of the Adria Plate. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

塔里木盆地北缘库车再生前陆褶皱逆冲带中丘里塔格前锋带的构造与油气

丘里塔格背斜带是库车再生前陆褶皱逆冲带的前锋构造带。依据各段不同的构造特点,沿走向自东向西可分为东丘里塔格段、库车塔吾段、南、北丘里塔格段和亚克里克—阿瓦特段。其中东丘里塔格段和库车塔吾段以浅部膝折褶皱或断层传播褶皱与深部的断层转折褶皱相叠置为特点。而南、北丘里塔格段和亚克里克—阿瓦特段则以发育膝折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、断层转折褶皱以及相伴生的纵向走滑逆冲断层为特点。该构造带有良好的油气前景,寻找深部完整的断层转折褶皱背斜圈闭以及纵向走滑逆冲断层下盘的圈闭是重要的勘探方向。     

Coseismic elastic models of folds above blind thrusts in the Betic Cordilleras (Spain) and evaluation of seismic hazard

Although it is generally considered that near-surface earthquakes result from movements along faults that cut through the surface, several recent large earthquakes have been partly attributed to blind thrusts. Movements along blind thrusts lead to the formation of surface folds, which are highly dependent upon fault geometry at depth and often not considered in seismic hazard evaluation. Several authors have studied the relationship between surface folding and thrusting for geological situations in which fault geometries are quite simple. However, active fault geometries can be quite complex e.g., segmented thrust faults associated with strike-slip faults. The aim of this contribution is to reconstruct the fault kinematics at depth for a relatively complex geological structure located in the Eastern Betic Cordilleras (Orihuela-Guardamar-Torrevieja region) using the patterns of kilometre-scale folds observed in the field. In order to model surface deformation, the assumption is made that surface km-scale folds have been created by coseismic deformation associated with movement along blind thrusts. By means of a coseismic deformation model, movements at depth have been calculated for three possible hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 assumes that each superficial fold is created by an independent fault. Hypotheses 2 and 3 assume that a sequence of two superficial folds can be created by movement along a single fault displaying a flat and ramp geometry. In Hypothesis 2, the flat is a superficial décollement level between the sedimentary cover and the Betic basement; in Hypothesis 3, it is a deeper décollement level within the Betic basement.

Knowing the approximate age of surface deformation, rough estimates of fault slip-rates and recurrence periods for two possible earthquake magnitudes (7 Ms and 6.7 Ms) have been made, from calculated dislocations at depth. Slip-rates and recurrence periods for flat and ramp fault geometries are in the range of 0.75–1 mm/yr and 1000–2000 yr, respectively. These values are close to those calculated by direct methods in similar seismotectonic contexts.     

河北兴隆复式叠瓦扇构造

河北省北部兴隍-平泉复向斜的西端发育了一种特殊类型的推覆构造,该推覆构造具有三重结构的特点,即由上叠瓦扇、下叠瓦扇和下伏系统组成。上叠瓦扇可以分为被分支断裂分割的太古字、长城系、蓟县系、青白口系和寒武-奥陶系5个逆冲岩席;各分支断裂上陡下缓,向下逐渐归并于F₁主逆冲断裂上。F₁断层下的石炭-二叠系也发育了一组叠瓦状逆冲断层,形成了与上叠瓦扇具有不同变形特征的下叠瓦扇。由于这一构造特殊的两套叠瓦扇结构,故笔者称其为复式叠瓦扇构造,这是一种新的推覆构造类型。     

The influence of intrabasinal faults on the development of a linked thrust system

The Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks exposed in the Arve valley region of the External French Alps are used to assess the role of early intrabasinal faults on later thrust fault evolution. The early intrabasinal faults produced at some time from latest Upper Cretaceous to Tertiary strike parallel or subparallel to later Neo-Alpine thrusts. Where early faults dip away from the thrusts they are generally cut through and occasionally are overturned during this process. In one example extreme overturning has allowed partial reactivation. Early faults dipping in the same direction as thrusts may: a) be reactivated b) initiate ramping of the thrust ahead of the preexisting fault c) be cut through by the thrust d) cause pinning of the thrust at the footwall of the fault and folding against the fault as displacement continues (buttressing). From this work it is evident that intrabasinal faults exerted a major influence on the distribution of mechanical heterogeneities. These heterogeneities include variations of stratigraphic thickness and type across faults, fault-related unconformities and the presence of the fault itself. During the period of contraction such features strongly controlled the development of the stress field produced ahead of an advancing thrust and hence influenced the position of thrust fault propagation within the stratigraphy.     

