scholarly journals Analysis of tectonic fracturing in the Mibladen ore deposit (Upper Moulouya, Morocco) and its impact on the Pb-Ba mineralization emplacement

Author(s):  
Driss Yaagoub ◽  
Saïd Hinaje ◽  
Mohamed El Fartati ◽  
Youssef Gharmane

Abstract The MVT-type Pb-Ba mineralizations of the Mibladen ore deposit are hosted by Jurassic carbonates as well as Infracenomanian conglomerates and sandstones. The mineral paragenesis is mainly composed of galena and barite with lesser chalcopyrite and pyrite, accompanied by supergene oxidation minerals. This ore deposit is the result of a major epigenetic mineral stage with economic orebodies occuring as replacement of pre-existent carbonate rocks, fillings of karst cavities, interstratal joints, collapse-breccias, fractures and faults. Structural and microtectonic analyses we carried out in this ore deposit, allowed us to highlight two main fracture networks controlling ore deposition within karst cavities and interstratal joints: i) NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW trending tension gashes and normal faults; ii) ENE-WSW to E-W trending reverse faults with strike-slip components and transtensive relay zones. All of these structures are developed under a regional compressional tectonic regime divided into extensional and transtensional episodes (σ1-σ2 and σ2-σ3 permutations) with sub-meridian σ1 axis and sub-equatorial σ3 axis. This compressive tectonic event caused the uplift of Mibladen area and favored the circulation of mineralizing fluids along the NW-SE and ENE-WSW major faults such as Amourou and Aouli Faults, during the Infracenomanian period (Upper Jurassic-Early Cretaceous).

2013 ◽  
Vol 588 ◽  
pp. 154-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Van Noten ◽  
Hannes Claes ◽  
Jeroen Soete ◽  
Anneleen Foubert ◽  
Mehmet Özkul ◽  
...  

Solid Earth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1205-1226
Author(s):  
George M. Gibson ◽  
Sally Edwards

Abstract. As host to several world-class sediment-hosted Pb–Zn deposits and unknown quantities of conventional and unconventional gas, the variably inverted 1730–1640 Ma Calvert and 1640–1575 Ma Isa superbasins of northern Australia have been the subject of numerous seismic reflection studies with a view to better understanding basin architecture and fluid migration pathways. These studies reveal a structural architecture common to inverted sedimentary basins the world over, including much younger examples known to be prospective for oil and gas in the North Sea and elsewhere, with which they might be usefully compared. Such comparisons lend themselves to suggestions that the mineral and petroleum systems in Paleo–Mesoproterozoic northern Australia may have spatially, if not temporally overlapped and shared a common tectonic driver, consistent with the observation that basinal sequences hosting Pb–Zn mineralization in northern Australia are bituminous or abnormally enriched in hydrocarbons. Sediment-hosted Pb–Zn mineralization coeval with basin inversion first occurred during the 1650–1640 Ma Riversleigh Tectonic Event towards the close of the Calvert Superbasin with further pulses taking place during and subsequent to the onset of the 1620–1580 Ma Isa Orogeny and final closure of the Isa Superbasin. Mineralization is typically hosted by the post-rift or syn-inversion fraction of basin fill, contrary to existing interpretations of Pb–Zn ore genesis where the ore-forming fluids are introduced during the rifting or syn-extensional phase of basin development. Mineralizing fluids were instead expelled upwards during times of crustal shortening into structural and/or chemical traps developing in the hangingwalls of inverted normal faults. Inverted normal faults predominantly strike NNW and ENE, giving rise to a complex architecture of compartmentalized sub-basins whose individual uplifted basement blocks and doubly plunging periclinal folds exerted a strong control not only on the distribution and preservation of potential trap rocks but the direction of fluid flow, culminating in the co-location and trapping of mineralizing and hydrocarbon fluids in the same carbonaceous rocks. An important case study is the 1575 Ma Century Pb–Zn deposit where the carbonaceous host rocks served as both a reductant and basin seal during the influx of more oxidized mineralizing fluids, forcing the latter to give up their Pb and Zn metal. A transpressive tectonic regime in which basin inversion and mineralization were paired to folding, uplift, and erosion during arc–continent or continent–continent collision, and accompanied by orogen-parallel extensional collapse and strike-slip faulting best accounts for the observed relationships.


