Evolution of a Normal Fault System Along Eastern Gondwana, New Zealand

Tectonics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Sahoo ◽  
A. Nicol ◽  
G. H. Browne ◽  
D. P. Strogen
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Fault System

scholarly journals Palaeoearthquake histories across a normal fault system in the southwest Taranaki Peninsula, New Zealand

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Townsend ◽  
A Nicol ◽  
V Mouslopoulou ◽  
JG Begg ◽  
Rd Beetham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Fault System

scholarly journals Evolution of a Normal Fault System, northern Graben, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hamish Cameron
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Fault Evolution ◽  
Migration Pathways ◽  
Insight Into

<p>This study investigates the evolution (from initiation to inactivity) of a normal fault system in proximity to active petroleum systems within the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. The aim of this research is to understand the evolution, interaction, and in some cases, death of normal faults in a region undergoing progressive regional extension. This research provides insight into the geometry, development, and displacement history of new and reactivated normal fault evolution through interpretation of industry standard seismic reflection data at high spatial and temporal resolution. Insight into normal fault evolution provides information on subsidence rates and potential hydrocarbon migration pathways.  Twelve time horizons between 1.2 and 35 Ma have been mapped throughout 1670 square kilometres of the Parihaka and Toro 3D seismic reflection surveys. Fault displacement analysis and backstripping have been used to determine the main phases of fault activity, fault growth patterns, and maximum Displacement/Length ratios. The timing, geometry, and displacement patterns for 110 normal faults with displacements >20 m have been interpreted and analysed using Paradigm SeisEarth and TrapTester 6 seismic interpretation and fault analysis software platforms.  Normal faults within the Parihaka and Toro 3D seismic surveys began developing at ˜11 Ma, with the largest faults accruing up to 1500 m of displacement in <10 Myr (mean throw displacement rate of 0.15mm/yr). Approximately 50% of the 110 mapped faults are associated with pre-existing normal faults and have typical cumulative displacements of ˜20 – 1000 m, with strike parallel lengths of <1 – 23 km. In contrast, new faults have typically greater displacements of 20 – 1400 m, and are generally longer with, with strike parallel lengths of ˜1 – 33 km.   New faults were the first faults within the system to become inactive when strain rates decreased from 0.06 – 0.03 between 3.6 and 3.0 Ma. Eight of the largest faults with > 1000 m cumulative displacement reach the seafloor and are potentially active at present day. An earthquake on one of these faults could be expected to produce MW 2.2 based on the maximum strike-parallel length of the fault plane.</p>

scholarly journals Evolution of a Normal Fault System, northern Graben, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hamish Cameron
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Fault Evolution ◽  
Migration Pathways ◽  
Insight Into

<p>This study investigates the evolution (from initiation to inactivity) of a normal fault system in proximity to active petroleum systems within the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. The aim of this research is to understand the evolution, interaction, and in some cases, death of normal faults in a region undergoing progressive regional extension. This research provides insight into the geometry, development, and displacement history of new and reactivated normal fault evolution through interpretation of industry standard seismic reflection data at high spatial and temporal resolution. Insight into normal fault evolution provides information on subsidence rates and potential hydrocarbon migration pathways.  Twelve time horizons between 1.2 and 35 Ma have been mapped throughout 1670 square kilometres of the Parihaka and Toro 3D seismic reflection surveys. Fault displacement analysis and backstripping have been used to determine the main phases of fault activity, fault growth patterns, and maximum Displacement/Length ratios. The timing, geometry, and displacement patterns for 110 normal faults with displacements >20 m have been interpreted and analysed using Paradigm SeisEarth and TrapTester 6 seismic interpretation and fault analysis software platforms.  Normal faults within the Parihaka and Toro 3D seismic surveys began developing at ˜11 Ma, with the largest faults accruing up to 1500 m of displacement in <10 Myr (mean throw displacement rate of 0.15mm/yr). Approximately 50% of the 110 mapped faults are associated with pre-existing normal faults and have typical cumulative displacements of ˜20 – 1000 m, with strike parallel lengths of <1 – 23 km. In contrast, new faults have typically greater displacements of 20 – 1400 m, and are generally longer with, with strike parallel lengths of ˜1 – 33 km.   New faults were the first faults within the system to become inactive when strain rates decreased from 0.06 – 0.03 between 3.6 and 3.0 Ma. Eight of the largest faults with > 1000 m cumulative displacement reach the seafloor and are potentially active at present day. An earthquake on one of these faults could be expected to produce MW 2.2 based on the maximum strike-parallel length of the fault plane.</p>

