The Mylonite zones in the Pyrenees and their place in the Alpine tectonic evolution

In the Pyrenees, the development of mylonites zones is one of the most striking structural features. Two sets of mylonites of regional extent have been recognized: large longitudinal E-W to N110°E trending zones (e.g. Mérens fault and North Pyrenean fault) and oblique NW-SE trending zones cross-cutting both the Hercynian and the post-Hercynian terrains. The longitudinal zones limit the major structural zones of the Pyrenees and are associated with NW-SE “en échelons” folds in the Mesozoic terrains and rotations of rootless plutonic or gneissic massifs, acting as competent inclusions in a more ductile matrix, in the Hercynian basement. The oblique mylonite zones limit map-scale fold-bands and appear as the sheared limbs of these folds.The age of the oblique zones and of the major movements along the longitudinal zones is clearly Alpine and the “en échelons” folds seem to have controlled the sedimentation during the Upper Albian and possibly during the Upper Cretaceous. Early movements along the longitudinal zones may have been Hercynian.The analysis of the structures at all scales leads us to interpret these mylonite zones and associated structures as the ultimate result of a transcurrent simple shear acting during the whole Mesozoic period. This strike-slip shearing was probably associated with an extension perpendicular to it from the Permian to the Upper Cretaceous and then to a shortening component also perpendicular to it from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene.The development of the mylonite zones appears to have predated the major Alpine thrusting but to have been reactivated during this thrusting, acting as initiation sites for the thrusts or as oblique ramps in the case of the oblique mylonite zones.     

Evolution of the Taupo-Hikurangi subduction system

The present day Taupo-Hikurangi subduction system is a southward extension of the Tonga-Kermadec Arc system into a sediment-rich continental margin environment. It consists of a shallow structural trench (the Hikurangi Trough), a 150 km wide, imbricate thrust controlled accretionary borderland (the continental slope, shelf, and coastal hills of eastern North Island), a frontal ridge (the main “greywacke” ranges of North Island), and a volcanic arc and marginal basin (the Taupo Volcanic Zone).Structural elements become progressively more elevated and subduction more oblique towards the south. The whole NNE-trending system is truncated at a largely strike-slip, transform boundary that extends along the southwestern part of the Hikurangi Trough and the Hope fault of South Island to the main Alpine Fault.The volcanic arc is 200–270 km from the structural trench and comprises a NNE trending chain of andesite-dacite volcanoes extending along the eastern side of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Most of the andesites are olivine-bearing and have been erupted within the last 50,000 years.It is suggested the Taupo-Hikurangi margin has evolved by rotation of accretionary elements, from an original NW-trending subduction system north of New Zealand. The older elements of the prism were associated with subduction of a re-entrant of the Pacific Plate (and perhaps the South Fiji Basin) in Mid Tertiary times. They subsequently became separated from their NW-trending volcanic arc by dextral strike-slip movement along curved faults east of the main “greywacke” ranges. During the Plio-Pleistocene, oblique subduction and accretion intensified as the Taupo-Hikurangi margin rotated into line with the NNE-trending Kermadec system and a marginal basin was developed along a similar trend to form the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Within the last 50,000 years olivine-bearing andesite volcanism has commenced along the eastern side of the Taupo Volcanic Zone.     

