Structural styles,hydrocarbon prospects,and potential in the Salt Range and Potwar Plateau,north Pakistan

The Salt Range/Potwar Plateau (SRPP) is part of the Himalayan foreland and an important petroleum province in north Pakistan. The hydrocarbons are commonly produced from stacked Cambrian to Eocene clastic and carbonate reservoirs which have an average thickness of 1 km. These strata are overlain by at least 5 km of Miocene and younger continental molasse sedimentation in the deepest part of the foreland basin. Surface and subsurface (seismic interpretations and borehole data) geology combined with the timing and the patterns of sedimentation has allowed to interpret the deformation as thin skinned, with a detachment in weak Eocambrian evaporates and the development of ramp-and-flat structures, since about 8 Ma. We have reviewed the structural interpretations with new borehole logs, field geology, and reserve estimates in this paper to precisely define oil-field structures with a view on future exploration. As a result of this work, 12 oil fields are classified as three detachment folds, four fault-propagation folds, four pop-ups, and one triangle zone structure. The latter two are identified as better prospects with the last one as the best with estimated reserves of 51 million barrels of oil (MMBO). Hence, the triangle zones along with other ramp-and-flat structures from the North Potwar Deformed Zone (NPDZ) are recognized to provide potential future prospects. Finally, a 40-km-long structural cross section from NPDZ is used to discuss complex deformation of the triangle zone and duplex structures as future potential prospects. About 55 km of shortening across the NPDZ during Plio-Pleistocene time is calculated, which has important bearing on the geometry of prospects, reserve calculations, and the future exploration.     

Displacement transfer from fault-bend to fault-propagation fold geometry: An example from the Himalayan thrust front

The leading edge of the ENE-trending Himalayan thrust front in Pakistan exhibits along-strike changes in deformational style, ranging from fault-bend to fault-propagation folds. Although the structural geometry is very gently deformed throughout the Salt Range, it becomes progressively more complex to the east as the leading edge of the emergent Salt Range Thrust becomes blind. Surface geology, seismic reflection, petroleum well, and chronostratigraphic data are synthesized to produce a 3-D kinematic model that reconciles the contrasting structural geometries along this part of the Himalayan thrust front. We propose a model whereby displacement was transferred, across a newly-identified lateral ramp, from a fault-bend fold in the west to fault-propagation folds in the east and comparable shortening was synchronously accommodated by two fundamentally different mechanisms: translation vs. telescoping. However, substantially different shortening distribution patterns within these structurally contrasting segments require a tear fault, which later is reactivated as a thrust fault. The present geometry of this S-shaped displacement transfer zone is a combined result of the NW–SE compression of the lateral culmination wall and associated tear fault, and their subsequent modification due to mobilization of underlying ductile salt.     

Folding of a detachment and fault – Modified detachment folding along a lateral ramp,southwestern Montana,USA

The inversion of the Middle Proterozoic Belt sedimentary basin during Late Cretaceous thrusting in Montana produced a large eastwardly-convex salient, the southern boundary of which is a 200 km-long oblique to lateral ramp subtended by a detachment between the Belt rocks and Archean basement. A 10 km-long lateral ramp segment exposes the upper levels of the detachment where hanging wall Belt rocks have moved out over the Paleozoic and Mesozoic section. The hanging wall structure consists of a train of high amplitude, faulted, asymmetrical detachment folds. Initial west-east shortening produced layer parallel shortening fabrics and dominantly strike slip faulting followed by symmetrical detachment folding. “Lock-up” of movement on the detachment surface produced regional simple shear and caused the detachment folds to become asymmetrical and faulted. Folding of the detachment surface after lock-up modified the easternmost detachment folds further into a southeast-verging, overturned fold pair with a ramp-related fault along the base of the stretched mutual limb.     