1983 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 813-829
Author(s):  
P. Yi-Fa Huang ◽  
N. N. Biswas

abstract This paper describes the characteristics of the Rampart seismic zone by means of the aftershock sequence of the Rampart earthquake (ML = 6.8) which occurred in central Alaska on 29 October 1968. The magnitudes of the aftershocks ranged from about 1.6 to 4.4 which yielded a b value of 0.96 ± 0.09. The locations of the aftershocks outline a NNE-SSW trending aftershock zone about 50 km long which coincides with the offset of the Kaltag fault from the Victoria Creek fault. The rupture zone dips steeply (≈80°) to the west and extends from the surface to a depth of about 10 km. Fault plane solutions for a group of selected aftershocks, which occurred over a period of 22 days after the main shock, show simultaneous occurrences of strike-slip and normal faults. A comparison of the trends in seismicity between the neighboring areas shows that the Rampart seismic zone lies outside the area of underthrusting of the lithospheric plate in southcentral and central Alaska. The seismic zone outlined by the aftershock sequence appears to represent the formation of an intraplate fracture caused by regional northwest compression.


2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUVAL BARTOV ◽  
AMIR SAGY

A newly discovered active small-scale pull-apart (Mor structure), located in the western part of the Dead Sea Basin, shows recent basin-parallel extension and strike-slip faulting, and offers a rare view of pull-apart internal structure. The Mor structure is bounded by N–S-trending strike-slip faults, and cross-cut by low-angle, E–W-trending normal faults. The geometry of this pull-apart suggests that displacement between the two stepped N–S strike-slip faults of the Mor structure is transferred by the extension associated with the normal faults. The continuing deformation in this structure is evident by the observation of at least three deformation episodes between 50 ka and present. The calculated sinistral slip-rate is 3.5 mm/yr over the last 30 000 years. This slip rate indicates that the Mor structure overlies the currently most active strike-slip fault within the western border of the Dead Sea pull-apart. The Mor structure is an example of a small pull-apart basin developed within a larger pull-apart. This type of hierarchy in pull-apart structures is an indication for their ongoing evolution.


1991 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Passchier ◽  
R. F. Bekendam ◽  
J. D. Hoek ◽  
P. G. H. M. Dirks ◽  
H. de Boorder

AbstractThe presence of polyphase shear zones transected by several suites of dolerite dykes in Archaean basement of the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, allows a detailed reconstruction of the local structural evolution. Archaean and early Proterozoic deformation at granulite facies conditions was followed by two phases of dolerite intrusion and mylonite generation in strike-slip zones at amphibolite facies conditions. A subsequent middle Proterozoic phase of brittle normal faulting led to the development of pseudotachylite, predating intrusion of the major swarm of dolerite dykes around 1250 Ma. During the later stages and following this event, pseudotachylite veins were reactivated as ductile, mylonitic thrusts under prograde conditions, culminating in amphibolite facies metamorphism around 1000–1100 Ma. This is possibly part of a large-scale tectonic event during which the Vestfold block was overthrust from the south. In a final phase of strike-slip deformation, several pulses of pseudotachylite-generating brittle faulting alternated with ductile reactivation of pseudotachylite.


2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 866-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
FUSHENG YU ◽  
HEMIN KOYI

AbstractModelling results and seismic interpretation illustrate that the Cenozoic evolution of the Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) can be divided into different stages. A transtensional phase during Paleocene – early Oligocene time created NE-trending strike-slip faults and E–W-trending normal faults which were driven roughly by N–S–extension, making an angle of 25° with the strike-slip faults. Seismic data interpretation yields evidence that inversion phases occurred within the NE Xialiaohe Depression of the greater Bohai Bay Basin. This inversion phase is attributed to rotation and partial inversion that occurred during late Oligocene time, leading to formation of inversion structures along the NE part of Tanlu Fault. This episode is attributed to an anticlockwise rotation of the eastern part of the BBB driven by the convergence between the Pacific and Eurasian plates. The tectonic scenario described was simulated in scaled analogue models, which were extended by pulling two basement plates away from each other. Partial inversion was simulated by rotation of one of the plates relative to the other. Model results show many of the features observed in the BBB. Our model results are used to argue that, unlike the two-episode extension and whole-basin inversion models previously proposed for the BBB, a single N–S-aligned extension followed by anticlockwise rotation accounts for the Cenozoic evolution of the BBB and produces some of the structural complexities observed in the basin.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Swierczek ◽  
Cui Zhen-dong ◽  
Simon Holford ◽  
Guillaume Backe ◽  
Rosalind King ◽  
...  