Transtensional deformation in the Lake Tahoe region, California and Nevada, USA

Dextral transtensional deformation is occurring along the Sierra Nevada–Great Basin boundary zone (SNGBBZ) at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada microplate. In the Lake Tahoe region of the SNGBBZ, transtension is partitioned spatially and temporally into domains of north–south striking normal faults and transitional domains with conjugate strike-slip faults. The normal fault domains, which have had large Holocene earthquakes but account only for background seismicity in the historic period, primarily accommodate east–west extension, while the transitional domains, which have had moderate Holocene and historic earthquakes and are currently seismically active, primarily record north–south shortening. Through partitioned slip, the upper crust in this region undergoes overall constrictional strain.Major fault zones within the Lake Tahoe basin include two normal fault zones: the northwest-trending Tahoe–Sierra frontal fault zone (TSFFZ) and the north-trending West Tahoe–Dollar Point fault zone. Most faults in these zones show eastside down displacements. Both of these fault zones show evidence of Holocene earthquakes but are relatively quiet seismically through the historic record. The northeast-trending North Tahoe–Incline Village fault zone is a major normal to sinistral-oblique fault zone. This fault zone shows evidence for large Holocene earthquakes and based on the historic record is seismically active at the microearthquake level. The zone forms the boundary between the Lake Tahoe normal fault domain to the south and the Truckee transition zone to the north.Several lines of evidence, including both geology and historic seismicity, indicate that the seismically active Truckee and Gardnerville transition zones, north and southeast of Lake Tahoe basin, respectively, are undergoing north–south shortening. In addition, the central Carson Range, a major north-trending range block between two large normal fault zones, shows internal fault patterns that suggest the range is undergoing north–south shortening in addition to east–west extension.A model capable of explaining the spatial and temporal partitioning of slip suggests that seismic behavior in the region alternates between two modes, one mode characterized by an east–west minimum principal stress and a north–south maximum principal stress as at present. In this mode, seismicity and small-scale faulting reflecting north–south shortening concentrate in mechanically weak transition zones with primarily strike-slip faulting in relatively small-magnitude events, and domains with major normal faults are relatively quiet. A second mode occurs after sufficient north–south shortening reduces the north–south S_hmax in magnitude until it is less than S_v, at which point S_v becomes the maximum principal stress. This second mode is then characterized by large earthquakes on major normal faults in the large normal fault domains, which dominate the overall moment release in the region, producing significant east–west extension.     

Very high strains recorded in mylonites along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: implications for the deep structure of plate boundary faults

Oblique displacement on the Alpine Fault, which forms the principal structure along the Australian–Pacific plate boundary in South Island, New Zealand, has resulted in exhumation of a kilometre-wide mylonite zone in the hanging wall adjacent to the current brittle fault trace. The mylonites formed under amphibolite facies conditions at depths of ca. 25 km and have been uplifted during the past 5 Ma. A suite of 65–70 Ma pegmatite veins in the hanging wall Alpine schists has been progressively deformed within the mylonite zone and sheared out over a strike length of ca. 100 km. Measurements of the thickness distribution of the pegmatite veins within the non-mylonitised schists and at three localities within the progressively strained mylonites have been used to estimate strain values within the mylonites. The thicknesses approximate a log-normal distribution, with a mean value that is progressively reduced through the protomylonites, mylonites and ultramylonites. By assuming that the thickness distribution currently observed in the schists was the same for the pegmatites within the mylonites before strain, a model of deformation incorporating simple shear and simultaneous pure shear is used to strain the undeformed veins until a fit is obtained with the strained distributions. Shear strains calculated range from 12 to 22 for the protomylonites, 120 to 200 for the mylonites and 180 to 300 for the ultramylonites, corresponding to pure shear values of 1–3 in each case. These values are compatible with the strains predicted if most of the surface displacement on the fault over the past 5 Ma were accommodated within a 1–2-km-wide mylonite zone through the middle and lower crusts. The results suggest that processes such as erosional focussing of deformation and thermal weakening may cause intense strain localisation within the lower crust, with plate boundary deformation restricted to narrow zones rather than becoming increasingly distributed over a widening shear zone with depth.     

Triassic high-strain shear zones in Hainan Island (South China) and their implications on the amalgamation of the Indochina and South China Blocks: Kinematic and Ar/Ar geochronological constraints

A kinematic and geochronological study has been carried out on the Triassic high-strain shear zones in Hainan Island, the southern South China Block. There are WNW- and NE-trending high-strain shear zones with greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism in this island. Kinematic indicators suggest a dextral top-to-the-NNE thrust shearing for the WNW-trending high-strain shear zones and a sinistral top-to-the-SE thrust shearing for the NE-trending shear zones. The quartz c-axis orientations of mylonitic rocks exhibit the domination of basal slip and some activation of a rhombohedra gliding system. The timing of shearing for these shear zones has been constrained by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating analyses of synkinematic minerals. Middle Triassic (242–250 Ma) and late Triassic–early Jurassic (190–230 Ma) have been identified for the WNW- and NE-trending shear zones, respectively. A synthesis of these kinematic and thermogeochronological data points to a two-stage tectonic model for Hainan Island, that is, top-to-the-NNE oblique thrusting at 240–250 Ma followed by top-to-the-SE oblique thrusting at 190–230 Ma. In combination with the available data from the southern South China and Indochina Blocks, it is inferred that South Hainan and North Hainan have affinity to the Indochina and South China Blocks, respectively. The tectonic boundary between South Hainan and North Hainan lies roughly along the WNW-trending Changjiang–Qionghai tectonic zone probably linking to the Song Ma and Ailaoshan zones. The middle Triassic structural pattern of Hainan Island is spatially and temporally compatible with those of the South China and Indochina Blocks, and thus might be a derivation from the amalgamation of the Indochina with South China Blocks in response to the closure of the Paleotethys Ocean and subsequent subduction/collision.     

