DOCSLIB.ORG

Fault Geometry and Kinematics Within the Terror Rift, Antarctica THESIS

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fault Geometry and Kinematics Within the Terror Rift, Antarctica THESIS Fault Geometry and Kinematics within the Terror Rift, Antarctica THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By William B. Blocher Graduate Program in Earth Sciences The Ohio State University 2017 Master's Examination Committee: Dr. Terry Wilson, Advisor Dr. Thomas Darrah Dr. Derek Sawyer Copyrighted by William B. Blocher 2017 Abstract The Terror Rift is the youngest expression of the intraplate West Antarctic Rift System that divides the Antarctic continent. Previous studies of the Terror Rift have ascribed a variety of interpretations to its structure, and especially to the regional anticline known as the Lee Arch, which has been explained as a transtensional flower structure, a rollover anticline, and as the result of magmatic inflation. Fault mapping and the documentation of stratal dips in this study have revealed a Terror Rift structure characterized by north-south folds and a complex distribution of faults. Nearly all faults have normal sense dip separation. A continuous zone of west-dipping faults with relatively high-magnitude normal separation are interpreted to be the border fault system defining the eastern margin of Terror Rift. Reconstruction of listric ramp-flat geometry of this border fault system explains intrarift fold and fault patterns well. Zonation of structures indicates that the listric rift detachment faults are segmented along the rift axis. This new model for rift structure indicates orthogonal rift extension in the ENE- WSW direction, with low strains of <10% calculated from bed-length balancing. i Acknowledgments To my advisor, Dr. Terry Wilson, for her inexhaustible knowledge and patience. And to my parents, Richard and Janice, for their unconditional love and support. ii Vita 2007 ..........................................................Whetstone H.S. 2010 ..........................................................Associate of Science, Columbus State 2013 ..........................................................B.S. Geology, Ohio State University 2013 to present ........................................Graduate Teaching Associate, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Earth Sciences iii Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... ii Vita .......................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Background .............................................................................................................. 4 Investigation of Terror Rift Structure .................................................................. 4 Elements of Rift Architecture ............................................................................... 7 Folds in an Extensional or Transtensional Context ............................................ 11 Flower Structures ............................................................................................. 11 Rollover structures .......................................................................................... 13 Problem Statement.................................................................................................. 17 The Orthogonal Model ......................................................................................... 17 The Transtensional Model .................................................................................. 20 Methods .................................................................................................................. 21 Seismic Data........................................................................................................ 21 iv Fault Interpretation ............................................................................................ 23 Fault Correlation Criteria ................................................................................ 25 Dip Analysis ........................................................................................................ 31 Dip Signatures ................................................................................................. 34 Cross-Section Methods ....................................................................................... 36 Bed-length Balancing ...................................................................................... 36 Fault Geometry Construction through Dip Domains ..................................... 37 Results .................................................................................................................... 43 Stratal Dip Patterns ............................................................................................ 43 Map view stratal dip patterns ......................................................................... 43 Stratal dip patterns with depth ....................................................................... 47 Fault Patterns ...................................................................................................... 55 Fault identification, correlation, and mapping ............................................... 55 Fault geometry................................................................................................. 59 Fault motions: sense and separation ............................................................. 61 Fault Profile Reconstruction .............................................................................. 65 Extension Estimates from Balanced Sections .................................................... 