Basic Wrench Tectonics'

Abstract En echelon structures which may trap oil

and gas develop in a systematic pattern along wrench
zones .in sedimentary basins. Laboratory clay models
simulate the formation of en echelon folds and faults
caused by wrenching. Folds form early in the deforma
tion and are accompanied or followed by conjugate
strike-slip, reverse, or normal faulting. Deformation
may cease at any stage or may continue until strike
slip along the wrench zone produces a wrench fault
and separation of the severed parts of early struc-
tures. Oblique movements of fault blocks on opposite
sides of a wrench fault cause divergence or conver
gence and enhancement, respectively, of extensional
or compressional structures, Basins form in areas of
extension and are filled with sediment, whereas up-
thrust blocks emerge in areas of compression and
become sediment SOurces. The combined effects of
wrenching in a petroliferous basin are to increase its
prospectiveness for major hydrocarbon reserves.
INTRODUCTION
Wrench faults (Kennedy, 1946; Anderson,
1951) are high-angle strike-slip faults of great
linear extent along which strike-slip may be tens
of miles or considerably more. Basement invari-
ably is involved in the deformation and a wrench
zone is a swath of terrane deformed by wrench-
ing prior to and concurrently with strike-slip
along the throughgoing wrench fault. The term
"wrench fault" has no genetic connotation.
En echelon folds are the most important struc-
tures of potential value for trapping hydrocar-
bons in most wrench zones. They are also useful
for recognition of wrench zones (Figs. 1-5). A
single en echelon fold can be depicted as an
ellipse (Fig. 6), which represents the deformation
of a circle in the wrench zone, with the longer
ellipse axis (A-N) parallel with the fold axis.
Other structural straps can be formed by faulting
or a combination of faulting and folding. Four
types of fractures can form during wrench defor-
mation, and if the wrenching continues, anyone
or all of these fractures can become faults. In
Figure 6, the fracture directions are shown as x-
X' (the strike of the primary wrench fault or
wrench zone), C-C' and D-D' (en echelon conju-
gate shear joints or strike-slip faults), and B-B'
(en echelon tension joints or normal faults). The
development and interrelations of these faults
and the en echelon folds are the main subjects of
this paper. In a previous paper Moody and Hill
74
The Ameflcan ASSOC18f,on of ""froleumGeoklgists SuIOtin
V. 57, No.1 (January 1973), P. 74-96, 16 Fig., 1Table
RONALD E. WILCOX,. T. P. HARDING,a and D. R. SEELY
Houston, Texas 77001
(1956) have treated aspects of wrench tectonics,
particularly as these pertain to proposed systems
and patterns of sets of wrench faults.
Prolific reserves of hydrocarbons have been
trapped in wrench structures, mainly in en ech-
elon folds and faulted folds. Some of the largest
and best known of these structures are anticlinal
traps in the Los Angeles basin (Fig. 4) and the
west side of the San Joaquin Valley (Fig. 5),
California (see also Harding, 1973, the following
paper in this issue).
Clay models that illustrate the mechanics and
development of this structural style represent
broad basins filled with structurally homogene-
ous sediments whose total thickness is small com-
pared with the size of the basin. The models also
aid in prediction of traps by providing visual
examples of the three-dimensional relations be-
tween structural elements in wrench zones.
MECHANICS OF WRENCHING
Wrench faults form in response to horizontal
shear couples within the earth's crust, and they
can be simulated in clay models by moving tin
sheets beneath a clay cake (Cloos, 1955). Simple
wrenching results from the movements of the
crustal blocks or tin sheets in opposite directions
parallel with their adjacent edges. As a conse-
quence of such parallel displacements, compres-
sional and tensional stresses are generated in the
overlying sediments or clay. If, instead of moving
exactly parallel with the wrench fault, the base-
ment blocks or the tin sheets converge or diverge
slightly, the compressional or tensional stresses,
respectively, that result from the basic wrench are
enhanced. These important special cases of con-
vergent and divergent wrenching are discussed
after analysis of the more general case of simple
parallel wrenching.
I Manuscript received, February 18, 1972; accepted, April I?,
1972.
'Esso Production Research Co.; present address: P.O. Box
1230, Bellaire, Texas 77401.
'Humble Oil & Refining Co.
Esso Production Research Co.
We are grateful to E. Cloos, consultant to Esso Production
Research Co" for contributing helpful suggestions during the
course of this work. Our appreciation also is extended to J.
Crowell for stimulating discussions.
<tl 1973. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights
reserved.
Intro Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 75
_ WRENCH FAULT
ANTICLINE

