Proglacial glaciotectonic deformation at Melabakkar-Ásbakkar, west Iceland

A study of proglacial deformation associated with a Late Weichselian glaciomarine sequence was carried out at Melabakkar-Ásbakkar, west Iceland. At this site, coarse-grained sediments have been deformed into compressive structures with no associated push moraine morphology. Two large structures were examined, Structure A which consists of large-scale reverse (and normal) faulting and overturned bedding; and Structure B, which is more complex, with open folding, high-angle reverse faulting, nappe structures and normal faulting. The structures were interpreted as the result of increasing compressive proglacial deformation, followed by subglacial deformation, which destroyed the surface morphology of the push moraine and incorporated some of the sediments into a subglacial diamicton. The results from this study were compared with other examples of proglacial deformation, and it is suggested that at sites where deformation was restricted to the margin, longitudinal strain was lower than at sites where deformation extended out into the foreland. It is also suggested that if deformation increases downglacier, this is indicative of an overall glacial advance, whilst if the deformation decreases downglacier, this is indicative of a glacial retreat.     

Shearing of partially consolidated sediments in a lower trench slope setting,Shimanto Belt,SW Japan

Detailed mapping of a coastal platform in Shikoku, SW Japan, provides evidence for progressive deformation in partially lithified sediments. The Eocene sediments involved are interpreted as lower slope basin deposits. An assemblage of listric normal faults, sheath folds, broken formations and late-stage faulting has developed during the sediments' burial and uplift history. These structures are typical of many other areas in the Shimanto Belt of Shikoku. Despite the ‘soft’ sediment style of deformation, the consistency of the fold orientations relative to the regional foliation suggests that they are valid kinematic indicators. A sequence of extensional faulting overprinted by synchronous folding and shearing is recognized. This is interpreted as the response of the sediments to shape changes in the accretionary basement induced by shortening. A general model has been constructed for the evolution of the structures: it is proposed that early listric normal faults are subsequently deformed either by shearing along planar surfaces or by motion over frontal and lateral ramps. Back-rotation of sediments during progressive shortening near the front of the prism tightens the fold hinges and rotates the fold axes towards the local shear direction. Alternative sequences which could account for the observed geometries are also discussed.     

Bulk finite tectonic strain estimates from the deformation of neptunian dykes

Large sedimentary dykes, which penetrate down through their host sediments for several metres, are described from the Late Precambrian Dalradian sediments of Islay in the southwest Scottish Highlands. The sediments and their neptunian dykes have suffered a single penetrative deformation which produced a slaty cleavage during the evolution of the Islay nappe. Ratios of the three principal finite strains are calculated for the bulk or large-scale, homogeneous deformation of the sediments and their neptunian dykes using the method of Borradaile and Johnson (1973) and a new, more general method. Since the neptunian dykes result from the infilling of fractures in already consolidated sediments, subsequent considerable volume changes are unlikely to have occurred. Accepting constant volume post-diagenetic deformation the bulk tectonic strain is shown to have, in round figures: 70% shortening normal to slaty cleavage and extensions of 50% and 120% within the cleavage. The deformation accompanying the slaty cleavage lies within the field of true flattening.     

Sediment slump structures: a review of diagnostic criteria and application to an example from Newfoundland

In the study of the history of deformed sedimentary rocks it is important that the cause of the deformation and the timing of deformation relative to metamorphic and tectonic events be assessed. There is a continuous gradation between the deformation of freshly deposited sediments by gravitational forces and the deformation of well-lithified sediments by tectonic forces, so determining the degree to which gravity, tectonism and lithification influenced deformation can be very difficult. The characteristics that may be considered in determining the origin of deformational structures in sedimentary rocks can be divided into five categories: Ductile deformation structures (1) can provide definitive criteria for recognizing post-lithification deformation, but not pre-lithification deformation. This also holds for (2), brittle deformation structures and décollements. Overprinting of sediment reworking or remobilization structures (3) are the best criteria for recognizing pre-lithification structures. Fabrics (4) can be very useful but are as yet poorly understood, and there are misconceptions in the literature about what sort of fabrics are or are not found in unlithified sediments. Spatial relationships (5) may also tell us a great deal, but are most useful when taken in conjunction with other types of evidence.Complex fold patterns in sandstones on Farmer Head, north-central Newfoundland, provide a case study for criteria that may be used to determine the degree of lithification during deformation. Although these folds have been interpreted as slump folds by earlier workers, fabrics and spatial relationships point to a tectonic post-lithification origin for the structures, a conclusion which has significant implications for the interpretation of the regional geology.     

