scholarly journals Geology of Chief Joseph Pass, Wyoming: Crest of Rattlesnake Mountain anticline and escape path of the Eocene Heart Mountain slide

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Malone ◽  
John Craddock ◽  
Alexandra Wallenberg ◽  
Betrand Gaschot ◽  
John A. Luczaj

ABSTRACT Rattlesnake Mountain is a Laramide uplift cored by Archean gneiss that formed by offset along two reverse faults with opposing dips, the result being an asymmetric anticline with a drape fold of Cambrian–Cretaceous sediments. Rattlesnake Mountain was uplifted ca. 57 Ma and was a structural buttress that impeded motion of upper-plate blocks of the catastrophic Heart Mountain slide (49.19 Ma). North of Pat O’Hara Mountain anticline, Rattlesnake Mountain anticline has a central graben that formed ca. 52 Ma (U-Pb age on vein calcite in normal faults) into which O- and C-depleted fluids propagated upward with hydrocarbons. The graben is defined by down-dropped Triassic Chugwater shales atop the anticline that facilitated motion of Heart Mountain slide blocks of Paleozoic limestones dolomite (i.e., the Ordovician Bighorn Dolomite and Mississippian Madison Limestone) onto, and over, Rattlesnake Mountain into the Bighorn Basin. Heart Mountain fault gouge was also injected downward into the bounding Rattlesnake Mountain graben normal faults (U-Pb age ca. 48.8 ± 5 Ma), based on O and C isotopes; there is no anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility fabric present. Calcite veins parallel to graben normal faults precipitated from meteoric waters (recorded by O and C isotopes) heated by the uplifting Rattlesnake Mountain anticline and crystallized at 57 °C (fluid inclusions) in the presence of oil. Calcite twinning strain results from graben injectites and calcite veins are different; we also documented a random layer-parallel shortening strain pattern for the Heart Mountain slide blocks in the ramp region (n = 4; west) and on the land surface (n = 5; atop Rattlesnake Mountain). We observed an absence of any twinning strain overprint (low negative expected values) in the allochthonous upper-plate blocks and in autochthonous carbonates directly below the Heart Mountain slide surface, again indicating rapid motion including horizontal rotation about vertical axes of the upper-plate Heart Mountain slide blocks during the Eocene.

GeoArabia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-136
Author(s):  
Simon Virgo ◽  
Max Arndt ◽  
Zoé Sobisch ◽  
Janos L. Urai

ABSTRACT We present a high-resolution structural study on the dip slope of the southern flank of Jabal Shams in the central Oman Mountains. The objectives of the study were: (1) to test existing satellite-based interpretations of structural elements in the area; (2) prepare an accurate geological map; and (3) collect an extensive structural dataset of fault and bedding planes, fault throws, veins and joints. These data are compared with existing models of tectonic evolution in the Oman Mountains and the subsurface, and used to assess the applicability of these structures as analogs for fault and fracture systems in subsurface carbonate reservoirs in Oman. The complete exposure of clean rock incised by deep wadis allowed detailed mapping of the complex fault, vein and joint system hosted by Member 3 of the Cretaceous Kahmah Group. The member was divided into eight units for mapping purposes, in about 100 m of vertical stratigraphy. The map was almost exclusively based on direct field observations. It includes measurement of fault throw in many locations and the construction of profiles, which are accurate to within a few meters. Ground-truthing of existing satellite-based interpretations of structural elements showed that faults can be mapped with high confidence using remote-sensing data. The faults range into the subseismic scale with throws as little as a few decimeters. However, the existing interpretation of lineaments as cemented fractures was shown to be incorrect: the majority of these are open fractures formed along reactivated veins. The most prominent structure in the study area is a conjugate set of ESE-striking faults with throws resolvable from several centimeters to hundreds of meters. These faults contain bundles of coarse-grained calcite veins, which may be brecciated during reactivation. We interpret these faults to be a conjugate normal- to oblique fault set, which was rotated together with bedding during the folding of the Al Jabal al-Akhdar anticline. There are many generations of calcite veins with minor offset and at high-angle-to-bedding, sometimes in en-echelon sets. Analysis of clear overprinting relationships between veins at high-angle-to-bedding is consistent with the interpretations of Holland et al. (2009a); however we interpret the anticlockwise rotation of vein strike orientation to start before and end after the normal faulting. The normal faults post-date the bedding-parallel shear veins in the study area. Thus these faults formed after the emplacement of the Semail and Hawasina Nappes. They were previously interpreted to be of the same age as the regional normal- to oblique-slip faults in the subsurface of northern Oman and the United Arab Emirates, which evolved during the early deposition of the Campanian Fiqa Formation as proposed by Filbrandt et al. (2006). We interpret them also to be coeval with the Phase I extension of Fournier et al. (2006). The reactivation of these faults and the evolution of new veins was followed by folding of the Al Jabal al-Akhdar anticline and final uplift and jointing by reactivation of pre-existing microveins. Thus the faults in the study area are of comparable kinematics and age as those in the subsurface. However they formed at much greater depth and fluid pressures, so that direct use of these structures as analogs for fault and fracture systems in subsurface reservoirs in Oman should be undertaken with care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kokinou ◽  
E. Kamberis ◽  
A. Sarris ◽  
I. Tzanaki

