Cenozoic reactivation of the Great Glen Fault, Scotland: additional evidence and possible causes
32
Citation
63
Reference
10
Related Paper
Citation Trend
Abstract:
The Great Glen Fault trends NNE–SSW across northern Scotland. According to previous studies, the Great Glen Fault developed as a left-lateral strike-slip fault during the Caledonian Orogeny (Ordovician to Early Devonian). However, it then reactivated right-laterally in the Tertiary. We discuss additional evidence for this later phase. At Eathie and Shandwick, minor folds and faults in fossiliferous Jurassic marine strata indicate post-depositional right-lateral slip. In Jurassic shale, we have found bedding-parallel calcite veins (‘beef’ and ‘cone-in-cone’) that may provide evidence for overpressure development and maturation of organic matter at significant depth. Thus, the Jurassic strata at Eathie and Shandwick accumulated deeper offshore in the Moray Firth and were subject to Cenozoic exhumation during right-lateral displacement along the Great Glen Fault, as suggested by previous researchers. Differential sea-floor spreading along the NE Atlantic ridge system generated left-lateral transpressional displacements along the Faroe Fracture Zone from the Early Eocene to the Late Oligocene ( c . 47–26 Ma), a period of uplift and exhumation in Scotland. We suggest that such differential spreading was responsible for reactivation of the Great Glen Fault. Indeed, left-lateral slip along the Faroe Fracture Zone is compatible with right-lateral reactivation of the Great Glen Fault.The Chihuahua trough is a right-lateral pull-apart basin that began to form ~159 to ~156 Ma (Oxfordian) during a period of relative counterclockwise rotation of the North American plate.Jurassic seas were well established by latest Oxfordian time and there was little change in basin configuration throughout the remainder of Late Jurassic, Neocomian and Aptian time.Elements of a broad zone of intersecting pre-existing northwest-trending and north-trending lineaments, along the southwest border of the North American craton, provide the fabric for development of the pullapart basin between the Diablo and Aldama platforms.During Tithonian and Neocomian time sedimentation eventually outpaced tectonic subsidence and, as an ensuing "regressive" event commenced, the eastern area of the Chihuahua trough was the locus of extensive evaporite (including halite) deposition.Near the end of Aptian time, during deposition of the Cuchillo and equivalent formations, faulting along the margins of the Chihuahua trough ceased and the seas began to transgress onto adjacent platform areas.By middle Albian time seas had advanced onto previously emergent areas and the Chihuahua trough became a site of shallow-water carbonate deposition that prevailed, with minor interruptions, until early Cenomanian time.The Ojinaga Formation (early Cenomanian -Santonian?) records a marine clastic influx into the Chihuahua trough, coeval with Upper Cretaceous clastic wedges in the Western Interior Cretaceous Seaway of the United States.Retreat of the Cretaceous sea is reflected in the transition from marine to non-marine beds in the Santonian San Carlos Formation and overlying non-marine El Picacho Formation.During the Laramide orogeny (84 to 43 Ma) the Chihuahua trough was inverted to form the Chihuahua tectonic belt.Laramide deformation is the result of left-lateral transpressional tectonics involving renewed movement along the pre-existing fabric that controlled the location of the Jurassic-Aptian basin.In the evaporite basin portion of the trough (eastern area) reactivation of basin-boundary-faults as Laramide reverse faults, with possible left-lateral components of motion, accompanied by development of gentle "ancestral" folds, was followed by amplification of folds in postevaporite rocks caused by flow of evaporites toward the crests of anticlines.As deformation progressed, structural development involved thrust faulting (principally toward the Diablo Platform) and diapiric injection of evaporites along the margins of the evaporite basin.In the northwestern area of the trough, structure reflects northeast-southwestoriented compression and includes relatively minor southwest-directed thrusting toward and onto the Jurassic Aldama platform.Paleozoic formations are involved in the thrusts and all thrusting can be interpreted as a consequence of faulted basement rather than regional-scale décollement.Post-Laramide tectonic activity includes a continuation of evaporite tectonism, scattered igneous intrusion, minor volcanism, gravity tectonics and late Oligocene-Miocene to Quaternary block faulting.In the eastern area of the Chihuahua trough, erosion, after formation of Laramide structure and before emplacement of Oligocene volcanic rocks, created a topography that was similar to that of the present day.During this interval, gravity-induced flaps and detached flaps developed on flanks of several large anticlines.Collapse structures, related to evaporite solution, have deformed Tertiary and Cretaceous formations in areas of diapiric intrusion along tear fault zones.Tertiary normal faulting occurred after realignment of the regional stress system from east-northeast compression to east-northeast extension ca. 31 Ma.Initial faulting in Chihuahua is probably coeval with inception of block faulting in Trans-Pecos Texas (about 24 Ma).Seismic data in the northwestern area of the trough shows that a large part of the area has been affected by Miocene normal faults that are probably coeval with some of the faulting described in the Rio Grande rift.1,644 + TD in Unit "A".Lithology and electric logs.
