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8.1 Introduction
I) Recall:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
II) Terminology
Fault = discrete surface on which measurable slip has occurred by brittle
deformation processes
Slip = relative displacement between formerly adjacent points on opposite
sides of a fault, measured in the fault surface
Fault zone = Fault expressed as a zone of numerous small fractures. Small
fractures and faults branching off a larger fault are called splays
Shear zone = distributed zone of shear displacement, with macroscopically
ductile deformation. Includes microscopically ductile deformation
processes, and cataclasis.
Cataclasis is microscopically brittle but macroscopically ductile (zone of
fracturing and crushing, not a discrete surface)
e.g. Thrust faults frequently display ramp and flat geometry. Note
distinction between footwall flat and hangingwall flat.
e.g. Strike-slip faults often contain fault bends, which are classified as:
restraining bends
(transpression = combination of strike-slip & compression)
releasing bends
(transtension = combination of strike-slip & extensional movement)
Faults can die out along their length in a number of ways, e.g.:
(a) as many smaller fault splays, forming a horsetail
(b) in a zone of ductile deformation, becoming more diffuse
away from the fault tip
OH: Fault displacement is related to fault length longer faults usually
have greater displacement. (Fig. 8.14 , b)
8.3 Fault rocks
I) Classification
Fault rocks are classified according to the size of the fragments, and
whether they are cohesive or not.
Fault gouge: Fine-grained (< 1mm) noncohesive fault rock, grain size
reduced by pulverisation, gouge may be sheared to form foliation.
Often altered to clay minerals (in which case gouge or fluid flow?).
If cemented by minerals precipitated from circulating groundwater it
is an indurated gouge.
Fault breccia: Coarse noncohesive fault rock, angular rock fragments >
1mm (can be several m). If breccia blocks are cemented by vein
material, it is a vein-filled breccia (or indurated breccia).
Cataclasite: Cohesive fault rocks composed of broken, crushed and
rolled grains. Does not disintegrate when hammered (c.f. gouge,
breccia).
Pseudotachylyte: Glassy or microcrystalline material formed by melting
due to frictional heating during slip on a fault. Flows between breccia
fragments or nto cracks in fault wall. Usually mm to cm lenses or
sheets. [Can be several m thick at impact sites, e.g. Vredefort dome.]
II) Slickensides and Fibers
Slickensides are fault surfaces polished by frictional sliding, often
containing groove lineations (striations) caused by asperities ploughing
into the opposite wall.
When fault movement was by the crack-seal mechanism (remember topic
6), any space between the two fault planes is filled with fluid. On slipping,
the pressure decreases and minerals may be precipitated. If slip occurs in
many small amounts, these minerals will grow as elongate fibres parallel to
the slip direction. This can often give a sense of slip on the fault:
We havent covered folding in detail yet, but important to note folds and
faults often associated. Some examples:
(I) Fault-inception fold deformation by folding is overprinted by faulting
(II) Fault-propagation fold e.g. folding above and beyond a thrust fault tip
line
(c) strike-slip
1 horizontal
2 vertical
3 horizontal
This last point is very important as it explains how large thrust sheets can
move intact to overcome the friction, large horizontal stresses are required
(large enough that one would expect the thrust sheet to break before it
slides).
[Analogy: try pushing a large piece of carpet at one end and see how it just
wrinkles next to where you push, instead of sliding the whole carpet]
Usually most faults in a parallel array will dip in the same direction.
Subsidiary faults parallel to major faults are called synthetic. Sometimes a
fault dips in the opposite direction, in which case it is anantithetic fault:
(ii)
(iii)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
Fault-related folds
(vi)
(vii)
Fault-bend fold and fault-propagation fold are two important styles of forced folding in which the
fold shape is controlled by thrust fault (after John Suppe, Principles of Structural Geology, 1985).
In free folding, rock layers are free to exert their mechanical properties on the
development and shape of the folded stack and thus layer-parallel strain dominantly
takes place. Buckling discussed above typically produces free folds.
In forced folding, the shape and geometric features of the folded stack are forced on
the layers usually by a fault that is the primary structure. In this case, to quote
American geologist George Davis in his textbook Structural Geology (1996), the rock
layers just go along for a ride. Notable examples of forced folding include drape
fold (folding of sediments overlying a high-angle basement fault), faultbend fold
(bending and slip of an anticlinal fold as a thrust block overrides the footwall block
along a ramp), and fault propagation fold (asymmetric bending of rock strata along a
thrust ramp). In these examples, folding depends on faults, and bending is the main
process of folding.
http://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2015/01/folds-and-folding-part-ii