TectonicsPub Date : 2024-01-11DOI: 10.1029/2023tc007839
Tao Deng, Xiumian Hu, David Chew, Qin Wang, Jinhai Yu, Foteini Drakou
{"title":"Sedimentological Evidence for Pre-Early Permian Continental Subduction in the Dabie Orogen, Central-East China","authors":"Tao Deng, Xiumian Hu, David Chew, Qin Wang, Jinhai Yu, Foteini Drakou","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007839","url":null,"abstract":"How to constrain the onset of continental subduction and prograde metamorphism in an orogen remains a fundamental question. The widespread Triassic ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks in the Dabie orogen in central-east China are generally attributed to continental subduction. The earliest Triassic peripheral basins (the Huangshi, Yueshan and Nanjing basins) around the Dabie orogen represent an ideal archive to reconstruct the early evolution of the orogen. Here we present a multidisciplinary provenance study on these Triassic strata, including framework petrography and heavy mineral analyses combined with U-Pb age and trace-element analyses of detrital zircon, rutile and apatite. The abundant metapelitic lithics and muscovite grains, a heavy mineral population dominated by metamorphic apatite, and a significant Permian (270–290 Ma) age peak from U-Pb age spectra of detrital zircon, rutile and apatite imply an Early Permian medium-high grade metamorphic source in the uppermost structural levels of the Dabie orogen. Our provenance data indicate that the onset of northward continental subduction of the South China Block commenced no later than the Early Permian (c. 290 Ma). This event is clearly earlier and distinct from the more widespread Triassic UHP metamorphism of the Dabie orogen, suggesting that continental subduction and mountain-basin interaction were protracted processes (>55 Myr, c. 290–235 Ma). When combined with other geological evidence, our results show that the prolonged continental subduction is not always preceded by subduction of oceanic crust.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139422584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2024-01-08DOI: 10.1029/2022tc007651
A. Erbello, C. Colleps, D. Melnick, E. R. Sobel, B. Bookhagen, H. Pingel, G. Zeilinger, P. van der Beek, M. R. Strecker
{"title":"Magma-Assisted Continental Rifting: The Broadly Rifted Zone in SW Ethiopia, East Africa","authors":"A. Erbello, C. Colleps, D. Melnick, E. R. Sobel, B. Bookhagen, H. Pingel, G. Zeilinger, P. van der Beek, M. R. Strecker","doi":"10.1029/2022tc007651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2022tc007651","url":null,"abstract":"The Gofa Province and Chew Bahir Basin in the Broadly Rifted Zone (BRZ) between the southern Main Ethiopian Rift (sMER) and the northern Kenya Rift (nKR) record early volcanism and associated faulting in East Africa; however, the spatiotemporal relationships between volcanism and faulting remain poorly constrained. We applied apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) thermochronometry to Neoproterozoic basement rocks from exhumed footwall blocks of the extensional Gofa Province and Chew Bahir Basin, and analyzed our result in the context of well-dated regional volcanic units in the BRZ to unravel the interplay between tectonic exhumation, faulting and volcanism. Single-grain AHe ages ranging from 1.0 to 136.8 Ma were recorded in 32 samples, and single-grain ZHe ages from three samples range between 142.2 and 335.6 Ma. The youngest AHe ages were obtained from the Chew Bahir Basin and the narrow deformation zone in the Gofa Province. Our thermal modeling results reflect little or no significant regional crustal cooling prior to extensive volcanism, which started at about 45 Ma. Conversely, new and previously published thermal history models suggest that widespread crustal cooling related to regional extension occurred between ∼27 and 20 Ma. Thermal modeling results from subsets of samples indicate that following this initial diffuse extensional deformation, renewed exhumation occurred along a narrow zone within the Gofa Province and the Chew Bahir Basin during the middle to late Miocene (15-6 Ma) and Pliocene (<5 Ma), respectively. The crustal cooling phases follow a regional trend in volcanic episodes. For example, initial cooling between 27 and 20 Ma corresponds with the end of widespread flood-basalt volcanism (45–28 Ma), suggesting that spatially diffuse normal faulting may have initiated shortly after the emplacement of voluminous and areally extensive flood basalts. The Miocene and Pliocene shifts in deformation along the Mali-Dancha and Bala-Kela basins in the Gofa Province and the Chew Bahir Basin, respectively, may indicate strain localization during the late stage of rifting and ongoing tectonic interaction between the sMER and the nKR. Our results support the notion of crustal weakening by massive volcanism as a precursor to widespread extensional faulting, and thus offer further insights into magma-assisted deformation processes in the East African Rift System.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139396288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2024-01-08DOI: 10.1029/2023tc008104