Trough (economics)
Aptian
Cenomanian
Geosyncline
Cite
Citations (58)
Three geological provinces are recognized, separated by major fault zones: the oceanic Lofoten Basin and the Vestbakken volcanic province in the west; the southwestern Barents Sea basin province; and the eastern region which has largely acted as a stable platform since Late Paleozoic times. Since Middle Jurassic times, two structural stages are recognized in the southwestern Barents Sea: Late Mesozoic rifting and basin formation; and Early Tertiary rifting and opening of the Norwegian–Greenland Sea. This evolution reflects the main plate tectonic episodes in the North Atlantic–Arctic break-up of Pangea. Middle–Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous structuration were characterized by regional extension accompanied by strike-slip adjustments along old structural lineaments, which developed as the Bjørnøya, Tromsø and Harstad basins. Late Cretaceous development was more complex, with extension west of the Senja Ridge and the Veslemøy High, and halokinesis in the Tromsø Basin. Tertiary structuration was related to the two-stage opening of the Norwegian–Greenland Sea and the formation of the predominantly sheared western Barents Sea continental margin. Tectonic activity shifted towards the west in successive phases. The southwestern Barents Sea basin province developed within the De Geer Zone in a region of rift-shear interaction. Initially, oblique extension linked the Arctic and North Atlantic rift systems (Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous). Later, a continental megashear developed (Late Cretaceous–Paleocene), and finally a sheared-rifted margin formed during the opening of the Norwegian–Greenland Sea (Eocene–Recent).
Cite
Citations (48)
ЛИТОЛОГО-ПЕТРОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ И КОЛЛЕКТОРСКИЕ XАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ МЕЗОКАЙНОЗОЙСКИХ ОТЛОЖЕНИЙ СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДНОЙ ЧАСТИ
Cite
Citations (5)
The Bayanwula Tectonic Belt (BTB) is located between the Alxa Massif and the Ordos Basin in the northwestern North China Craton (NCC). The Mid‐Mesozoic to Cenozoic deformation characteristics of the BTB is crucial for understanding the tectonic processes of eastern Asia during that time. Together with the regional geology, our field observation and structural analysis reveal that the BTB has undergone three phases of deformation since the Late Jurassic. The first phase of deformation (D 1 ) is represented by NE–SW‐striking thrust faults involved in the Jurassic strata, indicating a phase of NW–SE shortening deformation. Based on the combination of angular unconformity between the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous strata, the timing of D 1 is constrained at the end of Jurassic and dynamically related to the westward subduction of the Palaeo‐Pacific Plate during the end of the Jurassic. The second one (D 2 ) is characterized by the ~NE–SW‐striking normal faults and Lower Cretaceous syn‐sedimentary strata on both sides of the BTB, which show that a phase of ~NW–SE extension deformation occurred in the Early Cretaceous, dynamically related to the rollback of the Palaeo‐Pacific Plate in the Early Cretaceous. The third stage of deformation (D 3 ) is represented by the NW–SE‐striking folds that involved the Pliocene strata, as well as dextral strike‐slipping of the East Bayanwula Fault and the West Helanshan Fault, indicating a phase of NE–SW shortening at the end of the Pliocene. Dynamically, the D 3 is related to the outward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau.
