scholarly journals Structural complexity in the boundary of forearc basin – accretionary wedge in the northwesternmost Sunda active margin

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maruf M. Mukti

The area from Andaman to northern Sumatran margin is a region where major faults collided that complicates the structural configuration. The origin of structures in the boundary between the accretionary wedge and forearc basin in the northwesternmost segment of the Sunda margin has been a subject of debates. This article reviews several published works on the Andaman – north Sumatran margin to characterize the boundary between forearc basin and accretionary wedge. Complex strain partitioning in this margin is characterized by sliver faults that crossing boundaries between the backarc basin, volcanic arc, forearc basin, and accretionary wedge. The fault zone can be divided into two segments: The West Andaman Fault (WAF) in the north and Simeulue Fault (SiF) in the southern part. A restraining step-over formed in between WAF and SiF. The SiF may extent onshore Simeulue to a strike-slip fault onshore. Strain-partitioning in such an oblique convergent margin appears to have formed a new deformation zone rather than reactivated the major rheological boundary in between the accretionary wedge and forearc basin. The eastern margin of the Andaman-north Sumatra accretionary wedge appears to have form as landward-vergent backthrusts of Diligent Fault (DF) and Nicobar Aceh Fault (NAF) rather than strike-slip faults. This characteristic appears to have formed in the similar way with the compressional structures dominated the eastern margin accretionary wedge of the central and south Sumatra forearc. Keywords: Andaman, North Sumatra, forearc, structure, accretionary wedge, strain partitioningDaerah Andaman - Sumatera bagian utara adalah wilayah di mana patahan-patahan besar saling bertemu dan membuat konfigurasi struktur menjadi rumit. Asal-usul struktur di batas antara prisma akresi dan cekungan busur muka di bagian paling baratlaut dari tepian Sunda telah menjadi topik perdebatan. Artikel ini mengulas beberapa studi yang telah diterbitkan sebelumnya mengenai tepian Andaman - Sumatra bagian utara untuk mengkarakterisasikan batas antara cekungan muka dan prisma akresi. Pemisahan regangan yang kompleks di tepian ini dicirikan oleh sliver fault yang melintasi batas antara cekungan busur belakang, busur vulkanik, cekungan busur muka, dan prisma akresi. Zona sesar tersebut dapat dibagi menjadi dua segmen, yaitu Sesar Andaman Barat (WAF) di utara dan Simeulue Fault (SiF) di bagian selatan. Sebuah restraining step-over terbentuk di antara WAF dan SiF. SiF kemungkinan menerus sampai ke Pulau Simeulue dan menyatu dengan sesar geser. Pemisahan regangan di tepian konvergen yang miring seperti itu tampaknya telah membentuk zona deformasi baru daripada mengaktifkan kembali batas reologi utama di antara prisma akresi dan cekungan busur muka. Batas bagian timur dari prisma akresi di Andaman – Sumatera bagian utara memiliki bentuk sebagai backthrusts berarah darat yaitu Sesar Diligent (DF) dan Sesar Nicobar Aceh (NAF) dan bukan merupakan sesar geser. Karakteristik ini tampaknya terbentuk dengan proses yang mirip dengan struktur-struktur kompresional yang mendominasi bagian timur prisma akresi di daerah Sumatra bagian tengah dan selatan.Kata kunci: Andaman, Sumatera bagian, busur muka, struktur, prisma akresi, pemisahan regangan 

Author(s):  
P Papadimitriou ◽  
V Kapetanidis ◽  
A Karakonstantis ◽  
I Spingos ◽  
K Pavlou ◽  
...  

Summary The properties of the Mw = 6.7 earthquake that took place on 25 October 2018, 22:54:51 UTC, ∼50 km SW of the Zakynthos Island, Greece, are thoroughly examined. The main rupture occurred on a dextral strike-slip, low-angle, east-dipping fault at a depth of 12 km, as determined by teleseismic waveform modelling. Over 4000 aftershocks were manually analysed for a period of 158 days. The events were initially located with an optimal 1D velocity model and then relocated with the double-difference method to reveal details of their spatial distribution. The latter spreads in an area spanning 80 km NNW-SSE and ∼55 km WSW-ENE. Certain parts of the aftershock zone present strong spatial clustering, mainly to the north, close to Zakynthos Island, and at the southernmost edge of the sequence. Focal mechanisms were determined for 61 significant aftershocks using regional waveform modelling. The results revealed characteristics similar to the mainshock, with few aftershocks exhibiting strike-slip faulting at steeper dip angles, possibly related to splay faults on the accretionary prism. The slip vectors that correspond to the east-dipping planes are compatible with the long-term plate convergence and with the direction of coseismic displacement on the Zakynthos Island. Fault-plane solutions in the broader study area were inverted for the determination of the regional stress-field. The results revealed a nearly horizontal, SW-NE to E-W-trending S1 and a more variable S3 axis, favouring transpressional tectonics. Spatial clusters at the northern and southern ends of the aftershock zone coincide with the SW extension of sub-vertical along-dip faults of the segmented subducting slab. The mainshock occurred in an area where strike-slip tectonics, related to the Cephalonia Transform Fault and the NW Peloponnese region, gradually converts into reverse faulting at the western edge of the Hellenic subduction. Plausible scenarios for the 2018 Zakynthos earthquake sequence include a rupture on the subduction interface, provided the slab is tilted eastwards in that area, or the reactivation of an older east-dipping thrust as a low-angle strike-slip fault that contributes to strain partitioning.


