Pseudotachylyte-bearing strike-slip duplex structures in the Fort Foster Brittle Zone,S. Maine

Detailed (1:60 scale) mapping of the Fort Foster Brittle Zone in the mylonitic Rye Formation of southernmost Maine has revealed the intricate internal duplex structure of a system of probable Paleozoic-age dextral strike-slip faults that have produced abundant pseudotachylyte and minor breccia. The internal configuration of this brittle zone consists of a mosaic of individual pseudotachylyte generation zones as slab-duplex structures. Individual duplex zones are up to 100 m in length and 1 m or less in width and are defined by pairs of layer-parallel slip surfaces along which frictional melts were produced. These slab-duplex structures are interpreted as zones of displacement transfer between long, overlapping, layer-parallel en échelon strike-slip fault surfaces. Contractional duplexes develop layer-parallel compressional structures that tend to shorten and thicken the fault-bounded slabs by the formation of lateral ramps and conjugate faults, kinks and asymmetric folds. Extensional duplexes develop layer-parallel stretching and thinning by the formation of oblique dextral shears, high-angle conjugate pairs and localized fault breccias. The production of pseudotachylyte by friction melting along layer-parallel fault surfaces in these exposures is attributed to rapid slip during paleoseismic events. The rupture structures developed during these events may be characteristic of fault structure and mechanics at near-focal depths in a strike-slip seismogenic zone.     

青藏高原中部第四纪左旋剪切变形的地表地质证据

在青藏铁路的格尔木—拉萨段进行的活动断裂调查发现,在沱沱河—五道梁之间宽约150km的地段内发育了多条由北西西向次级断层左列分布构成的北西西向和北西向左旋张扭性断裂带,在断裂带之间则发育"S"型的北东向裂陷盆地和雁列分布的菱形裂陷盆地,盆地边界断裂也为左旋张扭性质。上述断裂带和裂陷带主要形成于第四纪,它们构成了宽约150km的不均匀的左旋简单剪切变形域,该变形域的整体活动性较弱,属于弱的不均匀剪切变形域。但其中的二道沟断陷盆地是个例外,该盆地边界断裂的垂直活动速率约为0 5mm/a,左旋活动速率介于0 8～1 0mm/a之间。而在整个左旋剪切变形带累计的左旋走滑速率不会超过6mm/a,它们所调节的昆仑山与唐古拉山之间的地壳南北缩短量也可能仅占总缩短量的15%～30%。上述弱剪切变形域与强烈左旋走滑的昆仑断裂系共同构成了高原中部的左旋剪切变形带,它们在印度板块与欧亚板块强烈碰撞的构造动力学背景下,起着调节青藏高原南北向缩短的重要作用。     

Displacement features associated with fault zones: a comparison between observed examples and experimental models

Fault zones commonly consist of discontinuous surfaces or are composed of different kinds of en echelon fractures (tension cracks, R or P-type fractures) which give the brittle shear zone a width. Translation along these faults and related features can occur by sliding on the elementary planes and/or by solution/deposition processes with opening of transtension zones and possible dilatation of the shear zone.In order to understand how fault planes develop and to investigate the mechanical conditions corresponding to natural configurations, displacement along an analogue fault model was examined under conditions of direct shear. The experimental fracture patterns were then compared with the natural features. The structural elements of certain faults created by testing, and showing transpression and transtension zones, were found to be similar to natural domino structures bounded by elementary shears, and could be compared with computed situations.It can be inferred that stresses are reoriented inside the shear zone; the angle between elementary fractures depends on their order of development; transpression and transtension zones occur systematically; and the shear zone undergoes dilatancy under low normal stresses.     