Geology and Active Tectonics of the Lalmai Hills,Bangladesh–An Overview from Chittagong Tripura Fold Belt Perspective

The Lalmai Hills is a low amplitude anticline with significant variations in landforms, situated along the western fringe of the Chittagong-Tripura Fold Belt (CTFB) and immediate east of the Indo-Burmese deformation front. This fold belt of the Bengal Basin along with more easterly Indo-Burman Range (IBR) developed as a consequence of the oblique collision between Indian and Burmese plates. This neotectonic activity is still continuing and shaping the geomorphology of the area. This study is conducted based on the geomorphological observation of the topo maps and satellite images, and through reconnaissance field work. Stream length gradient index (SL Index) and Mountain front sinuosity (S_mf) reveals the relative status of tectonic activity. Anomalous SL index values confirm the position of the sympathetic minor faults and also relate to the local stratigraphy. A 2D structural model based on the seismic section reveals thrusts controlled wedge-shape upliftment of the central part as pop-up anticlinal structure. The western thrust is the direct result of the collision of the Indian and Burmese plates, and the eastern one is the back thrust of the western fault. Low S_mf value found in the western flank signifies recent tectonics and relatively high S_mf value in the eastern flank indicates that weathering intensity is relatively greater compared to western flank. Finally, the findings not only enhanced the understanding of geomorphic evolution and active tectonics of the Lalmai Hills area but also the overall tectonic and geomorphic evolution of the western most folded part of the CTFB.     

斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱的正演模型与实例分析

斜向逆冲作用在自然界普遍存在,研究斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱的构造几何学特征,识别断层相关褶皱是否存在斜向逆冲有重要意义。文章采用Trishear 4.5、Gocad以及Trishear3D软件构建一系列不同滑移量的断层转折褶皱和断层传播褶皱的二维正演剖面,通过连接一系列不同排列方式的二维剖面建立了三种不同逆冲滑移方向的断层转折褶皱和断层传播褶皱的假三维模型,通过不同假三维模型的比较分析来探讨斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱的构造几何学特征。研究发现,斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱区别于正向逆冲断层相关褶皱的特征主要有两点：① 正向逆冲断层相关褶皱层面等高线图上的最高点与后翼等高线中点的连线以及水平切面上的核心点与后翼中点的连线方向均与断层走向垂直,而斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱的最高点以及核心点与后翼中点的连线方向均与断层走向斜交,并且最高点与后翼等高线中点的连线方向或者核心点与后翼中点的连线方向均与逆冲滑移方向一致;② 在褶皱平行断层走向纵剖面上,正向逆冲断层相关褶皱各个层面最高点的连线是直立的,而斜向逆冲断层相关褶皱各个层面最高点的连线发生倾斜。通过这两个特征可以判别褶皱是否存在斜向逆冲以及逆冲的方向。将模型分析结果运用到四川盆地西南部三维地震勘探资料所覆盖的邛西背斜和大兴西背斜的实例中。研究结果表明,两个背斜均存在右旋斜向逆冲,逆冲方向与各自断层走向的夹角均为70°左右,邛西背斜和大兴西背斜的逆冲方向分别是NE79°和NE77°左右,这与龙门山南段晚上新世以来的主应力方向以及反演的汶川地震最大主应力方向一致。     

大别造山带南界襄樊—广济断裂带的演化规律与构造意义

自中三叠世扬子与华北板块发生碰撞—深俯冲作用以来,大别造山带南界上的襄樊—广济断裂带主要经历过两次变形事件: 1)早期变形事件发生在中三叠世末—晚三叠世初的造山带折返阶段,表现为造山带南边界上的韧性剪切带。这期北西—南东走向的剪切带向南西陡倾,发育北西—南东向的矿物拉伸线理,主要为右行走滑的运动性质,属于造山带斜向折返的侧边界走滑剪切带。造山带折返过程中将前陆褶断带北缘原先东西向褶皱改造为北西—南东走向。2)晚期变形事件发生在晚侏罗世,表现为脆性逆冲断层,使得前陆褶断带向北东逆冲在造山带南缘之上,同时在前陆上形成了一系列的逆冲断层。该断裂带的晚期逆冲活动与郯庐断裂带左行平移同时发生,代表了滨太平洋构造活动的开始。     

燕山板内造山带中部“承德逆冲构造”的褶皱相关断裂构造模型

燕山板内造山带中部承德盆地复杂的中生代褶皱及逆冲断裂构造,曾被解释为土城子组沉积之后大型逆冲推覆构造(位移量大于40～45km)又经褶皱变形的结果。近年来,土城子组沉积相和物源区分析、中新元古界沉积古地理研究以及相关构造变形研究结果等,对这一变形大型逆冲构造模型提出了多方位质疑。但已有研究并未提出新的构造模型来解释这一复杂构造区域中生代构造变形样式和形成机制。文中通过对承德盆地区域主体构造——承德向斜、向斜两翼逆冲构造变形几何学与运动学特征、向斜转折端附近构造变形与断裂发育状况进行详细野外调查及对关键地质体同位素地质年代进行测试,发现承德向斜两翼逆冲断层为分别向向斜核部以外区域逆冲的独立逆冲断层,逆冲断层活动与承德向斜变形是在统一的收缩变形体制下准同时形成的。它们形成于土城子组之后、张家口组火山活动之前,即距今约139～136 Ma。据此提出了"承德逆冲构造"的背离向斜逆冲构造模型。这一模型合理地解释了燕山中部承德盆地区域中生代构造变形和相应的盆地充填特征,同时表明,燕山板内造山带并不存在碰撞造山带前陆褶皱逆冲带中常见的大型薄皮逆冲构造样式。这一研究结果展示了褶皱相关断裂构造模型在研究和揭示收缩构造变形区域大尺度褶皱与断裂构造相互关系及准确重建区域构造演化过程方面的重要意义。