Structural analysis of the Lombard thrust sheet and adjacent areas in the Helena salient,southwest Montana,USA

The Helena salient is a prominent craton–convex curve in the Cordillera thrust belt of Montana, USA. The Lombard thrust sheet is the primary sheet in the salient. Structural analysis of fold trends, cleavage attitudes, and movement on minor faults is used to better understand both the geometry of the Lombard thrust and the kinematic development of the salient.Early W–E to WNW–ENE shortening directions in the Lombard sheet are indicated by fold trends in the center of the thrust sheet. The same narrow range of shortening directions is inferred from kinematic analysis of movement on minor faults and the orientations of unrotated cleavage planes along the southern lateral ramp boundary of the salient. As the salient developed, the amount and direction of shortening were locally modified as listric detachment faults rotated some tight folds to the NW, and as right-lateral simple shear, caused by lock-up and folding of the Jefferson Canyon fault above the lateral ramp, rotated other folds northeastward. Where the lateral ramp and frontal-oblique ramp intersect, folds were rotated back to the NW. Our interpretation of dominant W–E to WNW–ESE shortening in the Lombard sheet, later altered by local rotations, supports a model of salient formation by primary parallel transport modified by interactions with a lateral ramp.     

江南造山带北部早中生代岳阳—赤壁断褶带构造特征及变形机制研究

早中生代(晚印支-早燕山期)岳阳-赤壁断褶带位于江南造山带与中扬子前陆盆地交界地带.作者对该构造带进行了地表地质调查,以此为基础探讨了构造剖面结构及构造变形动力机制.岳阳-赤壁断褶带自南而北可分为岳阳-临湘基底滑脱-逆冲带,桃花泉-肖家湾盖层滑脱褶皱带,以及赤壁-嘉鱼前陆盆地断-褶-盆构造带.岳阳-临湘基底滑脱-逆冲带自南而北依次有郭镇向斜、官山背斜、临湘倒转向斜和聂市背斜,组成隔槽式褶皱组合.褶皱轴面多向南倾,褶皱变形面为南华系盖层与冷家溪群褶皱基底间的角度不整合面和顺界面的滑脱断裂面.桃花泉-肖家湾盖层滑脱褶皱带主要发育轴面南倾倒转褶皱,褶皱波长较小,卷入地层为南华系-志留系以及上石炭统-中三叠统沉积盖层.赤壁-嘉鱼前陆盆地断-褶-盆构造带以南倾蒲圻断裂(江南断裂)为南部边界,发育T3-J2前陆盆地沉积,带内褶皱与断裂卷入地层包括沉积盖层以及T3-J2地层:南部断裂与褶皱轴面南倾.北部轴面近直立.自南西至北东,研究区内构造线走向由EW向渐变为NEE-NE向.上述构造分带及变形特征反映出自南向北的运动指向,表明岳阳-赤壁断褶带具前陆冲断带构造性质.从断裂相关褶皱理论出发,以地表构造特征为依据,厘定了岳阳-赤壁地质剖面结构并进行了变形动力机制分析,认识如下:①自南而北、自下而上的多个滑脱层及其间的南倾逆断裂或断坡(主要为江南断裂)组成近似台阶状的逆冲断裂系统,从总体上控制了构造块体的滑移、逆冲以及相应的构造格架或变形分区.②郭镇向斜为基底滑脱褶皱,官山背斜具滑脱褶皱和断裂传播褶皱双重成因,聂市背斜为断裂转折褶皱;临湘向斜为受两侧背斜控制的被动向斜,由于弯滑褶皱作用在其两翼沿不整合界面形成滑脱断裂.③岳阳-临湘基底滑脱-逆冲带隔槽式褶皱的形成主要受控于褶皱基底的滑脱和基底整体的水平压缩,其形成机制类似于肿缩式褶皱.最后讨论认为湘东北-鄂东南地区不存在大规模、长距离的逆冲推覆构造.     

