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1.
The Southern Tail‐End Graben, Danish Central Graben, is characterized by a lateral variation in the thickness and mobility of pre‐rift Zechstein Supergroup evaporites, allowing investigation of how supra‐basement evaporite variability influences rift structural style and tectono‐stratigraphy. The study area is divided into two structural domains based on interpretations of the depositional thickness and mobility of the Zechstein Supergroup. Within each domain, we examine the overall basin morphology and the structural styles in the pre‐Zechstein and supra‐Zechstein (cover) units. Furthermore, integration of two‐way travel‐time (TWT)‐structure and ‐thickness maps allows fault activity and evaporite migration maps to be generated for pre‐ and syn‐rift stratal units within the two domains, permitting constraints to be placed on: (i) the timing of activity on pre‐Zechstein and cover faults and (ii) the onset, duration and migration direction of mobile evaporites. The northern domain is interpreted to be free from evaporite‐influence, and has developed in a manner typical of brittle‐only, basement‐involved rifts. Syn‐rift basins display classical half‐graben geometries bounded by thick‐skinned faults. In contrast, the southern domain is interpreted to be evaporite‐influenced, and cover structure reflects a southward increase in the thickness and mobility of the Zechstein Supergroup evaporites. Fault‐related and evaporite‐related folding is prominent in the southern domain, together with variable degrees of decoupling of sub‐Zechstein and cover fault and fold systems. The addition of mobile evaporites to the rift results in: (i) complex and spatially variable modes of tectono‐stratigraphic evolution; (ii) syn‐rift stratal geometries which are condensed above evaporite swells and over‐thickened in areas of withdrawal; (iii) compartmentalized syn‐rift depocentres; and (iv) masking of rift‐related megasequence boundaries. Through demonstrating these deviations from the characteristics of rifts free from evaporite influence, we highlight the first order control evaporites may exert upon rift structural style and the distribution and thicknesses of syn‐rift units.  相似文献   

2.
Because salt can decouple sub‐ and supra‐salt deformation, the structural style and evolution of salt‐influenced rifts differs from those developed in megoscopically homogenous and brittle crust. Our understanding of the structural style and evolution of salt‐influenced rifts comes from scaled physical models, or subsurface‐based studies that have utilised moderate‐quality 2D seismic reflection data. Relatively few studies have used high‐quality 3D seismic reflection data, constrained by borehole data, to explicitly focus on the role that along‐strike displacement variations on sub‐salt fault systems, or changes in salt composition and thickness, play in controlling the four‐dimensional evolution of supra‐salt structural styles. In this study, we use 3D seismic reflection and borehole data from the Sele High Fault System (SHFS), offshore Norway to determine how rift‐related relief controlled the thickness and lithology of an Upper Permian salt‐bearing layer (Zechstein Supergroup), and how the associated variations in the mechanical properties of this unit influenced the degree of coupling between sub‐ and supra‐salt deformation during subsequent extension. Seismic and borehole data indicate that the Zechstein Supergroup is thin, carbonate‐dominated and immobile at the footwall apex, but thick, halite‐dominated and relatively mobile in high accommodation areas, such as near the lateral fault tips and in the immediate hangingwall of the fault system. We infer that these variations reflect bathymetric changes related to either syn‐depositional (i.e. Late Permian) growth of the SHFS or underfilled, fault scarp‐related relief inherited from a preceding (i.e. Early Permian) rift phase. After a period of tectonic quiescence in the Early Triassic, regional extension during the Late Triassic triggered halokinesis and growth of a fault‐parallel salt wall, which was followed by mild extension in the Jurassic and forced folding of Triassic overburden above the fault systems upper tip. During the Early Cretaceous, basement‐involved extension resulted in noncoaxial tilting of the footwall, and the development of an supra‐salt normal fault array, which was restricted to footwall areas underlain by relatively thick mobile salt; in contrast, at the footwall apex, no deformation occurred because salt was thin and immobile. The results of our study demonstrate close coupling between tectonics, salt deposition and the style of overburden deformation for >180 Myr of the rift history. Furthermore, we show that rift basin tectono‐stratigraphic models based on relatively megascopically homogeneous and brittle crust do not appropriately describe the range of structural styles that occur in salt‐influenced rifts.  相似文献   

