Late Quaternary activity and dextral strike-slip movement on the Karakax Fault Zone, northwest Tibet

Field observations and interpretations of satellite images reveal that the westernmost segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault (called Karakax Fault Zone) striking WNW located in the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau has distinctive geomorphic and tectonic features indicative of right-lateral strike-slip fault in the Late Quaternary. South-flowing gullies and N–S-trending ridges are systematically deflected and offset by up to ~ 1250 m, and Late Pleistocene–Holocene alluvial fans and small gullies that incise south-sloping fans record dextral offset up to ~ 150 m along the fault zone. Fault scarps developed on alluvial fans vary in height from 1 to 24 m. Riedel composite fabrics of foliated cataclastic rocks including cataclasite and fault gouge developed in the shear zone indicate a principal right-lateral shear sense with a thrust component. Based on offset Late Quaternary alluvial fans, ¹⁴C ages and composite fabrics of cataclastic fault rocks, it is inferred that the average right-lateral strike-slip rate along the Karakax Fault Zone is ~ 9 mm/a in the Late Quaternary, with a vertical component of ~ 2 mm/a, and that a M 7.5 morphogenic earthquake occurred along this fault in 1902. We suggest that right-lateral slip in the Late Quaternary along the WNW-trending Karakax Fault Zone is caused by escape tectonics that accommodate north–south shortening of the western Tibetan Plateau due to ongoing northward penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate.     

Neotectonics of the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau: New Geological Evidence for the Change from Early Pleistocene Transpression to Late Pleistocene-Holocene Strike-slip Faulting

We present in this paper some new evidence for the change during the Quaternary in kinematics of faults cutting the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. It shows that significant shortening deformation occurred during the Early Pleistocene, evidenced by eastward thrusting of Mesozoic carbonates on the Pliocene lacustrine deposits along the Minjiang upstream fault zone and by development of the transpressional ridges of basement rocks along the Anninghe river valley. The Middle Pleistocene seems to be a relaxant stage with local development of the intra-mountain basins particularly prominent along the Minjiang Upstream and along the southern segment of the Anninghe River Valley. This relaxation may have been duo to a local collapse of the thickened crust attained during the late Neogene to early Pleistocene across this marginal zone. Fault kinematics has been changed since the late Pleistocene, and was predominated by reverse sinistral strike-slip along the Minshan Uplift, reverse dextral strike-slip on the Longmenshan fault zone and pure sinistral strike-slip on the Anninghe fault. This change in fault kinematics during the Quaternary allows a better understanding of the mechanism by which the marginal ranges of the plateau has been built through episodic activities.     

Active right-lateral strike-slip fault zone along the southern margin of the Japan Sea

We describe an active right-lateral strike-slip fault zone along the southern margin of the Japan Sea, named the Southern Japan Sea Fault Zone (SJSFZ). Onshore segments of the fault zone are delineated on the basis of aerial photograph interpretations and field observations of tectonic geomorphic features, whereas the offshore parts are interpreted from single-/multichannel seismic data combined with borehole information. In an effort to evaluate late Quaternary activity along the fault zone, four active segments separated by uplifting structures are identified in this study. The east–northeast-trending SJSFZ constitutes paired arc-parallel strike-slip faults together with the Median Tectonic Line (MTL), both of which have been activated by oblique subduction of the Philippine Sea plate during the Quaternary. They act as the boundaries of three neotectonic stress domains around the eastern margin of the Eurasian plate: the near-trench Outer zone and NW–SE compressive Inner zone of southwest Japan arc, and the southern Japan Sea deformed under E–W compression from south to north.     

The role of strike-slip faulting in the history of the Hukawng Block and the Jade Mines Uplift,Myanmar

The Hukawng Basin is bounded on its east by splays of the still-active Sagaing Fault. Palinspastically restoring Myanmar's blocks to their positions before the widely-accepted c.400?km dextral strike-slip fault displacement, places the Hukawng Block alongside the Tengchong Block, suggesting they were formerly connected. Additionally the Cretaceous–Paleogene Medial-Myanmar Shear Zone then aligns with the NW-SE Jade Mines Belt. Jadeitite formed there under HP/LT conditions in a Mesozoic subduction zone. It was exhumed at the intersection of the dextral Medial-Myanmar Shear Zone with the subduction-zone at the continental margin of Sundaland. The later Sagaing Fault played no part in that exhumation.     

