Terranes

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Bluck ◽  
W. Gibbons ◽  
J. K. Ingham

AbstractThe Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic foundations of the British Isles may be viewed as a series of suspect terranes whose exposed boundaries are prominent fault systems of various kinds, each with an unproven amount of displacement. There are indications that they accreted to their present configuration between late Precambrian and Carboniferous times. From north to south they are as follows.In northwest Scotland the Hebridean terrane (Laurentian craton in the foreland of the Caledonian Orogen) comprises an Archaean and Lower Proterozoic gneissose basement (Lewisian) overlain by an undeformed cover of Upper Proterozoic red beds and Cambrian to early mid Ordovician shallow marine sediments. The terrane is cut by the Outer Isles Thrust, a rejuvenated Proterozoic structure, and is bounded to the southeast by the Moine Thrust zone, within the hanging wall of which lies a Proterozoic metamorphic complex (Moine Supergroup) which constitutes the Northern Highlands terrane. The Moine Thrust zone represents an essentially orthogonal closure of perhaps 100 km which took place during Ordovician-Silurian times (Elliott & Johnson 1980). The Northern Highlands terrane records both Precambrian and late Ordovician to Silurian tectonometamorphic events (Dewey & Pankhurst 1970) and linkage with the Hebridean terrane is provided by slices of reworked Lewisian basement within the Moine Supergroup (Watson 1983).To the southwest of the Great Glen-Walls Boundary Fault system lies the Central Highlands (Grampian) terrane, an area dominated by the late Proterozoic Dalradian Supergroup which is underlain by a gneissic complex (Central Highland Granulites) that has been variously interpreted as either older

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy M. Hopkins

The Amadeus and Ngalia Basins are two of several intracratonic basins situated in the central region of the Australian Continent and underlain by Upper Proterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks.In the Amadeus Basin, the preserved sedimentary section has been deformed by several orogenic events through geological history, with salt tectonics playing an important role in the structural evolution. The Ordovician System is the primary exploration objective. The Cambrian and Proterozoic sequences, which also carry rock strata having source, reservoir and sealing properties, are secondary targets. However, these latter units are sparsely explored, and only limited information is available on their petroleum prospectiveness. Three of the four petroleum accumulations found to date are in Ordovician sandstones, with the fourth accumulation contained in Cambrian sandstones.The initial drilling phase in the Amadeus Basin in the early 1960s was concentrated on geologically defined surface antic :nes, with seismic surveying becoming the principal technique employed in subsequent exploration phases. The ongoing work has demonstrated a major untested structural play associated with a regional thrust fault system — in particular, combination dip and fault closures developed on the underthrust blocks. Stratigraphic prospects also are present in the Amadeus Basin, but none of these yet has been drilled.The Ngalia Basin is similar stratigraphically and structurally to the Amadeus Basin and is considered prospective for oil and gas. Much less work has been done in the Ngalia than in the Amadeus, with only one well drilled in the entire basin. The well yielded a gas snow from a Proterozoic formation, and other direct hydrocarbon indications have been recorded elsewhere in the basin. Rock units having source, reservoir and sealing parameters are present, as are structures capable of forming traps. Again, these are associated largely with a complex regional thrust fault system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Riesner ◽  
Laurent Bollinger ◽  
Judith Hubbard ◽  
Cyrielle Guérin ◽  
Marthe Lefèvre ◽  
...  