3.
Well‐calibrated seismic interpretation in the Halten Terrace of Mid‐Norway demonstrates the important role that structural feedback between normal fault growth and evaporite mobility has for depocentre development during syn‐rift deposition of the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Viking and Fangst Groups. While the main rift phase reactivated pre‐existing structural trends, and initiated new extensional structures, a Triassic evaporite interval decouples the supra‐salt cover strata from the underlying basement, causing the development of two separate fault populations, one in the cover and the other confined to the pre‐salt basement. Detailed displacement–length analyses of both cover and basement fault arrays, combined with mapping of the component parts of the syn‐rift interval, have been used to reveal the spatial and temporal evolution of normal fault segments and sediment depocentres within the Halten Terrace area. Significantly, the results highlight important differences with traditional models of normal fault‐controlled subsidence, including those from parts of the North Sea where salt is absent. It can now be shown that evaporite mobility is intimately linked to the along‐strike displacement variations of these cover and basement faults. The evaporites passively move beneath the cover in response to the extension, such that the evaporite thickness becomes greatest adjacent to regions of high fault displacement. The consequent evaporite swells can become large enough to have pronounced palaeobathymetric relief in hangingwall locations, associated with fault displacement maxima– the exact opposite situation to that predicted by traditional models of normal fault growth. Evaporite movement from previous extension also affects the displacement–length relationships of subsequently nucleated or reactivated faults. Evaporite withdrawal, on the other hand, tends to be a later‐stage feature associated with the high stress regions around the propagating tips of normal faults or their coeval hangingwall release faults. The results indicate the important effect of, and structural feedback caused by, syn‐rift evaporite mobility in heavily modifying subsidence patterns produced by normal fault array evolution. Despite their departure from published models, the results provide a new, generic framework within which to interpret extensional fault and depocentre development and evolution in areas in which mobile evaporites exist.  相似文献   

4.
The thickness and distribution of early syn‐rift deposits record the evolution of structures accommodating the earliest phases of continental extension. However, our understanding of the detailed tectono‐sedimentary evolution of these deposits is poor, because in the subsurface, they are often deeply buried and below seismic resolution and sparsely sampled by borehole data. Furthermore, early syn‐rift deposits are typically poorly exposed in the field, being buried beneath thick, late syn‐rift and post‐rift deposits. To improve our understanding of the tectono‐sedimentary development of early syn‐rift strata during the initial stages of rifting, we examined quasi‐3D exposures in the Abura Graben, Suez Rift, Egypt. During the earliest stage of extension, forced folding above blind normal fault segments, rather than half‐graben formation adjacent to surface‐breaking faults, controlled rift physiography, accommodation development and the stratigraphic architecture of non‐marine, early syn‐rift deposits. Fluvial systems incised into underlying pre‐rift deposits and were structurally focused in the axis of the embryonic depocentre, which, at this time, was characterized by a fold‐bound syncline rather than a fault‐bound half graben. During this earliest phase of extension, sediment was sourced from the rift shoulder some 3 km to the NE of the depocentre, rather than from the crests of the flanking, intra‐basin extensional forced folds. Fault‐driven subsidence, perhaps augmented by a eustatic sea‐level rise, resulted in basin deepening and the deposition of a series of fluvial‐dominated mouth bars, which, like the preceding fluvial systems, were structurally pinned within the axis of the growing depocentre, which was still bound by extensional forced folds rather than faults. The extensional forced folds were eventually locally breached by surface‐breaking faults, resulting in the establishment of a half graben, basin deepening and the deposition of shallow marine sandstone and fan‐delta conglomerates. Because growth folding and faulting were coeval along‐strike, syn‐rift stratal units deposited at this time show a highly variable along‐strike stratigraphic architecture, locally thinning towards the growth fold but, only a few kilometres along‐strike, thickening towards the surface‐breaking fault. Despite displaying the classic early syn‐rift stratigraphic motif recording net upward‐deepening, extensional forced folding rather than surface faulting played a key role in controlling basin physiography, accommodation development, and syn‐rift stratal architecture and facies development during the early stages of extension. This structural and stratigraphic observations required to make this interpretation are relatively subtle and may go unrecognized in low‐resolution subsurface data sets.  相似文献   