1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 705-715
Author(s):  
Mark Andrew Tinker ◽  
Susan L. Beck

Abstract Regional distance surface waves are used to study the source parameters for moderate-size aftershocks of the 25 April 1992 Petrolia earthquake sequence. The Cascadia subduction zone had been relatively seismically inactive until the onset of the mainshock (Ms = 7.1). This underthrusting event establishes that the southern end of the North America-Gorda plate boundary is seismogenic. It was followed by two separate and distinct large aftershocks (Ms = 6.6 for both) occurring at 07:41 and 11:41 on 26 April, as well as thousands of other small aftershocks. Many of the aftershocks following the second large aftershock had magnitudes in the range of 4.0 to 5.5. Using intermediate-period surface-wave spectra, we estimate focal mechanisms and depths for one foreshock and six of the larger aftershocks (Md = 4.0 to 5.5). These seven events can be separated into two groups based on temporal, spatial, and principal stress orientation characteristics. Within two days of the mainshock, four aftershocks (Md = 4 to 5) occurred within 4 hr of each other that were located offshore and along the Mendocino fault. These four aftershocks comprise one group. They are shallow, thrust events with northeast-trending P axes. We interpret these aftershocks to represent internal compression within the North American accretionary prism as a result of Gorda plate subduction. The other three events compose the second group. The shallow, strike-slip mechanism determined for the 8 March foreshock (Md = 5.3) may reflect the right-lateral strike-slip motion associated with the interaction between the northern terminus of the San Andreas fault system and the eastern terminus of the Mendocino fault. The 10 May aftershock (Md = 4.1), located on the coast and north of the Mendocino triple junction, has a thrust fault focal mechanism. This event is shallow and probably occurred within the accretionary wedge on an imbricate thrust. A normal fault focal mechanism is obtained for the 5 June aftershock (Md = 4.8), located offshore and just north of the Mendocino fault. This event exhibits a large component of normal motion, representing internal failure within a rebounding accretionary wedge. These two aftershocks and the foreshock have dissimilar locations in space and time, but they do share a north-northwest oriented P axis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemanja Krstekanic ◽  
Liviu Matenco ◽  
Uros Stojadinovic ◽  
Ernst Willingshofer ◽  
Marinko Toljić ◽  
...  

<p>The Carpatho-Balkanides of south-eastern Europe is a double 180° curved orogenic system. It is comprised of a foreland-convex orocline, situated in the north and east and a backarc-convex orocline situated in the south and west. The southern orocline of the Carpatho-Balkanides orogen formed during the Cretaceous closure of the Alpine Tethys Ocean and collision of the Dacia mega-unit with the Moesian Platform. Following the main orogen-building processes, the Carpathians subduction and Miocene slab retreat in the West and East Carpathians have driven the formation of the backarc-convex oroclinal bending in the south and west. The orocline formed during clockwise rotation of the Dacia mega-unit and coeval docking against the Moesian indenter. This oroclinal bending was associated with a Paleocene-Eocene orogen-parallel extension that exhumed the Danubian nappes of the South Carpathians and with a large late Oligocene – middle Miocene Circum-Moesian fault system that affected the orogenic system surrounding the Moesian Platform along its southern, western and northern margins. This fault system is composed of various segments that have different and contrasting types of kinematics, which often formed coevally, indicating a large degree of strain partitioning during oroclinal bending. It includes the curved Cerna and Timok faults that cumulate up to 100 km of dextral offset, the lower offset Sokobanja-Zvonce and Rtanj-Pirot dextral strike-slip faults, associated with orogen parallel extension that controls numerous intra-montane basins and thrusting of the western Balkans units over the Moesian Platform. We have performed a field structural study in order to understand the mechanisms of deformation transfer and strain partitioning around the Moesian indenter during oroclinal bending by focusing on kinematics and geometry of large-scale faults within the Circum-Moesian fault system.</p><p>Our structural analysis shows that the major strike-slip faults are composed of multi-strand geometries associated with significant strain partitioning within tens to hundreds of metres wide deformation zones. Kinematics of the Circum-Moesian fault system changes from transtensional in the north, where the formation of numerous basins is controlled by the Cerna or Timok faults, to strike-slip and transpression in the south, where transcurrent offsets are gradually transferred to thrusting in the Balkanides. The characteristic feature of the whole system is splaying of major faults to facilitate movements around the Moesian indenter. Splaying towards the east connects the Circum-Moesian fault system with deformation observed in the Getic Depression in front of the South Carpathians, while in the south-west the Sokobanja-Zvonce and Rtanj-Pirot faults splay off the Timok Fault. These two faults are connected by coeval E-W oriented normal faults that control several intra-montane basins and accommodate orogen-parallel extension. We infer that all these deformations are driven by the roll-back of the Carpathians slab that exerts a northward pull on the upper Dacia plate in the Serbian Carpathians. However, the variability in deformation styles is controlled by geometry of the Moesian indenter and the distance to Moesia, as the rotation and northward displacements increase gradually to the north and west.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Maruf M Mukti ◽  
Ilham Arisbaya ◽  
Haryadi Permana