Differentiation of diamictons (glacigenic – non-glacigenic) using microstructure abundancies and types

As mobile diamicton sediments move across already deposited sediments whether on land or into oceans generated by either glaciers/ice sheets or landslides, a series of soft-sediment deformation processes occur. These sediments carry signatures of processes at both macro- and micro scales. The processes occur across thin layers of sediment, it is at the microsedimentological scale that deformation structures are detected and is the subject of this paper. Examination of numerous diamicton thin sections of both known glacigenic and non-glacigenic sediments illustrate a myriad of microstructures. Microstructures can be subdivided into brittle, ductile, porewater induced and plasmic fabrics. These fabrics are part of a spectrum of development from grain stacks, to microshear to rotations and, in addition, domains are likely to occur due to scavenging and are all part of a repeating cycle of deformation as sediment is added, eroded, re-transported into the accumulating sediment pile. Diamictons can be subdivided into several levels of abundance of microstructure types from very common to rare to being absent. In general, other than ‘tile’ structures, all diamictons have all types of microstructures. A table is presented illustrating the differentiation of various type of diamictons in terms of microstructure type abundancies in relation to individual environments in which diamictons occur around the past margins of glaciated continents. A distinction can be successfully drawn that allows diamictons to be distinguished and differentiated.     

Genesis of deformation structures affecting Plio-Pleistocene sediments in the western Portuguese mainland (West Iberia). Implication on the regional neotectonics

A careful analysis of the morphology, geologic setting, stratigraphic distribution and sedimentological context of deformation features in sediments can give valuable information for the interpretation of their genesis, namely if they are of sedimentary or tectonic origin. This approach was used for the study area, located in the western region of the Portuguese mainland (West Iberian margin), where significant neotectonic and seismic activities occur, contrasting with the stabler interior of Iberia. Notwithstanding the regional neotectonics (intended as upper Pliocene to Recent), part of the deformation features observed in the studied deposits (Pliocene to Pleistocene in age) may be attributed to other phenomena but seismic shaking and/or active faulting. Slump beds and flame structures in coarse sand deposits are probably related to sedimentary overloading in high supply delta plain setting. Part of the deformation observed in the sediments that overlie Jurassic marls and limestones was probably induced by karst sink. This process is plausible even in Plio-Pleistocene sediments that overlie low carbonate content basement rocks, such as marl dominated successions. Thus, the abundance of deformation features affecting the studied Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary cover may lead to an overestimation of the regional active tectonics. The neotectonic activity in this area is reconsidered from the interpretation of the triggering mechanisms responsible for the observed deformation.     

The application of stress path and critical state analysis to sediment deformation

The importance of consolidation, compression and shear as deformation mechanisms in uncemented sediments is discussed and the critical state concept is introduced as a unifying model for these aspects of deformation. From the critical state and the law of effective stress, the concepts of burial and tectonic stress paths are introduced with reference to the development of growth faults in an unlithified sediment undergoing simultaneous burial and extension. It is demonstrated that particulate deformation mechanisms can be important at burial depths of several kilometres, especially if the sediment is overpressured, and that deformation of this type will influence the geometry and nature of the structures produced. A model for the geometry and spacing of growth faults developed in unlithified sediments is proposed utilizing stress path and critical state concepts.     

羌塘地块东南部上三叠统巴贡组软沉积变形特征及其意义

羌塘地块东南部巴青、索县一带,在上三叠统巴贡组内发育大量未固结状态下发生的软沉积变形。其形态特征主要表现为枕状、球状、链状以及卷曲状,在平面较大范围内均有发现,纵向上密集分布,100余米长的扎德改剖面中发育有7层明显的软沉积变形构造。经过详细地变形特征描述与比对,认为这些软沉积变形主要是与地震振动相关的震积岩,部分变形清晰地显示出受伸展背景的控制。震积岩是软沉积物对古构造活动的记录,研究区内巴贡组震积岩的密集发育表明巴贡组沉积期区域构造活动强烈,对比晚三叠世早期地层中震积岩的发育状况,发现构造活动在诺利中晚期更加强烈,与羌塘地块中晚三叠世火山岩的年代呼应。     