5.
The geodynamic setting along the SW Gondwana margin during its early breakup (Triassic) remains poorly understood. Recent models calling for an uninterrupted subduction since Late Palaeozoic only slightly consider the geotectonic significance of coeval basins. The Domeyko Basin initiated as a rift basin during the Triassic being filled by sedimentary and volcanic deposits. Stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochronological analyses are presented in order to determine the tectonostratigraphic evolution of this basin and to propose a tectonic model suitable for other SW Gondwana‐margin rift basins. The Domeyko Basin recorded two synrift stages. The Synrift I (~240–225 Ma) initiated the Sierra Exploradora sub‐basin, whereas the Synrift II (~217–200 Ma) reactivated this sub‐basin and originated small depocentres grouped in the Sierra de Varas sub‐basin. During the rift evolution, the sedimentary systems developed were largely controlled by the interplay between tectonics and volcanism through the accommodation/sediment supply ratio (A/S). High‐volcaniclastic depocentres record a net dominance of the syn‐eruptive period lacking rift‐climax sequences, whereas low‐volcaniclastic depocentres of the Sierra de Varas sub‐basin developed a complete rift cycle during the Synrift II stage. The architecture of the Domeyko Basin suggests a transtensional kinematic where N‐S master faults interacted with ~NW‐SE basement structures producing highly asymmetric releasing bends. We suggest that the early Domeyko Basin was a continental subduction‐related rift basin likely developed under an oblique convergence in a back‐arc setting. Subduction would have acted as a primary driving mechanism for the extension along the Gondwanan margin, unlike inland rift basins. Slab‐induced dynamic can strongly influence the tectonostratigraphic evolution of subduction‐related rift basins through controls in the localization and style of magmatism and faulting, settling the interplay between tectonics, volcanism, and sedimentation during the rifting.  相似文献   

6.
The impact of a pre‐existing rift fabric on normal fault array evolution during a subsequent phase of lithospheric extension is investigated using 2‐D and 3‐D seismic reflection, and borehole data from the northern Horda Platform, Norwegian North Sea. Two fault populations are developed: (i) a population comprising relatively tall (>2 km), N‐S‐striking faults, which have >1.5 km of throw. These faults are up to 60 km long, penetrate down into crystalline basement and bound the eastern margins of 6–15 km wide half‐graben, which contain >3 km of pre‐Jurassic, likely Permo–Triassic, but possibly Devonian syn‐rift strata; and (ii) a population comprising vertically restricted (<1 km), NW‐SE‐striking faults, which are more closely spaced (0.5–5 km), have lower displacements (30–100 m) and not as long (2–10 km) as those in the N–S‐striking population. The NW‐SE‐striking population typically occurs between the N‐S‐striking population, and may terminate against or cross‐cut the larger structures. NW–SE‐striking faults do not bound pre‐Jurassic half‐graben and are largely restricted to the Jurassic‐to‐Cretaceous succession. Seismic‐stratigraphic observations, and the stratigraphic position of the fault tips in both fault populations, allow us to reconstruct the Late Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous growth history of the northern Horda Platform fault array. We suggest the large, N‐S‐striking population was active during the Permo–Triassic and possibly earlier (Devonian?), before becoming inactive and buried during the Early and Middle Jurassic. After a period of relative tectonic quiescence, the N‐S‐striking, pre‐Jurassic fault population propagated through the Early‐Middle Jurassic cover and individual fault systems rapidly (within <10 Ma) established their maximum length in response to Late Jurassic extension. These fault systems became the dominant structures in the newly formed fault array and defined the locations of the main, Late Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous, syn‐rift depocentres. Late Jurassic extension was also accommodated by broadly synchronous growth of the NW‐SE‐striking fault population; the eventual death of this population occurred in response to the localization of strain onto the N–S‐striking fault population. Our study demonstrates that the inheritance of a pre‐existing rift fabric can influence the geometry and growth of individual fault systems and the fault array as a whole. On the basis of observations made in this study, we present a conceptual model that highlights the influence of a pre‐existing rift fabric on fault array evolution in polyphase rifts.  相似文献   

7.
Recent studies of natural, multiphase rifts suggest that the presence of pre‐existing faults may strongly influence fault growth during later rift phases. These findings compare well with predictions from recent scaled analogue experiments that simulate multiphase, non‐coaxial extension. However, in natural rifts we only get to see the final result of multiphase rifting. We therefore do not get the chance to compare the effects of the same rift phase with and without pre‐existing structural heterogeneity, as we may in the controlled environment of a laboratory experiment. Here, we present a case study from the Lofoten Margin that provides a unique opportunity to compare normal fault growth with and without pre‐existing structural heterogeneity. Using seismic reflection and wellbore data, we demonstrate that the Ribban Basin formed during Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting. We also show that the rift fault network of the Ribban Basin lacks a pre‐existing (Permian‐Triassic) structural grain that underlies the neighbouring North Træna Basin that also formed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Being able to compare adjacent basins with similar histories but contrasting underlying structure allows us to study how pre‐existing normal faults influence rift geometry. We demonstrate that in Lofoten, the absence of pre‐existing normal faults produced collinear fault zones. Conversely, where pre‐existing faults are present, normal fault zones develop strong “zigzag” plan‐view geometries.  相似文献   