库车前陆褶皱-冲断带基底断裂对盐构造形成的影响

地震剖面解释和构造物理模拟实验表明,库车前陆褶皱—冲断带前古近系基底构造对上覆盐构造的形成演化有重要的控制作用。位于冲断带前缘的秋里塔格构造带西段前古近系基底表现为古隆起形态,并发育有丰富的基底断裂和盐构造。基底断裂大多表现为逆断裂,其走向与地表山系基本一致,倾向主要为NNW和SSE,具有较明显的分段特征。古近系库姆格列木组膏盐层塑性流动变形形成的盐构造主要有盐枕、盐推覆、盐焊接和鱼尾构造等。前古近系基底断裂通过影响古近系库姆格列木组膏盐层的塑性流动方式和平面展布特征,进而控制盐层及上覆层的构造变形过程,最终导致在盐层和上覆层形成了大量形态各异的盐相关构造。     

库车褶皱冲断带东秋里塔格位移转换构造及其演化--兼论侧断坡相关背斜构造圈闭的形成

库车褶皱冲断带东秋里塔格构造带发育与侧断坡有关的位移转换构造.东秋里塔格冲断层是一条北倾盲冲断层,其错移地层自西向东逐渐降低,从东秋5井以西的新近系膏盐岩转换至迪那201井的古近系膏盐岩再到迪那11井的侏罗系煤系,地震剖面上侧断坡形态清晰.侧断坡东、西断坪分别是新近系吉迪克组膏盐岩和侏罗系煤系,侧断坡发育在煤上-盐下构造地层组合中.通过DQ99-196、DQ00-226、DQ00-263等构造演化剖面恢复计算,东秋里塔格构造盐上地层位移梯度向西约为103.72m/km,而盐下东秋-迪那段的位移梯度为61.65m/km.在上述地震剖面上,盐上背斜和盐下隐伏背斜的轴线位置发生了相对变化,后者自东向西逐渐向南发生偏移;野外露头观察,盐上背斜的褶皱作用也随之向西增强.在走向上,东秋里塔格构造具有构造分段性,表明侧断坡的位移量变化具有突发性.西段为库车塔吾构造,东段为东秋-迪那构造.库车塔吾构造的盐下隐伏背斜是受东秋里塔格冲断层控制的断层相关褶皱,前、后断坪分别位于吉迪克组膏盐岩和侏罗系煤系,其隐伏的构造楔与南秋里塔格背冲断层组成库车塔吾三角带.东秋-迪那构造的隐伏背斜样式与库车塔吾段相似;但南翼缺乏背冲断层,不具备三角带形态.磷灰石裂变径迹测年表明,侧断坡的发育过程最早可以追索到康村期.东秋里塔格侧断坡相关背斜的形成与自北向南的盲冲断层和区域左行扭压复合作用有关.侧断坡相关背斜的主要构造特征是由侧断坡调节上、下滑脱层之间的应变差异,同时作为油气运移通道沟通气源岩和储层;其油气勘探意义是使得煤系烃源岩生成的天然气向上运移到侧断坡相关背斜构造圈闭如迪那2之中聚集成藏.     

中国中西部褶皱冲断带构造变形机制与结构模型

基于复杂构造解析和实验模拟研究,揭示了中西部前陆褶皱冲断构造带主要表现为受侧向挤压形成的滑脱冲断构造变形过程和结构样式;明确了单层滑脱挤压冲断构造变形存在临界增生和非临界增生两种变形机制,发育脆性拆离型、塑性滑移型和黏性流动型3种作用类型,并受滑脱层强度、地层厚度、底部边界和外动力过程等4种主要因素影响。复杂冲断构造带基本上表现为受多层单滑脱作用控制形成的垂向叠置组合结构,本文提出了复杂滑脱冲断变形结构的可分解性以及受不同性质的滑脱层组合控制形成特征结构模式,并揭示了前陆冲断带前缘多滑脱构造变形结构中由浅层向深层逐渐发育的变形时序;建立了中西部再生前陆冲断带结构模型、构造单元以及基本构造类型;并基于前陆盆地多阶段构造演化过程以及晚期的隆升剥蚀-沉降沉积过程,提出了中西部两种类型冲断带的控油气作用及其勘探领域。     