Subglacial and subaqueous processes near a glacier grounding line: sedimentological evidence from a former ice-dammed lake, Achnasheen Scotland

Subglacial and subaqueous sediments deposited near the margin of a Late-glacial ice-dammed lake near Achnasheen, northern Scotland, are described and interpreted. The subglacial sediments consist of deformation tills and glacitectonites derived from pre-existing glaciolacustrine deposits, and the subaqueous sediments consist of ice-proximal outwash and sediment flow deposits, and distal turbidites. Sediment was delivered from the glacier to the lake by two main processes: (1) subglacial till deformation, which fed debris flows at the grounding line; and (2) meltwater transport, which fed sediment-gravity flows on prograding outwash fans. Beyond the ice-marginal environment, deposition was from turbidity currents, ice-rafting and settling of suspended sediments. The exposures support the conclusion that the presence of a subglacial deforming layer can exert an important influence on sedimentation at the grounding lines of calving glaciers.     

Sphalerite-bearing detrital ‘sand’ bodies in Mississippi Valley-type zinc deposits Mascot-Jefferson City district,Tennessee

The Mississippi Valley-type sphalerite mineralization in the Mascot-Jefferson City zinc district of East Tennessee occurs as open-space fillings in breccia bodies within the upper part of the Knox Group (Lower Ordovician) which is truncated by a regional unconformity. A lower age limit of mineralization is constrained by the formation of solution-collapse breccia bodies, which are believed to be related to the post-Knox unconformity. The breccias contain irregularly distributed “sand” bodies that represent cavities filled with well-laminated and size-graded, sphalerite-bearing, detrital, internal sediments. The texture, composition, and fluid inclusion characteristics of the sphalerite, are consistent with its local derivation from the wallrocks as detrital grains. The conformability between the laminations in the sediments and the bedding planes of the host carbonate rocks suggests that the sand bodies formed prior to the regional deformation event (Alleghenian orogeny). The stylolitization of carbonate and sphalerite clasts in the internal sediments as well as the deformation of the sphalerite are also consistent with a pre-Alleghenian age for the emplacement of the main-stage sphalerite mineralization in the Mascot-Jefferson City district and, by analogy, in other Lower Ordovician-hosted Mississippi Valley-type districts of the southern Appalachians.     

波浪作用下考虑海床变形影响的溶质运移数值模拟

波浪会促进海水中溶质向海底沉积物运移,但已有研究大多未考虑海床（海底沉积物）变形效应的影响。为揭示波浪作用下海床土变形对溶质运移过程的影响机制,构建了考虑海床土变形影响的溶质运移计算模型,对波浪作用下溶质向砂质海底沉积物中的运移过程进行模拟。结果表明:海床土变形会增大孔隙水流速,进而增大溶质纵向水动力弥散系数,增强溶质运移的机械弥散作用,促进溶质向沉积物中运移;考虑海床变形时的溶质最大纵向水动力弥散系数可达不考虑海床变形时的8.5倍,约为分子扩散系数的545倍;海床土剪切模量越小,土体变形效应越明显,对溶质运移过程的影响越大;海床土饱和度的降低,会进一步加速波浪作用下溶质向海底沉积物的运移过程。     

Deep structure, recent deformation and analog modeling of the Gulf of Cadiz accretionary wedge: Implications for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake

The Gulf of Cadiz spans the plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia west of the Betic-Rif mountain belt. A narrow east dipping subduction zone descends beneath the Gulf of Cadiz and the straits of Gibraltar. The deep crustal structure of the Gulf and the adjacent SW Iberian and Moroccan margins is constrained by numerous multi-channel seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic surveys. A compilation of these existing studies is presented in the form of depth to basement, sediment thickness, depth to Moho and crustal thickness maps. These structural maps image an E-W trending trough, with thin (< 10 km) crust beneath the Gulf of Cadiz. This trough is filled by an eastward thickening wedge of sediments, reaching a thickness of 10-15 km in the eastern Gulf. These sediments are tectonically deformed, primarily along a series of westward-vergent thrust faults and represent a 200-250 km wide accretionary wedge. The northern and especially the southern limits of the accretionary wedge are marked by sharp morphological lineaments showing evidence of recent deformation. These tectonic limits are situated in an internal position with respect to the Miocene deformation front (external Betic and Rif allocthons), which has been abandoned. At the western boundary of the accretionary wedge, near the adjacent Seine and Horseshoe abyssal plains, an E-W trending basement high (Coral Patch Ridge) can be seen indenting the deformation front in an asymmetric manner. Analog modeling is performed using granular materials accreted against a semicircular backstop (representing the basement of the Rif and Betic mountain belts). The modeling initially produces a symmetric, arcuate accretionary wedge. The ensuing collision of an oblique rigid indenter retards accretion on one side, resulting in an embayment and a locally steeper deformation front. The deformation pattern observed in morphology and high-resolution seismic profiles suggests the accretionary wedge and underlying subduction system is still active. The implications of active subduction for the source region of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the regional seismic hazard assessment are discussed.     