75 Interpretive Maps ............................................................................................... 81 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 90 v References .............................................................................................................. 98 Appendix A: Matlab Scripts .............................................................................. 102 Rollover.m ......................................................................................................... 102 Cartesian_intersect.m ...................................................................................... 104 Projectpointtoline.m ......................................................................................... 104 planefit.m .......................................................................................................... 105 fwaz.m ............................................................................................................... 105 haversine.m ....................................................................................................... 105 Appendix B: Plane Fitting ................................................................................. 107 Round Earth Complications ............................................................................. 108 Sensitivity Testing .............................................................................................. 114 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Reconstructed Cretaceous West Antarctic Rift System from Siddoway (2008). Area of this study is in the southwestern Ross Sea. ............................................................ 1 Figure 2. Rift basins of the Ross Sea. TR denotes the Terror Rift, the subject of this study. From Hall et al. (2007) ............................................................................................. 2 Figure 3. An interpretation of Terror Rift structures constructed from the first iteration of seismic interpretation by Cooper et al. (1987) .................................................................... 3 Figure 4. The reflection seismology dataset within the study area comprises data acquired during many different surveys. ........................................................................................... 4 Figure 5. A map from (Salvini et al., 1997) delineating Terror Rift fault patterns and depicting Terror Rift architecture as being the result of an en echelon termination of regional strike-slip faults..................................................................................................... 5 Figure 6. Interpretive maps from Hall et al. (2007) (left) and Salvini et al. (1999) (right) highlighting the different explanations for the same observed architecture, esp. in the proximity of Drygalski Ice Tongue. .................................................................................... 6 Figure 7. Profile geometries of a symmetric (A) and an asymmetric (B) rift (Acocella, 2010). .................................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 8. Offset fault segments becoming linked together as strain progresses (Fossen & Rotevatn, 2016) ................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 9. Different structures that occur at releasing and restraining bends in a translational tectonic system (Cunningham & Mann, 2007). ............................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Strike and Dip Refer to the Orientation Or Attitude of a Geologic Feature. The
    Name__________________________________ 89.325 – Geology for Engineers Faults, Folds, Outcrop Patterns and Geologic Maps I. Properties of Earth Materials When rocks are subjected to differential stress the resulting build-up in strain can cause deformation. Depending on the material properties the result can either be elastic deformation which can ultimately lead to the breaking of the rock material (faults) or ductile deformation which can lead to the development of folds. In this exercise we will look at the various types of deformation and how geologists use geologic maps to understand this deformation. II. Strike and Dip Strike and dip refer to the orientation or attitude of a geologic feature. The strike line of a bed, fault, or other planar feature, is a line representing the intersection of that feature with a horizontal plane. On a geologic map, this is represented with a short straight line segment oriented parallel to the strike line. Strike (or strike angle) can be given as either a quadrant compass bearing of the strike line (N25°E for example) or in terms of east or west of true north or south, a single three digit number representing the azimuth, where the lower number is usually given (where the example of N25°E would simply be 025), or the azimuth number followed by the degree sign (example of N25°E would be 025°). The dip gives the steepest angle of descent of a tilted bed or feature relative to a horizontal plane, and is given by the number (0°-90°) as well as a letter (N, S, E, W) with rough direction in which the bed is dipping.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction San Andreas Fault: an Overview