Geology of the Bozdag area, central Menderes massif, SW Turkey: Pan-African basement and Alpine deformation

The Menderes massif consists of a Precambrian Core Series that preserves evidence for a polymetamorphic history and a Paleozoic/Mesozoic Cover Series that experienced only the Alpine tectonometamorphic evolution. Structural, petrographic, and geochronologic investigations in the central Menderes massif demonstrate that (a) part of the metamorphic and structural evolution of the Precambrian basement is older than the undeformed 551±1.4-Ma-old Birgi metagranite, and (b) inferred Alpine fabrics overprinting the Cover Series largely have the same attitudes as the old structures in the much older Core Series. The inferred Alpine fabrics include both contractional and extensional structures. Contraction under greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions resulted in the imbrication of the Core and Cover Series and generated an inverted metamorphic sequence by north-directed thrusting. During Alpine extension, most of the south-dipping thrust faults were reactivated as extensional shear zones under decreasing greenschist facies conditions.     

中国东部海域地质特征及一些重要大地构造界线在海区延伸的地质地球物理证据

本文通过对中国东部海域地质地球物理资料进行综合分析,特别是近十年来海洋区域地质调查最新采集的地球物理资料,梳理了研究区基础地质特征,探讨了陆区大地构造单元在海区的延伸。研究表明:渤海和北黄海为典型的华北型基底并发育华北型沉积盖层;南黄海为典型的扬子型基底并发育扬子型沉积盖层;东海陆架为华夏型基底,东部很可能发育晚古生代沉积盖层,其上叠置了晚三叠世以来沉积盖层。下扬子地块西侧通过左旋走滑的郯庐断裂带,东侧通过右旋走滑的朝鲜西缘断裂带揳入华北地块中,朝鲜西缘断裂带兼具走滑和俯冲带性质。整个朝鲜半岛无论从变质基底和沉积盖层来看都类似于华北地块。扬子地块在北侧和东侧都发育“鳄鱼嘴”式构造,扬子地块的下地壳向北、向东俯冲于华北地块之下,而上地壳则仰冲于华北地块之上。江绍结合带表现为宽50~70 km的NE向高磁异常条带,进入杭州湾后走向转为近EW向,经舟山群岛、大衢山岛及附近岛屿,过东海陆架虎皮礁凸起向东进入日本九州岛。虎皮礁凸起的岩石很可能类似于大衢山岛,为一套俯冲增生杂岩。     

Balancing lateral orogenic float of the Eastern Alps

Oligocene to Miocene post-collisional shortening between the Adriatic and European plates was compensated by frontal thrusting onto the Molasse foreland basin and by contemporaneous lateral wedging of the Austroalpine upper plate. Balancing of the upper plate shortening by horizontal retrodeformation of lateral escaping and extruding wedges of the Austroalpine lid enables an evaluation of the total post-collisional deformation of the hangingwall plate. Quantification of the north–south shortening and east–west extension of the upper plate is derived from displacement data of major faults that dissect the Austroalpine wedges. Indentation of the South Alpine unit corresponds to 64 km north–south shortening and a minimum of 120 km of east–west extension. Lateral wedging affected the Eastern Alps east of the Giudicarie fault. West of the Giudicarie fault, north–south shortening was compensated by 50 to 80 km of backthrusting in the Lombardian thrust system of the Southern Alps. The main structures that bound the escaping wedges to the north are the Inntal fault system (ca. 50 km sinistral offset), the Königsee–Lammertal–Traunsee (KLT) fault (10 km) and the Salzach–Ennstal–Mariazell–Puchberg (SEMP) fault system (60 km). These faults, as well as a number of minor faults with displacements less than 10 km, root in the basal detachment of the Alps. The thin-skinned nature of lateral escape-related structures north of the SEMP line is documented by industry reflection seismic lines crossing the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) and the frontal thrust of the Eastern Alps. Complex triangle zones with passive roof backthrusts of Middle Miocene Molasse sediments formed in front of the laterally escaping wedges of the northern Eastern Alps. The aim of this paper is a semiquantitative reconstruction of the upper plate of the Eastern Alps. Most of the data is published elsewhere.     