J. I. Soto, M. D. Tranos, Z. Bega, T. P. Dooley, P. Hernández, M. R. Hudec, P. A. Konstantopoulos, E. Lula, K. Nikolaou, R. Pérez, J. P. Pita, J. A. Titos, C. Tzimeas, A. Herra Sánchez de Movellán
{"title":"Contrasting Styles of Salt-Tectonic Processes in the Ionian Zone (Greece and Albania): Integrating Surface Geology, Subsurface Data, and Experimental Models","authors":"J. I. Soto, M. D. Tranos, Z. Bega, T. P. Dooley, P. Hernández, M. R. Hudec, P. A. Konstantopoulos, E. Lula, K. Nikolaou, R. Pérez, J. P. Pita, J. A. Titos, C. Tzimeas, A. Herra Sánchez de Movellán","doi":"10.1029/2023tc008104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc008104","url":null,"abstract":"The Ionian Zone (IZ) is one of the key elements of the fold and thrust belt (FTB) of the Albanian and Hellenides orogen and contains large outcrops of Triassic evaporites. The IZ consists of various thrust sheets with a general westward vergence, stacking over the Apulian and Pre-Apulian zones, and repeating a thick carbonate sequence of Upper Triassic to Eocene age. Thrusting becomes younger toward the west with a piggyback sequence, starting during the latest Oligocene Epoch in the Internal Ionian and ending in the Pliocene in the External Ionian. We have studied the IZ in southern Albania and northwestern Greece using field observations and borehole data and by fully interpreting a recently acquired 2D seismic data set. Our objectives are to establish the geometry and nature of the contacts associated with the major Triassic outcrops, to unravel precursor salt diapirs, and to assess their role during the Alpine contraction. Salt structures include gentle salt pillows, isolated salt plugs and diapirs, thrust welds, and salt walls. Combining these observations with experimental modeling results, we show how these structures control the geometry and kinematics of the Alpine thrusts or the location and kinematics of recent strike-slip faults. Salt minibasins have also been identified, demonstrating salt mobility conditioned Mesozoic sedimentation in the Ionian Basin. The use of salt-tectonics principles to evaluate the structural style and evolution of the IZ FTB also opens new directions for interpreting the subsurface structure and evolution of the region.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139398699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2024-01-01DOI: 10.1029/2023tc008015
Xinnan Li, Ian K. D. Pierce, Kai Sun, Junjie Li, Huili Yang, Zicheng You, Shufeng Liu, Zhuqi Zhang, Chuanyou Li, Wenjun Zheng, Peizhen Zhang
{"title":"Fault Geometry and Late Quaternary Kinematics Along the Tieluzi Fault: Implications for Tectonic Deformation and Eastward Expansion of the Tibetan Plateau, China","authors":"Xinnan Li, Ian K. D. Pierce, Kai Sun, Junjie Li, Huili Yang, Zicheng You, Shufeng Liu, Zhuqi Zhang, Chuanyou Li, Wenjun Zheng, Peizhen Zhang","doi":"10.1029/2023tc008015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc008015","url":null,"abstract":"The Tieluzi Fault is the largest structure in the East Qinling Mountains, and is considered to be the easternmost continuation of the Altyn Tagh-Haiyuan-Qinling Fault System (AHQFS) that allows the eastward extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau and South China Block. We studied the fault geometry and kinematics of the Tieluzi Fault using field investigations, detailed interpretations of high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation models, and late Quaternary dating methods. Paleoseismic investigations indicate that the most recent earthquake along the Tieluzi Fault occurred before 1,500–1,300 cal. BP. Geological and geomorphological observations show that segments west of Lushi County are more active than those to the east. The spatial variations in tectonic activity along the Tieluzi Fault are interpreted to be related to four possible mechanisms: strike change, discontinuity, intersection, and branch. The late Quaternary left-lateral slip rate is determined to be 0.9 ± 0.1 mm/yr on the Tieluzi Fault. The prominent left-lateral faulting along the Tieluzi Fault suggests that most of the left-lateral displacement along the eastern AHQFS has been accommodated by the Tieluzi Fault, which forms the most frontier of the eastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau. Furthermore, we suggest that the left-lateral faulting in the East Qinling Mountains is a response to relative eastward motion of the South China block pushed by the Tibetan Plateau with respect to the North China Plain Block. Also, our results indicate that the Tibetan Plateau has undergone a stepwise eastward expansion.