    Introduction This volume is a general geology field guide to the San Andreas Fault in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first section provides a brief overview of the San Andreas Fault in context to regional California geology, the Bay Area, and earthquake history with emphasis of the section of the fault that ruptured in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. This first section also contains information useful for discussion and making field observations associated with fault- related landforms, landslides and mass-wasting features, and the plant ecology in the study region. The second section contains field trips and recommended hikes on public lands in the Santa Cruz Mountains, along the San Mateo Coast, and at Point Reyes National Seashore. These trips provide access to the San Andreas Fault and associated faults, and to significant rock exposures and landforms in the vicinity. Note that more stops are provided in each of the sections than might be possible to visit in a day. The extra material is intended to provide optional choices to visit in a region with a wealth of natural resources, and to support discussions and provide information about additional field exploration in the Santa Cruz Mountains region. An early version of the guidebook was used in conjunction with the Pacific SEPM 2004 Fall Field Trip. Selected references provide a more technical and exhaustive overview of the fault system and geology in this field area; for instance, see USGS Professional Paper 1550-E (Wells, 2004). San Andreas Fault: An Overview The catastrophe caused by the 1906 earthquake in the San Francisco region started the study of earthquakes and California geology in earnest.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Catalog of the Sedimentary Basins of the United States
    Preliminary Catalog of the Sedimentary Basins of the United States By James L. Coleman, Jr., and Steven M. Cahan Open-File Report 2012–1111 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Marcia K. McNutt, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2012 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Coleman, J.L., Jr., and Cahan, S.M., 2012, Preliminary catalog of the sedimentary basins of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1111, 27 p. (plus 4 figures and 1 table available as separate files) Available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1111/. iii Contents Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Field Guide to Neotectonics of the San Andreas Fault System, Santa Cruz Mountains, in Light of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
    Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Field Guide to Neotectonics of the San Andreas Fault System, Santa Cruz Mountains, in Light of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake | Q|s | Landslides (Quaternary) I yv I Vaqueros Sandstone (Oligocene) r-= I San Lorenzo Fm., Rices Mudstone I TSr I member (Eocene-Oligocene) IT- I Butano Sandstone, ' Pnil mudstone member (Eocene) Coseismic surface fractures, ..... dashed where discontinuous, dotted where projected or obscured ___ _ _ Contact, dashed where approximately located >"«»"'"" « « Fault, dotted where concealed V. 43? Strike and dip Strike and dip of of bedding overturned bedding i Vector Scale / (Horizontal Component of Displacement) OPEN-FILE REPORT 90-274 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U. S. Geological Survey editorial standards (or with the North American Stratigraphic Code). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U. S. Government. Men to Park, California April 27, 1990 Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Field Guide to Neotectonics of the San Andreas Fault System, Santa Cruz Mountains, in Light of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake David P. Schwartz and Daniel J. Ponti, editors U. S. Geological Survey Menlo Park, CA 94025 with contributions by: Robert S. Anderson U.C. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA William R. Cotton William Cotton and Associates, Los Gatos, CA Kevin J. Coppersmith Geomatrix Consultants, San Francisco, CA Steven D. Ellen U. S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA Edwin L. Harp U. S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA Ralph A.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1 -- the Place of Faults in Petroleum Traps
    Sorkhabi, R.,and Y. Tsuji, 2005, The place of faults in petroleum traps, in R. Sorkhabi and Y. Tsuji, eds., Faults, fluid flow, and petroleum traps: AAPG Memoir 85, 1 p. 1 – 31. The Place of Faults in Petroleum Traps Rasoul Sorkhabi1 Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan Yoshihiro Tsuji2 Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan ‘‘The incompleteness of available data in most geological studies traps some geologists.’’ Orlo E. Childs in Place of tectonic concepts in geological thinking (AAPG Memoir 2, 1963, p. 1) ‘‘Although the precise role of faults has never been systematically defined, much has been written that touches on the subject. One thing is certain: we need not try to avoid them.’’ Frederick G. Clapp in The role of geologic structure in the accu mulation of petroleum (Structure of typical American oil fields II, 1929, p. 686) ABSTRACT ver since Frederick Clapp included fault structures as significant petroleum traps in his landmark paper in 1910, the myriad function of faults in petroleum E migration and accumulation in sedimentary basins has drawn increasing atten- tion. Fault analyses in petroleum traps have grown along two distinct and successive lines of thought: (1) fault closures and (2) fault-rock seals. Through most of the last century, geometric closure of fault traps and reservoir seal juxtaposition by faults were the focus of research and industrial application. These research and applications were made as structural geology developed quantitative methods for geometric and kine- matic analyses of sedimentary basins, and plate tectonics offered a unified tool to correlate faults and basins on the basis of the nature of plate boundaries to produce stress.