IAFTER SIGIT, 1962; HAMILTON, 1972)

o C E A N
100 200
( ,
Kl LOMETe AS
A
.. ":.... , .. -'... ... '
IFIELDS APPROX. FROM CAMPBELL ET AL.. 19101

N
I

.== FAULT
_t_ FOLD
2 SAN FRANCISCO
4 lOS BAJOS
50
:'.:., .
100 ,
'-----'-------',
KILOMETERS
FAULTS 1.URICA
3. SOlDADO
(AFTER SALVADOR AND STAIN FORTH. 1961)
- OIL AND GAS
FIELDS B
/X
- D.EADSEA WRENCH FAULTS -t-- ANTICLINES AND ARCHES ",
-- OTHER FAULTS PROMINENT TOWNS

C .
/
/ ;>--- \
IAFTER QUENNELL. '.5.: AHARONI, 1966)
.'
50
KILOMETERS
100
1
c
FIG. I-En echelon folds along wrench faults. A. En echelon folds, some productive, northeast of Barisan Mountains (Semangko)
fault in Central and South Sumatra basins, Sumatra. Oblique convergent subduction along adjacent Java trench is additional factor
in deformation here. B. El Pilar fault and associated faults and en echelon folds in eastern Venezuela and Trinidad; note
production from folds near Los Bajos fault, southwestern Trinidad. C. Dead Sea rift, Israel and Jordan; note location of Dead Sea
between overlapping ends of major wrenches. Some en echelon folds are bounded by thrusts and several are marginally productive.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
76
D R Seely T P Harding, and . . Ronald E. Wilcox, . .
(FROM BISHOP, 1968)
1 ALPINE FAULT
2 AWATERE FAULT
3 CLARENCE FAULT
4 HOPE FAULT
SOUTH ISLAND
Christchurch
LOCATIOr-.lOF
FIG 2c
50
Miles
100
I
A
(FROM
ALPINE
10
I
Miles
WRENCH FAULT
-+-- FOLD
,I
/1-'
B
o
!
10
I
Miles
WRENCH FAULT
::::- OTH E R F AUL T
-+- FOLD NO SILL TRENDS
---- DIKE A
AWATERE
/ /
/ /
, ,
\ I
, \ \ \ I
\ \ \
, \
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\ \ \
\ ,
I
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, "\, \, ,/ ---, --->, - -
""
\ ... -' ,.,:.............. / --roo / ..... ... _
", "'-::.:.,.. , T _
---
c. Awo<.. '""
I En echelon folds along bJdiary faults.
'FROM "'SHOP. 196. IdA. Index map. RId dikes and sills, and su
New Zea an . . he/on fo s, h-fault structures, I nd associated en ec FlO. 2-Wrenc wrench fau ts a
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 77
SIMPLE PARALLEL WRENCHING
Simple parallel wrenching is a special case of
simple shear, which is one kind of finite homoge-
neous strain (Jaeger and Cook, 1969; Ramsay,
1967). The shear angle (!/t, Fig. 6) increases with
increasing simple shear. In some crustal deforma-
tion and in clay models the initial deformations
are plastic and involve folding. These are fol-
lowed by a combination of plastic distortion and
fracturing. As deformation proceeds, displace-
ment along the wrench zone increases, and the
zone of principal shear narrows. Finally, all of
the slip occurs along a few closely spaced faults
or along one throughgoing wrench fault, and sub-
sequent deformations within either fault block
are more or less independent of each other.
On a wrench model (Figs. 7, 8), it is convenient
to mark the clay surface with a circle and to note
how its shape changes during deformation. Points
moving closer together mark compression, and
points moving apart denote extension. The origi-
nal circles (Fig. 7A) on the clay are aligned along
the edge of the underlying tin sheet and deform
into en echelon ellipses during the plastic phase
of strain (Fig. 7B). Straight lines on the clay (Fig.
7A, normal to the line of circles) are trowel marks
that become bent during deformation (Figs. 7B-
C, 80-F). Maximum compression and extension
are parallel with the minor and major strain el-
lipse axes, respectively, and neither of these direc-
tions is parallel with or perpendicular to the shear
direction imposed on the model, i.e., the strike of
the wrench zone defined by the parallel edges of
the tin sheets and the line of circles. It follows
