Superposed deformation in turbidites and syn-sedimentary slides of the tectonically active Miocene Waitemata Basin, northern New Zealand

The Miocene Waitemata Basin was deposited on a moving base provided by the Northland Allochthon, which was emplaced in the Late Oligocene, as a new convergent plate boundary was established in northern New Zealand. The basin experienced complex interaction between tectonic and gravity‐driven shallow deformation. Spectacular examples of the resulting structures exposed on eastern Whangaparaoa Peninsula 50 km north of Auckland provide a world‐class example of weak rock deformation, the neglected domain between soft‐sediment and hard rock deformation. Quartz‐poor turbidite sequences display a protracted sequence of deformations: D1, synsedimentary slumping; D2, large scale deeper‐seated sliding and extensional low‐angle shearing, associated with generation of boudinage and broken formation; D3, thrusting and folding, indicating transport mostly to the SE; D4, thrusting and folding in the opposite direction; D5, further folding, including sinistral shear; D6, steep faults. The deformation sequence suggests continuous or intermittent southeastward transport of units with increasing sedimentary and structural burial. By phase D3, the rocks had passed from the soft‐sediment state to low levels of consolidation. However, with a compressive strength of ～5 MPa they are weak rocks even today. Such weak‐rock deformation must be important in other sedimentary basins, especially those associated with active convergent plate boundaries and with immature source areas for their sediments.