青藏高原东南缘构造旋转变形分析:以四川盐源盆地古地磁研究为例

探究青藏高原东南缘构造旋转变形有助于理解青藏高原内部物质向东南方向的挤出过程。目前,有关青藏高原东南缘的构造旋转研究主要针对于两套地层:侏罗系—始新统和中新统—第四系。对侏罗系—始新统研究表明了大范围的顺时针旋转变形的存在,而对中新统—第四系的研究则表明该区域可能同时存在逆时针旋转变形。然而,对这两种构造旋转变形的时间和幅度仍缺乏充分的制约。位于川滇地块的四川盐源盆地同时出露这两套地层。磁性地层研究表明,上新统—中更新统的时代为3.6~0.6 Ma。磁偏角数据揭示上新统—中更新统经历了逆时针旋转变形(-14.4°±2.7°),而古新统—始新统经历了明显的顺时针旋转(10°~21.5°),两套地层间的旋转幅度高达36.6°。鉴于青藏高原东南缘发生大规模顺时针旋转变形的最年轻地层为始新统地层,因此顺时针旋转变形可能发生在始新世—中新世某个时间段。这个时间与红河—哀牢山走滑断裂带的活动时间基本一致,因此顺时针旋转变形可能与该大型断裂带的活动直接相关。盐源盆地记录到的逆时针旋转变形发生于至少3.6 Ma以来,平均旋转速率为4°/Ma。由于磁组构数据表明上新世—中更新世地层并未受到挤压变形作用,因此其逆时针旋转变形可能受周围走滑断裂带的控制。     

黄河下游与黄河三角洲现代非地震变形层理的研究

变形层理是软沉积变形构造(SSDS)研究中的重要内容,而SSDS的研究又是沉积学、工程地质、地震学及构造地质学等近期的研究热点。但是,目前人们对地震SSDS和非地震SSDS的精确辨识还存在一定的困难,所以建立起地震与非地震SSDS的辨识标准是非常重要的,变形层理又是SSDS研究中的重中之重,因此,对变形层理的研究具有重要意义。研究表明,黄河下游现代沉积中发育了大量的变形层理,确凿的证据证明这些变形层理与地震毫无关系,因此详细地研究这些变形层理对于建立识别地震SSDS和非地震SSDS标准具有较重要意义。黄河下游(包括黄河三角洲分流河道)发育的变形层理类型及成因多样,既有典型的包卷层理,也有极不规则的一般变形层理;从成因上,既有密度或重力倒置形成的、也有波浪作用引起的滑动滑塌形成的、还有水牵引和滑动沉积物牵引形成的、甚至还有冰块拖移或压刻形成的变形层理。不同成因的变形层理具有其独特的几何学特征,可以作为其成因的可靠标志,同样也可以作为区别于地震成因的可靠标志。黄河下游发育的变形层理与黄河下游复杂的水动力条件和气候条件及沉积物粒度极细有密切关系。     

Modelling of fluid expulsion and deformation behaviour of dewatering sediments

A finite element model is developed for modelling coupled fluid expulsion/deformation behaviour of dewatering sediments subjected to external loadings under isothermal conditions. The non-linear deformation behaviour of the sediment (soil) skeleton is based on the force equilibrium equation in which the constitutive relationship of stress and strain is implemented by the modified Cam-Clay model in soil plasticity. The fluid flow behaviour in the model is described by the generalized porous media flow equation. The model allows temporal and spatial variations of porosity and permeability. The fluid viscosity and density are assumed to be temperature-dependent. The model also allows the development of single and multiple faults, depending upon the material (sediment and fluid) properties, loading and boundary conditions. Procedures are implemented for (1) updating the material properties such as porosity, permeability, fluid density and viscosity and (2) the development of faults which allow the formation of high-permeability conduits for fluid flow. The solution algorithm for displacements of the sediments and the excess pore (fluid) pressure is based on a residual load technique to handle the non-linear (elastic-plastic) deformation behaviour of the sediment skeleton. The model can be applied to one- and two-dimensional problems. Examples of a plane strain saturated sediment layer subjected to stepwise horizontal tractions versus time are given.     