Erosion rates of the New Zealand Southern Alps reflect long-term tectonics and transient climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duna Roda-Boluda ◽  
Taylor Schildgen ◽  
Hella Wittmann-Oelze ◽  
Stefanie Tofelde ◽  
Aaron Bufe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Southern Alps ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Seismic Cycle ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Alpine Fault ◽  
Oblique Convergence

&lt;p&gt;The Southern Alps of New Zealand are the expression of the oblique convergence between the Pacific and Australian plates, which move at a relative velocity of nearly 40 mm/yr. This convergence is accommodated by the range-bounding Alpine Fault, with a strike-slip component of ~30-40 mm/yr, and a shortening component normal to the fault of ~8-10 mm/yr. While strike-slip rates seem to be fairly constant along the Alpine Fault, throw rates appear to vary considerably, and whether the locus of maximum exhumation is located near the fault, at the main drainage divide, or part-way between, is still debated. These uncertainties stem from very limited data characterizing vertical deformation rates along and across the Southern Alps. Thermochronology has constrained the Southern Alps exhumation history since the Miocene, but Quaternary exhumation is hard to resolve precisely due to the very high exhumation rates. Likewise, GPS surveys estimate a vertical uplift of ~5 mm/yr, but integrate only over ~10 yr timescales and are restricted to one transect across the range.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To obtain insights into the Quaternary distribution and rates of exhumation of the western Southern Alps, we use new &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates from 20 catchments along the western side of the range. Catchment-averaged erosion rates span an order of magnitude, between ~0.8 and &gt;10 mm/yr, but we find that erosion rates of &gt;10 mm/yr, a value often quoted in the literature as representative for the entire range, are very localized. Moreover, erosion rates decrease sharply north of the intersection with the Marlborough Fault System, suggesting substantial slip partitioning. These &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates integrate, on average, over the last ~300 yrs. Considering that the last earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in 1717, these rates are representative of inter-seismic erosion. Lake sedimentation rates and coseismic landslide modelling suggest that long-term (~10&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; yrs) erosion rates over a full seismic cycle could be ~40% greater than our inter-seismic erosion rates. If we assume steady state topography, such a scaling of our &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be erosion rate estimates can be used to estimate rock uplift rates in the Southern Alps. Finally, we find that erosion, and hence potentially exhumation, does not seem to be localized at a particular distance from the fault, as some tectonic and provenance studies have suggested. Instead, we find that superimposed on the primary tectonic control, there is an elevation/temperature control on erosion rates, which is probably transient and related to frost-cracking and glacial retreat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our results highlight the potential for &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates to provide insights into the magnitude and distribution of tectonic deformation rates, and the limitations that arise from transient erosion controls related to the seismic cycle and climate-modulated surface processes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

Synthetic Transfer Zone Characterization Using Seismic Attributes: An Example from the Parihaka Fault System in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-73
Author(s):  
Pierre Karam ◽  
Shankar Mitra ◽  
Kurt Marfurt ◽  
Brett M. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Seismic Attributes ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Structural Interpretation ◽  
Transfer Zones ◽  
Seismic Characterization ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Transfer Zone

Synthetic transfer zones develop between fault segments which dip in the same direction, with relay ramps connecting the fault blocks separated by the different fault segments. The characteristics of the transfer zones are controlled by the lithology, deformation conditions, and strain magnitude. The Parihaka fault is a NE-SW trending set of three major en-echelon faults connected by relay ramps in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. The structure in the basin is defined by extension during two episodes of deformation between the late Cretaceous and Paleocene and between the Late Miocene and recent. To better understand the evolution of a synthetic transfer zone, we study the geometry and secondary faulting between the individual fault segments in the Parihaka fault system using structural interpretation of 3D seismic data and seismic attributes. This interpretation allows for a unique application of seismic attributes to better study transfer zones. Seismic attributes, including coherence, dip, and curvature are effective tools to understand the detailed geometry and variation in displacement on the individual faults, the nature of secondary faulting along the transfer zones, and the relationship between the faults and drape folds. Seismic characterization of the fault system of Miocene to Pliocene age horizons highlights variations in the degree of faulting, deformation, and growth mechanism associated with different stages of transfer zone development. Coherence, dip, and curvature attributes show a direct correlation with structural parameters such as deformation, folding, and breaching of relay ramps.. All three attributes enhance the visualization of the major and associated secondary faults and better constrain their tectonic history. The observed correlation between seismic attributes and structural characteristics of transfer zones can significantly improve structural interpretation and exploration workflow.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document