Basement control on oblique thrust sheet evolution: seismic imaging of the active deformation front of the Central Andes in Bolivia

In the area of the Bolivian Orocline, we examine the deformation pattern associated with the active development of a new thrust sheet. A dense grid of reprocessed 2-D seismic lines from hydrocarbon exploration industry is interpreted and a 3-D simplified structural and kinematic model is deduced. In the Boomerang Hills, onlapping Paleozoic and foredeep sediments are detached from the underlying S-dipping basement. They are thrust northeastwards by less than 2 km. Two zones can be differentiated along the Andean deformation front: (1) a W–E to NW–SE striking frontal segment of predominantly orthogonal shortening, comprising a thrust and anticline system; (2) a WSW–ENE striking lateral zone of oblique shortening within a complex system of thin-skinned strike–slip faults and minor folds. The deformation front always follows a pronounced edge in the topography of the top basement surface close to the boundary of the Paleozoic basin. The observed deformation pattern indicates intensified strain partitioning caused by the interaction of contraction direction and basement topography, which provides a near oblique ramp for the onlapping wedge of sediments. The SW–NE thrusting direction is divided into orthogonal and tangential components. These are accommodated by convergent and strike–slip structures, respectively, which sole into a common detachment horizon. The structural evolution of the new thrust sheet in the Bolivian Orocline is primarily controlled by the paleorelief of the Brazilian Shield because: (1) the shape of the basement affects the taper of the thrust wedge and localizes the deformation front and (2) small asperities in/close to the top of the basement promote fault localization. The coincidence of a relatively high basement position and a structural high of the Eastern Cordillera leads to the conclusion that the shape of the Brazilian Shield also controls the structural evolution of the pronounced eastern border of the Bolivian Orocline.     

Ancient synsedimentary structural control on thrust ramp development: an example from the Northern Apennines, Italy

The Umbria-Marche-Sabina foreland fold and thrust belt (Northern Apennines, Italy) provides excellent test-cases for the hypothesis of ancient syndepositional structural features controlling thrust ramp development. The sedimentary cover, Late Triassic to Miocene in age, is made of platform and pelagic carbonates, whose deposition was controlled by significant synsedimentary extension. Normal faulting, mainly during the Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene, determined sensible lateral thickness variations within the relative sequences. By late Miocene the sedimentary cover was detached from its basement along a mainly evaporitic horizon, and was deformed by means of eastward-verging folds and thrusts.
In order to locate the points where thrust ramps branch-off the basal detachment, both line-length and equal-area techniques were used in the construction of a balanced cross-section through three major fault-related folds in southeastern Umbria. The nucleation of thrust ramps was controlled by the occurrence of Jurassic and Cretaceous-Palaeogene synsedimentary normal faults. These interrupted the lateral continuity of the evaporitic unit (the Late Triassic Anidriti di Burano Fm.) at the base of the sedimentary cover, and acted as obstacles to the eastward propagation of the thrust system, giving rise to major folds which originated from tip-line folding processes.
Therefore, the inferred relationships between ancient normal faults and late thrusts indicate that synsedimentary tectonic structures and the related lateral stratigraphic variations can be envisaged as mechanically important perturbations, which effectively control the nucleation and development of thrust ramps.     