from the en echelon arrangement of ellipses (Fig.
7B) that all structures associated with each ellipse
(Fig. 6) may be repeated along the wrench zone.
This en echelon repetition of folds and faults is
an important diagnostic feature of wrench zones
(Figs. 1-5). (The size and spacing of circles/el-
lipses on the models is arbitrary; the spacing of
folds and faults in the model wrench zones is
determined by various characteristics of each
model.)
The clay models of wrenching are all basically
alike. The model in Figures 7 and 8 has left-lat-
eral displacement, whereas the models in Figures
9 and 10 are right-lateral wrenches. (By conven-
tion, the sense of fault displacement is described
by assuming that the block toward the observer is
fixed, and the block across the wrench fault from
the observer moves to his right or left.) Various
structures form on each model, however, depend-
ing on the thickness and nature of the wet-clay
cake, on the rate of deformation, on any special
conditions built into the model, and to a certain
degree, on chance. Included in the "chance" as-
pect that helps to determine the final model
structures are, for example, slight inhomogenei-
ties in the texture of the clay and the presence of
hidden bubbles beneath the clay surface.
By analogy, the explorationist is faced with a
host of unknown (chance) factors in interpreting
wrench zones. Some of the more obvious factors
are the effects of nonuniform stratigraphy (both
thickness and composition), variable rates of de-
formation, and different directions of movement
between crustal blocks during one stage of defor-
mation or during succeeding stages. In spite of
these inherent complexities in both nature and
the models, however, the overall pattern of
wrenching has key elements that are repeated,
and the presence of anyone or more structures of
the basic pattern serves as a clue for recognizing
this structural style and its associated prospective
structures.
The structures of the basic wrench-tectonic
patterns are en echelon folds, en echelon conju-
gate strike-slip faults, the main wrench fault or
wrench-fault zone, and en echelon normal faults.
These are described below and are illustrated in
the models (Figs. 7-10).
En Echelon Folds
En echelon folds are the most attractive pros-
pective structures in wrench zones because they
form early and thus provide traps during early
hydrocarbon migration, and because they com-
monly afford the largest closures that are geneti-
cally related to wrenching (Harding, 1973). As
the amount of displacement on the wrench zone
increases, the initial folds are broken first by
fractures and then by faults. In later stages of
wrenching the folds may become shattered (Fig.
9C), and parts of the folds on either side of the
wrench fault may be offset (Fig. IOC). As move-
ment of crustal blocks continues over long peri-
ods of geologic time, the half-folds on one block
can be removed completely away from the area,
and the wrench fault itself may provide updip
closure.
The term "en echelon" refers to the arrange-
ment of structures along a linear zone so that
individual folds or faults of the same kind are
parallel with each other and are inclined equally
to the strike of the zone. The nomenclature for
describing en echelon fold sets is similar to that
for wrench displacements. Right-lateral wrenches
produce right-handed fold sets (Fig. lIA), where
a traverse along the axis of any fold to its termi-
nus would turn right to reach the next fold in the
en echelon set (Campbell, 1958). A left-handed
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
78 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely

( .... 0 .. TCH........ KO "'N" ........ AU.... 'U., A
(A'"U" TC" ... <.O:"I<", 'no)
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=: NORMAl-FAULT
--t- ANTICLINE
MAFIC DIKE
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FI(l. 3-Fracturc pattern, in wrench rones.
A. Pan of Dashl..: Bayn (Iran) earthquake fraclu: z.one along left-lateral wrench. Western part .hows development of synthetic en
echelon faults: eastern end shows ooth antithetic and synthtic "n Mlon faullS. B. Synthetic and antithetic en Mlon fraeillre.
(enlargement of easl end of wrench rone in A above). C. lake Basin faull zone. Monlana. showing en echelon normal faults along
indicated wrench ZOne. D. COllage Grove faull zone. Illinois; ODic en khdon normal faul\5., parallel mafic dikes. and of
"..tical "'p"'ation ..,n.., on throughgoing ..lip fault. indicattd in
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 79
set of en echelon folds in eastern Panama (Fig.
lIB) is probably related to a left-lateral wrench.
All en echelon folds in one zone are usually of
similar shape and extent. The folds in Figure 9
are more distinct and more uniform than is usual
for clay-wrench models, because a thin sheet of
plastic film (0.OOO5-in. thick) was interlayered in
the clay 0.25 in. below the surface. Several larger
en echelon folds developed in the other two mod-
els (Figs. 7, 8, 10), which are homogeneous clay
cakes without plastic film. The folds in Figures 7
and 8 are low and only faintly visible, whereas
those in Figure 10 are larger. This difference
probably is explained by the rates of deforma-
tion; the model with distinct folds (Fig. 10) was
deformed 2.5 times faster than the other model
(Figs. 7-8).
A close examination of Figure 9A reveals a
small difference between the average fold trend
and the trend of the longer axes of the ellipses.
This difference probably is accentuated by the
presence of the thin plastic sheet, which has influ-
enced strongly the folding. Other similar experi-
ments have shown that the fold size and fold
spacing in the wrench zone are related to the
depth of burial of the plastic film below the clay
surface. Shallower plastic sheets produce smaller,
more closely spaced folds. Another characteristic
unique to models with plastic film layers is the
rapidity offolding after slow deformation begins.
In the extreme case of the plastic sheet directly
on the clay surface, a very slight distortion by
wrenching immediately causes folding in the
plastic sheet and in the clay just below.
In models without the plastic sheet (e.g., Fig.
lOB), the longer ellipse axes are nearly parallel
with the axes of the clay folds. This is similar to
the ellipse diagram (Fig. 6), but the model ellipses
are not so elongate as the ellipse in Figure 6.
For a true simple shear the angle between the
fold axis (long axis of the ellipse) and the strike of
the wrench zone is always less than 45. For most
wrench-fault experiments with clay, the angle be-
tween en echelon fold axes and the wrench fault
approximates 30. Folds that form later during
the deformation have lower angles.
Fortunately, in the early stages of exploration
in an area where wrenching is suspected, the
recognition of several typical wrench-zone struc-
tures will serve to define the trend of the zone
itself and probably also the sense of wrench dis-
placement. By extrapolation from models, the
axes of en echelon folds, which may be subtle,
low-relief closures, should lie at an angle of 30
15 to the wrench trend, either in a clockwise
direction (left-handed folds) or in a counterclock-
wise direction (right-handed folds). If the
wrench-zone trend is known or suspected, and
the displacement sense is unknown, folds still
could be anticipated along the wrench trend with
their axes inclined about 30 to that trend.
In nature (Figs. 1-5), fold orientations in a
wrench zone can be different for several folds
along the same fault trend. Some folds, or parts
of folds with irregular axial trends, may parallel
the wrench fault or cross the wrench zone at a
low angle. Several factors that can influence the
shape and trend of en echelon folds include con-
vergence of blocks during wrenching, changes in
strike of the wrench fault, large components of
vertical displacement, differences in kind and
thickness of sediments, and mobility of basement
near the folds.
Conjugate Strike-Slip Faults
Wrenching causes two sets of intersecting, ver-
tical fractures to form in a predictable orientation
along the wrench zone. One set, the low-angle
fractures (e-e', Fig. 6), makes an angle between
10 and 30 with the wrench strike (X-X),
whereas the high-angle set (D-D') intersects the
wrench at an angle between 70 and 90. These
conjugate fractures can be either joints or faults,
or both, depending on the magnitude of wrench-
ing.
The acute angle of intersection of the two frac-
ture sets is dependent on the nature of the rocks
and the deformation; it is usually in the range of
60-70. This angle is bisected by the direction of
maximum compression (B-B', Fig. 6). On the clay
model in Figure 7C, one fracture of each set
forms an "X" cutting the center small ellipse. The
wedge in the acute angle of the intersection is
displaced (Fig. 8D) toward the center of the el-
lipse as deformation continues. Two important
aspects of the deformation are illustrated by this
wedging: (1) the opposite senses of lateral dis-
placement on the two intersecting strike-slip
faults; and (2) contemporaneous plastic defor-
mation and faulting.
The low-angle faults (Fig. 7C) intersect the
wrench strike (line of ellipse centers) at 12 and
have the same sense of displacement (left) as that
of the main wrench zone (Figs. 7B-C, 8D-E) and
the final wrench fault (Fig. 8F). These low-angle
faults are called synthetic strike-slip faults, or
simply synthetic faults. In contrast, the high-an-
gle set of conjugate strike-slip faults has a dis-
placement sense opposite that of the wrench;
these are known as antithetic strike-slip faults,
and they are right-lateral in this left-lateral
wrench model. They form angles of 78 with the
wrench and 66 with the synthetic fault in the
center ellipse (Fig. 7C). The low- and high-angle
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
80 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
1 POl7')O"
4"
\
"
SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS
I1S'OO'
OCe
AN
IS'
10 MILES
'--'-'-'-'-'- ----''-- ----''
118'30'
3330' L.._.L.....; .l- .L ..:2;,...l......:.__.......:..J
(AFTER YERKES ET AL., 1965)
EXPLANATION
----8-----
----?-----
FAULT STRUCTURE CONTOURS
Drawn on basement rock surface.
.
_.- - -.----t>
ANTICLINE
Showing direction of plunge
REVERSE FAULT
,
--- -T---->
SYNCLINE
Showing direction ofplunge
NORMAL FAULT
...
OILFIELD
FIG. 4-Major wrench structures and oil fields. Los Angeles basin. California.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics
81
SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
CONTOURS ON TOP OF LOWER PLIOCENE
VARIABLE CONTOUR INTERVAL