Active faults and magnitudes of left-lateral displacement along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (NMTP) is a major intracontinental Cenozoic transpressional zone that comprises a series of active strike-slip faults and thrust faults. It is important to document cumulative horizontal displacements along the NMTP in order to understand quantitatively strain partitioning in East Asia since the India–Eurasia collision. Based on an analysis of horizontal slip along major active faults, the total amount of horizontal displacements is estimated up to 700 km between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tarim Basin since the convergence of India and Eurasia. Along the western and middle segment of the Altyn Tagh fault to the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, there are abundant evidence that show that the net displacement is 400 km since 40–35 Ma, and along the Shulenan Shan and southeast of middle Qilian Shan since 25–17 Ma, the amount of offset is 150 km. The largest horizontal slip in Qilian Shan–Hexi Corridor to the northeast of the Altyn Tagh fault is also 150 km since late Oligocene to early Miocene. It decreases to only 60 km along the Haiyuan fault (since late Miocene) and to 25 km along the Zhongwei–Tongxin fault since the Pliocene (about 5.3–3.4 Ma), at the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This clearly implies northeastward diminishing of the total horizontal displacement and temporal getting younger of the fault slip along the NMTP. However, this tendency is very complicated at different times and different segments as a result of the uplift, growth and rotation of different segments of the NMTP at different stages during the convergence of India and Eurasia.     

Tertiary geodynamic evolution of the Southern Adria microplate

The southern Adria microplate is the common foreland for the Hellenide and Southern Apennine thrust belts. The Apulian Platform dominates the microplate; outcrop, well and seismic data allow us to trace the carbonate platform edge, whilst structural analysis, geophysical and palaeomagnetic data provide important clues to the geodynamic evolution of the region. The present structural fabric of Apulia is dominated by several E-W lineaments that divide the region into different blocks (Rospo Plateau, Gargano Promontory, Murge Ridge, Salento Peninsula, Apulian Plateau). One such lineament (the Pescara Dubrovnik ‘Line’, a prominent feature traversing the Adriatic Sea between central Italy and southern Croatia) has been active since the early Mesozoic, when it acted as a major transform fault controlling sedimentation along the northern margin of Southern Adria. During the Cenozoic the Pescara-Dubrovnik underwent predominantly vertical and oblique movement due to a differential flexural response of the platform and the adjacent pelagic sequences to the thrust belt loading. In Tertiary time the Southern Adria microplate was partly involved in HeIlenide collision. The Apulian platform can be considered as an area of thicker crust more resistant to underthrusting than the surrounding basins. During the orogenic events it acted as a passive rigid indentor, causing local distortion of the most external Hellenide structures. The dextral transpressive activity recorded along the south-east margin of this indentor (Kephallinia line) can be interpreted as the result of the oblique collision between the margin of the thick Apulian Platform (in this zone NNE-SSW striking) and the NW-SE striking Hellenic thrust belt. Horizontal stress generated during the collision was partly transmitted to the rigid foreland re-activating palaeo E-W faults within the south Adria microplate in a dextral strike-slip sense. The clockwise rotation recorded in the Salento Peninsula can be explained by the rotation of several NW-SE striking faulted blocks. The rotation was accompanied by the opening of small transtensional basins between blocks. This block rotation was caused by the dextral shear that is expressed along the North and the South Salento Fault Zones.     