Mesozoic interaction of the Kula plate and the western margin of north america

Oceanic crust west of North America at the beginning of the Jurassic belonged to the Kula plate. The development of the western margin of North America since the Jurassic reflects interaction with the Kula plate, the Kula-Farallon spreading center and the Farallon plate. The Kula plate ceased to exist in the Paleocene and later developments were caused by interaction of the Farallon plate and, subsequently, collision with the East Pacific Rise.At the beginning of the Jurassic, when spreading between North and South America began, the Kula-Farallon-Pacific triple junction moved to the north relative to North America, and the eastern end of the Kula-Farallon spreading center swept northwards along the continental margin.During the Paleocene, Kula-Pacific spreading ceased and the Kula plate fused to the Pacific plate. Throughout the Mesozoic, subduction of the Kula plate took place along the Alaskan continental margin. When the Kula plate joined the Pacific plate a new subduction zone formed along the line of the present Aleutian chain.Wrangellia and Stikinia, anomalous terrains in Alaska and northwestern Canada respectively, were emplaced by transport on the Kula plate from lower latitudes. Hypotheses which require transport of these plates in the Mesozoic from the “far reaches of the Pacific” ignore the problem of transport across either the Kula-Pacific or Kula-Farallon spreading centers. The interaction of the Kula plate and western North America throughout the Jurassic and the Cretaceous should result in emplacement of these terrains by motion oblique to the continental margin. Tethyan faunas in Stikinia must come from the western end of Tethys between North and South America, not the Indonesian region at the eastern end of Tethys.As the northeastern end of the Kula-Farallon ridge moved northward, the sense of motion changed from right lateral shear between the Kula and North American plates to collision or left lateral shear between the Farallon and North American plates. Left lateral shear along zones analogous to the Mojave-Sonora megashear may have been the means by which anomalous terrains were transported to the southeast into the gap between North and South America forming present day Central America. Such a model overcomes the overlap difficulties suffered in previous attempts to reconstruct the Mesozoic paleogeography of Central America.     

Age and significance of core complex formation in a very curved orogen: Evidence from fission track studies in the South Carpathians (Romania)

Twenty-four new zircon and apatite fission track ages from the Getic and Danubian nappes in the South Carpathians are discussed in the light of a compilation of published fission track data. A total of 101 fission track ages indicates that the Getic nappes are generally characterized by Cretaceous zircon and apatite fission track ages, indicating cooling to near-surface temperatures of these units immediately following Late Cretaceous orogeny.The age distribution of the Danubian nappes, presently outcropping in the Danubian window below the Getic nappes, depends on the position with respect to the Cerna-Jiu fault. Eocene and Oligocene zircon and apatite central ages from the part of the Danubian core complex situated southeast of this fault monitor mid-Tertiary tectonic exhumation in the footwall of the Getic detachment, while zircon fission track data from northwest of this fault indicate that slow cooling started during the Latest Cretaceous. The change from extension (Getic detachment) to strike-slip dominated tectonics along the curved Cerna-Jiu fault allowed for further exhumation on the concave side of this strike-slip fault, while exhumation ceased on the convex side. The available fission track data consistently indicate that the change to fast cooling associated with tectonic denudation by core complex formation did not occur before Late Eocene times, i.e. long after the cessation of Late Cretaceous thrusting.Core complex formation in the Danubian window is related to a larger-scale scenario that is characterized by the NNW-directed translation, followed by a 90° clockwise rotation of the Tisza-Dacia “block” due to roll-back of the Carpathian embayment. This led to a complex pattern of strain partitioning within the Tisza-Dacia “block” adjacent to the western tip of the rigid Moesian platform. Our results suggest that the invasion of these southernmost parts of Tisza-Dacia started before the Late Eocene, i.e. significantly before the onset of Miocene-age rollback and associated extension in the Pannonian basin.     

Lake Paringa: a catchment study using magnetic techniques

Mineral magnetic measurements were carried out on sources and sediments from the Lake Paringa catchment, South Island, New Zealand. The Alpine Fault runs through the catchment area and rocks of different lithology and age outcrop on either side of it. The measurements indicate the sources from the east of the Alpine Fault (schist bedrock) are magnetically soft and magnetite rich, whereas the sources from the west of the fault, (greywacke bedrock) are magnetically hard and haematite/goethite rich. Comparison between the sources and sediments indicate post-depositional chemical alteration, namely the formation of greigite has occcured within the lake. A quantitative unmixing technique using only isothermal remanent magnetisation (IRM) data has been developed. It is possible to quantitatively unmix the sediments in terms of their sources and authigenic greigite, thus getting an indication of the varying contributions from east and west of the Alpine Fault to the different areas within the u-shaped lake.     