    [Show full text]
  • Faults and Joints
    133 JOINTS Joints (also termed extensional fractures) are planes of separation on which no or undetectable shear displacement has taken place. The two walls of the resulting tiny opening typically remain in tight (matching) contact. Joints may result from regional tectonics (i.e. the compressive stresses in front of a mountain belt), folding (due to curvature of bedding), faulting, or internal stress release during uplift or cooling. They often form under high fluid pressure (i.e. low effective stress), perpendicular to the smallest principal stress. The aperture of a joint is the space between its two walls measured perpendicularly to the mean plane. Apertures can be open (resulting in permeability enhancement) or occluded by mineral cement (resulting in permeability reduction). A joint with a large aperture (> few mm) is a fissure. The mechanical layer thickness of the deforming rock controls joint growth. If present in sufficient number, open joints may provide adequate porosity and permeability such that an otherwise impermeable rock may become a productive fractured reservoir. In quarrying, the largest block size depends on joint frequency; abundant fractures are desirable for quarrying crushed rock and gravel. Joint sets and systems Joints are ubiquitous features of rock exposures and often form families of straight to curviplanar fractures typically perpendicular to the layer boundaries in sedimentary rocks. A set is a group of joints with similar orientation and morphology. Several sets usually occur at the same place with no apparent interaction, giving exposures a blocky or fragmented appearance. Two or more sets of joints present together in an exposure compose a joint system.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013-2014 National Scar Committe
    National Report to SCAR for year: 2013-2014 MEMBER COUNTRY: USA Activity Contact Name Address Telephone Fax Email web site NATIONAL SCAR COMMITTEE Senior Program Officer, Staff to Delegation U.S. Polar Research Board The National National Academy of Academies Polar Laurie Geller 202 334 1518 202 334 3825 [email protected] Sciences Research Board 500 Fifth Street NW (K-633) Washington DC 20001 SCAR DELEGATES Ohio State University 1) Delegate/ Department of Geological President, Executive Terry Wilson (614) 292-0723 (614) 292-7688 [email protected] Sciences 155 South Oval Committee Mall Columbus, OH 43210 Departments of Biology and Environmental Science HR 347 2) Alternate Delegate Deneb Karentz (415) 422-2831 (415) 422-6363 [email protected] University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117- STANDING SCIENTIFIC GROUPS LIFE SCIENCES Associate Research Professor, Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences 1) Voting Member Alison Murray Desert Research Institute 775 673 7361 775 673 7485 [email protected] 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, NV 89512 Departments of Biology and Environmental Science HR 347 2) Deneb Karentz University of San Francisco (415) 422-2831 (415) 422-6363 [email protected] 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117- 1080 1 Activity Contact Name Address Telephone Fax Email web site Deputy Chief of Medicine of Extreme Environments NASA 3) Marc Shepanek 202 358 2201 [email protected] 300 E Street Southwest Washington, DC 20024-3210 Professor and Director Natural Resource Ecology 4) Diana Wall
    [Show full text]
  • From Orogeny to Rifting: When and How Does Rifting Begin? Insights from the Norwegian ‘Reactivation Phase’
    EGU21-469 https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-469 EGU General Assembly 2021 © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. From orogeny to rifting: when and how does rifting begin? Insights from the Norwegian ‘reactivation phase’. Gwenn Peron-Pinvidic1,2, Per Terje Osmundsen2, Loic Fourel1, and Susanne Buiter3 1NGU - Geological Survey of Norway, 7040 Trondheim, Norway 2NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway 3Tectonics and Geodynamics, RWTH Aachen University, 52064 Aachen, Germany Following the Wilson Cycle theory, most rifts and rifted margins around the world developed on former orogenic suture zones (Wilson, 1966). This implies that the pre-rift lithospheric configuration is heterogeneous in most cases. However, for convenience and lack of robust information, most models envisage the onset of rifting based on a homogeneously layered