20
I
OIL ANO
GAS FIELDS
o
I
BASEMENT
i
N
I
MAJOR SURFACE
STRUCTURES
GENERALIZEO POROSITY
TERMINATIONS

't.
,
MILES
(AFTER HOOTS, BEAR, AND KLEMPELL, 19541
FIG. 5-Major wrench structures and oil fields, San Joaquin Valley, California.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
82 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
y
.......... -0+:':>-<:::--""'"
B /'
/
/
/
/
/e
I
y'
FIG. 6-Strain ellipse.
conjugate fractures have been termed Riedel
shears and conjugate Riedel shears, respectively,
by Tchalenko and Ambraseys (1970).
Continuing deformation after the conjugate
fractures have developed proceeds as a combina-
tion of strike-slip faulting and plastic distortion.
The acute angle between the two faults enlarges
as the two faults rotate away from each other.
The supplementary obtuse angles decrease as the
larger wedges bounded by them move outward
along the long-ellipse axis (A-At, Fig. 6), which
marks the direction of extension (or minimum
compression).
The rotation of the conjugate faults is an inter-
nal (local) rotation caused by compressive defor-
mations and is not related uniquely to wrenching.
The same conjugate fault pattern, wedging, and
internal fault rotation are possible when rocks (or
clay) are subjected to straight external compres-
sion, that is, when the compressive forces are
opposed on a straight line (Ramsay, 1967, p. 60).
Wrenching, however, also produces external
(regional) rotational deformation. The wrenching
forces, which result from regional simple shear,
act in opposite directions as if on separate, paral-
lel lines so as to form a couple. The resulting
deformation generally is restricted to a linear
wrench zone parallel with the couple and to the
edges of the moving crustal blocks. A left-lateral
wrench has an external sense of rotation that is
counterclockwise (Figs. 7, 8), whereas right-lat-
eral wrenches have clockwise external rotation
(Figs. 9, 10). This can be seen in the models by
noting the rotation of the ellipse axes as wrench-
ing proceeds.
The effects of both the internal rotation due to
wedging and the external rotation due to wrench-
ing further distinguish synthetic and antithetic
faults. For a left-lateral wrench (Figs. 7, 8), exter-
nal rotation tends to move the synthetic fault
counterclockwise away from the wrench trend as
the internal rotation tends to move the fault
clockwise toward the main wrench. The result is
little rotation of the synthetic fault in either direc-
tion. It originally formed nearly parallel with the
strike of the main wrench zone and, therefore,
remains in this favorable orientation to accom-
modate additional wrench displacements.
The antithetic faults, however, formed at a
high angle to the wrench, and the continuing
deformation cause both the external and the in-
ternal rotations to be counterclockwise (Figs. 7,
8). This tends to increase further the original high
angle to around 90 to the wrench zone. As a
consequence, lateral displacements on antithetic
faults are generally small compared with those on
either their synthetic counterparts or the main
wrench fault. In some cases, the high-angle posi-
tion of the antithetics is so poorly favored for
displacements as to preclude their formation. In
all the clay models (Figs. 7-10) synthethics are
much better developed and account for much
more wrench displacement than the antithetics.
The combined effects of external and internal
rotation on the fault sets are compared in Table I
for the left-lateral wrench model (Figs. 7, 8). Note
a second set of conjugate shears, nearly parallel
with the first set, cutting the center ellipse (Fig.
8D-F).
A useful clue to interpretation is provided by
the antithetic faults that have been rotated. Their
original planar attitude becomes bent by the
combined internal and external rotations acting
in opposite directions on either side of the
wrench zone. The map view of the twisted faults
is a flat S with the arcs of the S pointing toward
the direction of displacement, i.e., S for left
wrenches (Fig. 8D-F), and a reverse S for right
wrenches (Fig. 1OC).
Wrench Faults
The development of the main, throughgoing
wrench fault is the last stage in the early phase of
wrench-zone deformation. The entire early phase
of wrenching usually constitutes a brief and tran-
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 83
FIG, 7-Clay model of parallelleft.!ateral wrench fault (A-C _ three stages. '-ertical views). Sec Figure 8 for three following nages.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
84
Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
FIQ. '-Oay Illodel ot'parallclleftlalnalwullCb fault (D-F - three 11IIgn, vfttiQ.!vieM). S Filure 1 for liQIIhr.., statts.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 85
F'Q. 9-Cby model of parallel righi_lateral wrench fault wilh la)"er of thin plaSlic film embedded 0.25 in, below surface to enhance
en he/on folds (A-C - thr stages, vertical views).
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
86 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and O. R. Seely
FI(l. Il)--..{:I.ay model ofparalltl ri&ht-latt:ral wrnlC'b f.ull (A-C - thr Ic.P. vMiaJ.......,).
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 87