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"26 1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139066160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Differential Uplift Triggered Basin-And-Range System: Evidence From Low-Temperature Thermochronology in Eastern NE Asia","authors":"Jianping Zhou, Sanzhong Li, Yongjiang Liu, Boran Liu, Weimin Li, Guangzeng Wang, Liwei Jiang, Tong Zhou, Zunting Li, Zhiqiang Feng","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007857","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007857","url":null,"abstract":"Since the Mesozoic, eastern NE Asia has experienced multiple tectonic events, resulting in a complex structure and forming one of the world's largest Meso-Cenozoic lacustrine basin systems. Presently, basin evolution models require further elucidation regarding the simultaneous generation of diverse rift basins and the potential impact stemming from the closure of the Mudanjiang Ocean, whose oceanic closure demarcated the boundary between the Songliao Basin and the eastern basins, raises questions about its influence on the development of the basin-and-range system. To address these questions, we augment new low-temperature thermochronological data on basement highs separating the eastern NE Asia basins to investigate the shallow-deep coupling process of tectonic evolution since the Mesozoic. The new cooling age pattern shows non-overlapping and spatial differences among major basement highs. Inverse thermal modeling revealed five-stage cooling episodes among the basement highs, but with different onset and cooling rates of each episode, indicating a significant differential uplift mode. A major reburial stage was identified throughout eastern NE Asia during the mid-Cretaceous. Compiling cooling age patterns and inverse thermal modeling, we note the existence of a proto-basin covering an area much larger than the previously contemplated “Pan-Sanjiang” Basin. In general, our study indicates the final closure of the Mudanjiang Ocean occurred at ca. 150–140 Ma. Since the Early Cretaceous, with changes in the subduction direction, two-stage flat slab subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate and the consequent subduction of the Pacific plate co-dominated the basements' differential uplift and the formation of the eastern NE Asia basin-and-range framework.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139066217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of Inherited Brittle Fabrics on Continental Rifting: Insights From Centrifuge Experimental Modeling and Application to the East African Rift System","authors":"Yaoyao Zou, Daniele Maestrelli, Giacomo Corti, Chiara Del Ventisette, Liang Wang, Chuanbo Shen","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007947","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007947","url":null,"abstract":"The presence of pre-existing fabrics at all lithospheric scales has been proven to be of primary importance in controlling the evolution of continental rifts. Indeed, observations from natural examples show that even in conditions of orthogonal rifting, when extension should result in simple fault patterns dominated by normal faults orthogonal to extension vectors, inherited fabrics induce complex arrangements of differently-oriented extension-related structures. This paper explored the influence of inherited fabrics on rift-related structures by using a series of analog models deformed in a centrifuge. The models reproduced a brittle-ductile crustal system and considered the presence of pre-existing discrete fabrics in the brittle crust in conditions of orthogonal narrow rifting. These fabrics were reproduced by cutting the brittle layer at different orientations with respect to the extension direction. Modeling shows pre-existing fabrics have a significant influence on rift-related faults, provided that the angle between inherited fabrics and the rift trend is less than 45°. In these conditions, fabrics cause prominent segmentation of rift-related faults and induce the development of isolated depocenters. Pre-existing fabrics strongly influence the geometry of extension-related structures, resulting in curved fault patterns and en-echelon arrangement of oblique faults. These findings provide insights into the development of continental rift systems in nature: our modeling shows indeed significant similarities (i.e., peculiar fault architecture and geometries) with the faults in different sectors of the East African Rift System (e.g., the Magadi and Bogoria basin, Kenya Rift), testifying that reactivation of inherited fabrics is a paramount process in shaping continental rifts.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139066276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1029/2023tc007860