AbstractThe largest (M8+) known earthquakes in the Himalaya have ruptured the upper locked section of the Main Himalayan Thrust zone, offsetting the ground surface along the Main Frontal Thrust at the range front. However, out-of-sequence active structures have received less attention. One of the most impressive examples of such faults is the active fault that generally follows the surface trace of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT). This fault has generated a clear geomorphological signature of recent deformation in eastern and western Nepal, as well as further west in India. We focus on western Nepal, between the municipalities of Surkhet and Gorahi where this fault is well expressed. Although the fault system as a whole is accommodating contraction, across most of its length, this particular fault appears geomorphologically as a normal fault, indicating crustal extension in the hanging wall of the MHT. We focus this study on the reactivation of the MBT along the Surkhet-Gorahi segment of the surface trace of the newly named Reactivated Boundary Fault, which is ~ 120 km long. We first generate a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model from triplets of high-resolution Pleiades images and use this to map the fault scarp and its geomorphological lateral variation. For most of its length, normal motion slip is observed with a dip varying between 20° and 60° and a maximum cumulative vertical offset of 27 m. We then present evidence for recent normal faulting in a trench located in the village of Sukhetal. Radiocarbon dating of detrital charcoals sampled in the hanging wall of the fault, including the main colluvial wedge and overlying sedimentary layers, suggest that the last event occurred in the early sixteenth century. This period saw the devastating 1505 earthquake, which produced ~ 23 m of slip on the Main Frontal Thrust. Linked or not, the ruptures on the MFT and MBT happened within a short time period compared to the centuries of quiescence of the faults that followed. We suggest that episodic normal-sense activity of the MBT could be related to large earthquakes rupturing the MFT, given its proximity, the sense of motion, and the large distance that separates the MBT from the downdip end of the locked fault zone of the MHT fault system. We discuss these results and their implications for the frontal Himalayan thrust system.


Solid Earth ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 837-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Díaz ◽  
A. Maksymowicz ◽  
G. Vargas ◽  
E. Vera ◽  
E. Contreras-Reyes ◽  
...  

Abstract. The crustal-scale west-vergent San Ramón thrust fault system, which lies at the foot of the main Andean Cordillera in central Chile, is a geologically active structure with manifestations of late Quaternary complex surface rupture on fault segments along the eastern border of the city of Santiago. From the comparison of geophysical and geological observations, we assessed the subsurface structural pattern that affects the sedimentary cover and rock-substratum topography across fault scarps, which is critical for evaluating structural models and associated seismic hazard along the related faults. We performed seismic profiles with an average length of 250 m, using an array of 24 geophones (Geode), with 25 shots per profile, to produce high-resolution seismic tomography to aid in interpreting impedance changes associated with the deformed sedimentary cover. The recorded travel-time refractions and reflections were jointly inverted by using a 2-D tomographic approach, which resulted in variations across the scarp axis in both the velocities and the reflections that are interpreted as the sedimentary cover-rock substratum topography. Seismic anisotropy observed from tomographic profiles is consistent with sediment deformation triggered by west-vergent thrust tectonics along the fault. Electrical soundings crossing two fault scarps were used to construct subsurface resistivity tomographic profiles, which reveal systematic differences between lower resistivity values in the hanging wall with respect to the footwall of the geological structure, and clearly show well-defined east-dipping resistivity boundaries. These boundaries can be interpreted in terms of structurally driven fluid content change between the hanging wall and the footwall of the San Ramón fault. The overall results are consistent with a west-vergent thrust structure dipping ~55° E in the subsurface beneath the piedmont sediments, with local complexities likely associated with variations in fault surface rupture propagation, fault splays and fault segment transfer zones.


1989 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 103-108
Author(s):  
M.J Hambrey ◽  
J.S Peel ◽  
M.P Smith

The Caledonides of East Greenland contain the best exposures of Upper Riphean to Ordovician sediments in the Arctic - North Atlantic region. At its thickest the sequence contains 13 km of Eleonore Bay Group clastic sediments and carbonates, the 0.8 km thick Tillite Group and 3 km of Cambro-Ordovician strata (Henriksen & Higgins, 1976; Henriksen, 1985). These sediments crop out in a belt stretching for nearly 300 km through the fjord region, between 71° 38' and 74° 25'N. Those in the northern part of the region, between Brogetdal in Strindberg Land and southern Payer Land, and especiaIly Albert Heim Bjerge and C. H. Ostenfeld Nunatak, were the subject of investigation during 1988 (figs 1, 2).