Touhuanping Fault, an active wrench fault within fold-and-thrust belt in northwestern Taiwan, documented by spatial analysis of fluvial terraces

This study aims at the recent activity and development of an active wrench fault, the Touhuanping Fault in northwestern Taiwan. Northwestern Taiwan has been proposed in a current situation between the mature to waning collision in terms of tectonic evolution. The main drainage in this area, the Chungkang River, flows close to the trace of the fault mentioned above. We examined various types of deformation of fluvial terraces along the Chungkang River as a key to understanding the nature and rate of the late Quaternary tectonics. The E–W trending Touhuanping Fault has long been mapped as a geological boundary fault, but its recent activity was suspected. Field survey revealed that its late Quaternary activity is recorded in the offset fluvial terraces. Our result shows dextral slip and vertical offset with upthrown side on the south, and activated at least twice since the emergence of terrace 4 (older terrace 3 with OSL date of ca. 80 ka). Total amount of offset recorded in the Touhuanping terrace sequence is 15 m for dextral and 10 m for vertical offset. Estimated recurrence time of earthquake rupture may be a few tens of thousand years. Uplift on the upthrown side of the Touhuanping Fault also resulted in the formation of drowned valleys which were graded to terrace 4. Other deformation features, such as back-tilting, westward warping, and a range-facing straight scarp, were also identified. A second-order anticline roughly parallel to the Touhuanping Fault is suggested to be the origin of the northward tilting on terrace 3; it could have resulted from a flower structure on the Touhuanping Fault at shallow depth. This may demonstrate that the buried segment of the Touhuanping Fault has also been active since 80 ka. In the northern study area, the westward warping at terrace 2 probably represents late Quaternary activity of another NE–SW trending Hsincheng Fault.     

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.     

The Northwestern (Maghreb) boundary of the Nubia (Africa) Plate

A study of the present compressional deformation of the Northwestern (Maghreb) Nubia (Africa) margin is derived from the analysis of more than 20,000 km of seismic profiles. In the western part the compression is distributed in a large zone with on-land compression in Algeria, mainly strike-slip deformation on the Algerian margin and folds and strike-slip faulting in Eastern Spain. In the middle of the Algerian margin, around Algiers, the evidences of compression become more obvious. In this area a ridge trending N–S that is interpreted as a middle to late Miocene spreading center interacted with the transpressional margin that trends E–W. North of the location of the Boumerdes–Zemmouri earthquake the oceanic crust is deformed by blind thrusts up to 60 km from the coast. These thrusts are south dipping and with the northward dipping thrusts located onshore form a wedge that maybe a positive flower structure at a crustal scale related to the right-lateral transpression of the margin. In the eastern part of the Northwestern (Maghreb) Nubia (Africa) Deformed Belt, off eastern Algeria and Tunisia, the deformation is more intense but limited to the north by the continental slope. Large late Miocene Tortonian folds are cut by the Messinian erosional surface but the present deformation is also evident. It is suggested that the deformation with a double vergence may be followed up to the north of Sicily. After the docking (18 Ma) of the Kabylies to the Africa Plate, the crust has been thinned and the Algerian Basin opened during the middle-late Miocene with an E–W direction. From the late Miocene to the Present the margin has been rethickened by transpression and uplifted.     

Rate of strike-slip motion on the Amanos Fault (Karasu Valley, southern Turkey) constrained by K–Ar dating and geochemical analysis of Quaternary basalts

The left-lateral Amanos Fault follows a 200-km-long and up to 2-km-high escarpment that bounds the eastern margin of the Amanos mountain range and the western margin of the Karasu Valley in southern Turkey, just east of the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea. Regional kinematic models have reached diverse conclusions as to the role of this fault in accommodating relative motion between either the African and Arabian, Turkish and African, or Turkish and Arabian plates. Local studies have tried to estimate its slip rate by K–Ar dating Quaternary basalts that erupted within the Amanos Mountains, flowed across it into the Karasu Valley, and have since become offset. However, these studies have yielded a wide range of results, ranging from 0.3 to 15 mm a⁻¹, which do not allow the overall role and significance of this fault in accommodating crustal deformation to be determined. We have used the Cassignol K–Ar method to date nine Quaternary basalt samples from the vicinity of the southern part of the Amanos Fault. These basalts exhibit a diverse chemistry, which we interpret as a consequence varying degrees of partial melting of their source combined with variable crustal contamination. This dating allows us to constrain the Quaternary slip rate on the Amanos fault to 1.0 to 1.6 mm a⁻¹. The dramatic discrepancies between past estimates of this slip rate are partly due to technical difficulties in K–Ar dating of young basalts by isotope dilution. In addition, previous studies at the key locality of Hacılar have unwittingly dated different, chemically distinct, flow units of different ages that are juxtaposed. This low slip rate indicates that, at present, the Amanos Fault takes up a small proportion of the relative motion between the African and Arabian plates, which is transferred southward to the Dead Sea Fault Zone. It also provides strong evidence against the long-standing view that its slip continues offshore to the southwest along a hypothetical left-lateral fault zone located south of Cyprus.     