The Seismogenic Structure of the 2010 Suining Ms 5.0 Earthquake and its Geometry,Kinematics and Dynamics Analysis

In January 2010, the Suining Ms5.0 earthquake occurred in central Sichuan Basin, with the epicenter in Moxi-Longnvsi structural belt and a focal depth of 10 km. Based on structural interpretations of seismic profiles in this area, we recognized a regional detachment fault located at a depth of 9–10 km in the Presinian basement of the Suining area, transferring its slipping from NW to SE orientation. This detachment fault slipped from NW to SE, and underwent several shears and bends, which caused the basement to be rolled in and the overlaying strata fold deformation. It formed a fault-bend fold in the Moxi area with an approximate slip of 4 km. Correspondingly, the formation of the Moxi anticline is related to the detachment fault. With the earthquake’s epicenter on the ramp of the detachment fault, there is a new point of view that the Suining earthquake was caused by re-activation of this basement detachment fault. Since the Late Jurassic period, under the influence of regional tectonic stress, the detachment fault transfered its slip from the Longmen Mountains (LMS) thrust belt to the hinterland of the Sichuan Basin, and finally to the piedmont zone of southwest Huayingshan (HYS), which indicates that HYS might be the final front area of the LMS thrust belt.     

Superposed lateral ramps in the Pell City thrust sheet, Appalachian thrust belt, Alabama

In the Appalachian thrust belt in Alabama, thrust sheets of Paleozoic strata generally strike northeastward and are imbricated northwestward; four transverse zones cross the regional strike of the thrust belt. The large-scale Pell City thrust sheet ends southwestward at an oblique lateral ramp within the Harpersville transverse zone, where the leading edge of the thrust sheet (the Pell City fault) curves abruptly 55° counterclockwise. The northwest-striking segment of the Pell City fault conforms to the geometry of an oblique lateral ramp in the footwall. Furthermore, the Pell City fault cuts up section in the hanging wall southwestward toward the transverse zone, indicating a hanging-wall lateral ramp emplaced over the footwall oblique lateral ramp.In the hanging wall adjacent to the northwest-trending segment of the Pell City fault, a pervasive train of upright, isoclinal folds (with 50% apparent shortening) trends N15°W, oblique to the regional translation direction. The fold train is limited to the southwestern part of the Pell City thrust sheet; farther northeast, the regional northeasterly strike prevails. The isoclinal folds in the hanging wall indicate contractional crowding perpendicular to the footwall oblique lateral ramp.     

湘东南印支期褶皱特征及形成机制

湘东南地区以王仙岭-坪石一线为界,分为东部隆起区和西部坳陷区,分别发育两种不同类型和成因的印支期褶皱.东部隆起区大面积出露前泥盆纪褶皱基底并发育隔槽式褶皱,由泥盆纪跳马涧组与褶皱基底间的不整合界面所显示,表明褶皱基底参与了褶皱作用;露头显示褶皱过程中盖层未沿不整合界面产生明显滑脱.基于上述事实,认为隔槽式褶皱形成于基底(厚皮式)横向收缩与压扁作用,并从理论上论证了隔槽式褶皱不可能是盖层沿基底滑脱的产物,修正了前人的薄皮式观点.西部坳陷区主要出露中泥盆世-中三叠世地层并发育类侏罗山式褶皱,褶皱具有波长小且大小不一、垂向上不协调等特征,并伴生大量走向断裂,说明褶皱受不同层位软弱层顺层滑脱作用控制,其深层机制与区域断裂逆冲活动有关.     

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔特征

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔由一系列向南运动的逆冲断层和相关褶皱组成。冲断楔的北部以断层转折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、双重逆冲构造为主。断层楔的前缘发育了很好的滑脱膝折背斜,全为盲断层控制,形成隐蔽式前锋。冲断层的就位从中新世开始,自北向南迁移,前锋的构造形成在第四纪。造成逆冲断层的地壳水平缩短作用速度在中新世较慢,平均为0．355mm/a,上新世中期达0．82mm/a,而到上新世晚期和第四纪速度增大了约一个数量级,达到1．29－3mm/a。     

Subsurface lithofacies analysis of the Fluvial Early Permian Warchha Sandstone, Potwar Basin, Pakistan