Steeply-dipping extension fractures in the Newark basin, New Jersey

Late Triassic and Early Jurassic bedrock in the Newark basin is pervasively fractured as a result of Mesozoic rifting of the east–central North American continental margin. Tectonic rifting imparted systematic sets of steeply-dipping, en échelon, Mode I, extension fractures in basin strata including ordinary joints and veins. These fractures are arranged in transitional-tensional arrays resembling normal dip-slip shear zones. They contributed to crustal stretching, sagging, and eventual faulting of basin rift deposits. Extension fractures display progressive linkage and spatial clustering that probably controlled incipient fault growth. They cluster into three prominent strike groups correlated to early, intermediate, and late-stage tectonic events reflecting about 50– 60° of counterclockwise rotation of incremental stretching directions. Finite strain analyses show that extension fractures allowed the stretching of basin strata by a few percent, and these fractures impart stratigraphic dips up to a few degrees in directions opposing fracture dips. Fracture groups display three-dimensional spatial variability but consistent geometric relations. Younger fractures locally cut across and terminate against older fractures having more complex vein-cement morphologies and bed-normal folds from stratigraphic compaction. A fourth, youngest group of extension fractures occur sporadically and strike about E–W in obliquely inverted crustal blocks. A geometric analysis of overlapping fracture sets shows how fracture groups result from incremental rotation of an extending tectonic plate, and that old fractures can reactivate with oblique slip components in the contemporary, compressive stress regime.     

Microtectonic and geochemical characterization of thrusting in a foreland basin: Example of the South-Pyrenean orogenic wedge (Spain)

In orogenic systems, thrust faults play a major role in stacking different tectonic units and may act as conduits for the expulsion of large amounts of fluid of different origins (metamorphic, diagenetic, meteoric). This study focuses on the Monte Perdido thrust unit emplaced in the Paleogene Jaca thrust-sheet-top basin, in the SW-central Pyrenees. We aim to decipher the mechanisms and P-T conditions of deformation in fault zones and characterize the related fluid involvement, through combined microstructural, geochemical and microthermometry analyses. Two thrust faults cutting platform limestones, marls and siliciclastic turbidites of the lower part of the basin-fill (Paleocene–lower Eocene) have been studied. The fault zones are characterized by metre-thick shear zones with highly deformed, foliated clay-rich sediments. Foliation is underlined by preferentially oriented phyllosilicates. Several generations of shear and extension calcite, quartz and chlorite-bearing veins attest to fluid-rock interactions during a multi-stage deformation. Microstructural observations and stable isotope analyses on calcite from veins and host sediments suggest that deformation was aseismic and dominated by diffusive mass transfer from pressure solution sites along cleavage and stylolites to the precipitation sites in veins, with mineralizing fluids in equilibrium with the host sediments. Our results suggest an essentially closed hydrologic system, and imply the absence of significant fluid flow along the studied fault zones. Microthermometric study on fluid inclusions present in calcite and quartz veins, and calcite-quartz oxygen isotopic fractionation determined for the first generation shear veins, allow a geothermal gradient of 34 °C/km to be estimated. Analytical results demonstrate an evolution of the fault zones in three stages. The first stage was related to the emplacement of the Monte Perdido thrust unit during the middle Eocene at a temperature of ～208 °C and a burial depth of ～5.7 km. The second stage corresponds to a fault reactivation at a temperature of ～240 °C and a burial depth of ～6.5 km. The latter deformation may have been related to folding of the Monte Perdido thrust unit during the emplacement of the underlying Gavarnie thrust unit during the late Eocene–early Oligocene, with deeper burial resulting from aggradation of the thrust-sheet-top basin-fill. The last event corresponds to the formation of a dilatant vein system likely related to the exhumation of the massif.     

Stick-slip model for kink band formation in shear zones and faults

Differential shear stresses acting along or adjacent to a non-planar fault surface or shear zone may cause uneven acceleration during slip. Alternatively, at the initiating and closing stages of motion of parts of a stick-slip fault, localised shear stresses may be variable. Stress variation of this nature causes zones of relative compression and tension, especially close to the “stick” zones on the fault. In fissile rocks adjacent to the fault, kink bands form in zones of local relative compression, while stratal extension features such as veins, fractures and extensional crenulations might be expected in the corresponding zones of relative tension. Repetitive motion on the fault should therefore cause the development of a suite of kink bands superimposed on each other and on any complementary extensional structures. Field evidence indicates that the extensional structures are not developed to the same extent as the kinks, perhaps due to ductile flow during layer-parallel extension of phyllosilicate rocks.