8.
We describe the tectono‐sedimentary evolution of a Middle Jurassic, rift‐related supra‐detachment basin of the ancient Alpine Tethys margin exposed in the Central Alps (SE Switzerland). Based on pre‐Alpine restoration, we demonstrate that the rift basin developed over a detachment system that is traced over more than 40 km from thinned continental crust to exhumed mantle. The detachment faults are overlain by extensional allochthons consisting of upper crustal rocks and pre‐rift sediments up to several kilometres long and several hundreds of metres thick, compartmentalizing the distal margin into sub‐basins. We mapped and restored one of these sub‐basins, the Samedan Basin. It consists of a V‐shape geometry in map view, which is confined by extensional allochthons and floored by a detachment fault. It can be restored over a minimum distance of 11 km along and about 4 km perpendicular to the basin axis. Its sedimentary infill can be subdivided into basal (initial), intermediate (widening) and top (post‐tectonic) facies tracts. These tracts document (1) formation of the basin initially bounded by high‐angle faults and developing into low‐angle detachment faults, (2) widening of the basin and (3) migration of deformation further outboard. The basal facies tract is made of locally derived, poorly sorted gravity flow deposits that show a progressive change from hangingwall to footwall‐derived lithologies. Upsection the sediments develop into turbidity current deposits that show retrogradation (intermediate facies tract) and starvation of the sedimentary system (post‐tectonic facies tract). On the scale of the distal margin, the syn‐tectonic record documents a thinning‐ and fining‐upward sequence related to the back stepping of the tectonically derived sediment source, progressive starvation of the sedimentary system and migration of deformation resulting in exhumation and progressive delamination of the thinned crust during final rifting. This study provides valuable insights into the tectono‐sedimentary evolution and stratigraphic architecture of a supra‐detachment basin formed over hyper‐extended crust.  相似文献   

9.
The Plataforma Burgalesa is a partly exposed extensional forced fold system with an intermediate salt layer, which has developed along the southern portion of the Basque‐Cantabrian Basin from Malm to Early Cretaceous as part of the Bay of Biscay‐Pyrenean rift system. Relationships between syn‐ and pre‐rift strata of the supra‐salt cover sequence and distribution of intra‐cover second‐order faults are observed both along seismic sections and at the surface. These relationships indicate an along‐strike variability of the extensional structural style. After a short period of salt mobilization and forced folding, high slip rates in the central portion of the major basement faults have rapidly promoted brittle behaviour of the salt layer, preventing further salt mobilization and facilitating the propagation of the fault across the salt layer. In contrast, at the tip regions of basement faults, slower slip rates have facilitated ductile salt behaviour, ensuring its further evaporite evacuation, preventing fault propagation across the salt layer and, in essence, allowing for a long‐living forced folding process. Our results indicate the important effect of along‐strike variation in displacement and displacement rates in controlling evaporite behaviour in extensional basins. Amount of displacement and displacement rates are key factors controlling the propagation of basement faults across evaporite layers. In addition, growth strata patterns are recognized as a powerful tool for constraining the up‐dip propagation history of basement faults in extensional fault‐related fold systems with intermediate décollement levels.  相似文献   

10.
Rift basin tectono‐stratigraphic models indicate that normal fault growth controls the sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of syn‐rift deposits. However, such models have rarely been tested by observations from natural examples and thus remain largely conceptual. In this study we integrate 3D seismic reflection, and biostratigraphically constrained core and wireline log data from the Vingleia Fault Complex, Halten Terrace, offshore Mid‐Norway to test rift basin tectono‐stratigraphic models. The geometry of the basin‐bounding fault and its hangingwall, and the syn‐rift stratal architecture, vary along strike. The fault is planar along a much of its length, bounding a half‐graben containing a faultward‐thickening syn‐rift wedge. Locally, however, the fault has a ramp‐flat‐ramp geometry, with the hangingwall defined by a fault‐parallel anticline‐syncline pair. Here, an unusual bipartite syn‐rift architecture is observed, comprising a lower faultward‐expanding and an upper faultward‐thinning wedge. Fine‐grained basinfloor deposits dominate the syn‐rift succession, although isolated coarse clastics occur. The spatial and temporal distribution of these coarse clastics is complex due to syn‐depositional movement on the Vingleia Fault Complex. High rates of accommodation generation in the fault hangingwall led to aggradational stacking of fan deltas that rapidly (<5 km) pinch out basinward into offshore mudstone. In the south of the basin, rapid strain localization meant that relay ramps were short‐lived and did not represent major, long‐lived sediment entry points. In contrast, in the north, strain localization occurred later in the rift event, thus progradational shorefaces developed and persisted for a relatively long time in relay ramps developed between unlinked fault segments. The footwall of the Vingleia Fault Complex was characterized by relatively low rates of accommodation generation, with relatively thin, progradational hangingwall shorelines developed downdip of the fault block apex, sometime after the onset of sediment supply to the hangingwall. We show that rift basin tectono‐stratigraphic models need modifying to take into account along‐strike variability in fault structure and basin physiography, and the timing and style of syn‐rift sediment dispersal and facies, in both hangingwall and footwall locations.  相似文献   