lithosphere (e.g. Lavier and Manatschal, 2006). In the last decade this has seen a change, thanks to the increased academic access to high-resolution, deeply imaging seismic datasets, and numerous studies have focused on the impact of inheritance on the architecture of rifts and rifted margins. The pre-rift tectonic history has often been shown as strongly influencing the subsequent rift phases (e.g. the North Sea case - Phillips et al., 2016). In the case of rifts developing on former orogens, one important question relates to the distinction between extensional structures formed during the orogenic collapse and the ones related to the proper onset of rifting. The collapse deformation is generally associated with polarity reversal along orogenic thrusts, ductile to brittle deformation and important crustal thinning with exhumation of deeply buried rocks (Andersen et al., 1994; Fossen, 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Gy403 Structural Geology Kinematic Analysis Kinematics
    GY403 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY KINEMATIC ANALYSIS KINEMATICS • Translation- described by a vector quantity • Rotation- described by: • Axis of rotation point • Magnitude of rotation (degrees) • Sense of rotation (reference frame; clockwise or anticlockwise) • Dilation- volume change • Loss of volume = negative dilation • Increase of volume = positive dilation • Distortion- change in original shape RIGID VS. NON-RIGID BODY DEFORMATION • Rigid Body Deformation • Translation: fault slip • Rotation: rotational fault • Non-rigid Body Deformation • Dilation: burial of sediment/rock • Distortion: ductile deformation (permanent shape change) TRANSLATION EXAMPLES • Slip along a planar fault • 360 meters left lateral slip • 50 meters normal dip slip • Classification: normal left-lateral slip fault 30 Net Slip Vector X(S) 40 70 N 50m dip slip X(N) 360m strike slip 30 40 0 100m ROTATIONAL FAULT • Fault slip is described by an axis of rotation • Rotation is anticlockwise as viewed from the south fault block • Amount of rotation is 50 degrees Axis W E 50 FAULT SEPARATION VS. SLIP • Fault separation: the apparent slip as viewed on a planar outcrop. • Fault slip: must be measured with net slip vector using a linear feature offset by the fault. 70 40 150m D U 40 STRAIN ELLIPSOID X • A three-dimensional ellipsoid that describes the magnitude of dilational and distortional strain. • Assume a perfect sphere before deformation. • Three mutually perpendicular axes X, Y, and Z. • X is maximum stretch (S ) and Z is minimum stretch (S ). X Z Y Z • There are unique directions
    [Show full text]
  • Neotectonics of the Polish Carpathians in the Light of Geomorphic Studies: a State of the Art
    Acta Geodyn. Geomater., Vol. 6, No. 3 (155), 291-308, 2009 NEOTECTONICS OF THE POLISH CARPATHIANS IN THE LIGHT OF GEOMORPHIC STUDIES: A STATE OF THE ART Witold ZUCHIEWICZ Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland *Corresponding author‘s e-mail: [email protected] (Received January 2009, accepted March 2009) ABSTRACT Neotectonics of the Carpathians used to be studied extensively, particular attention being paid to the effects of large-scale domal uplifts and open folding above marginal zones of thrusts and imbricated map-scale folds, and rarely to the characteristics of young faulting. Neotectonic faults tend to be associated with the margins of the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin, superposed on the boundary between the Inner and Outer Western Carpathians, as well as with some regions within the Outer Carpathians. The size of Quaternary tilting of the Tatra Mts. on the sub-Tatric fault were estimated at 100 to 300 m, and recent vertical crustal movements of this area detected by repeated precise levelling are in the range of 0.4-1.0 mm/yr in rate. Minor vertical block movements of oscillatory character (0.5-1 mm/yr) were detected along faults cutting the Pieniny Klippen Belt owing to repeated geodetic measurements performed on the Pieniny geodynamic test area. In the western part of the Western Outer Carpathians, middle and late Pleistocene reactivation of early Neogene thrust surfaces was suggested. Differentiated mobility of reactivated as normal Miocene faults (oriented (N-S to NNW-SSE and NNE-SSW) in the medial portion of the Dunajec River drainage basin appears to be indicated by the results of long-profile analyses of deformed straths, usually of early and middle Pleistocene age.