Giouchta Mt. is located south of Heraklion city, in Crete. It is an N-S trending morphological asymmetric ridge, with steep western slope whilst the eastern slope represents a smoother relief, composed of Mesozoic limestone and Eocene- lower Oligocene flysch sediments of the Gavrovo -Tripolis zone. The present study focuses on the geological structure of Mt. Giouchta. Field mapping and tectonic analysis is performed for this purpose. The dominant structures are contractional in nature, deformed by normal faulting related to the extensional episodes initiated in Serravallian times. The strain pattern in the area is revealed from strain analysis. It is inferred that the orientation of the stress field in the area has changed several times: the N-S, stress field which was dominant during Late Serravallian times changed to NE-SW (in Late Serravallian? - Early Tortonian) and subsequently to WNW-ESE (Early to Middle Tortonian) to become NW-SE in Late Tortonian. This orientation changed also during the Quaternary times trending from NW-SE (Early Pleistocene) to ENE-WSW (Middle Pleistocene-Holocene). In addition to the above, surface soil samples were collected in the wider area of mount Giouchta and they were analyzed in order to determine the magnetic susceptibility. GIS techniques were used for mapping the spatial distribution of the geological features and the magnetic measurements on the topographic relief of the area. Statistical analysis techniques were also applied in order to investigate the relation of faulting and magnetic susceptibility. Maps representing the spatial distribution of the above measurements were created by using appropriate interpolation algorithms.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Muñoz-López ◽  
Gemma Alías ◽  
David Cruset ◽  
Irene Cantarero ◽  
Cédric M. Jonh ◽  
...  

Abstract. Calcite veins precipitated in the Estamariu thrust during two tectonic events decipher the temporal and spatial relationships between deformation and fluid migration in a long-lived thrust and determine the influence of basement rocks on the fluid chemistry during deformation. Structural and petrological observations constrain the timing of fluid migration and vein formation, whilst geochemical analyses (δ13C, δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr, clumped isotope thermometry and elemental composition) of the related calcite cements and host rocks indicate the fluid origin, pathways and extent of fluid-rock interaction. The first tectonic event, recorded by calcite cements Cc1a and Cc2, is related to the Alpine reactivation of the Estamariu thrust, and is characterized by the migration of meteoric fluids, heated at depth (temperatures between 56 and 98 °C) and interacted with crystalline basement rocks before upflowing through the thrust zone. During the Neogene extension, the Estamariu thrust was reactivated and normal faults and shear fractures with calcite cements Cc3, Cc4 and Cc5 developed. Cc3 and Cc4 precipitated from hydrothermal fluids (temperatures between 127 and 208 °C and between 102 and 167 °C, respectively) derived from crystalline basement rocks and expelled through fault zones during deformation. Cc5 precipitated from low temperature meteoric waters percolating from the surface through small shear fractures. The comparison between our results and already published data in other structures from the Pyrenees suggests that regardless of the origin of the fluids and the tectonic context, basement rocks have a significant influence on the fluid chemistry, particularly on the 87Sr/86Sr ratio. Accordingly, the cements precipitated from fluids interacted with crystalline basement rocks have significantly higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios (> 0.710) with respect to those precipitated from fluids that have interacted with the sedimentary cover (


Geology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1015-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Beaudoin ◽  
Olivier Lacombe ◽  
Nick M.W. Roberts ◽  
Daniel Koehn

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen Bender ◽  
Bjarne S. G. Almqvist ◽  
Amanda Bergman ◽  
Uwe Ring

Abstract. Nappe assembly in the Köli Nappe Complex, Jämtland, Sweden, has been associated with in- and out-of-sequence thrusting. Kinematic data from shear zones bounding the Köli Nappe Complex are compatible with this model, but direct evidence from fault zones internally subdividing the nappe complex does not exist. We studied a series of pseudotachylyte exposures in these fault zones for deciphering the role seismic faulting played in the assembly of the Caledonian nappe pile. To constrain the fault kinematics, microstructural and magnetic fabrics of pseudotachylyte in foliation-parallel fault veins have been investigated. Because the pseudotachylyte veins are thin, we focused on small (c. 0.2 cm3) samples for measuring the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility. The results show inverse proportionality between specimen size and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility degree, which is most likely an analytical artifact related to instrument sensitivity and small sample dimensions. This finding implies magnetic anisotropy results acquired from small specimens demand cautious interpretation. However, analysis of structural and magnetic fabric data indicates that seismic faulting occurred during exhumation into the upper crust but yield no kinematic in-formation. Structural field data suggest that seismic faulting was postdated by brittle E–W extensional deformation along steep normal faults. Therefore, it is likely that the pseudotachylytes formed late during out-of-sequence thrusting of the Köli Nappe Complex over the Seve Nappe Complex.


2012 ◽  
Vol 576-577 ◽  
pp. 116-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickael Barbier ◽  
Rémi Leprêtre ◽  
Jean-Paul Callot ◽  
Marta Gasparrini ◽  
Jean-Marc Daniel ◽  
...  

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