The structural evolution of George VI sound, Antarctic Peninsula

George VI Sound, 400 km long and between 25 and 90 km wide, separates Alexander Island from the Antarctic Peninsula. The straight parallel sides of its northern section and sub-parallel normal faulting observed in exposed rock on adjacent parts of Alexander Island and Palmer Land indicate a history of rifting. Subglacial topography, revealed through radar sounding of ice thickness in Palmer Land, shows deep areas which owe their presence to two major fault zones parallel to the main N-S trend. One of these is probably the western escarpment of the Palmer Land plateau and the eastern boundary of the rift system. Bedrock relief suggests that transverse block faulting has differentially raised and lowered the mountains on the eastern side of the sound. A seismic profile through George VI Ice Shelf (which occupies most of George VI Sound) confirms that the “W”-shaped cross-section of the bedrock observed by plumb-line at the northern edge of the ice shelf is also found 250 km further south. The shape may be due entirely to glacial erosion, but it is more likely to be a structural feature subsequently glacially modified. These features are consistent with a model of George VI Sound as a region of Tertiary intra-arc extension within the Mesozoic and Cenozoic magmatic arc of the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island.     

Variation of palaeostress patterns along the Oriente transform wrench corridor, Cuba: significance for Neogene–Quaternary tectonics of the Caribbean realm

In this study, we address the late Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the North Caribbean (Oriente) Transform Wrench Corridor in the southern Sierra Maestra mountain range, SE Cuba. The region has been affected by historical earthquakes and shows many features of brittle deformation in late Miocene to Pleistocene reef and other shallow water deposits as well as in pre-Neogene, late Cretaceous to Eocene basement rocks. These late Miocene to Quaternary rocks are faulted, fractured, and contain calcite- and karst-filled extension gashes. Type and orientation of the principal normal palaeostress vary along strike in accordance with observations of large-scale submarine structures at the south-eastern Cuban margin. Initial N–S extension is correlated with a transtensional regime associated with the fault, later reactivated by sinistral and/or dextral shear, mainly along E–W-oriented strike-slip faults. Sinistral shear predominated and recorded similar kinematics as historical earthquakes in the Santiago region. We correlate palaeostress changes with the kinematic evolution along the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. Three different tectonic regimes were distinguished for the Oriente transform wrench corridor (OTWC): compression from late Eocene–Oligocene, transtension from late Oligocene to Miocene (?) (D₁), and transpression from Pliocene to Present (D₂–D₄), when this fault became a transform system. Furthermore, present-day structures vary along strike of the Oriente transform wrench corridor (OTWC) on the south-eastern Cuban coast, with dominantly transpressional/compressional and strike-slip structures in the east and transtension in the west. The focal mechanisms of historical earthquakes are in agreement with the dominant ENE–WSW transpressional structures found on land.     

Neotectonics of the Marikina Valley fault system (MVFS) and tectonic framework of structures in northern and central Luzon, Philippines

Recognition of neotectonic features along the Marikina Valley fault system (MVFS) in central Luzon, Philippines indicates a dominantly dextral strike-slip motion during its most recent activity believed to be Late Pleistocene to Holocene in age. Variations in the ratios of vertical to horizontal displacements for the segments imply a dominantly dextral motion of the West Marikina Valley fault (WMVF) and oblique dextral motion for the East Marikina Valley fault (EMVF). The displacement data further suggest that rupturing along the EMVF involved multiple segments and occurred separately from the events along the WMVF segments. Estimated earthquake magnitudes for the WMVF and EMVF based on single-event offsets fall within the range M 7.3–7.7. The vertical slip component in the northern part of the Marikina Valley is associated with the development of a basin between the EMVF and WMVF while the large vertical component in the southernmost segment of the EMVF (Talim) is attributed to volcanism-related extension. Lateral advection of the block bounded by the MVFS and the Philippine fault zone (PFZ), rather than pure shear resulting from an assumed east–west compression, best explains the observed kinematics of the MVFS. This is the result of compression during the westward drift of the Philippine Sea Plate and northern Luzon and occurs through slip along the WMVF and EMVF at rates of 5–7 mm/yr.     