1994 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Ole Valdemar Vejbæk ◽  
Svend Stouge ◽  
Kurt Damtoft Poulsen

The present distribution of Palaeozoic sediments in the Bornholm area is a consequence of several different tectonic regimes during the Phanerozoic eon. This development may be divided into three main evolutionary phases: A Caledonian to Variscian phase encompassing the Lower Palaeozoic sediments. The sediments are assumed originally to have showed a gradual thickness increase towards the Caledonian Deformation Front located to the south. This pre-rift development may be further subdivided into three sub-phases: A period of slow sedimentation on a relatively stable platform as recorded by the uniformly low thicknesses of the Cambrian to Lower Silurian sediments. A period of foreland-type rapid sedimentation commencing in the Llandoverian to Wenlockian, continuing in the Ludlovian and possibly into the Devonian. The period is characterized by /olding and uplift of the Caledonides to the south causing tectonic loading of the foreland and resultant rapid sedimentation in the foreland basin. A period of gravitational collapse causing minor erosion during the Devonian. The transition to the second major phase in the Phanerozaic structural development, during which the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist zone came into existence, is recorded by regional deposition of Carboniferous sediments. These sediments are, however, mostly removed by tater erosion. A syn-rift phase characterized by sedimentation in graben areas and expanding basins commencing in the Rotliegendes and continuing through the Triassic, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. This phase was probably initiated by a Late Carboniferous- Early Permian tensional dominated right-lateral wrench fault system within the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist zone. A Post-rift development phase dominated by Late Cretaceous carbonate sedimentation. During Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary times the Bornholm area was strongly affected by inversion tectonism caused by compressional strike-slip movements. This resulted in reverse faulting and uplift and erosion of former basinal areas. Understanding the two latter phases is important for understanding the present distribution of the Palaeozoic. A key to understanding the hydrocarbon potential of the area is the maturation of the organic matter in the main potential source, the Ordovician Upper Alum Shale. Maturity was mainly achieved during the Silurian to Late Palaeozoic time, and little further maturation took place later. The Upper Alum Shale is accordingly expected to be overmature in the main part of the study area and mature in the Hano Bay Basin. This reflects the assumed primary uniform thickness of the Lower Palaeozoic, with a general thinning towards the northeast. A Caledonian to Variscian phase encompassing the Lower Palaeozoic sediments. The sediments are assumed originally to have showed a gradual thickness increase towards the Caledonian Deformation Front located to the south. This pre-rift development may be further subdivided into three sub-phases: A period of slow sedimentation on a relatively stable platform as recorded by the uniformly low thicknesses of the Cambrian to Lower Silurian sediments. A period of foreland-type rapid sedimentation commencing in the Llandoverian to Wenlockian, continuing in the Ludlovian and possibly into the Devonian. The period is characterized by /olding and uplift of the Caledonides to the south causing tectonic loading of the foreland and resultant rapid sedimentation in the foreland basin. A period of gravitational collapse causing minor erosion during the Devonian. The transition to the second major phase in the Phanerozaic structural development, during which the Sorgenfrei - Tornquist zane came into existence, is recorded by regional deposition of Carboniferous sediments. These sediments are, however, mostly removed by tater erosion. A syn-rift phase characterized by sedimentation in graben areas and expanding basins commencing in the Rotliegendes and continuing through the Triassic, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. This phase was probably initiated by a Late Carboniferous- Early Permian tensional dominated right-lateral wrench fault system within the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist zone. A Post-rift development phase dominated by Late Cretaceous carbonate sedimentation. During Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary times the Bornholm area was strongly affected by inversion tectonism caused by compressional strike-slip movements. This resulted in reverse faulting and uplift and erosion of former basinal areas. Understanding the two latter phases is important for understanding the present distribution of the Palaeozoic. A key to understanding the hydrocarbon potential of thearea is the maturation of the organic matter in the main potential source, the Ordovician Upper Alum Shale. Maturity was mainly achieved during the Silurian to Late Palaeozoic time, and little further maturation took place later. The Upper Alum Shale is accordingly expected to be overmature in the main part of the study area and mature in the Hano Bay Basin. This reflects the assumed primary uniform thickness of the Lower Palaeozoic, with a general thinning towards the northeast.


2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 2455-2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Gabriela Gómez-Vasconcelos ◽  
José Luis Macías ◽  
Denis Ramón Avellán ◽  
Giovanni Sosa-Ceballos ◽  
Víctor Hugo Garduño-Monroy ◽  
...  

