Deformation associated with a continental normal fault system, western Grand Canyon, Arizona

Resor, Phillip G

doi:10.1130/b26107.1

Cited by 37 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…3A and 3B). The coseismic uplift of the north margin occurs above where the low-angle fault tips out, as is also observed in dislocation models for low-angle normal faulting (e.g., Resor, 2008). The horizontal displacement between points 10 km either side of the fault associated with the coseismic response is 0.6-0.65 m of extension per meter of slip on the fault (Fig.…”

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 66%

High-angle, not low-angle, normal faults dominate early rift extension in the Corinth Rift, central Greece

Bell

Duclaux

Nixon

et al. 2017

Geology

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Low-angle normal faults (LANFs) accommodate extension during late-stage rifting and breakup, but what is more difficult to explain is the existence of LANFs in less-stretched continental rifts. A critical example is the <5 Ma Corinth Rift, central Greece, where microseismicity, the geometry of exposed fault planes, and deep seismically imaged faults have been used to argue for the presence of <30°-dipping normal faults. However, new and reinterpreted data call into question whether LANFs have been influential in controlling the observed rift geometry, which involves (1) exposed steep fault planes, (2) significant uplift of the southern rift margin, (3) time-averaged (tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years) uplift-to-subsidence ratios across south coast faults of 1:1-1:2, and (4) north margin subsidence. We test whether slip on a mature LANF can reproduce the long-term (tens of thousands of years) geometry and morphology of the Corinth Rift using a finite-element method, to model the uplift and subsidence fields associated with proposed fault geometries. Models involving LANFs at depth produce very minor coseismic uplift of the south margin, and post-seismic relaxation results in net subsidence. In contrast, models involving steep planar faults to the brittle-ductile transition produce displacement fields involving an uplifted south margin with uplift-to-subsidence ratios of ~1:2-3, compatible with geological observations. We therefore propose that LANFs cannot have controlled the geometry of the Corinth Rift over time scales of tens of thousands of years. We suggest that although LANFs may become important in the transition to breakup, in areas that have undergone mild stretching, do not have significant magmatic activity, and do not have optimally oriented preexisting low-angle structures, high-angle faulting would be the dominant strain accommodation mechanism in the upper crust during early rifting.

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Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 66%

High-angle, not low-angle, normal faults dominate early rift extension in the Corinth Rift, central Greece

Bell

Duclaux

Nixon

et al. 2017

Geology

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“…Linear elasticity theory has enjoyed success over a range of problems, including fault-related folding (Gupta and Scholz, 1998;Resor, 2008), and, more recently, it has been useful in examining fault propagation (Martel and Langley, 2006). Our code has been translated into MATLAB (Martel and Langley, 2006) and modifi ed to accommodate displacement discontinuity (relative displacements across the fault) boundary conditions (Resor and Pollard, 2012).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reverse-and normal-drag fold geometry is a function of fault geometrical properties (Resor and Pollard, 2012;Resor, 2008;Willsey et al, 2002;Withjack et al, 1990), mechanical properties of the deforming strata (Wilson et al, 2009), mechanical effects due to fault linkage (Crider and Pollard, 1998;Willemse, 1997), and/or slip distribution along the fault (White and Crider, 2006;Grasemann et al, 2005). Furthermore, modeling efforts using a wide range of techniques have found a positive correlation between fault upper tip depth and width of the hangingwall syncline created by blind faulting (e.g., Withjack et al, 1990;Erslev, 1991;Johnson and Johnson, 2002;Willsey et al, 2002).…”

