Styles of neotectonic fault reactivation within a formerly extended continental margin, North West Shelf, Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 686 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beau B. Whitney ◽  
James V. Hengesh ◽  
Dan Gillam
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
North West

Three-dimensional geometry and growth of a basement-involved fault network developed during multiphase extension, Enderby Terrace, North West Shelf of Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongdan Deng ◽  
Ken McClay
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
North West ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Data Volume ◽  
Vertical Linkages ◽  
Fault Network

<div>Basement fault reactivation, and the growth, interaction, and linkage with new fault segments are fundamentally three-dimensional and critical for understanding the evolution of fault network development in sedimentary basins. This paper analyses the evolution of a complex, basement-involved extensional fault network on the Enderby Terrace on the eastern margin of the Dampier sub-basin, NW Shelf of Australia. A high-resolution, depth-converted, 3D seismic reflection data volume is used to show that multiphase, oblique extensional reactivation of basement-involved faults controlled the development of the fault network in the overlying strata. Oblique reactivation of the pre-existing faults initially led to the formation of overlying, en échelon Late Triassic – Middle Jurassic fault segments that, as WNW–directed rifting progressed on the margin, linked by breaching of relay ramp to form two intersecting fault systems (F1 and F2-F4). Further reactivation in the Latest Jurassic – Early Cretaceous (NNW–SSE extension) produced an additional set of en échelon fault arrays in the cover strata. The final fault network consists of main or principal faults and subordinate or splay faults, together with branch lines that link the various components. Our study shows that breaching of relay ramps and/or vertical linkages produces vertical and horizontal branch lines giving complex final fault geometries. We find that repeated activity of the basement-involved faults tends to form continuous and planar fault architectures that favor displacement transfer between the main constituent segments along strike and with depth.</div>

MARGIN-SCALE, BASEMENT-INVOLVED COMPARTMENTALISATION OF AUSTRALIA'S NORTH WEST SHELF: A PRIMARY CONTROL ON BASIN-SCALE RIFT, DEPOSITION AL AND REACTIVATION HISTORIES

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.W. O'Brien ◽  
M. Morse ◽  
D. Wilson ◽  
P. Quaife ◽  
J. Colwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transition Zone ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Small Displacement ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Fracture System ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
North West ◽  
Seal Failure ◽  
Lithospheric Flexure ◽  
Basin Scale

Australia's North West Shelf is segmented into four discrete margin-scale compartments which have distinct rift and reactivation histories. Two of the margin segments, the Carnarvon and Bonaparte compartments, are very wide (500–600 km), marginal plateau systems, whereas the other two segments, the Canning and Browse compartments, are narrower and steeper. The boundaries between individual rift compartments appear to be controlled by Proterozoic fracture systems.The Browse-Bonaparte transition zone is a major, northwest-trending Proterozoic fracture system which has a series of igneous intrusions along its length. These intrusions are located where the fracture system is cut by younger, northeast-trending extensional faults. This transition zone is a margin-scale fault relay zone, with intense fault overlap along the transition resulting in the zone being a long-lived, syn-rift high. Moreover, the transition zones between adjacent wide and narrow margins are prime locations for the entry point of siliciclastics into the rift or post-rift margin system. As a result, well-developed channel systems often cut through these boundaries and high quality reservoirs (particularly low-stand fans) are developed.Neogene fault reactivation, associated with convergence of the Australasian and Eurasian plates, is evident along the North West Shelf. The style of this reactivation is, however, closely controlled by the margin- scale architecture. In the Browse and Carnarvon basins, Neogene inversion is common, but at the leading edge of the collisional system, the Bonaparte compartment, the fault style is exclusively extensional. It appears that lithospheric flexure, associated with localised foreland development (i.e. the Timor Trough), has been the driving mechanism for the extensional faulting within the Bonaparte compartment. Crustal convergence seems to have been accommodated completely by thrusting on the northwestern margin of Timor and by foreland formation. In contrast, the Browse and Carnarvon compartments lacked a 'buffering' foreland system and, being adjacent to rigid and thin oceanic crust which transmits stress well over long distances, the inversional stresses were transmitted directly into these compartments.As a result of these margin-scale processes, the Bonaparte compartment is characterised by a thin regional seal (often 100 ms) on Neogene extensional faults—a combination which strongly favours fault seal failure and trap breach. In contrast, the Browse compartment is characterised by thick seals and small displacement Neogene faults, and thus the probability of fault seal failure is much less.