Integrated micro- and macro-scale analyses of Last Glacial Maximum Irish Sea Diamicts from Abermawr and Traeth y Mwnt, Wales, UK

This study is part of a basin-wide re-evaluation of Irish Sea glacigenic deposits which aims to test whether diamicts, collectively known as Irish Sea Tills, represent in situ glacimarine sediments or sediments that have been reworked or deformed by the Last Glacial Maximum Irish Sea Glacier. New results are presented for two key localities at Abermawr and Traeth y Mwnt in Wales. Unlike previous studies in the Irish Sea region that have focused on macro-scale sedimentology and structural analyses, this study combines macro-scale and micro-scale sedimentary analyses. This approach reveals that the dominant diamict facies at Abermawr are subglacially deformed primary (glaci)marine deposits, emplaced by the Irish Sea Glacier. An inland glacial source is unlikely. The Traeth y Mwnt diamicts are likely to be subaqueous in origin, possibly formed in an ice-dammed lake in the Mwnt embayment. There are no indications of subglacial deformation or shearing at Mwnt; deformation structures are related to gravity-driven or density-driven mechanisms.     

Deformation in the Neoproterozoic Smalfjord Formation,northern Norway: an indicator of glacial depositional conditions?

Recent studies on Neoproterozoic climate change have prompted renewed interest in Neoproterozoic glacial deposits and renewed debate over the criteria used to identify the nature of glacial influence on sedimentation. Analyses of soft sediment deformation structures have provided important clues to distinguish between competing palaeoenvironmental interpretations of Quaternary glacial deposits; a similar approach is presented here in the analysis of Neoproterozoic glacial deposits of the Smalfjord Formation, northern Norway. A detailed sedimentological and structural analysis at several sites in the Varangerfjorden area reveals complex soft sediment deformation at various scales in conglomerate, sandstone and diamictite. Deformation is predominantly ductile and includes anticlinal and synclinal folding, flow noses, flame structures, recumbent folding and shear structures. The deformed sediments are associated predominantly with conglomerate and sandstone, which record glaciofluvial and deltaic depositional conditions. Some deformations can be attributed to rapid deposition and slumping, whereas others appear to record shear stress associated with overriding ice. The scale, style and range of deformation, together with the coarse-grained nature of the deformed sediments and facies associations, suggest that these were unfrozen outwash sediments that were overridden by ice and resedimented in a dynamic ice-proximal setting. Whereas recent studies of diamictite-bearing strata of the Smalfjord Formation had revealed no clear evidence of glacial influence on deposition, deformation structures documented here suggest that glacial conditions prevailed on the basin margin during deposition of Smalfjord Formation sediments, with sedimentary facies and deformation structures typical of temperate ice-proximal settings.     

Dissociation of gas hydrates by hydrocarbon migration and accumulation-derived slope failures: An example from the South China Sea

The mechanism of slope failure associated with overpressure that is caused by hydrocarbon migration and accumulation remains unclear. High-resolution seismic data and gas hydrate drilling data collected from the Shenhu gas hydrate field (site SH5) offer a valuable opportunity to study the relations between submarine slope failure and hydrocarbon accumulation and flow that is associated with a ～2 km-diameter gas chimney developed beneath site SH5 where none gas hydrates had been recovered by drilling and sampling despite the presence of distinct bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) and favorable gas hydrate indication. The mechanism of submarine slope failure resulted from buoyancy extrusion and seepage-derived deformation which were caused by overpressure from a ～1100 m-high gas column in a gas chimney was studied via numerical simulation. The ～9.55 MPa overpressure caused by hydrocarbons that migrated through the gas chimney and then accumulated beneath subsurface gas hydrate-bearing impermeable sediments. This may have resulted in a submarine slope failure, which disequilibrated the gas hydrate-bearing zone and completely decomposed the gas hydrate once precipitated at site SH5. Before the gas hydrate decomposition, the largely impermeable sediments overlying the gas chimney may have undergone a major upward deformation due to the buoyancy extrusion of the overpressure in the gas chimney, and slope failure was initiated from plastic strain of the sediments and reduced internal strength. Slope failure subsequently resulted in partial gas hydrate decomposition and sediment permeability increase. The pressurized gas in the gas chimney may have diffused into the overlying sediments controlled by seepage-derived deformation, causing an effective stress reduction at the base of the sediments and significant plastic deformation. This may have formed a new cycle of submarine slope failure and finally the total gas hydrate dissociation. The modeling results of buoyancy extrusion and seepage-derived deformation of the overpressure in the gas chimney would provide new understanding in the development of submarine slope failure and the link between slope failure and gas hydrate accumulation and dissociation.     