sitory period in the long history of a major
wrench fault, but this early phase is of great
importance in the process of hydrocarbon-trap
formation.
After a short interval of concurrent folding and
conjugate faulting, the rocks (or clay) fracture in
a relatively narrow zone within the overall defor-
mational swath, and the master wrench fault is
created. This process of rock failure begins at
several points along the wrench zone (e.g., see
Fig. 8E, between small circles 4 and 5, 7 and 8, 9
and 10). At some locations a synthetic fault devi-
ates into the incipient wrench-fault trend, and at
others a new fracture forms more nearly parallel
with the strike of the wrench zone and at a small
angle to the nearby synthetic faults. As this pro-
cess continues, the main wrench fault gradually
emerges as an interconnected series of these ear-
lier fractures. (The plastic film prevented the for-
mation of the single wrench fault in the model in
Fig. 9.)
A great variety of fault blocks is produced
within the wrench zone. Some large blocks are
caught between early formed branches of the
main wrench (fig. 8F, near large ellipse at left),
and many smaller blocks are sliced and delormed
into horsts and grabens between the main wrench
fault and the conjugate faults. Once individual
fault blocks are separated by faulting, they tend
to deform somewhat independently; some rise,
some sink, some are folded, and some are faulted
again.
As displacement on the main wrench fault in-
creases, slip diminishes on the other faults in the
zone. 'fPe active fault "plane," or a relatively
thin, crush zone along the active part of the fault,
commonly shifts from side to side of the wrench
zone. Distortion and faulting of the whole zone
become complex, and this results in a braided
fault pattern that is typical of major wrench
zones (Fig. 12C).
Changes in the strike of the active fault lead to
additional deformation of the wall rocks as strike
slip continues. TlJ.e parallel wrench becomes a
convergent or a divergent wrench, at least locally.
The size and extent of the resulting compres-
sional or extensional structures depend on the
amount of change in fault strike and the amount
of displacement along the curved fault surface
within the braided system (see Fig. 12 and ac-
companying text discussion of convergent and
divergent wrenching).
Tension Fractures
The orientation of tension joints or normal
faults parallels the short axis of the strain ellipse
(Fig. 6, B-B), crosses the en echelon fold axes at
right angles, and bisects the acute angle between
the conjugate shears. En echelon tension frac-
tures may form along a wrench zone in the initial
stage of deformation, but they easily are de-
stroyed as wrench displacement increases and
compressive structures (folds and conjugate
faults) become more prominent. In clay models
of wrenching, tension fractures are uncommon
because of the strong cohesion within the clay.
Water placed on the clay surface eliminates thIS
cohesion, and large, open, en echelon tension
cracks form to the exclusion of other fractures
and folds.
Two examples of en echelon normal faults that
are presumed to lie above buried wrench faults
are the Lake Basin fault zone, Montana (Fig.
3C), and the Cottage Grove fault zone, Illinois
(Fig. 3D). In both these fault zones, the amount
of wrench movement of the basement blocks af-
ter sedimentation has been small-just enough to
fracture the overlying sedimentary rocks without
causing significant lateral offset. Additional lin-
ear zones which may represent wrenching have
been recognized near the Lake Basin zone
(Smith, 1965).
The Cottage Grove zone displays two other
features of wrenching. The northern block of the
main east-west fault is downthrown in the west-
ern part of the zone and upthrown in the eastern
part. This kind of change in the vertical displace-
ment sense along strike is typical of wrenches.
The tensional component of wrenching is marked
in the eastern area around the fault zone by mafic
dikes. Such intrusions and vein fillings in tension
fractures are well known in mineral deposits and
plutonic terranes, and they fit the fracture pattern
for wrenching along this zone.
Antithetic fractures inherit some of the ten-
sional component of a wrench deformation and
commonly become nearly vertical normal faults
with negligible lateral displacements. A down-
ward displacement on either of the conjugate
strike-slip faults tends to be toward the acute
wedge. This is well shown on one of the models
(Fig. loe), where there are many closely spacep
antithetic faults at both ends of the wrench zone.
Such concentrations of "antithetic-normal" fauhs
impart a pseudoplasticity to the clay (or rocks)
that permits these zones to deform more or less
uniformly without being cut by one main wrench
fault. Thus, a wrench fault with measurable strike
slip can pass into one of these fracture zones
along its strike where there is the same regional
shift across the zone but no single fault of large
lateral displacement.
CONVERGENT AND DwERGENT WRENCffiNG
Opposed crustal blocks that do not move par-
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
88
A
Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
l