The advantages of this model are that it does not require bulk shortening of the shear zone relative to the enclosing less strained rocks, nor does it depend on complex stress orientation changes.     

Dilation and linkage of echelon cracks

We investigate arrays of echelon cracks in rock (veins, joints, and dikes) formed by dilation. Individual cracks are interpreted as cross-sections of blade-like cracks at the leading edges of a parent fracture. Two morphological end members are distinguished as having straight or highly curved propagation paths as seen in such cross-sections. Bridges of rock between overlapping straight crack paths bend to accommodate crack dilation. Sigmoidal curvature of the bridges is achieved in a phase of increased dilation as the aspect ratio of bridges increases and their resistance to bending drops. Large bending strains within bridges may lead to cross fractures that link adjacent cracks. Good estimates of the dilation and shear displacement over arrays may be obtained directly from measurements of bridges. In contrast, the sigmoidal form of cracks of the other end member is caused by their curving propagation paths. These cracks may link as one crack tip intersects the adjacent crack wall. Some arrays of sigmoidal echelon cracks are associated with shear zones, but those analyzed here are not.     

Effects of cohesive zones on small faults and implications for secondary fracturing and fault trace geometry

Fracture mechanics theory and field observations together indicate that the shear stress on many faults is non-uniform when they slip. If the shear stress were uniform, then: (a) a physically implausible singular stress concentration theoretically would develop at a fault end; and (b) a single curved ‘tail fracture’ should open up at the end of every fault trace, intersecting the fault at approximately 70 °. Tail fractures along many small faults instead range in number, commonly form behind fault trace ends, have nearly straight traces and intersect a fault at angles less than 50 °. A ‘cohesive zone’, in which the shear stress is elevated near the fault end, can eliminate the stress singularity and can account for the observed orientation, shape, and distribution of tail fractures. Cohesive zones also should cause a fault to bend. If the cohesive zone shear stress were uniform, then the distance from the fault end to the bend gives the cohesive zone length. The nearly straight traces of the tail fractures and the small bends observed near some fault ends implies that the faults slipped with low stress drops, less than 10% of the ambient fault-parallel shear stress.     

On the formation and growth of faults: an experimental study

By using an experimental geometry, which includes a slot loaded to produce a mode 3 shear stress concentration, shear fractures have been grown in two fine-grained rock types. The deformation is accomplished by initially generating an array of oblique, mainly tensile, cracks at the tip of the slot, which are subsequently linked to form a rupture zone. This suggests a more general model for the formation of brittle shear rupture. A through-going shear surface will form if a damage zone is concentrated enough in the appropriate orientation. This may occur at the edges of an existing shear strain discontinuity, such as a fault, particularly in a mode 3 displacement field. Thus under some conditions faults may grow or link up as true macroscopic shear ruptures. This may be part of a solution to the apparent paradox of the existence of long faults. We suggest features that would indicate this sequence of formation in the field and review some geological examples.     

Brittle faulting in the Rawil depression: field observations from the Rezli fault zones, Helvetic nappes, Western Switzerland

The Helvetic nappes in the Swiss Alps form a classic fold-and-thrust belt related to overall NNW-directed transport. In western Switzerland, the plunge of nappe fold axes and the regional distribution of units define a broad depression, the Rawil depression, between the culminations of Aiguilles Rouge massif to the SW and Aar massif to the NE. A compilation of data from the literature shows that, in addition to thrusts related to nappe stacking, the Rawil depression is cross-cut by four sets of brittle faults: (1) NE-SW striking normal faults, (2) NW-SE striking normal faults and joints, (3) ENE-WSW striking and (4) WNW-ESE striking normal plus dextral oblique-slip faults. Fault set 1 was probably initiated during sedimentation and reactivated during nappe stacking, whereas the other fault sets formed after emplacement of the Helvetic nappes. We studied in detail two well-exposed parallel fault zones from set 4, the Rezli fault zones (RFZ) in the Wildhorn Nappe. They are SW-dipping oblique-slip faults with a total displacement across the two fault zones of ~200 m vertically and ~680 m horizontally. The fault zones crosscut four different lithologies: limestone, intercalated marl and limestone, marl and sandstone. The internal architecture of the RFZ strongly depends on the lithology in which they developed. In the limestones, they consist of extension veins, stylolites, cataclasites and cemented gouge, in the intercalated marls and limestones of shear zones, brittle fractures and chaotic folds, in the marls of anastomosing shear zones, pressure solution seams and veins and in the sandstones of coarse breccia, brittle faults and extension veins. Sharp, discrete fault planes within the broader fault zones cross-cut all lithologies. Fossil fault zones in the Rezli area can act as a model for studying processes still occurring at deeper levels in this seismically active region.     

