Seismic reflection evidence for thick-skinned tectonics in the northern Jura |
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| Authors: | Y Rotstein M Schaming |
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| Institution: | Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (CNRS/ULP), 5 Rue RenéDescartes, 67084 Strasbourg, France;;The Geophysical Institute of Israel, Lod, Israel |
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| Abstract: | Newly released seismic reflection data from the northern Jura Mountains and southern Rhine Graben provide the first high‐quality subsurface images from this area. These throw light on the details of the fault patterns in the area, and show that the Ferrette and Le Glaserberg Jura structures are largely the result of thrust faulting. However, the faults differ in their nature from those usually assumed in Jura tectonics: they are not low‐angle thrusts converging on a decollement zone in Triassic evaporites. They appear instead to be high‐angle faults that cross the entire sedimentary section, indicating that thick‐skinned tectonics prevailed in this part of the Jura. Embryonic Jura folds can be seen on the images from the nearby Mulhouse Horst, folds that are not supported by thickened Triassic evaporites. The existence of recent earthquake activity, taken together with the prevalence of thick‐skinned tectonics, suggests that occasional large earthquakes cannot be ruled out in this area. |
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