Section: Variation In Fault and Fold Geometry Along Strikementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, a concave-upward (listric) fault geometry has long been assumed to be a necessary and suffi cient condition to form reverse-drag folds in the hanging wall of normal faults (Hamblin, 1965). However, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests reverse drag may be caused by slip on planar or antilistric faults as well (Reches and Eidelman, 1995;Grasemann et al, 2005;Resor, 2008), and footwall fold structure may be more diagnostic of specifi c fault geometries (Resor and Pollard, 2012); similarly, normal-drag folds are now thought to result from fault propagation below and past the deforming strata (Willsey et al, 2002;White and Crider, 2006). However, the full range of possible fold geometries associated with normal faulting is not clear, nor is the specifi c way in which fault geometry may be responsible for folds visible in outcrop.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Constraints on the evolution of vertical deformation and Colorado River incision near eastern Lake Mead, Arizona, provided by quantitative structural mapping of the Hualapai Limestone

et al. 2015

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The 12-6 Ma Hualapai Limestone was deposited in a series of basins that lie in the path of the Colorado River directly west of the Colorado Plateau and has been deformed by an en-echelon normal fault pair (Wheeler and Lost Basin Range faults). Therefore, this rock unit represents an opportunity to study the sedimentological and structural setting over which the Colorado River fi rst fl owed after integration through western Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. In this study, we quantify the structural geometry of the Hualapai Limestone and separate the deformation into syn-and postdepositional episodes. Both the Wheeler and Lost Basin Range faults were active during Hualapai Limestone deposition, as shown by thickening of strata and fanning of time lines toward half-graben faults that bound the Hualapai subbasins. The structure is characterized by a prominent reverse-drag fold and broad, shallow syncline adjacent to the Lost Basin Range fault, and a small-magnitude reverse-drag fold and short-wavelength normal-drag fold adjacent to the Wheeler fault. We fi nd ~450 m of throw between the footwall and hangingwall Hualapai Limestone sections, suggesting faulting was ongoing after Hualapai Limestone deposition ceased and during Colorado River incision. To investigate a range of possible fault geometries that may have been responsible for Hualapai Limestone deformation, we compared our structural results against surface defl ections calculated by a two-dimensional (2-D) geomechanical model. While nonunique, our results are consistent with a scenario in which the Wheeler fault was surface rupturing, or nearly surface rupturing throughout deposition of the Hualapai Limestone, but was inundated at ca. 6 Ma by coalescing paleolakes in Gregg and Grand Wash Basins as sedimentation kept pace with deformation. In contrast, we fi nd evidence suggesting the Lost Basin Range fault was deeply buried by the Hualapai Limestone and likely propagated upward and laterally to break the surface sometime after 6 Ma. Therefore, we interpret the landscape over which the Colorado River fi rst fl owed to be of low relief within the terrain bounded by the Grand Wash Cliffs, the Hiller Mountains, and subtle topographic highs to the north and south of our fi eld area. This original low-relief depositional surface was defl ected into the structure exposed today by continuing deformation by the Wheeler and Lost Basin Range faults, allowing for calculation of apparent incision rates of the modern Colorado River drainage system that spatially vary between 33 and 42 m/m.y. in the hanging wall and between 108 and 115 m/m.y. in the footwall. Hanging-wall incision rate values are similar to, but faster than, a previously published point measurement, and footwall values are similar to measured incision rates in the western Grand Canyon, suggesting the Wheeler fault system may resolve as much as ~410 m of Colorado Plateau uplift in the last 6 m.y.

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“…hanging wall fold width) reduces the problem to a single 344 parameterized curve. The ratio of footwall to hanging wall folding is also sensitive 345 to fault dip (Resor, 2008) so that a suite of curves must be constructed over a range 346 of surface dips (Fig. 4).…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse drag revisited: Why footwall deformation may be the key to inferring listric fault geometry

Resor

Pollard

2012

Journal of Structural Geology

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Deformation associated with a continental normal fault system, western Grand Canyon, Arizona

Cited by 37 publications

References 67 publications

High-angle, not low-angle, normal faults dominate early rift extension in the Corinth Rift, central Greece

High-angle, not low-angle, normal faults dominate early rift extension in the Corinth Rift, central Greece

Constraints on the evolution of vertical deformation and Colorado River incision near eastern Lake Mead, Arizona, provided by quantitative structural mapping of the Hualapai Limestone

Reverse drag revisited: Why footwall deformation may be the key to inferring listric fault geometry

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