The Phuket-Slate Belt terrane: tectonic evolution and strike-slip emplacement of a major terrane on the Sundaland margin of Thailand and Myanmar

The Phuket-Slate Belt terrane can be traced for 1700 km from Phuket to Mandalay, and has a distinct stratigraphy and tectonic history. It is characterized by a very thick Carboniferous-Lower Permian succession which includes diamictites interpreted as glacio-marine rift-infill deposited when the Sibumasu block separated from Gondwana. It was emplaced in the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene by dextral strike-slip movement on a fault system which includes the Khlong Marui and Panlaung Faults. Southwards the Khlong Marui bounding-fault and its close associate, the Ranong Fault, are postulated to extend to Sumatra where they align with the restored proto-Indian Ocean location of the India–Australia transform at the time that both were undergoing dextral displacement and Greater India was moving toward its collision with Eurasia. It is suggested that emplacement of the Phuket-Slate Belt terrane was the result of its coupling with the north-going India plate, resulting in up to about 450 km of dextral shift on the terrane's bounding fault system. Post-emplacement sinistral movement on the cross-cutting Mae Ping and Three Pagodas Faults offset the terrane boundary resulting in its present outline.     

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.     

Kinematics of orocline-parallel faults in the Texas and Coffs Harbour oroclines (eastern Australia) and the role of flexural slip during oroclinal bending

The Texas and Coffs Harbour oroclines are defined by a Z-shaped curvature in the southern New England Orogen (eastern Australia), but the geometry and kinematics of faults around these oroclines, as well as their possible role during oroclinal bending, have hitherto not been understood. Using aeromagnetic and open file seismic data, as well as field observations, the pattern, geometry and kinematics of fault systems, have been investigated. Fault traces with a strike-slip component are oriented parallel to the curved magnetic and structural fabrics of the Texas and Coffs Harbour oroclines. Our observations show evidence for sinistral or sinistral-reverse, dextral (or dextral-reverse) and normal kinematics along NW-striking faults. The dominant kinematics along NNE- and NE-striking faults is dextral or dextral-reverse. The timing of faulting is not well constrained, but the ubiquitous recognition of orocline-parallel faults may suggest that a flexural slip mechanism operated during oroclinal bending in the early–middle Permian (ca 299–265 Ma). Our observations indicate that many of the orocline-parallel faults, with strike-slip separation, were reactivated during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, as indicated by the recognition of displaced Triassic granitoids, Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and Cenozoic basalts.     

Middle Pleistocene to Holocene activity of the Gondola Fault Zone (Southern Adriatic Foreland): Deformation of a regional shear zone and seismotectonic implications

Recent seismicity in and around the Gargano Promontory, an uplifted portion of the Southern Adriatic Foreland domain, indicates active E–W strike-slip faulting in a region that has also been struck by large historical earthquakes, particularly along the Mattinata Fault. Seismic profiles published in the past two decades show that the pattern of tectonic deformation along the E–W-trending segment of the Gondola Fault Zone, the offshore counterpart of the Mattinata Fault, is strikingly similar to that observed onshore during the Eocene–Pliocene interval. Based on the lack of instrumental seismicity in the south Adriatic offshore, however, and on standard seismic reflection data showing an undisturbed Quaternary succession above the Gondola Fault Zone, this fault zone has been interpreted as essentially inactive since the Pliocene. Nevertheless, many investigators emphasised the genetic relationships and physical continuity between the Mattinata Fault, a positively active tectonic feature, and the Gondola Fault Zone. The seismotectonic potential of the system formed by these two faults has never been investigated in detail. Recent investigations of Quaternary sedimentary successions on the Adriatic shelf, by means of very high-resolution seismic–stratigraphic data, have led to the identification of fold growth and fault propagation in Middle–Upper Pleistocene and Holocene units. The inferred pattern of gentle folding and shallow faulting indicates that sediments deposited during the past ca. 450 ka were recurrently deformed along the E–W branch of the Gondola Fault Zone.We performed a detailed reconstruction and kinematic interpretation of the most recent deformation observed along the Gondola Fault Zone and interpret it in the broader context of the seismotectonic setting of the Southern Apennines-foreland region. We hypothesise that the entire 180 km-long Molise–Gondola Shear Zone is presently active and speculate that also its offshore portion, the Gondola Fault Zone, has a seismogenic behaviour.     