11.
“Salt” giants are typically halite‐dominated, although they invariably contain other evaporite (e.g. anhydrite, bittern salts) and non‐evaporite (e.g. carbonate, clastic) rocks. Rheological differences between these rocks mean they impact or respond to rift‐related, upper crustal deformation in different ways. Our understanding of basin‐scale lithology variations in ancient salt giants, what controls this and how this impacts later rift‐related deformation, is poor, principally due to a lack of subsurface datasets of sufficiently regional extent. Here we use 2D seismic reflection and borehole data from offshore Norway to map compositional variations within the Zechstein Supergroup (ZSG) (Lopingian), relating this to the structural styles developed during Middle Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous rifting. Based on the proportion of halite, we identify and map four intrasalt depositional zones (sensu Clark et al., Journal of the Geological Society, 1998, 155, 663) offshore Norway. We show that, at the basin margins, the ZSG is carbonate‐dominated, whereas towards the basin centre, it becomes increasingly halite‐dominated, a trend observed in the UK sector of the North Sea Basin and in other ancient salt giants. However, we also document abrupt, large magnitude compositional and thickness variations adjacent to large, intra‐basin normal faults; for example, thin, carbonate‐dominated successions occur on fault‐bounded footwall highs, whereas thick, halite‐dominated successions occur only a few kilometres away in adjacent depocentres. It is presently unclear if this variability reflects variations in syn‐depositional relief related to flooding of an underfilled presalt (Early Permian) rift or syn‐depositional (Lopingian) rift‐related faulting. Irrespective of the underlying controls, variations in salt composition and thickness influenced the Middle Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous rift structural style, with diapirism characterising hangingwall basins where autochthonous salt was thick and halite‐rich and salt‐detached normal faulting occurring on the basin margins and on intra‐basin structural highs where the salt was too thin and/or halite‐poor to undergo diapirism. This variability is currently not captured by existing tectono‐stratigraphic models largely based on observations from salt‐free rifts and, we argue, mapping of suprasalt structural styles may provide insights into salt composition and thickness in areas where boreholes are lacking or seismic imaging is poor.  相似文献   

12.
Lower Cretaceous early syn‐rift facies along the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, their provenance, and structural context, reveal the complex interactions between Cretaceous extension, spatio‐temporal trends in associated sedimentation, and subsequent inversion of the Cretaceous Guatiquía paleo‐rift. South of 4°30′N lat, early syn‐rift alluvial sequences in former extensional footwall areas were contemporaneous with fan‐delta deposits in shallow marine environments in adjacent hanging‐wall areas. In general, footwall erosion was more pronounced in the southern part of the paleorift. In contrast, early syn‐rift sequences in former footwall areas in the northern rift sectors mainly comprise shallow marine supratidal sabkha to intertidal strata, whereas hanging‐wall units display rapid transitions to open‐sea shales. In comparison with the southern paleo‐rift sector, fan‐delta deposits in the north are scarce, and provenance suggests negligible footwall erosion. The southern graben segment had longer, and less numerous normal faults, whereas the northern graben segment was characterized by shorter, rectilinear faults. To the east, the graben system was bounded by major basin‐margin faults with protracted activity and greater throw as compared with intrabasinal faults to the west. Intrabasinal structures grew through segment linkage and probably interacted kinematically with basin‐margin faults. Basin‐margin faults constitute a coherent fault system that was conditioned by pre‐existing basement fabrics. Structural mapping, analysis of present‐day topography, and balanced cross sections indicate that positive inversion of extensional structures was focused along basin‐bounding faults, whereas intrabasinal faults remained unaffected and were passively transported by motion along the basin‐bounding faults. Thus, zones of maximum subsidence in extension accommodated maximum elevation in contraction, and former topographic highs remained as elevated areas. This documents the role of basin‐bounding faults as multiphased, long‐lived features conditioned by basement discontinuities. Inversion of basin‐bounding faults was more efficient in the southern than in the northern graben segment, possibly documenting the inheritance and pivotal role of fault‐displacement gradients. Our observations highlight similarities between inversion features in orogenic belts and intra‐plate basins, emphasizing the importance of the observed phenomena as predictive tools in the spatiotemporal analysis of inversion histories in orogens, as well as in hydrocarbon and mineral deposits exploration.  相似文献   