郯庐断裂带肥东段早白垩世中期走滑运动的年代学证据

郯庐断裂带肥东段西韦地区和桃花源地区出露了大规模的北北东向韧性剪切带。桃花源地区韧性剪切带显示出2期构造变形的叠加。野外构造和显微构造分析皆指示为左行走滑韧性剪切带。糜棱岩中石英与长石的变形行为指示其变形温度分别为400~450℃和500℃。通过对这两处走滑剪切带内糜棱岩化花岗岩脉的锆石LA-ICP-MS定年,获得了3个样品的侵位年龄分别为(133.2±1.9)Ma,(131.3±2.0)Ma,(130.3±2.0)Ma。再结合已有的研究成果,认为在128~124Ma(早白垩世中期)郯庐断裂带发生过左行走滑活动。综合分析表明,郯庐断裂带在晚侏罗世和早白垩世中期分别经历了2期左行走滑活动,而期间和之后的早白垩世则处于伸展活动之中。伸展活动持续较长,控制发育了西侧的合肥盆地及断裂带内一系列岩浆活动;而区域挤压背景下出现的走滑活动则相对短暂。这些演化规律显示该断裂带在晚侏罗世—早白垩世呈现为交替式的走滑和伸展活动。新发现的早白垩世中期走滑活动,与太平洋区伊泽纳崎板块板块运动方向的调整相对应,是大洋板块运动方向短暂调整的构造响应。     

Uplift and subsidence from oblique slip: the Ganos–Marmara bend of the North Anatolian Transform, western Turkey

Bends that locally violate plate-motion-parallel geometry are common structural elements of continental transform faults. We relate the vertical component of crustal motion in the western Marmara Sea region to the NNW-pointing 18° bend on the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF-N) between the Ganos segment, which ruptured in 1912, and the central Marmara segment, a seismic gap. Crustal shortening and uplift on the transpressive west side of the bend results in the Ganos Mountain; crustal extension and subsidence on the transtensional east side produce the Tekirdağ Basin. We propose that this vertical component of deformation is controlled by oblique slip on the non-vertical north-dipping Ganos and Tekirdağ segments of the North Anatolian Fault. We compare Holocene with Quaternary structure across the bend using new and recently published data and conclude the following. First, bend-related vertical motion is occurring primarily north of the NAF-N. This suggests that this bend is fixed to the Anatolian side of the fault. Second, current deformation is consistent with an antisymmetric pattern centered at the bend, up on the west and down on the east. Accumulated deformation is shifted to the east along the right-lateral NAF-N, however, leading to locally opposite vertical components of long- and short-term motion. Uplift has started as far west as the landward extension of the Saros trough. Current subsidence is most intense close to the bend and to the Ganos Mountain, while the basin deepens gradually from the bend eastward for 28 km along the fault. The pattern of deformation is time-transgressive if referenced to the material, but is stable if referenced to the bend. The lag between motion and structure implies a 1.1–1.4 Ma age for the basin at current dextral slip rate (2.0–2.5 cm/year). Third, the Tekirdağ is an asymmetric basin progressively tilted down toward the NAF-N, which serves as the border fault. Progressive tilt suggests that the steep northward dip of the fault decreases with depth in a listric geometry at the scale of the upper crust and is consistent with reactivation of Paleogene suture-related thrust faults. Fourth, similar thrust-fault geometry west of the bend can account for the Ganos Mountain anticline/monocline as hanging-wall-block folding and back tilting. Oblique slip on a non-vertical master fault may accommodate transtension and transpression associated with other bends along the NAF and other continental transforms.     

Stick-slip model for kink band formation in shear zones and faults

Differential shear stresses acting along or adjacent to a non-planar fault surface or shear zone may cause uneven acceleration during slip. Alternatively, at the initiating and closing stages of motion of parts of a stick-slip fault, localised shear stresses may be variable. Stress variation of this nature causes zones of relative compression and tension, especially close to the “stick” zones on the fault. In fissile rocks adjacent to the fault, kink bands form in zones of local relative compression, while stratal extension features such as veins, fractures and extensional crenulations might be expected in the corresponding zones of relative tension. Repetitive motion on the fault should therefore cause the development of a suite of kink bands superimposed on each other and on any complementary extensional structures. Field evidence indicates that the extensional structures are not developed to the same extent as the kinks, perhaps due to ductile flow during layer-parallel extension of phyllosilicate rocks.