Sedimentological and deformational criteria for discriminating subglaciofluvial deposits from subaqueous ice‐contact fan deposits: A Pleistocene example (Ireland)

A pit located near Ballyhorsey, 28 km south of Dublin (eastern Ireland), displays subglacially deposited glaciofluvial sediments passing upwards into proglacial subaqueous ice‐contact fan deposits. The coexistence of these two different depositional environments at the same location will help with differentiation between two very similar and easily confused glacial lithofacies. The lowermost sediments show aggrading subglacial deposits indicating a constrained accommodation space, mainly controlled by the position of an overlying ice roof during ice‐bed decoupling. These sediments are characterized by vertically stacked tills with large lenses of tabular to channelized sorted sediments. The sorted sediments consist of fine‐grained laminated facies, cross‐laminated sand and channelized gravels, and are interpreted as subglaciofluvial sediments deposited within a subglacial de‐coupled space. The subglaciofluvial sequence is characterized by glaciotectonic deformation structures within discrete beds, triggered by fluid overpressure and shear stress during episodes of ice/bed recoupling (clastic dykes and folds). The upper deposits correspond to the deposition of successive hyperpycnal flows in a proximal proglacial lake, forming a thick sedimentary wedge erosively overlying the subglacial deposits. Gravel facies and large‐scale trough bedding sand are observed within this proximal wedge, while normally graded sand beds with developed bedforms are observed further downflow. The building of the prograding ice‐contact subaqueous fan implies an unrestricted accommodation space and is associated with deformation structures related to gravity destabilization during fan spreading (normal faults). This study facilitates the recognition of subglacial/submarginal depositional environments formed, in part, during localized ice/bed coupling episodes in the sedimentary record. The sedimentary sequence exposed in Ballyhorsey permits characterization of the temporal framework of meltwater production during deglaciation, the impact on the subglacial drainage system and the consequences on the Irish Sea Ice Stream flow mechanisms.     

Tertiary geodynamics of Sakhalin (NW Pacific) from anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility fabrics and paleomagnetic data

Sakhalin has been affected by several phases of Cretaceous and Tertiary deformation due to the complex interaction of plates in the northwest Pacific region. A detailed understanding of the strain is important because it will provide constraints on plate-scale processes that control the formation and deformation of marginal sedimentary basins. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data were obtained from fine-grained mudstones and siltstones from 22 localities in Sakhalin in order to provide information concerning tectonic strain. AMS data reliably record ancient strain tensor orientations before significant deformation of the sediments occurred. Paleomagnetically determined vertical-axis rotations of crustal rocks allow rotation of the fabrics back to their original orientation. Results from southwest Sakhalin indicate a N035°E-directed net tectonic transport from the mid-Paleocene to the early Miocene, which is consistent with the present-day relative motion between the Okhotsk Sea and Eurasian plates. Reconstruction of early–late Miocene AMS fabrics in east Sakhalin indicates a tectonic transport direction of N040°E. In west Sakhalin, the transport direction appears to have remained relatively consistent from the Oligocene to the late Miocene, but it has a different attitude of N080°E. This suggests local deflection of the stress and strain fields, which was probably associated with opening of the northern Tatar Strait. A northward-directed tectonic transport is observed in Miocene sediments in southeast Sakhalin, mid-Eocene sediments in east Sakhalin, and in Late Cretaceous rocks of west and northern Sakhalin, which may be associated with northwestward motion and subduction of the Pacific Plate in the Tertiary period. The boundaries of the separate regions defined by the AMS data are consistent with present-day plate models and, therefore, provide meaningful constraints on the tectonic evolution of Sakhalin.