1
['
X
J

1
r
1
I
-I
I
,
1
l

1 r
J
--- ... "'" "...
-
"""000 .. """.....,.,... "
/
'" "'.".. ,<_..""'"
"""" _'NDOO ''"'0'" ''''''' .""', ""'"
,'" ..."',,,,... ,'""'" "., ""'"
F,o, II-En helon folds. A. Diagrammatic righl' and Icfl.hande4 fold 'lets (caus! by right and loft-laleral wrenchins- respec-
tively). B. Radar image of surface folds, Darien basin. eastern Panama. caused by left-laleral wrenching. (Imagery acquirtd by
Westinghouse Electric Corporation. contract from U. S. Army TOPOCOM. Ft, Belvoir. Virginia.)
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics
Table 1. Orientation of Can jugale Fractures
CUlling Center of Small Ellipse
. ~ ~ -- ~ ~ ~ _ . __.-
------
Angle Between A ngle Between
Angle Between
Approximate Wrench Strike, and Wrench Strike, and Synthetic and
Figure Shear Angle" Synthetic Fault Antithetic Fault Antithetic Faults
~ _ . _ ~ ~
7c 20 12 78 66
8d 28 12 82 70
8e '36 14 87 73
8f 48
0
15 93 78
See figure 6.
89
aileI with a wrench fault either converge or di-
verge as wrenching proceeds. These oblique
movements may be related to nonparallel dis-
placements of crustal blocks on a regional scale,
or they may be due to local changes in strike of a
generally parallel wrench. It is common for both
convergence and divergence to develop locally
along a wrench. Convergent wrenching, on what-
ever scale, tends to enhance compressive wrench-
zone structures, namely, folds and conjugate
strike-slip faults, and strong convergence can
cause reverse faulting and thrusting. The forma-
tion of tensional structures, mainly normal faults,
is typical of divergent wrenching.
A particularly good example of both conver-
gence and divergence is seen north of Los Ange-
les, California, in the San Andreas wrench system
(Figs. 12, 15). A pod-shaped block, which is
about 100 mi long and 20 mi wide, lies southwest
of the San Andreas fault and northeast of the
curving San Gabriel fault (Fig. 12A). Both faults
are well-documented, right-lateral wrenches.
The pod-shaped block has moved southeast
along the curved San Gabriel fault and has
caused convergence on its southern and south-
eastern margin. Reverse faults with strike-slip
components characterize this margin and attest
to the lateral wrenching combined with compres-
sion and high-angle thrusting.
Concurrently, the northwestern part of the pod
was under tension as it diverged from the curving
northern end of the San Gabriel fault, and the
Ridge basin was formed (Fig. 12A). Sediments
filled this basin as faulting continued, and they
record the fault movements by preserving several
unique rock types whose source areas were dis-
placed alongside the basin (Fig. 12B).
One such suite of gneissic rocks is preserved as
coarse blocks in the Violin Breccia (Fig. 12A, B),
which accumulated along the northeast side of
the San Gabriel fault scarp as wrenching contin-
ued from the late Miocene to the late Pliocene
(Crowell, I954a, b). The Ridge basin illustrates
how major wrench faults can influence basin de-
velopment and sedimentation as well as the tec-
tonic history and structural style of a region.
En echelon folds in a clay model are enhanced
by even a slight convergence of only 2 (Fig. 13).
In the early stage of movement, the folds are well
developed throughout most of the central part of
the model (Fig. 13A), and a few synthetic frac-
tures have formed. At a later stage (Fig. 13B), the
folds have been offset along the synthetic faults
and the incipient throughgoing wrench. A few
antithetic faults also formed, but their impor-
tance in this deformation was minimal.
A more intensive en echelon zone of compres-
sion develops along a model wrench with a con-
vergence of 15 (Fig. 14A). Good en echelon
folds form in the narrow zone that later is
uplifted, and both sets of conjugate shears are
well developed. Nearly all wrench displacement
is concentrated on the synthetic faults, along
which the fold axes are offset. A side view of the
same model (Fig. 14B) reveals the complex
thrusting of the wedges squeezed up and out of
the wrench zone by the strong convergence. As
these blocks rose, they were bounded by vertical
or high-angle reverse synthetic faults, and they
resemble upthrust blocks.
Just south of the San Gabriel fault in the Little
Tujunga Canyon area, upthrusts out of the San
Gabriel fault zone are exposed (Fig. 15). (Reverse
faulting in this area accompanied the San Fer-
nando earthquake of February 9, 1971; see
Palmer and Henyey, 1971.)
Layered-sand models (Emmons, 1969) are also
instructive in studying the cross-sectional charac-
teristics of wrench faults. The fault zone widens
as the wrench fault splays upward, and individual
faults have normal or reverse dip-slip separation,
depending on how adjacent fault blocks are dis;
placed within the wrench zone (Fig. 16).
An important result of divergent wrenching is
an overlay of extensional block faulting on the
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
90 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
........... FAULT

N
I
o 10
Ie'
MILES
RIDGE BASIN
SEDIMENTS
PRE-RIDGE r---I
BASIN ROCKS L---.J
VIOLIN BRECCIA
S.n Be'flllrdino
IAFTER DI LEE. 19sal A
A W
8
SAN ANDREAS FAULT ZONE
SAN GABRIEL FAULT
2Qoo'
4000'