A microstructural study of fault rocks from the SAFOD: Implications for the deformation mechanisms and strength of the creeping segment of the San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault zone in central California accommodates tectonic strain by stable slip and microseismic activity. We study microstructural controls of strength and deformation in the fault using core samples provided by the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) including gouge corresponding to presently active shearing intervals in the main borehole. The methods of study include high-resolution optical and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping, X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, white light interferometry, and image processing.The fault zone at the SAFOD site consists of a strongly deformed and foliated core zone that includes 2–3 m thick active shear zones, surrounded by less deformed rocks. Results suggest deformation and foliation of the core zone outside the active shear zones by alternating cataclasis and pressure solution mechanisms. The active shear zones, considered zones of large-scale shear localization, appear to be associated with an abundance of weak phases including smectite clays, serpentinite alteration products, and amorphous material. We suggest that deformation along the active shear zones is by a granular-type flow mechanism that involves frictional sliding of microlithons along phyllosilicate-rich Riedel shear surfaces as well as stress-driven diffusive mass transfer. The microstructural data may be interpreted to suggest that deformation in the active shear zones is strongly displacement-weakening. The fault creeps because the velocity strengthening weak gouge in the active shear zones is being sheared without strong restrengthening mechanisms such as cementation or fracture sealing. Possible mechanisms for the observed microseismicity in the creeping segment of the SAF include local high fluid pressure build-ups, hard asperity development by fracture-and-seal cycles, and stress build-up due to slip zone undulations.     

Permeability upscaling of fault zones in the Aztec Sandstone,Valley of Fire State Park,Nevada, with a focus on slip surfaces and slip bands

The effect of open and filled slip surfaces on the upscaled permeability of two fault zones with 6 and 14 m strike-slip in an eolian Aztec Sandstone, Nevada, USA is evaluated. Each fault zone is composed of several fault components: a fault core, bounded by filled through-going slip surfaces referred to as slip bands, and a surrounding damage zone that contains joints and deformation bands. Slip band geometry, composition, and petrophysical properties are characterized. Measurements and modeling show that slip band permeabilities can vary over 12 orders of magnitude depending on the degree of fill within the slip bands. The slip bands along with other fault zone components are represented in finite volume numerical calculations and the impact of various slip-band representations on upscaled fault zone permeability is tested. The results show 2 orders of magnitude variation in upscaled fault zone permeability in the fault-normal direction and a factor of 2 variation in the fault-parallel direction. The numerical results presented here are compared to the earlier numerical results in which structured Cartesian grids were used for the numerical simulations, and are in qualitative agreement with earlier calculations but use about a factor of 250–400 fewer numerical cells.     

Segmented, curved faults: the example of the Balduini Thrust Zone, Northern Apennines, Italy

Meso- and micro-structural studies of the well-exposed Balduini Thrust (Northern Apennines, Italy) indicate that the structure formed during a single folding event, contemporaneous with diagenesis, and is a zone comprising curved, en-échelon fault segments. The geometry of each segment is arcuate with pure compression at one end and right-lateral displacement along the other. The thrust developed during the Tortonian within a single mud-rich formation, the Upper Eocene–Upper Oligocene Scaglia Cinerea, but rheological variations within the unit led to differences in deformation style; zones of scaly fabric are discontinuous and calcite veins vary in abundance. The mesoscopic morphology of the veins and the distribution of calcium carbonate along the formation indicate variations in the distribution of fluids at the time of deformation, which affected both diagenesis and the structural response of the material. Systematic variations of mechanical properties within the thickness of the Scaglia Cinerea Formation account for the curvature of the propagating thrust. Together with the heterogeneity of the stress field, the confinement of the arcing thrust to this single, weak unit lead to repeated initiation of new fractures and hence segmentation of the propagating thrust. Geometric analysis of the calcite veins and their microscopic characters suggests that hydrofracturing was involved, with the Scaglia Cinerea Formation experiencing high fluid pressure followed by rapid water expulsion. The Balduini Thrust is therefore an example of a fluid-driven, refracted compound shear zone. The analysis presented here provides insights into the three-dimensional arrangement of fault zones and fluid-migration patterns during regional faulting.     