J. A. Lajo-Yáñez, S. S. Flint, M. Huuse, R. L. Brunt
{"title":"Tectono-Stratigraphic Insights on the Dynamics of a Complex Subduction Zone, Northern Peruvian Forearc","authors":"J. A. Lajo-Yáñez, S. S. Flint, M. Huuse, R. L. Brunt","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007860","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007860","url":null,"abstract":"Two main types of subduction are recognized around the world: accretionary and erosive. The northern Peruvian margin is a well-known example of a margin subjected to subduction erosion, but to date the along-margin variability and temporal changes in subduction process and forearc basin evolution have not been characterized in detail. Interpretation of regional seismic lines and integration of oil-industry wells and seafloor data captures the erosive nature of subduction underneath the forearc with only a minor accretionary component to the north. Episodes of uplift driven by plate coupling were followed by normal faulting/extensional collapse due to plate decoupling. This mechanism explains the dominance of normal faulting across the forearc until the Oligocene with a slight reactivation within the Miocene. The subduction history is complex and includes a reduction in plate convergence rate related to forearc crustal shortening, represented by large-scale structures including the Peru fault (reactivated) and the Illescas fault-propagation anticlines of the Northwest Peru transpressional system. This crustal deformation started in the Miocene. Integration with magnetic anomaly data indicates that activity of the present-day transpressional system driven by tectonic escape of the Nazca Sliver toward the northeast, may explain the seismicity gap in southern Ecuador and northern Peru. An evolutionary model of the northern Peruvian margin shows how subduction zone geodynamics left its erosive fingerprint in the forearc basin configuration.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139066163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2023-12-15DOI: 10.1029/2023tc008085
P.-O. Bruna, G. Bertotti, R. J. G. Charton, R. Dixon, A. Nasri
{"title":"Architecture and Evolution of the Southern Chotts-Jeffara Basin, Tunisia","authors":"P.-O. Bruna, G. Bertotti, R. J. G. Charton, R. Dixon, A. Nasri","doi":"10.1029/2023tc008085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc008085","url":null,"abstract":"Southern Tunisia is known to be less deformed and simpler than its neighboring Atlassic domain to the north. This area is complex and basin evolution in the Southern Chotts-Jeffara (SCJ) basin is debated. In this paper we combined surface and subsurface data with low temperature thermochronology (LTT) to reinvestigate the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the SCJ basin from Permian to Jurassic. We reconstruct the present-day architecture of the SCJ basin along two regional sections. In these sections, we focused mainly on regional thickness variations and on internal reflections interpreted from seismic data. We observe three structural elements: (a) A Paleozoic culmination, oriented E-W, capped by Mid-Upper Triassic deposits; (b) the Tebaga of Medenine (ToM), a culmination also oriented E-W but located ∼50 km north of the Paleozoic culmination; and (c) A Triassic culmination in the eastern part of the area, oriented NW-SE. We note the absence of major normal faults along the sections. The LTT data we present are the first published in this area and allow to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of vertical movements. These data prove: (a) exhumation at ∼230 Ma of the Permian and Lower Triassic units associated with the onset of the ToM removing locally about 900 m of pre-Cretaceous sediments; and (b) the development of the Triassic culmination ∼180 Ma removing 2000 m of pre-Cretaceous sediments in the Jebel Rehach. This study demonstrates that vertical movements in the SCJ basin are controlled by long-wavelength processes developed essentially in shortening regimes.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138682380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2023-12-14DOI: 10.1029/2023tc007931