    [Show full text]
  • Cenozoic Thermal, Mechanical and Tectonic Evolution of the Rio Grande Rift
    JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 91, NO. B6, PAGES 6263-6276, MAY 10, 1986 Cenozoic Thermal, Mechanical and Tectonic Evolution of the Rio Grande Rift PAUL MORGAN1 Departmentof Geosciences,Purdue University,West Lafayette, Indiana WILLIAM R. SEAGER Departmentof Earth Sciences,New Mexico State University,Las Cruces MATTHEW P. GOLOMBEK Jet PropulsionLaboratory, CaliforniaInstitute of Technology,Pasadena Careful documentationof the Cenozoicgeologic history of the Rio Grande rift in New Mexico reveals a complexsequence of events.At least two phasesof extensionhave been identified.An early phase of extensionbegan in the mid-Oligocene(about 30 Ma) and may have continuedto the early Miocene (about 18 Ma). This phaseof extensionwas characterizedby local high-strainextension events (locally, 50-100%,regionally, 30-50%), low-anglefaulting, and the developmentof broad, relativelyshallow basins, all indicatingan approximatelyNE-SW •-25ø extensiondirection, consistent with the regionalstress field at that time.Extension events were not synchronousduring early phase extension and were often temporally and spatiallyassociated with major magmatism.A late phaseof extensionoccurred primarily in the late Miocene(10-5 Ma) with minor extensioncontinuing to the present.It was characterizedby apparently synchronous,high-angle faulting givinglarge verticalstrains with relativelyminor lateral strain (5-20%) whichproduced the moderuRio Granderift morphology.Extension direction was approximatelyE-W, consistentwith the contemporaryregional stress field. Late phasegraben or half-grabenbasins cut and often obscureearly phasebroad basins.Early phase extensionalstyle and basin formation indicate a ductilelithosphere, and this extensionoccurred during the climax of Paleogenemagmatic activity in this zone.Late phaseextensional style indicates a more brittle lithosphere,and this extensionfollowed a middle Miocenelull in volcanism.Regional uplift of about1 km appearsto haveaccompanied late phase extension, andrelatively minor volcanism has continued to thepresent.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of Extensional Basins and Basin and Range Topography West of Death Valley, California K.V
    TECTONICS, VOL. 8, NO. 3, PAGES453-467, JUNE 1989 EVOLUTION OF EXTENSIONAL BASINS AND BASIN AND RANGE TOPOGRAPHY WEST OF DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA K.V. Hodges,L.W. McKenna,J. Stock •, J. Knapp, L. Page,K. Sternlof, D. Silverberg,G. Wrist2, and J. D. Walker 3 Department of Earth, Atmospheric,and Planetary Sciences,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge Abstract. Neogeneextension in the Death Valley system remained active during development of region, SE California, has produced a variety of PanamintValley and, thus, during developmentof sedimentarybasins. Diachronousmovements on an modernBasin and Rangetopography as well. These array of strike-slip and normal fault systemshave results indicate that large-scale extension in the resultedin the uplift andpreservation of olderbasins Death Valley region,accommodated by movementon in modernranges. One of the bestexposed of these low- to moderate-angle normal fault systemsand is the Nova basin on the western flank of the high-angle strike-slipfault systems,is a continuing Panamint Mountains. The Nova basin includes over process. Basin and Range topography in the 2000 m of sedimentaryand volcanicrocks deposited PanamintValley- Death Valley areawas generatedat during denudation of the Panamint Mountains least in part by displacements on low-angle metamorphiccore complex in late Miocene(?)- early detachmentsrather than high-angle normal faults. Pliocenetime. The principalgrowth structure for the basinwas the Emigrant detachment,which initiated andmoved at a low angle. Modern PanamintValley, INTRODUCTION west of the range, developedas a consequenceof Late Pliocene- Recent,kinematically linked move- The fact that topographyin the Basin and Range ment on the right-slip, high-angleHunter Mountain Province of the western United States is controlled fault zone and the low-angle Panamint Valley by normal faulting has been recognizedfor over a detachment.
    [Show full text]