13.
The style of extension and strain distribution during the early stages of intra-continental rifting is important for understanding rift-margin development and can provide constraints for lithospheric deformation mechanisms. The Corinth rift in central Greece is one of the few rifts to have experienced a short extensional history without subsequent overprinting. We synthesise existing seismic reflection data throughout the active offshore Gulf of Corinth Basin to investigate fault activity history and the spatio-temporal evolution of the basin, producing for the first time basement depth and syn-rift sediment isopachs throughout the offshore rift. A major basin-wide unconformity surface with an age estimated from sea-level cycles at ca . 0.4 Ma separates distinct seismic stratigraphic units. Assuming that sedimentation rates are on average consistent, the present rift formed at 1–2 Ma, with no clear evidence for along-strike propagation of the rift axis. The rift has undergone major changes in relative fault activity and basin geometry during its short history. The basement depth is greatest in the central rift (maximum ∼3 km) and decreases to the east and west. In detail however, two separated depocentres 20–50 km long were created controlled by N- and S-dipping faults before 0.4 Ma, while since ca . 0.4 Ma a single depocentre (80 km long) has been controlled by several connected N-dipping faults, with maximum subsidence focused between the two older depocentres. Thus isolated but nearby faults can persist for timescales ca . 1 Ma and form major basins before becoming linked. There is a general evolution towards a dominance of N-dipping faults; however, in the western Gulf strain is distributed across several active N- and S-dipping faults throughout rift history, producing a more complex basin geometry.  相似文献   

14.
Reactivation of pre‐existing intra‐basement structures can influence the evolution of rift basins, yet the detailed kinematic relationship between these structures and overlying rift‐related faults remains poorly understood. Understanding the kinematic as well as geometric relationship between intra‐basement structures and rift‐related fault networks is important, with the extension direction in many rifted provinces typically thought to lie normal to fault strike. We here investigate this problem using a borehole‐constrained, 3D seismic reflection dataset from the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand. Excellent imaging of intra‐basement structures and a relatively weakly deformed, stratigraphically simple sedimentary cover allow us to: (a) identify a range of interaction styles between intra‐basement structures and overlying, Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults; and (b) examine the cover fault kinematics associated with each interaction style. Some of the normal faults parallel and are physically connected to intra‐basement reflections, which are interpreted as mylonitic reverse faults formed during Mesozoic subduction and basement terrane accretion. These geometric relationships indicate pre‐existing intra‐basement structures locally controlled the position and attitude of Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults. However, through detailed 3D kinematic analysis of selected normal faults, we show that: (a) normal faults only nucleated above intra‐basement structures that experienced late Miocene compressional reactivation, (b) despite playing an important role during subsequent rifting, intra‐basement structures have not been significantly extensionally reactivated, and (c) preferential nucleation and propagation of normal faults within late Miocene reverse faults and folds appears to be the key genetic relationship between contractionally reactivated intra‐basement structures and rift‐related normal faults. Our analysis shows that km‐scale, intra‐basement structures can control the nucleation and development of newly formed, rift‐related normal faults, most likely due to a local perturbation of the regional stress field. Because of this, simply inverting fault strike for causal extension direction may be incorrect, especially in provinces where pre‐existing, intra‐basement structures occur. We also show that a detailed kinematic analysis is key to deciphering the temporal as well as simply the spatial or geometric relationship between structures developed at multiple structural levels.  相似文献   

15.
Although fault growth is an important control on drainage development in modern rifts, such links are difficult to establish in ancient basins. To understand how the growth and interaction of normal fault segments controls stratigraphic patterns, we investigate the response of a coarse-grained delta system to evolution of a fault array in a Miocene half-graben basin, Suez rift. The early Miocene Alaqa delta complex comprises a vertically stacked set of footwall-sourced Gilbert deltas located in the immediate hangingwall of the rift border fault, adjacent to a major intrabasinal relay zone. Sedimentological and stratigraphic studies, in combination with structural analysis of the basin-bounding fault system, permit reconstruction of the architecture, dispersal patterns and evolution of proximal Gilbert delta systems in relation to the growth and interaction of normal fault segments. Structural geometries demonstrate that fault-related folds developed along the basin margin above upward and laterally propagating normal faults during the early stages of extension. Palaeocurrent data indicate that the delta complex formed a point-sourced depositional system developed at the intersection of two normal fault segments. Gilbert deltas prograded transverse into the basin and laterally parallel to faults. Development of the transverse delta complex is proposed to be a function of its location adjacent to an evolving zone of fault overlap, together with focusing of dispersal between adjacent fault segments growing towards each other. Growth strata onlap and converge onto the monoclinal fold limbs indicating that these structures formed evolving structural topography. During fold growth, Gilbert deltas prograded across the deforming fold surface, became progressively rotated and incorporated into fold limbs. Spatial variability of facies architecture is linked to along-strike variation in the style of fault/fold growth, and in particular variation in rates of crestal uplift and fold limb rotation. Our results clearly show that the growth and linkage of fault segments during fault array evolution has a fundamental control on patterns of sediment dispersal in rift basins.  相似文献   