Sea Level ('ROM
_ VIOLIN BRECCIA E:;:;:::':I RIDGE BASIN l?ZZA PRE-RIOGE BASIN
1'" 00'
SAN ANOREAS-tr'7'P"Eill
FAULT
LITTLE ROCK
3.' 30'
o QUATERNARY
r-, TERTIARY
L.:..;.J SEDIMENTARY
...;;il MESOZOIC IGNEOUS
:.. & METAMORPHIC
= FAULT
c
FlO. Wrench structures along the San Andreas wrench-fault system, north of Los Angeles, California. A. Pod-chaped major
slice between San Andreas and San Gabriel wrench faults. B. Cross section of Ridge basin, formed and filled with sediments in the
!1orthern part of "pod" during wrenching. C. Braiding of faults along San Andreas wrench"fault zone on !1ortheastern side of
''pod''; note right-lateral shift of Little Rock Creek and tilted fault blocks, evidenced by varied outcrop pattern.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 91
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
92
Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. SeelV
FlO. I.-Cay modd of lS-JllYff!(nt Ji&ht-latcn.l ....cnch r,ull <Lo-ll, 1972). A. Vntical view. B. SKW view. Nou revaua of
i<i"'""tion on fynIMtif; ralllu in fougound and dominant strike-llip OIl"KI otfold be$.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics 93
A
A'
A
8
A'
SOUTH
LOPEZ FAULT
I
Saugus
formation
NORTH
t----------- 2.5MILES
SCALE 1:1
FIG. IS-Upthrust structures caused by wrenching. A. Map of upthrusts (high-angle reverse faults) along San Gabriel fault zone,
Little Tujunga Canyon area, north of Los Angeles, California. B. Cross section of upthrusts, Little Tujunga Canyon area,
A
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
94 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
-
(AFTER EMMONS. 19691
f
=::::
=
A
T
1
B
FIG. 16-Layered-sand model of a curved, right-lateral wrench fault (radius of curvature, 24 in.). A. Phot0$1'aph of cross section
through center of model (15 in. high and II in. wide). B. Line drawing of faults in model; right-lateral wrencli movement shown by
A (away) and T(toward).
simple wrench pattern (Fig. 17A). Grabens form
in preference to horsts, and nearly all fractures
have a tendency to develop into high-angle nor-
mal faults with oblique slip. En echelon folds are
poorly developed and have low relief along diver-
gent wrenches, but warping of fault blocks to
produce closures between the faults is possible.
The Fitzroy trough in northwestern Australia
(Fig. 17B) is probably a divergent wrench graben.
It appears that wrenching formed the trough,
which filled with sediments, and a final episode of
minor wrenching deformed the basin fill. En ec-
helon folds in the trough and a zone of en ech-
elon normal faults in the adjoining but shallower
Northeast Canning basin are properly oriented
for the inferred right-lateral wrench zone along
the trend of the trough (Rattigan, 1967; Smith,
1968).
CONCLUSIONS
Large quantities of oil and gas are trapped in
structures caused by wrenching or influenced by
some aspect of wrench tectonics. Knowledge of
the wrenching structural style is especially useful
in exploration because the basic structural pat-
terns of wrenching are simple and consistent and
are well documented from many areas. The struc-
tures and structural traps to be expected in a
wrench terrane generally can be predicted with a
high degree of confidence.
The principal elements of the basic wrench
pattern are (1) en echelon folds inclined at a
low angle to the wrench zone; (2) conjugate
strike-slip faults, including synthetic faults in-
clined at a low angle to the wrench zone but in
the opposite direction from the folds, and anti-
thetic faults nearly perpendicular to the wrench
zone; (3) the main wrench fault, parallel or sub-
parallel with the wrench zone; and (4) normal
faults or tension joints oriented perpendicular to
the fold axes. Any combination of these struc-
tures may form within a given wrench zone, and
the recognition of anyone or a combination of
them usually will serve to define the trend and
displacement sense of the wrench zone.
Three general styles of wrenching are
recognized: (I) simple parallel wrenching, in
which crustal blocks move parallel with the
wrench fault; (2) convergent wrenching, caused
by blocks moving obliquely toward the wrench;
and (3) divergent wrenching, resulting from obli-
que movements of the blocks away from the
wrench. All three styles develop on both local
and regional scales.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Basic Wrench Tectonics
95
CANNING IIASIN
B
,..... '."M."
PRtCAM8RI.o.H
+ ....,lCL'..
__ ""Ov'ooct:

MESOZOIC ilNO PillEOlOlC

,
..
PIUilRil
,.

,
-.
'-.
' ..,
,
l'tI(CAM8RlilN .....
",
\,

",
FIG. ... A. Oay mood 0( risin-lalenl..-reDCb fault. 8. En /teJon foldlllJld faulb ill the
FiIZl'O)' trough. ... Australia.
Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists
96 Ronald E. Wilcox, T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely
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Home
1973 American Association of Petroleum Geologists