The Early Permian Warchha Sandstone is well preserved in subsurface in the Potwar Basin and the Punjab Plain of Pakistan. However, this succession is only exposed in the Salt Range, and within this region, only a modest number of the many outcrops are of sufficient quality to enable the preparation of lateral and vertical log profiles. From the subsurface, data from five wells drilled in the Salt Range and Potwar Basin have been analysed. Although they are of restricted coverage, these subsurface data — which take the form of gamma ray logs and well cuttings — provide a valuable addition to the outcrop dataset of the Warchha Sandstone as they provide useful information about vertical textural changes, type and thickness of bedding and the nature of sandbody contacts with underlying strata. Overall, the Warchha Sandstone succession is composed of repeated fining-upwards cycles indicative of a meandering fluvial succession. Sub-components of each cycle are themselves classified into six subsurface sedimentary facies. Through comparison with outcropping parts of the succession, the origin and significance of these subsurface facies can be related to specific architectural elements within the meandering fluvial system responsible for generating the Warchha Sandstone succession.     

四川龙门山地区反转构造样式分析及其成因机制探讨

反转构造是当今构造地质学研究的新兴热点领域,本文尝试以反转构造和断层相关褶皱理论来探讨龙门山褶皱冲断带及川西前陆盆地中的反转构造样式及其成因。著者在综合前人研究成果的基础上,通过野外地质调查,室内构造分析与建模系统研究了龙门山地区典型的反转构造样式,讨论了龙门山带的反转性质,主干断裂的成因以及反转动力学机制。研究表明,龙门山的发育机制为一斜向正反转过程,区内发育有反转断层转折褶皱、被动陆缘型反转滑脱褶皱、反转断层传播褶皱以及受古生代裂谷控制的反转构造等反转构造类型;反转时期主要为印支期,本区在印支运动之前同时属被动陆缘和裂谷的构造背景;进入印支期后,受扬子陆块、华北陆块、羌塘陆块之间相互碰撞的影响而造山。该过程在本区不同地段表现存在差异,这种差异受控于前期的构造格局以及后期不同方向挤压应力的叠加。四川前陆盆地的发育和该过程有密切的联系,盆地内部具有裂谷构造反转的证据。     

帕米尔隆升过程中地壳的一种重要缩短机制--以齐姆根构造转换域为例

区域构造显示,在帕米尔－西昆仑前陆地带大致以齐姆根为中心的范围内,山前构造变形呈现分阶段发育的特征,前陆冲断带和前陆沉降带横向不能连接,形成喀什和叶城－和田两个沉降坳陷中心。这是由于造山带前陆的逆冲断裂带向盆地大规模逆掩和推覆过程中大幅度构造叠覆而形成,长距离构造拆离使许多地质记录被掩盖和破坏,给地质构造发展史重建造成很大困难,齐姆根由于地处连接帕米尔、西昆仑2个前缘逆冲断裂系及其前陆沉降带的应力转换和调整部位,构造以斜向走滑为主、逆冲推覆程度相对较弱,因而得以保留许多塔里木西南构造演化过程中形成的地质信息,该区域是正确认识东帕米尔地区构造演化的关键点之一,因此笔者引入“域”的概念,将其命名为“齐姆根构造转换域”,其原型背景是目前帕米尔－西昆仑前缘唯一保存较为完整的沉积盆地,规模不大却显示了较为典型的前陆盆地沉积构造样式,结合区域事件同位素年龄证据,基本可以确定塔西南前陆盆地发育下限不晚于侏罗纪早期,178.4-113.3Ma为初期活动的主要时期。侏罗纪发育有限规模前陆盆地,是在塔里木西南前陆盆地发育的初期阶段,同时盆地的展布受到古近纪以来帕米尔构造结“突刺”状楔入的强烈影响,使侏罗纪原始盆地走向发生偏转。研究表明,该构造转换域与康西瓦断裂一起构成一系列构造应力转换系统,自三叠纪古特提斯闭合以来一直承接着印度板块向北挤压和帕米尔隆升过程产生的巨大地壳缩短量。     