This paper presents a review of several published seismic reflection and seismicity data and analyzes of high-resolution bathymetry data to revise the exact location and reveal detail characteristics of a strike-slip fault zone that formed the southernmost segment of the Sumatran Fault (SF). Previous works interpreted this fault segment as a horst structure to the south of a pull-apart basin. We observe a clear linear trace of dissected seafloor parallels to SF in the high-resolution bathymetric map. This structure extends from the south of a pull-apart basin in the northwest to the Sunda accretionary wedge farther southeast. This lineament exhibits a narrow valley and a linear ridge that in the subsurface are interpreted as negative and positive flower structures, respectively. The structure exhibits a vertical fault plane and appears to have deformed the accretionary wedge sediments and basement at depth. A cluster of shallow seismicity is observed along this NW-trending fault zone, indicating the activity of this zone. Here, we proposed this strike-slip fault as the Ujung Kulon Fault that marks the southeasternmost segment of the SF zone. This segment deformed the area of the Sumatra-Java forearc basin and terminated in accretionary wedge near the trench. The accumulated strain within UKF may trigger large earthquake in the future, close to the highly populated areas in the coast of Sumatra and Java.Keywords: Strike-slip fault, Sumatra Fault, Ujung Kulon Fault, segmentation, earthquake.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levent Tosun ◽  
Elif Çakır ◽  
Bora Uzel ◽  
Ökmen Sümer ◽  
Atilla Arda Özacar ◽  
...  

<p>The present tectonic framework of the Western Anatolia has been dominated by two major deformations. The first one is the product of the slab-edge processes related to the convergence between Eurasian and African plates along with the Aegean-Cyprean subduction system since the Oligocene, and the second one is the westwards escape of Anatolian Block along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) since the late Miocene. The first one resulted in a widespread extensional deformation in the Western Anatolia and the Aegean region and is associated with slab-detachment and slab-tear processes that gave rise to the development of dynamic topography and various core-complexes (e.g., Cyclades and Menderes). Recent studies have shown that the deferential extensional strain between the core complexes in the region has been accommodated by strike-slip dominated transfer zones, the İzmir-Balıkesir Transfer Zone (İBTZ), which developed (sub)parallel to the extension direction and accommodate differential extension and rotational deformation in the region. The second one gave way to the development of a complex strike-slip deformation pattern and an array of pull-apart basin complexes throughout the northern margin of the Anatolian Block. The NAFZ and İBTZ interact around the Balıkesir-Bursa region resulting in a very peculiar deformation style due to partitioning of strain between these major structures.<br>This study aims at unraveling how the strain partitioning operates between İBTZ and NAFZ and to reveal the kinematic constraints that produced the present tectonic scheme in the region. The geometry and kinematics of the faults are determined by analyzing 2773 fault slip data obtained from 49 sites evenly distributed throughout the study area. The preliminary results show that the İzmir-Balıkesir Transfer Zone localized after Miocene with the decoupling of strike-slip faults, and to the episodic exhumation of the metamorphic core complexes. The focal mechanism solutions of the recent earthquakes support this decoupling and manifest the seismic activity of the İBTZ. This study is supported by a Tübitak Project, Grant Number of 117R011.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Alexandre Kounov ◽  
Ianko Gerdjikov

