Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Tectonics and Structure
Review paper: The 20th May 2016 Mw 6.1 Petermann surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 20th May 2016 Mw 6.1 Petermann earthquake produced a 21 km long surface rupture with a maximum vertical offset of 0.9 m. Geological and geophysical data provide strong evidence that rupture occurred along a mylonite foliation plane with an orientation defined by deformation from the nearby Woodroffe Thrust, a major Neoproterozoic terrane suture. The most geologically and seismologically [...]
Review paper: The 23rd March 2012 Mw 5.2 Pukatja surface rupturing earthquake, Australia
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The 23rd March 2012 Mw 5.2 Pukatja earthquake produced an arcuate surface rupture 1.6 km long with a maximum vertical offset of 0.48 m. We reclassify its length to 1 km based on application of orientation and kinematic criteria used previously to measure other historic Australian surface ruptures. Epicentres are poorly constrained and inaccurate, located up to 17 km from the surface rupture with [...]
The influence of structural inheritance and multiphase extension on rift development, the northern North Sea
Published: 2019-08-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The northern North Sea rift evolved through multiple rift phases within a highly heterogeneous crystalline basement. The geometry and evolution of syn-rift depocentres during this multiphase evolution, and the mechanisms and extent to which they were influenced by pre-existing structural heterogeneities remain elusive, particularly at the regional scale. Using an extensive database of [...]
Deep-water reservoir distribution on a salt-influenced slope, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil
Published: 2019-08-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Studies of near-seabed datasets show that salt tectonics controls the distribution and architecture of deep-water reservoirs in many salt-influenced basins. It is typically difficult, however, to study the distribution and stratigraphic evolution of depositional systems preserved at deeper, economically significant depths, reflecting poor seismic imaging of steeply dipping strata flanking [...]
A mechanistic erosion model for cosmogenic nuclide inheritance in fluvial single-clast exposure ages
Published: 2019-08-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability, Tectonics and Structure
Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCNs), produced by the bombardment of Earth’s surface by cosmic rays, are widely used for age-dating and pacing surface processes. Sediments carry an inherited TCN concentration, useful for quantifying erosion and transport rates, but that must be subtracted when age-dating sedimentary landforms, such as alluvial fans. Here we present a mechanistic model of [...]
Onset of slip partitioning under oblique convergence within scaled physical models
Published: 2019-08-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Oblique convergent margins host slip partitioned faults with simultaneously active strike-slip and reverse faults. Such systems defy energetic considerations that a single oblique-slip fault accommodates deformation more efficiently than multiple faults. To investigate the development of slip partitioning, we record deformation throughout scaled experiments of wet kaolin over a low convergence [...]
The Byers Basin: Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonic and depositional evolution of the forearc deposits of the South Shetland Islands and its implications for the northern Antarctic Peninsula
Published: 2019-07-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
This paper addresses the Jurassic–Cretaceous stratigraphic evolution of fore-arc deposits exposed along the west coast of the northern Antarctic Peninsula. In the South Shetland Islands, Upper Jurassic deep-marine sediments are uncomformably overlain by a Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sequence that crops out on Livingston, Snow and Low islands. U-Pb zircon ages are presented for the upper [...]
The Gondwanan margin in West Antarctica: insights from Late Triassic magmatism of the Antarctic Peninsula
Published: 2019-07-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Triassic orthogneisses of the Antarctic Peninsula provide evidence for the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic geological evolution of southern Gondwana within Pangaea. These rocks are sporadically exposed in southeastern Graham Land and northwestern Palmer Land, although reliable geochronological, geochemical and isotopic data are sparse. We combine new geochronological (LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb), geochemical, [...]
Using T. C. Chamberlins Approach for Determining the forces that Move the Earths Tectonic Plates
Published: 2019-07-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The approach in this paper stems primarily from the application of principles of the philosophy of science to determine if current ideas on the forces of plate tectonics are plausible. The philosophic principles (1) Bacons scientific method using T. C. Chamberlins idea of examining multiple hypothesis; and (2) the characteristics of a good theory. it is shown that the driving forces of plate [...]
Considering fault interaction in estimates of absolute stress along faults in the San Gorgonio Pass region, southern California
Published: 2019-07-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Present-day shear tractions along faults of the San Gorgonio Pass region can be estimated from stressing rates provided by three-dimensional forward crustal deformation models. Modeled dextral shear stressing rates on the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults differ from rates resolved from the regional loading due to fault interaction. In particular, fault patches with similar orientations and [...]
Base-Salt Relief Controls Salt-Related Deformation in the Outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola
Published: 2019-07-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
We use a 3D seismic dataset from Offshore Angola to document the salt-influenced translation and evolution of structures on the margin.
What is Trishear?
Published: 2019-07-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The kinematics of fault-propagation folds, formed above the tips of upward propagating normal faults, is typically inferred from numerical and physical models. Trishear is a forward kinematic model in which deformation occurs in a triangular zone in front of the propagating fault tip, with the geometry of this zone, and the geometry and growth of the resulting fold, related to several parameters [...]
Evolution of a shear zone before, during and after melting
Published: 2019-07-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Partial melt in the deforming mid/lower continental crust causes a strength decrease and drives formation of lithological heterogeneities. However, mechanisms of formation of syn-melt deformation zones and strain partitioning in partially molten rock remain poorly understood. We use field and microstructural observations to unravel the evolution of a partial melt shear zone, Seiland Igneous [...]
Terrane boundary reactivation, barriers to lateral fault propagation and reactivated fabrics - Rifting across the Median Batholith Zone, Great South Basin, New Zealand
Published: 2019-07-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Prominent structural heterogeneities within the lithosphere may localise or partition strain and deformation during tectonic events. The NE-trending Great South Basin, offshore New Zealand, formed perpendicular to a series of underlying crustal terranes, including the dominantly granitic Median Batholith Zone, which along with boundaries between individual terranes, exert a strong control on rift [...]
The Leaning Puy de Dôme
Published: 2019-07-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Acidic lava domes are a special monogenetic volcano type with explosive eruption hazards. Such domes raise questions about the nature of monogenetic volcanism. We study the iconic Puy de Dôme (Chaîne des Puys, Auvergne) that gave its name to dome landforms. It is asymmetric with one side more rugged and steeper than the other. Using mapping and paleomagnetism we find that it was tilted by ~20° [...]