The advantages of this model are that it does not require bulk shortening of the shear zone relative to the enclosing less strained rocks, nor does it depend on complex stress orientation changes.     

Spatial analysis of thickness variability applied to an Early Jurassic carbonate platform in the central Southern Alps (Italy): a tool to unravel syn‐sedimentary faulting

Early Jurassic syn‐sedimentary extensional tectonics in the central Southern Alps controlled patterns of deposition within the Calcari Grigi carbonate platform. We used variogram maps to gather model‐independent information on the spatial distribution of thicknesses of selected platform units and investigated whether major syn‐sedimentary faults outlined subsiding domains during platform growth. Thicknesses display a spatial organization that suggests that large fault belts, often coincident with exposed Jurassic extensional structures, transected large parts of the platform. The network of four fault systems (trending NNW–SSE and NE–SW) displays orthorhombic symmetry, suggesting non‐Andersonian faulting and a true triaxial strain field with N100°E maximum extension or transfer shear zones connecting major NNW–SSE‐trending extensional faults. In both cases, inherited structures of Permian to Triassic age may have played a primary role in Jurassic faulting. If confirmed throughout the South‐Alpine domain, this arrangement could shed new light on Early Jurassic rifting mechanisms in the Southern Alps.     

Deformation conditions, kinematics, and displacement history of shallow crustal ductile shearing in the Norumbega fault system in the Northern Appalachians, eastern Maine

The Norumbega fault system in the Northern Appalachians in eastern Maine experienced complex post-Acadian ductile and brittle deformation from middle through late Paleozoic times. Well-preserved epizonal ductile shear zones in Fredericton belt metasedimentary rocks and granitic batholiths that intrude them provide valuable information on the nature, geometry, and evolution of orogen-parallel strike-slip Norumbega faulting. Metasedimentary rocks were ductilely sheared into phyllonite schistose mylonite, whereas granite into mylonite within the ductile shear zones. Ductile shearing took place at conditions of the lower greenschist facies with peak temperatures on the order of 300–350° based on comparison of plastic quartz and brittle feldspar microstructures, confirming a shallow crustal environment during faulting.Ductile shear strain was partitioned into two major shear zones in easternmost Maine—the Waite and Kellyland zones—but these zones converge toward the southwest. Megascopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic kinematic indicators confirm that fault motion in both zones was dominantly dextral strike-slip. Detailed mapping, especially in the plutonic rocks, reveals a complex ductile deformation history in the area where the Waite and Kellyland zones converge. Shear strain is broadly distributed in the rocks between Kellyland and Waite zones, and increases toward their junction. Multiple dextral high-strain zones oblique to both zones resemble megascopic synthetic c′ shear bands. Together with the Kellyland and Waite master shear zones, these define a megascopic S–C′ structure system produced in a regional-scale dextral strike-slip shear duplex that developed in the transition zone between the deeper (south-central Maine) and shallower (eastern Maine) segments of the Norumbega fault system.Granite plutons caught within the strike-slip shear duplex were intensely sheared and progressively smeared into long and narrow slivers identified by this study. The western lobe of the Deblois pluton and the Lucerne pluton have been recognized as the sources, respectively of the Third Lake Ridge and Morrison Ridge granite slivers. Restoration of both granite slivers to their presumed original positions yields approximately 25 km of dextral strike-slip displacement along only the Kellyland and synthetic ductile shear zones.     

Deformation path in high-strain zones,with reference to slip partitioning in transpressional plate-boundary regions

The current status of the kinematics and strain geometry of high-strain zone studies is briefly summarized. A general high-strain zone has a triclinic deformation path, and monoclinic shear zones are special end member cases. Fabrics observed in natural shear zones and theoretical considerations based on continuum mechanics are compatible with this conclusion. Non-steady deformation paths remain difficult to deal with, and may ultimately rely on a realistic mechanical treatment of high-strain zones which may be possible when our knowledge of the mechanical behavior of rocks under natural deformation conditions is improved. An examination of the phenomenon of slip partitioning in transpressional plate boundary regions shows that the bulk deformation path in the forearc area (trench-parallel high-strain zone) is generally triclinic. The Alpine Fault in the South Island of New Zealand provides an example of a currently active triclinic shear zone. The Southern Knee Lake shear zone of Manitoba, Canada, provides an Archean example of a triclinic shear zone.