Faulting history at the eastern termination of the High Atlas Fault (Western High Atlas,Morocco)

At its eastern termination, the High Atlas Fault in the Western High Atlas in Morocco, consists of a splay of three faults. In the interjacent fault blocks, Neo- and Paleoproterozoic basement, forming the northernmost extremity of the NW-African Craton, is cropping out. The Precambrian basement witnesses a long history of brittle deformation starting at the end of the Pan-African Orogeny. A subsequent episode of normal faulting can be related to the development of a Hercynian basin along the northern passive margin of the cratonic promontory. With regard to the main tectonic activity in the Western High Atlas, basically two models exist: one emphasising block tectonics reflecting Mesozoic rifting followed by Alpine uplift and inversion, the other emphasising Late Paleozoic dextral wrench tectonics. The analysis of the fault activity along the splay faults reveals a predominantly Alpine history, consisting of the Triassic development of the Atlas Rift along the axial zone of the orogen, followed by uplift and inversion. The Late Jurassic to Cenozoic fault activity took place in a sinistral transpressive regime and was partitioned over the three splay faults. Dextral strike-slip fault activity could not be demonstrated in the fault blocks nor along the splay faults. Therefore the faults were probably not involved in Late Paleozoic dextral wrench tectonics.     

Compressional- and transpressional-stress pattern for Pliocene and Quaternary brittle deformation in fore arc and intra-arc zones (Andes of Central and Southern Chile)

Kinematic analysis of fault slip data for stress determination was carried out on Late Miocene to Quaternary rocks from the fore arc and intra-arc regions of the Chilean Andes, between 33° and 46° south latitudes. Studies of Neogene and Quaternary infilling (the Central Depression), as well as plutonic rocks of the North Patagonian Batholith along the Liquiñe–Ofqui Fault Zone, have revealed various compressional and/or transpressional states of stress. In the Pliocene, the maximum compressional stress (σ₁) was generally oriented east–west. During the Quaternary, the deformation was partitioned into two coeval distinctive states of stress. In the fore arc zone, the state of stress was compressional, with σ₁ oriented in a N–S to NNE–SSW direction. In the intra-arc zone the state of stress was transpressional with σ₁ striking NE–SW. Along the coast, in one site (37°30′S) the Quaternary strain deformation is extensional, with an E–W direction, which can be explained by a co-seismic crustal bending readjustment.     

Newly found Tunglo Active Fault System in the fold and thrust belt in northwestern Taiwan deduced from deformed terraces and its tectonic significance

We found active faults in the fold and thrust belt between Tunglo town and the Tachia River in northwestern Taiwan. The surface rupture occurred in 1999 and 1935 nearby the study area, but no historical surface rupture is recorded in this area, suggesting that the seismic energy has been accumulated during the recent time. Deformed fluvial terraces aid in understanding late Quaternary tectonics in this tectonically active area. This area contains newly identified faults that we group as the Tunglo Fault System, which formed after the area's oldest fluvial terrace and appears at least 16 km long in roughly N–S orientation. Its progressive deformations are all recorded in associated terraces developed during the middle to late Quaternary. In the north, the system consists of two subparallel active faults, the Tunglo Fault and Tunglo East Fault, striking N–S and facing each other from opposite sides of the northward flowing Hsihu River, whose course may be controlled by interactions of above-mentioned two active faults. The northern part of the Tunglo Fault, to the west of the river, is a reverse fault with upthrown side on the west; conversely the Tunglo East Fault, to the east, is also a reverse fault, but with upthrown side on the east. Both faults are marked by a flexural scarp or eastward tilting of fluvial terraces. Considering a Quaternary syncline lies subparallel to the east of this fault system, the Tunglo Fault might be originated as a bending moment fault and the Tunglo East Fault as a flexural slip fault. However, they have developed as obvious reverse faults, which have progressive deformation under E–W compressive stress field of Taiwan. Farther south, a west-facing high scarp, the Tunglo South Fault, strikes NNE–SSW, oblique to the region's E–W direction of compression. Probably due to the strain partitioning, the Tunglo South Fault generates en echelon, elongated ridges and swales to accommodate right-lateral strike–slip displacement. Other structures in the area include eastward-striking portion of the Sanyi Fault, which has no evidence for late Quaternary surface rupture on this fault; perhaps slip on this part of Sanyi Fault ceased when the Tunglo Fault System became active.     

Ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks in the Percy Isles and Shoalwater Bay region,New England Fold Belt,central Queensland

Ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks of the eastern part of the New England Fold Belt in the Shoalwater Bay region and the Percy Isles are grouped in the Marlborough and Shoalwater terranes, respectively. Marlborough terrane units occur on South Island (Percy Isles) and comprise the Northumberland Serpentinite, antigorite serpentinite with rodingite and more silicic dykes and mafic inclusions, the Chase Point Metabasalt, some 800+ metres of pillow lava, and the intervening South Island Shear Zone containing fault‐bounded slices of mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks, schist, and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, and zones of mélange. The Shoalwater terrane, an ancient subduction complex, consists of the Shoalwater Formation greenschist facies metamorphosed quartz sandstone and mudstone on North East Island and on the mainland at Arthur Point, the Townshend Formation, amphibolite‐grade quartzite, schist and metabasalt on Townshend Island, and the Broome Head Metamorphics on the western side of Shoalwater Bay, upper amphibolite facies quartz‐rich gneiss. With the exception of a sliver emplaced onto the western Yarrol terrane, possibly by gravity sliding, Shoalwater terrane rocks show the effects of Late Permian polyphase deformation. The Shacks Mylonite Zone along the northwest edge of the Broome Head Metamorphics marks a zone of oblique thrusting and is part of the major Stanage Fault Zone. The latter is a northeast‐striking oblique‐slip dextral tear fault active during Late Permian west‐directed thrusting that emplaced large ultramafic sheets farther south. Marlborough terrane rocks were emplaced along the Stanage Fault Zone, probably from the arc basement on which rocks of the Yarrol terrane were deposited. Structural trends and the distribution of rock units in the Shoalwater Bay‐Percy Isles region are oblique to the overall structural trend of the northern New England Fold Belt, probably due to the presence of a promontory in the convergent margin active in this region in Devonian and Carboniferous time.     

中国阿尔泰造山带南缘额尔齐斯断裂带的构造变形及意义

额尔齐斯断裂是中亚造山带中的一条重要深大断裂,对于额尔齐斯断裂运动性质一直有着走滑断层、逆冲断层和压扭性断层等不同看法.本文在中国阿尔泰造山带南缘开展了详细的构造地质学工作,研究结果表明,额尔齐斯断裂及其次级断裂组成额尔齐斯断裂带.额尔齐斯断裂带在中国境内是一条宽约20 ～ 40km,长约400km,经受不同程度构造作用的强应变带,剪切作用影响范围遍布整个中国阿尔泰造山带南缘.额尔齐斯断裂带经历了左行走滑和右行走滑两个阶段.结合前人有关韧性剪切带成因型金矿、同构造岩体侵位与变形关系及对变质岩石40Ar/39Ar年代学研究,本文认为额尔齐斯断裂带的左行走滑构造形成于早二叠世(283～275Ma).早二叠世之后,额尔齐斯断裂带叠加了右行走滑事件,其活动时限可能为晚二叠世(260 ～ 245 Ma),其规模远远小于前期的左行走滑构造.额尔齐斯断裂带走滑活动性质的确定,为二叠纪北疆及整个中亚造山带造山后调整过程中不同的构造方式提供了佐证.