Orthogneisses in the Spessart Crystalline Complex, north-west Bavaria: Silurian granitoid magmatism at an active continental margin

1995 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 399 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dombrowski ◽  
F. Henjes-Kunst ◽  
A. Höhndorf ◽  
A. Kröner ◽  
M. Okrusch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Active Continental Margin ◽  
Crystalline Complex ◽  
Granitoid Magmatism ◽  
North West

scholarly journals Explanatory notes to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:500 000, Thule, Sheet 5

2006 ◽  
pp. 1-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Dawes
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Dyke Swarm ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
North West ◽  
Geological Map

Abstract Dawes, P.R. 2006: Explanatory notes to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:500 000, Thule, Sheet 5. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Map Series 2, 97 pp. + map These explanatory notes cover part of North-West Greenland defined by latitudes 75°15'N and 78°N and longitudes 57°W and 73°W, a region with appreciable ice cover. The bedrock is dominated by two Precambrian provinces that extend across Baffin Bay into Canada: the highgrade Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic shield overlain by the intracratonic Mesoproterozoic-?Neoproterozoic Thule Basin. Map units are systematically described and introductory sections cover the physical environment, logistics, data sources and geoscientific research. The crystalline shield embraces seven complexes: three of Archaean age, two of Archaean-?Palaeoproterozoic age and two of Palaeoproterozoic age. Isotopic ages of c. 2900 Ma indicate that Neoarchaean orthogneisses are present in part of the region while the existence of Mesoarchaean crust is indicated by c. 3200 Ma detrital zircons. The high-grade orthogneisses and paragneisses of the Thule mixed-gneiss complex were intruded by two plutonic suites, the Kap York meta-igneous complex at c. 2700 Ma and the Smithson Bjerge magmatic association that includes a major anorthosite body. Subsequent deformation, metamorphism and migmatisation led to the formation of gneisses recognised within the Melville Bugt orthogneiss complex . Palaeoproterozoic sedimentation and volcanism represented by the Prudhoe Land supracrustal complex took place after c . 2250 Ma but had ceased by c. 1985 Ma when the Prudhoe Land granulite complex was emplaced. Rocks within the Lauge Koch Kyst supracrustal complex may correlate with the Palaeoproterozoic Karrat Group of West Greenland. Polyphase deformation with isoclinal folding, and regional metamorphism up to granulite-facies grade, affected the region c. 1900 Ma ago, with cooling until c . 1650 Ma. Extensional faulting, intracratonic basin formation and periods of basaltic magmatism occurred during the last 1000 million years of Proterozoic time. After regional dyking at c . 1630 Ma ( Melville Bugt dyke swarm ) followed by mature peneplanation, the Thule Basin developed as an interior fracture and sag depocentre across the area that is now northernmost Baffin Bay. Defined by the unmetmorphosed Thule Supergroup at least 6 km thick, the basin records fluvial to shallow-marine sedimentation and tholeiitic volcanism at least 1270 million years old. The basin is dissected by the Thule half-graben system dominated by WNW-ESE-trending faults thought to have developed during the final tectono-magmatic period dated at c. 700650 Ma. Conspicuous products of this are a major sill complex ( Steensby Land sill complex ) and a regional dyke swarm that parallels the half-grabens ( Thule dyke swarm ). Fault reactivation is probably related to the late Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of Baffin Bay. In addition to the four metallic commodities included on the map - magnetite, copper, iron suphides, ilmenite - there is potential for gold and other mineralisations. The Neoarchaean magnetite province, traceable for over 400 km through the map region, is spatially the largest in Greenland and it is a correlative of the Mary River iron deposits of Baffin Island, Canada. Several raw materials have potential for local handicraft industries, including soapstone and agate. The region hosts a multi-event glacial and marine Middle-Late Quaternary stratigraphy dating back to at least the Saalian/Illinoian (pre-130 ka B.P.). The entire region was probably overriden by the Inland Ice during the Weichselian/Wisconsinian glacial maximum and deglaciated in the early Holocene, 11 000 to 9000 years ago.

Three-dimensional geometry and growth of a basement-involved fault network developed during multiphase extension, Enderby Terrace, North West Shelf of Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongdan Deng ◽  
Ken McClay
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
North West ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Data Volume ◽  
Vertical Linkages ◽  
Fault Network

Basement fault reactivation, and the growth, interaction, and linkage with new fault segments are fundamentally three-dimensional and critical for understanding the evolution of fault network development in sedimentary basins. This paper analyzes the evolution of a complex, basement-involved extensional fault network on the Enderby Terrace on the eastern margin of the Dampier sub-basin, North West Shelf of Australia. A high-resolution, depth-converted, 3-D seismic reflection data volume is used to show that multiphase, oblique extensional reactivation of basement-involved faults controlled the development of the fault network in the overlying strata. Reactivation of the pre-existing faults initially led to the formation of overlying, en échelon Late Triassic−Middle Jurassic fault segments that, as WNW-directed rifting progressed on the margin, linked by breaching of relay zones to form two intersecting fault systems (F1 and F2−F4). Further reactivation in the latest Jurassic−Early Cretaceous (NNW-SSE extension) produced an additional set of en échelon fault arrays in the cover strata. The final fault network consists of main or principal faults and subordinate or splay faults, together with branch lines that link the various components. Our study shows that breaching of relay ramps and/or vertical linkages produces vertical and horizontal branch lines giving complex final fault geometries. We find that repeated activity of the basement-involved faults tends to form continuous and planar fault architectures that favor displacement transfer between the main constituent segments along strike and with depth.

scholarly journals Particle export during a bloom of Emiliania huxleyi in the North-West European continental margin

2013 ◽  
Vol 109-110 ◽  
pp. S182-S190 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schmidt ◽  
J. Harlay ◽  
A.V. Borges ◽  
S. Groom ◽  
B. Delille ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Emiliania Huxleyi ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Particle Export ◽  
West European
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