Volcanic facies architecture of an intra-arc strike-slip basin, Santa Rita Mountains, Southern Arizona |
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Authors: | Cathy J Busby Kari N Bassett |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA;(2) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Prvt. Bag 3800, Christchurch, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | The three-dimensional arrangement of volcanic deposits in strike-slip basins is not only the product of volcanic processes,
but also of tectonic processes. We use a strike-slip basin within the Jurassic arc of southern Arizona (Santa Rita Glance
Conglomerate) to construct a facies model for a strike-slip basin dominated by volcanism. This model is applicable to releasing-bend
strike-slip basins, bounded on one side by a curved and dipping strike-slip fault, and on the other by curved normal faults.
Numerous, very deep unconformities are formed during localized uplift in the basin as it passes through smaller restraining
bends along the strike-slip fault. In our facies model, the basin fill thins and volcanism decreases markedly away from the
master strike-slip fault (“deep” end), where subsidence is greatest, toward the basin-bounding normal faults (“shallow” end).
Talus cone-alluvial fan deposits are largely restricted to the master fault-proximal (deep) end of the basin. Volcanic centers
are sited along the master fault and along splays of it within the master fault-proximal (deep) end of the basin. To a lesser
degree, volcanic centers also form along the curved faults that form structural highs between sub-basins and those that bound
the distal ends of the basin. Abundant volcanism along the master fault and its splays kept the deep (master fault-proximal)
end of the basin overfilled, so that it could not provide accommodation for reworked tuffs and extrabasinally-sourced ignimbrites
that dominate the shallow (underfilled) end of the basin. This pattern of basin fill contrasts markedly with that of nonvolcanic
strike-slip basins on transform margins, where clastic sedimentation commonly cannot keep pace with subsidence in the master
fault-proximal end. Volcanic and subvolcanic rocks in the strike-slip basin largely record polygenetic (explosive and effusive)
small-volume eruptions from many vents in the complexly faulted basin, referred to here as multi-vent complexes. Multi-vent
complexes like these reflect proximity to a continuously active fault zone, where numerous strands of the fault frequently
plumb small batches of magma to the surface. Releasing-bend extension promotes small, multivent styles of volcanism in preference
to caldera collapse, which is more likely to form at releasing step-overs along a strike-slip fault.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
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Keywords: | Intra-arc Strike-slip basin Volcanic facies architecture Glance Conglomerate Polygenetic Multi-vent |
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