Kai Cao, Di Zhang, Xiaoming Shen, Junfeng Zhang, Dun Wang, Yadong Xu, Guocan Wang
{"title":"Middle Miocene Onset of the Litang Fault System Records Kinematic Change in Eastern Tibet","authors":"Kai Cao, Di Zhang, Xiaoming Shen, Junfeng Zhang, Dun Wang, Yadong Xu, Guocan Wang","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007931","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007931","url":null,"abstract":"The ∼400-km-long Litang fault system (LTFS) is a major intracontinental strike-slip fault inside the Chuandian block, eastern Tibet, but its evolution and role in accommodating the India-Asia convergence remain poorly known. Structural analysis shows that the LTFS splits into 5 strands as a left-lateral, right-stepping en-echelon pattern formed under NW-directed compression, subsequently reactivated by transtensive faults under NNE-directed extension. Displaced geological and morphological markers yield a cumulative left-lateral offset of 28.9–42.8 km. Inverse thermal-history modeling of thermochronological data of the faulted rocks reveal accelerated cooling at 38–35 Ma, 16–13 Ma, and 7–5 Ma. The late Eocene rapid cooling is ascribed to the reactivation of the Garze-Litang suture. Rapid cooling events at 16–13 Ma and 7–5 Ma record the onset of transpression and transtension of the LTFS, respectively, yielding a geologic slip rate of 2.6 ± 0.7 mm/yr. Both bifurcated geometry and slow slip rate of the LTFS since 16–13 Ma indicate diffuse deformation inside the Chuandian block, contrasting with strain localized on fast-slip strike-slip faults on the block margins. This implies a significant kinematic transition in the middle Miocene, such that the extrusion of the segmented mega-blocks has been accommodated by both localized and distributed deformation in eastern Tibet. This tectonic transition could be explained by a change in lithospheric rheology from an earlier rigid state to a viscous state underneath the Chuandian block due to thermal weakening of the lower crust. We thus reconcile the end-member geodynamic models of block extrusion and lower crustal flow in late Cenozoic times.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138682150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TectonicsPub Date : 2023-12-11DOI: 10.1029/2023tc007957
V. Spina, S. Mazzoli
{"title":"Shale 3D Flow and Interaction With Basement Faults in the Niger Delta Deep-Water Fold and Thrust Belt","authors":"V. Spina, S. Mazzoli","doi":"10.1029/2023tc007957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023tc007957","url":null,"abstract":"Based on a large 3D seismic data set in the deep-water domain of the Niger Delta, this study challenges previous interpretations involving the occurrence of multiple detachments and extensive thrust flats, illustrating timing and mode of shales flow at the toe of the gravity system. Five units of syn-kinematic sediments, reaching a maximum thickness of ∼800 m, accumulated in the tectonically subsiding synclines during fold amplification between ∼9.5 and ∼1.4 Ma. The volumes of syn-kinematic units roughly balance those of the shales accumulated in the thickened cores of WNW trending anticlines. This feature is consistent with folding resulting from buckling controlled by the competence contrast between isopach Cenozoic units and underlying overpressured shales of the Akata Formation. A dense network of NE-SW striking oblique extensional faults offsets a prominent anticline characterized by a NE-SW trend (which is almost perpendicular to the regional fold trend). These faults form a narrow, continuous deformation zone extending for tens of kilometers along and beyond the length of the anticline. The faults, rooting within the shales of the Akata Formation, formed since ∼5 Ma and deform the seabed. Displacement distribution suggests mechanical interaction between isolated fault segments within the deformation zone. The latter is interpreted as the shallow expression of a deep-seated fault zone inherited from the segmented passive margin and marked by gravity and magnetic data. Our results, providing a comprehensive picture of active deformation features and their relationships with deep-seated faults, shed new light into the modes of interaction between gravity systems and underlying basement structures.","PeriodicalId":22351,"journal":{"name":"Tectonics","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138566468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}