16.
Established models indicate that, before being breached, relay zones along rift borders can evolve either by lengthening and rotating during progressive overlap of growing fault segments (isolated fault model), or, by simply rotating without lengthening before breaching (coherent fault model). The spatio‐temporal distribution of vertical motions in a relay zone can thus be used to distinguish fault growth mechanisms. Depositional relay zones that develop at sea level and accommodate both deposition on the ramp itself as well as transfer of sediments from the uplifting footwall into the hangingwall depocentres and provide the most complete record of vertical motions. We examine the development of a depositional relay ramp on the border of the active Corinth rift, Greece to reconstruct fault interaction in time and space using both onshore and offshore (2D seismic lines) data. The Akrata relay zone developed over a period of ca. 0.5 Myr since the Middle Pleistocene between the newly forming East Helike Fault (EHF) that propagated towards the older, more established Derveni Fault (DF). The relay zone captured the Krathis River, which deposited prograding Gilbert‐type deltas on the sub‐horizontal ramp. Successive oblique faults record progressive linkage and basinward migration of accommodation along the ramp axis, whereas marine terraces record diachronous uplift in their footwalls. Although early linkage of the relay zone occurs, continuous propagation and linkage of the EHF onto the static DF is recorded before final beaching. Rotation on forced folds above the upward and laterally propagating normal faults at the borders of the relay zone represents the ramp hinges. The Akrata relay zone cannot be compared directly to a simple fault growth model because (1) the relay zone connects two fault segments of different generations; (2) multiple linkages during propagation was facilitated by the presence of pre‐existing crustal structures, inherited from the Hellenide fold and thrust belt. The linkage of the EHF to the DF contributed to the westward and northward propagation of the southern rift border.  相似文献   

17.
Through the investigation of crustal heterogeneities, sedimentary basin architecture and seismic stratigraphy, we demonstrate how a crust‐scale anisotropy controls the initiation of rifting and the subsequent structural and sedimentological evolution of the Mesozoic Gamtoos Basin, southern South Africa. The results demonstrate that the >90‐km‐long Gamtoos Fault established its length very early in its syn‐rift phase (within ～5 Ma of rift initiation) before accruing over 6 s (two‐way‐travel time (TWT)), or >12 km, of displacement without any significant subsequent increase in length. In addition, there is no evidence at the resolution of the data of fault segmentation, isolated depocentres nor of intra‐basin faults progressively coalescing during the syn‐rift interval. The early establishment of length resulted in a rapid transition from a terrestrial depositional environment to anoxic, deep marine conditions. The Gamtoos Fault has a 90° bend in the fault trace that we propose is inherited from the underlying structure. Immediately adjacent to the bend the basin‐fill is significantly deformed and a high‐amplitude (>1.7s TWT) monoclinal fold is observed. Previous workers proposed that the fold was a consequence of a complex interplay between compression and extension. Through a restoration of the basin‐fill deformation we produce a model that suggests that the fold is a consequence of the accommodation of extension by the unusual plan‐view trace of the fault. The evolution of the basin does not conform to current fault growth models and it is proposed that its unusual and complex development can be attributed to the underlying crustal‐scale anisotropy, a fact that is likely to be important in other areas in which crustal stretching is superimposed on heterogeneous continental crust.  相似文献   