库车新生代构造性质和变形时间

库车构造位于南天山古生代碰撞造山带之南,为塔里木盆地最北的一个构造带。它自北而南可分为边缘逆冲（ 隐伏构造楔） 、斯的克背斜带、北部线性背斜带、拜城盆地、南部背斜带。每个背斜带又包含有若干逆冲断层相关褶皱,它们是断层转折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、滑脱褶皱、断层传播 滑脱混生褶皱、双重逆冲构造、突发构造、三角带构造。底部逆冲断层向南变浅,堆叠逆冲岩席向南变薄,总体上形成一个向南的逆冲构造楔。逆冲断层在斯的克背斜带侵位最早（２５ Ｍａ） ,在北部线性背斜带为１６９ Ｍａ,拜城盆地中的大宛其背斜为３６ Ｍａ,南部背斜带为５３ Ｍａ（ 北部） 和１８ Ｍａ（ 南部） ,变形作用向南变新。库车构造是印 藏板块碰撞的内陆构造响应,是二叠纪前陆盆地复活而成的再生前陆盆地变形带     

The effects of pre-existing normal faults on thrust ramp development: An example from the northern Apennines,Italy

The Umbria-Marche foreland fold-and-thrust belt in the northern Apennines of Italy provides excellent evidence to test the hypothesis of synsedimentary-structural control on thrust ramp development. This orogenic belt consists of platform and pelagic carbonates, Late Triassic to Miocene in age, whose deposition was controlled by significant synsedimentary extension. Normal faulting, mainly active from Jurassic through Late Cretaceous-Paleogene time, resulted in significant lateral thickness variability within the related stratigraphic sequences. By Late Miocene time the sedimentary cover was detached from the underlying basement and was deformed by east-verging folds and west-dipping thrusts. Two restored balanced cross sections through the southernmost part of the belt show a coincidence between the early synsedimentary normal faults and the late thrust fault ramps. These evidences suggest that synsedimentary tectonic structures, such as faults and the related lithological lateral changes, can be regarded as mechanically important controlling factors in the process of thrust ramp development during positive tectonic inversion processes.     

Geometry and origin of folding in the Neogene sediments of the Gediz Graben,western Anatolia,Turkey

A close relationship between formation of approximately upright folds with axes normal to the extension direction and ramp/flat extensional geometries is established for well exposed Neogene syn-extensional rocks on the presently low-angle Gediz detachment fault, along the southern margin of the Gediz Graben region of western Anatolia, Turkey. Three unconformity-bounded sedimentary sequences and several metamorphic extensional allochthons were mapped in the upper-plate of the Gediz detachment. The oldest sedimentary sequence consists of deformed and folded strata of sandstones and conglomerates that are regarded as being deposited in a supra-detachment basin during the Miocene–Early Pliocene. This unit rests unconformably on the extensional allochthonous, but directly in fault contact with the lower-plate mylonitic rocks. The younger slightly tilted Late Pliocene–Pleistocene sedimentary sequences are post-detachment units that are controlled by EW-trending high-angle normal faults. The youngest alluvium comprises the undeformed present-day basin fill of the Gediz Graben. The supra-detachment sedimentary rocks contain a number of kilometric-scale longitudinal folds that are nearly parallel to the east-west-trending fault system of the Gediz Graben. The folds have a steeply inclined bisecting surface, an interlimb angle of 130–150°, and a plunge of <10°. These folds may be interpreted to form as a result of bending in the underlying Gediz detachment fault. The bending may have an alternation of ramp and flat geometries on which a hanging-wall syncline and rollover anticline formed, respectively. This study again shows the importance of local geology in understanding of some spectacular structures of the extensional basins.