Abstract Interactions between volcanic and tectonic processes affect the distribution, morphology, and volume of eruptive products in space and time. The Queréndaro area in the eastern Michoacán-Guanajuato Volcanic Field affords an exceptional opportunity to understand these relationships. Here, a Pleistocene lava plateau and 20 monogenetic volcanoes are vented from an active ENE-striking segment of the Morelia-Acambay fault system. Thirteen scoria cones are aligned along this structure, vented from an extensional gap in between two rotated hanging wall blocks of a listric fault. A new geological map, volcanic stratigraphy, and 40Ar/39Ar dating indicate that this lava plateau and volcanic cluster were emplaced from 0.81 to 0.25 Ma by 11 intermittent eruptive epochs separated by ca. 0.05 Ma, emplacing a total magma volume of 5 km3. Petrography and chemistry of rocks suggest that all volcanic structures were fed by three different magma batches but vented from independent feeder dikes. Our results indicate that preexisting faults exert a strong influence on volcanic spatial and temporal distribution, volcanic morphology, magma volume, and eruptive dynamics in this area. ENE-breached and ENE-elongated scoria cones indicate parallel subsurface fissure and feeder dikes. Additionally, points of maximum fault dilation at depth related to a transtensive state of stress coincide with less fragmented deposits and larger magma volumes. Furthermore, this study raises important questions on the geodynamics of volcano-tectonic interactions possible in similar monogenetic volcanic alignments worldwide.


1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 669-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.G Blenkinsop ◽  
E.H Rutter

1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. White

The aim of this article is to extract from the existing literature a consistent nomenclature that can be used in the description of coherent fault rocks. The nomenclature is dealt with in this paper. Typical microstructures illustrating each is presented in a later paper (White et al ., 1982). It will be shown that a simple set of nomenclature can be extracted from the literature, so long as genetic connotations are kept to a minimum. The sequence, with increasing shear strain is country rock–protomylonite–blastomylonite–mylonite–ultramylonite if the rock has a well developed foliation; country rock–protocataclasite–cataclasite–ultracataclasite if it is without a foliation.It is emphasized that a mylonite is basically a fine-grained schist that has formed within fault zones. It is the association with faulting that distinguishes a mylonite from a fine grain schist.


2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. N. WATERS ◽  
P. CÓZAR ◽  
I. D. SOMERVILLE ◽  
R. B. HASLAM ◽  
D. MILLWARD ◽  
...  

AbstractA rationalized lithostratigraphy for the Great Scar Limestone Group of the southeast Askrigg Block is established. The basal Chapel House Limestone Formation, assessed from boreholes, comprises shallow-marine to supratidal carbonates that thin rapidly northwards across the Craven Fault System, onlapping a palaeotopographical high of Lower Palaeozoic strata. The formation is of late Arundian age in the Silverdale Borehole, its northernmost development. The overlying Kilnsey Formation represents a southward-thickening and upward-shoaling carbonate development on a S-facing carbonate ramp. Foraminiferal/algal assemblages suggest a late Holkerian and early Asbian age, respectively, for the uppermost parts of the lower Scaleber Force Limestone and upper Scaleber Quarry Limestone members, significantly younger than previously interpreted. The succeeding Malham Formation comprises the lower Cove Limestone and upper Gordale Limestone members. Foraminiferal/algal assemblages indicate a late Asbian age for the formation, contrasting with the Holkerian age previously attributed to the Cove Limestone. The members reflect a change from a partially shallow-water lagoon (Cove Limestone) to more open-marine shelf (Gordale Limestone), coincident with the onset of marked sea-level fluctuations and formation of palaeokarstic surfaces with palaeosoils in the latter. Facies variations along the southern flank of the Askrigg Block, including an absence of fenestral lime-mudstone in the upper part of the Cove Limestone and presence of dark grey cherty grainstone/packstone in the upper part the Gordale Limestone are related to enhanced subsidence during late Asbian movement on the Craven Fault System. This accounts for the marked thickening of both members towards the Greenhow Inlier.


1979 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. van Breemen ◽  
M. Aftalion ◽  
M. R. W. Johnson

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