The Sredna Gora Zone holds a unique place in the tectonic subdivisions of the Balkanide orogen and its evolution is still a subject of debate. In the last twenty years, the idea of strike-slip-related evolution of the zone has been invoked. However, for the moment, the number of thorough studies where such a scenario is envisaged is limited, and substantial evidence based on detailed fieldwork is still missing. In this article, we discuss some of the major problems of the suggested wrench tectonic concept in the evolution of the central part of the Sredna Gora Zone. These are the character of some major shear zones in the area, to which strike-slip movements are attributed, and the transtension-transpression evolution scenario for the Chelopech and Panagyurishte basins. Despite refuting completely their wrench tectonic-related evolution, we confirm the presence of strike-slip and oblique slip structures cutting the sediments, whereas the time of their activity and role in the deformation of the basin fill are yet to be revealed. Finally, we present a model based on natural examples and analogue modeling, in which the long-lived dextral Maritsa shear zone represents a zone of localized strain partitioning, separating the opposite vergent thrust belts of the Rhodope to the south and the Sredna Gora and Balkan fold-thrust belt to the north, during oblique or possibly orthogonal convergence.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Prokopiev ◽  
V. S. Oxman

Abstract. The sequence of formation of structures is established in the zone of junction of the eastern margin of the North Asian craton and the northeastern flank of the Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent, in the area of bend of the Kolyma structural loop. Detailed structural studies revealed two phases in the formation of Mesozoic structures – an early thrust phase and a late strike-slip phase. Structures formed during each of the phases are described. Thrust structures are represented by the Setakchan nappe on which the minimum amount of horizontal displacement is estimated at 13–15 km. Later superposed left-lateral strike-slip faults have a north strike. Formation of these latter structures occurred during the second phase of collision between the Kolyma-Omolon microcontinent and the eastern margin of the North Asian craton.


1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.P. Woods

Several structural domains are recognised within the Vulcan Sub-basin, Timor Sea. These domains developed during the Jurassic rifting phase and are separated by major transfer zones which trend in a northwest-southeast direction. Within each domain are frequent third order transfers which sub-divide the main northeast trending fault blocks into numerous compartments. These enable structural hydrocarbon traps to be formed, despite a predominant regional dip. They also affect migration pathways.Jurassic fault styles include detached rotational blocks, salt-associated features, tilted fault blocks and 'hourglass' horsts and grabens. These generally have a northeast-southwest orientation. The transfer faulting complicates these features and forms zones of structural complexity with associated poor seismic data quality. A separate fault episode in the north of the sub-basin during the Tithonian resulted in an east-west fault set overprinting the earlier structuring.Intra-Cretaceous fault movement is also recognised and has an important role in early hydrocarbon entrapment.Structural reactivation during the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of the earlier fault sets modified the geometry of many existing traps. Numerous new traps may also have formed as a result of this tectonism. In many places the resulting geometry is complex, particularly where the younger fault orientation is at an angle to the main Oxfordian fault set. The late-stage movement is primarily extensional, manifested by predominantly normal faults; overall, however, a varying component of strike slip is likely. A divergent strike-slip zone is recognised at the southwest end of the Cartier Trough.The effects of the late stage tectonism tend to mask the seismic expression of Mesozoic hydrocarbon traps resulting in many wells being drilled off-structure at the target horizon. An understanding of the deeper structuring should result in further discoveries in this prospective basin.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Guo ◽  
Zhujun Han ◽  
Fan Gao ◽  
Chuanhua Zhu ◽  
Hailong Gai

<p>The rupture patterns of large earthquakes in transpressional systems can provide important information for understanding oblique motion and strain partitioning between tectonic blocks. The 1927 M8.0 Gulang earthquake occurred on the transpressional boundary between the Tibetan and Gobi-Alashan blocks. Combined with the results of previous studies, we find that the Lenglongling fault (LLLF) and Southern Wuwei Basin fault (SWBF) might have both ruptured during the Gulang earthquake, but they exhibited different motions. A ~120-km-long surface rupture zone formed along the LLLF, with a left-lateral strike-slip motion and a coseismic offset of ~2.4-7.5 m. Bending, bifurcation, and change of the slip sense occurs at both ends of the fault. The ~42-km-long rupture zone on the SWBF, with a coseismic vertical offset of ~0.6-2.8 m, can be divided into two segments. The eastern segment shows thrust motion, while the western shows thrust motion with a left-lateral strike-slip component. Thus, the Gulang earthquake may be a multifault rupture event where strike-slip and thrust faults ruptured simultaneously. Analysis of deep and shallow structures and three-dimensional finite-element modeling reveal that the north-dipping LLLF and the SWBF may converge downward to a low-angle decollement. This pattern of deformation partitioning is similar to some other earthquakes where oblique block convergence is partitioned into strike-slip motion on steeply dipping faults and vertical motion on gently dipping faults.</p>


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