Scholars' Mine Doctoral Dissertations Student Theses and Dissertations Summer 2019 Origin of Periclines in the Ozark Plateau, Missouri: A field and numerical modeling Chao Liu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations Part of the Geology Commons Department: Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Recommended Citation Liu, Chao, "Origin of Periclines in the Ozark Plateau, Missouri: A field and numerical modeling" (2019). Doctoral Dissertations. 2818. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2818 This thesis is brought to you by Scholars' Mine, a service of the Missouri S&T Library and Learning Resources. This work is protected by U. S. Copyright Law. Unauthorized use including reproduction for redistribution requires the permission of the copyright holder. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ORIGIN OF PERICLINES IN THE OZARK PLATEAU, MISSOURI: A FIELD AND NUMERICAL MODELING by CHAO LIU A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS 2019 Approved by: John Hogan, Advisor Andreas Eckert Jonathan Obrist-Farner Marek Locmelis Klaus Woelk 2019 Chao Liu All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT A series upright sub-horizontal folds in sandstones of the early Ordovician Roubidoux Formation are exposed in road cuts along US Highway 63 in the northern part of the Salem Plateau of central Missouri for over a distance of approximately 10 km. These folds are in marked contrast to the more typical horizontal to sub-horizontal Ordovician strata of the Ozark Plateau. The origin of those folds remains enigmatic. The inspection of the characteristics of these folds using stereographic analysis revealed a non- cylindrical geometrical pattern than a near cylindrical fold. Structural data of 54 folds indicate an alternating basin and dome pattern. However, acceptance of more traditional classification and interpretation as a viable explanation for the origin of these folds ultimately only serves to heighten the enigma. Combing the results of numerical models, a more realistic hypothesis is proposed to explain the occurrence of those localized folds. The result of numerical models implies a localized stress enhancement in the transpression zone and the basin and dome periclines is formed by applying unidirectional shortening. We propose that these folds are periclines formed in a transpression zone as a result of reactivation of basement faults with left-lateral slip during the late Paleozoic Alleghenian Orogeny which provides an E-W far-field compression. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Hogan for his guidance and advice. His sparking suggestions and encouragements are critical for this project. I would like to thank Dr. Eckert for his guidance on numerical models, which provides a brand new aspect to investigate the research problems. I would like to thank professors in my committee, Dr. Obrist, Dr. Locmelis and Dr. Woelk. They provided some brilliant ideas that inspired me. Also, I would like to thank those colleagues who offered assistance for the field work. I would like to acknowledge the financial support from a Geological Society of America Research Grant and the University of Missouri University of Science and Technology Radcliffe endowment. Finally, thanks to my parents, for their support and love. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 2. GEOLOGIC SETTING .............................................................................................. 5 2.1. REGIONAL GEOLOGY .................................................................................... 5 2.1.1. The Ozark Plateau .................................................................................... 5 2.1.2. The Ozark Dome ...................................................................................... 5 2.1.3. Regional Fault Trends .............................................................................. 6 2.1.4. Regional Fold Trends ............................................................................... 9 2.2. LOCAL GEOLOGY ......................................................................................... 11 2.2.1. Stratigraphy ............................................................................................ 11 2.2.2. Fault Trends ............................................................................................ 14 3. INITIAL WORKING HYPOTHESES .................................................................... 15 3.1. KARST COLLAPSE HYPOTHESIS ............................................................... 15 3.2. TECTONICS INDUCED BUCKLE FOLDS ................................................... 17 4. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 18 4.1. FIELD WORK .................................................................................................. 18 vi 4.2. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS............................................................................ 19 4.3. FINITE ELEMENT MODELS ......................................................................... 19 4.4. OTHER ATTEMPTS........................................................................................ 20 5. HUTCHINSON CEMETERY FOLDS .................................................................... 21 5.1. AREA ONE ...................................................................................................... 22 5.2. AREA TWO...................................................................................................... 24 5.3. AREA THREE .................................................................................................. 26 5.4. AREA FOUR .................................................................................................... 28 6. DISCUSSIONS ........................................................................................................ 31 6.1. KARST COLLAPSE ........................................................................................ 31 6.2. "BASIN AND DOME” FOLD INTERFERENCE PATTERN ........................ 33 6.3. CONICAL FOLDS ........................................................................................... 34 6.4. NUMERICAL MODELING APPROACH ...................................................... 38 6.4.1. 2D Transpression Model ........................................................................ 38 6.4.2. 3D Pericline Model ................................................................................ 40 7. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 44 APPENDICES A. FIELD DATA OF HUCHISON CEMETERY FOLDS .......................................... 46 B. GOVERNERING EQUATIONS ............................................................................. 64 C. PALEOMAGNETIC FOLD TEST ......................................................................... 67 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 71 VITA ................................................................................................................................ 80 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 2.1 Map of the study area in the Ozark Plateau and structural trends. ...............................7 2.2 The localized map of study area. ................................................................................10 2.3 Stratigraphic column of Canadian Series, Ordovician. ...............................................13 3.1 Conceptual sketches of initial hypotheses ..................................................................17 5.1 Area one, showing a road sketch, stereograms and a rose diagram. ...........................22 5.2 Area two, showing a road sketch, stereograms and a rose diagram. ..........................26 5.3 Area three, showing a road sketch, stereograms and a rose diagram. ........................27 5.4 Area four, showing a road sketch, stereograms and a rose diagram. ..........................30 6.1 Rose diagram of all hinge lines, showing the trends of fold structure. .......................35 6.2 2D transpression model...............................................................................................40 6.3 Three-dimentional model sketch and resutls. .............................................................43 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 5.1 Field data of Hutchison Cemetery folds. ....................................................................23 6.1 Material properties for each unit of the 3D pericline model. ......................................43 1. INTRODUCTION Within the central interior of the gently rolling terrain of the Ozark Plateau, in the