18.
Extensional faults and folds exert a fundamental control on the location, thickness and partitioning of sedimentary deposits on rift basins. The connection between the mode of extensional fault reactivation, resulting fault shape and extensional fold growth is well‐established. The impact of folding on accommodation evolution and growth package architecture, however, has received little attention; particularly the role‐played by fault‐perpendicular (transverse) folding. We study a multiphase rift basin with km‐scale fault displacements using a large high‐quality 3D seismic data set from the Fingerdjupet Subbasin in the southwestern Barents Sea. We link growth package architecture to timing and mode of fault reactivation. Dip linkage of deep and shallow fault segments resulted in ramp‐flat‐ramp fault geometry, above which fault‐parallel fault‐bend folds developed. The folds limited the accommodation near their causal faults, leading to deposition within a fault‐bend synclinal growth basin further into the hangingwall. Continued fold growth led to truncation of strata near the crest of the fault‐bend anticline before shortcut faulting bypassed the ramp‐flat‐ramp structure and ended folding. Accommodation along the fault‐parallel axis is controlled by the transverse folds, the location and size of which depends on the degree of linkage in the fault network and the accumulated displacement on causal faults. We construct transverse fold trajectories by tracing transverse fold hinges through space and time to highlight the positions of maximum and minimum accommodation and potential sediment entry points to hangingwall growth basins. The length and shape of the constructed trajectories relate to the displacement on their parent faults, duration of fault activity, timing of transverse basin infill, fault linkage and strain localization. We emphasize that the considerable wavelength, amplitudes and potential periclinal geometry of extensional folds make them viable targets for CO2 storage or hydrocarbon exploration in rift basins.  相似文献   

19.
《Basin Research》2018,30(3):448-479
The onshore central Corinth rift contains a syn‐rift succession >3 km thick deposited in 5–15 km‐wide tilt blocks, all now inactive, uplifted and deeply incised. This part of the rift records upward deepening from fluviatile to lake‐margin conditions and finally to sub‐lacustrine turbidite channel and lobe complexes, and deep‐water lacustrine conditions (Lake Corinth) were established over most of the rift by 3.6 Ma. This succession represents the first of two phases of rift development – Rift 1 from 5.0–3.6 to 2.2–1.8 Ma and Rift 2 from 2.2–1.8 Ma to present. Rift 1 developed as a 30 km‐wide zone of distributed normal faulting. The lake was fed by four major N‐ to NE‐flowing antecedent drainages along the southern rift flank. These sourced an axial fluvial system, Gilbert fan deltas and deep lacustrine turbidite channel and lobe complexes. The onset of Rift 2 and abandonment of Rift 1 involved a 30 km northward shift in the locus of rifting. In the west, giant Gilbert deltas built into a deepening lake depocentre in the hanging wall of the newly developing southern border fault system. Footwall and regional uplift progressively destroyed Lake Corinth in the central and eastern parts of the rift, producing a staircase of deltaic and, following drainage reversal, shallow marine terraces descending from >1000 m to present‐day sea level. The growth, linkage and death of normal faults during the two phases of rifting are interpreted to reflect self‐organization and strain localization along co‐linear border faults. In the west, interaction with the Patras rift occurred along the major Patras dextral strike‐slip fault. This led to enhanced migration of fault activity, uplift and incision of some early Rift 2 fan deltas, and opening of the Rion Straits at ca. 400–600 ka. The landscape and stratigraphic evolution of the rift was strongly influenced by regional palaeotopographic variations and local antecedent drainage, both inherited from the Hellenide fold and thrust belt.  相似文献   

20.
The location, shape and stacking pattern of deep‐marine clastic sediments on drifting stage passive continental margins are strongly influenced by the slope and basin floor topography. The tectonic control on sediment routes and dispersal patterns, however, is less understood on rift margins, particularly the impact of subaqueous transfer zones or relay ramps. In this study, an area of the Palaeocene marine syn‐rift succession in the Vøring Basin is mapped in detail to unravel the relationship between fault geometries and sedimentary infill patterns. Using root‐mean‐square (RMS) amplitudes and deposit thicknesses interpreted from seismic data, sedimentary elements in the Fenris Graben and the Gjallar Ridge are related to the fault patterns and the overall basin geometry. Older deposits are found to be aligned parallel to the basin axis, with the greatest sediment thicknesses on the hanging walls and adjacent to rotated faults. The main sediment supply is interpreted to be sourced from the Vøring Marginal High and Greenland, presumably containing a significant proportion of coarser grained material and comprising numerous local depocentres. With continued rifting and decreased fault activity, finer grained deposition draped the previous basin infill and smoothed the basin floor topography. Deposits close to the foot of relay ramps along the Gjallar Ridge, however, suggest that the high may have acted as a local sediment source leading to local depocentres. Transfer zones played a significant role in sediment transport during the early rifting phase, and were able to maintain some influence into the late rifting and early drifting stage. Identification of early‐ and late‐stage transfer zones may therefore help in locating coarser grained depocentres and potential hydrocarbon reservoirs.  相似文献   

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