The Rosedale Fault System (RFS) bounds the northern margin of the Gippsland Basin on the Southern Australian Margin. It comprises an anastomosing system of large, Cretaceous-age normal faults that have been variably reactivated during mid Eocene-Recent inversion. A number of large oil and gas fields are located in anticlinal traps associated with the RFS, and in the future these fields may be considered as potential storage sites for captured CO2. Given the evidence for geologically recent fault reactivation along the RFS, it is thus necessary to evaluate the potential impacts of CO2 injection on fault stability. The analysis and interpretation of 3D seismic data allowed the authors to create a detailed structural model of the western section of the RFS. Petroleum geomechanical data indicates that the in-situ stress in this region is characterised by hybrid strike-slip to reverse faulting conditions where SHmax (40.5 MPa/km) > SV (21 MPa/km) ~ Shmin (20 MPa/km). The authors performed geomechanical modelling to assess the likelihood of fault reactivation assuming that both strike-slip and reverse-stress faulting regimes exist in the study area. The authors’ results indicate that the northwest to southeast and east-northeast to west-southwest trending segments of the RFS are presently at moderate and high risks of reactivation. The authors’ results highlight the importance of fault surface geometry in influencing fault reactivation potential, and show that detailed structural models of potential storage sites must be developed to aid risk assessments before injection of CO2.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Smythe

Abstract. North American shale basins differ from their European counterparts in that the latter are one to two orders of magnitude smaller in area, but correspondingly thicker, and are cut or bounded by normal faults penetrating from the shale to the surface. There is thus an inherent risk of groundwater resource contamination via these faults during or after unconventional resource appraisal and development. US shale exploration experience cannot simply be transferred to the UK. The Bowland Basin, with 1900 m of Lower Carboniferous shale, is in the vanguard of UK shale gas development. A vertical appraisal well to test the shale by hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the first such in the UK, triggered earthquakes. Re-interpretation of the 3D seismic reflection data, and independently the well casing deformation data, both show that the well was drilled through the earthquake fault, and did not avoid it, as concluded by the exploration operator. Faulting in this thick shale is evidently difficult to recognise. The Weald Basin is a shallower Upper Jurassic unconventional oil play with stratigraphic similarities to the Bakken play of the Williston Basin, USA. Two Weald licensees have drilled, or have applied to drill, horizontal appraisal wells based on inadequate 2D seismic reflection data coverage. I show, using the data from the one horizontal well drilled to date, that one operator failed identify two small but significant through-going normal faults. The other operator portrayed a seismic line as an example of fault-free structure, but faulting had been smeared out by reprocessing. The case histories presented show that: (1) UK shale exploration to date is characterised by a low degree of technical competence, and (2) regulation, which is divided between four separate authorities, is not up to the task. If UK shale is to be exploited safely: (1) more sophisticated seismic imaging methods need to be developed and applied to both basins, to identify faults in shale with throws as small as 4–5 m, and (2) the current lax and inadequate regulatory regime must be overhauled, unified, and tightened up.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Revathy M. Parameswaran ◽  
Ingi Th. Bjarnason ◽  
Freysteinn Sigmundsson

<p>The Reykjanes Peninsula (RP) is a transtensional plate boundary in southwest Iceland that marks the transition of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) from the offshore divergent Reykjanes Ridge (RR) in the west to the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) in the east. The seismicity here trends ~N80°E in central RP and bends to ~N45°E at its western tip as it joins RR. Seismic surveys, geodetic studies, and recent GPS-based kinematic models indicate that the seismic zone is a collection of strike-slip and normal faults (e.g., Keiding et al., 2008). Meanwhile, the tectonic processes in the region also manifest as NE-SW trending volcanic fissures and normal faults, and N-S oriented dextral faults (e.g., Clifton and Kattenhorn, 2006). The largest of these fissure and normal-fault systems in RP is the Krísuvík-Trölladyngja volcanic system, which is a high-energy geothermal zone. The seismicity here predominantly manifests RP’s transtentional tectonics; however, also hosts triggered events such as those following the 17 June 2000 Mw6.5 earthquake in the SISZ (Árnadottir et al., 2004) ~80 km east of Krísuvík. Stress inversions of microearthquakes from 1997-2006 in the RP indicate that the current stress state is mostly strike-slip with increased normal component to the west, indicating that the seismicity is driven by plate diverging motion (Keiding et al., 2009). However, the geothermal system in Krísuvík is a potential secondary source for triggered seismicity and deformation. This study uses seismic and geodetic data to evaluate the activity in the Krísuvík-Trölladyngja volcanic system. The seismic data is used to identify specific areas of focused activity and evaluate variations in the stress field associated with plate motion and/or geothermal activity over space and time. The data used, within the time period 2007-2016, was collected by the the South Icelandic Lowland (SIL) seismic network operated and managed by the Iceland Meterological Office (IMO). Furthermore, variations in seismicity are compared to crustal deformation observed with TerraSAR-X images from 2009-2019. Crustal changes in the Krísuvík area are quantified to develop a model for corresponding deformation sources. These changes are then correlated with the stress-field variations determined with seismic analysis.</p>


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