准噶尔盆地南缘断裂带显微构造特征与活动时代

对准噶尔盆地南缘霍尔果斯-玛纳斯-吐谷鲁逆断裂带中的断层泥和构造岩显微构造进行了研究,并对断裂带中的石膏、石英脉和断层泥进行了ESR测年。显微构造研究表明,断裂带至少经历了3期构造变形,断层泥和石英碎粒中既发育有线状擦痕、阶步等粘滑活动显微构造,也发育有剪切滑动、定向排列等蠕滑活动变形现象。ESR测年结果显示,霍尔果斯-玛纳斯-吐谷鲁逆断裂带形成于1.5Ma前,在0.4~1.0 Ma和0.08~0.12 Ma期间进行了二次再调整。断裂活动时间与青藏高原阶段性隆升的时间一致,说明准噶尔盆地南缘霍尔果斯-玛纳斯-吐谷鲁逆断裂带的形成与青藏高原的隆升过程密切相关。      

Structural similarity and variety at the tips in a wide range of strike–slip faults: a review

Strike–slip faults are often accompanied by a variety of structures, particularly at their tips. The zones of additional fracturing are classified as tip‐damage zones. These zones can be subdivided into several different damage patterns based on the nature and orientation of faults and fractures developed. Damage zones at the ends of small strike–slip faults (mode II tips) develop wing cracks, horsetail splays, antithetic faults, synthetic branch faults and solution surfaces. Similar tip‐damage patterns are also commonly observed at larger (regional) scales, but with a dominance of faulting over tensile cracks and solution surfaces. Wing cracks and horsetail splays developed at small‐scale faults are replaced by normal faults in large‐scale faults. Antithetic faults and synthetic branch faults are observed at small and large scales. Thrust faults are developed at large scales, in a similar pattern to solution surfaces at a small scale. All these structures may show slightly different angular relationships to the master fault at small and large scale, but develop in response similar stress distribution and mechanics around the fault. Thus, mode II tip‐damage zones show similar patterns over a wide range of fault scales.     

`Crack–seal', slip: a new fault valve mechanism?

This paper presents a new model of fault development in carbonate rocks involving a crack–seal–slip sequence. The structures of sheared calcite veins from the Les Matelles outcrop, Languedoc (S. France), and the observations used to construct this new model which integrates aspects of `crack–seal' evolution of calcite-filled veins with concepts of fault valve behaviour are described. In our model, hydraulic mode I reopening of an oblique pre-existing vein in an overall strike-slip stress regime is accompanied by precipitation of calcite, but significant fault slip cannot occur initially despite this obliquity because the ends of the pre-existing structure limit further reopening propagation beyond the tips. The rate of aligned calcite precipitation keeps pace with the rate of dilation of the structure, so that calcite cement essentially seals the system. Stress concentrations at the tips are allowed to rise with reopening until failure of the tip zone results in branch crack formation, triggering both slip along the vein and hydraulic pressure drop. This is followed by sealing within the branch cracks. Such a crack–seal–slip cycle may be repeated several times, as evidenced by fault-perpendicular calcite vein growth interlayered with calc-mylonite lamellae within these structures. Later cycles will become less pronounced because strength recovery of the sealed branch cracks does not regain the initial strength of the intact rock. This model could apply at various scales, and could be a mechanism for triggering earthquakes.     

A geochemical investigation of pressure solution and the formation of veins in a deformed greywacke

Pressure solution and vein formation often occur simultaneously in shear zones during the deformation of sedimentary rocks. The mineralogical and chemical variations around a typical example of an en echelon zone of quartz veins from north Cornwall are discussed in detail. Solution of quartz is confined to the shear zone and occurs along discrete surfaces. Accumulation of insoluble minerals along these surfaces gives rise to spaced pressure solution cleavage. Petrographic data show that during pressure solution the breakdown of felspar and epidote results in the crystallisation of clay mineral, quartz and siderite. Redistribution of silica within the shear zone by pressure solution does not account for all the quartz in the veins, or for the observed increased concentration of iron and calcium. It is concluded that material was introduced from an external source into the shear zone.     

On the occurrence of gold mineralization in the Pala Neoproterozoic formations,South-Western Chad

The Pala region, in southwestern Chad, belongs to the northern part of the Central African Pan-African Fold Belt. It is made up of greenschist-facies schists and is characterized by bimodal, mainly mafic, magmatism. This schist unit named Goueigoudoum Series is intruded by pre- to post-tectonic plutonic rocks dated between 737 and 570 Ma and dykes of quartz. Gold is mined artisanally from alluvial deposits and primary chalcopyrite–pyrite-bearing quartz veins, brecciated and silicified zones and shear zones. The majority of the mineralized shear zones and some quartz veins generally trend N–S to NNE–SSW or NW–SE and are interpreted as extensional shear fractures related to regional NE–SW-trending sinistral strike–slip shear zones. The geological context of the Pala region clearly indicates hydrothermal fluids formed along active continental margins during collisional orogenesis, and subsequent associated fluid migration typically occurred during strike–slip events. Although the origin of fluids may be varied (magmatic, metamorphic or meteoric fluids, Proterozoic seawater, or sedimentary basin formation waters), the distribution of the mineralizations along the granitoid intrusions suggests that magmatism played a major role in the dynamics of the mineralizing fluids.     

Fault development through fractured pelagic carbonates of the Cingoli anticline,Italy: Possible analog for subsurface fluid-conductive fractures

The Cingoli anticline is a late Messinian thrust-related fold that developed along the northern Apennines front (Italy). This exposed anticline represents a potential analog of hydrocarbon reservoirs located in the nearby Po Plain and Adriatic Sea areas. The folded rock multilayer of the Cingoli anticline includes a heterogeneous, Mesozoic–Cenozoic, marine succession, consisting of massive platform carbonates below, and layered pelagic carbonates on top. This article reports the results of analyses conducted on pelagic micrites cropping out in two exposures located in the anticline backlimb. There, the late Cretaceous–Eocene Scaglia Rossa Fm., which is characterized by thin beds of pelagic limestones and marly limestones, is crosscut by pervasive, closely-spaced, stratabound fractures mostly consisting of pressure solution seams (PSSs) and sheared PSSs. The fractured strata are, in places, crosscut by small-offset fault zones. Field and laboratory structural data are used to define the nature and type of the different fracture sets as well as their temporal evolution and interaction. Seven main sets of stratabound PSSs and sheared PSSs are identified and interpreted as an early background fabric crosscut by or involved in later through-going fault zones. We propose a conceptual model of fault nucleation and growth that envisions the studied faults as late-stage structures, which formed by incorporating and connecting segments of bedding surfaces and early developed PSSs. We discuss our conceptual model in terms of fault and fracture permeability, highlighting the possible role exerted by the documented structures on subsurface fluid flow.     

The geometry of en-echelon vein arrays

Two distinct types of en-echelon vein arrays are recognised, those which form in active ductile shear zones and those which form by the primary nucleation of fractures not connected with active shear zones. The theoretical relation between vein width and orientation in a zone undergoing progressive simple shear is examined and compared with similar data from natural arrays. It is found that many veins have undergone dilation prior to rotation during simple shear, showing that shearing occurred after the en-echelon array was established. Generally, all strongly sigmoidal veins occur in arrays in which pressure solution was also active. In non-sigmoidal arrays there is a clear relation between the amount of overlap of adjacent veins and the orientation of the veins relative to the zone containing them. Two different patterns of dilation and distortion of arrays in which pressure solution was not active are described. It is concluded that primary en-echelon veins originated as tensile fractures, whilst en-echelon veins formed in active shear zones originated as shear fractures.