Tectonic phase
Massif
Cite
Citations (2)
Book Review| February 01, 2004 Palaeobiography and Biodiversity Change: the Ordovician and Mesozoic–Cenozoic Radiations PETER M. SHEEHAN PETER M. SHEEHAN 1Department of Geology, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI 53233 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information PETER M. SHEEHAN 1Department of Geology, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI 53233 Publisher: SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Online Issn: 1938-5323 Print Issn: 0883-1351 Society for Sedimentary Geology PALAIOS (2004) 19 (1): 107–109. https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2004)019<0107:BR>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation PETER M. SHEEHAN; Palaeobiography and Biodiversity Change: the Ordovician and Mesozoic–Cenozoic Radiations. PALAIOS 2004;; 19 (1): 107–109. doi: https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2004)019<0107:BR>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyPALAIOS Search Advanced Search J. Alistair Crame and Alan W. Owen, 2002, Geological Society of London Special Publication 194, Geological Society, London, 206 p. (Hardcover, US $108.00) ISBN: 1-86239-106-8. This book resulted from the 2001 Lyell Meeting where Alistair Crame and Alan Owen brought together two groups of paleontologists whose interests are so widely separated in geologic time that they would seldom rub elbows. As study of the great radiations of life begins to compete with the extinction debates as a major focus, paleontology will lose some of the attention it has received because of the appeal of catastrophes to the general public. However,... You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
Icon
Cite
Citations (0)
Download
Cite
Citations (2)
During the early two decades of third millennium, many Mesozoic and Cenozoic biotas belong to plesiosaur, Titanosauriformes, titanosaurs, theropods, Mesoeucrocodiles, pterosaur, bird, snake, fishes, mammals, eucrocodiles, invertebrates and plants from Pakistan were found. Previously a few were formally published according to nomenclatural rules. Most of the Mesozoic vertebrates were formally published in August 2021, and the remaining Mesozoic and Cenozoic biotas are being formally described here.
Cite
Citations (9)
Research Article| April 01, 1985 Structural styles in Mesozoic and Cenozoic mélanges in the western Cordillera of North America DARREL S. COWAN DARREL S. COWAN 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information DARREL S. COWAN 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1985) 96 (4): 451–462. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<451:SSIMAC>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation DARREL S. COWAN; Structural styles in Mesozoic and Cenozoic mélanges in the western Cordillera of North America. GSA Bulletin 1985;; 96 (4): 451–462. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<451:SSIMAC>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The term "mélange" is currently used to describe several different kinds of mudstone-rich rocks that are broadly characterized by an obscure stratigraphy, stratal disruption, or a chaotic, "block-in-matrix" fabric. Four types of mélange, which can be defined in outcrop on the basis of mesoscopic fabric and lithologic composition, are particularly widespread and distinctive. Type I includes sequences of originally interbedded sandstone and mudstone that record incipient to thorough disruption and fragmentation of strata accomplished largely by layer-parallel extension. Type II consists of similarly deformed, thin layers of green tuff, radiolarian ribbon chert, and minor sandstone originally interbedded with black mudstone. Disruption in both types I and II, which probably occurred while the sediments were incompletely consolidated, has been ascribed to either imbricate faulting in accretionary wedges or gravitationally driven deformation. Type III comprises inclusions of diverse shapes, sizes, and compositions enveloped in a locally scaly, pelitic matrix. The ultimate source of fragments is obscure, because the majority were not derived by either the progressive disruption of interbedded sediments or in situ tectonic plucking and abrasion of adjacent rocks. Although some type III mélanges may have originated deep within accretionary prisms, final emplacement as olistostromes (muddy debris-flow deposits) or mud diapirs seems likely. Type III mélanges are mechanically analogous to scaly, "sheared" serpentinites; many probably have been tectonically remobilized or even intruded into shallow-level fault zones. Type IV consists of lenticular inclusions bounded by an anastomosing network of subparallel faults. Their fabric records progressive slicing in brittle fault zones.Each of the four types of mélange described here could, in theory, have formed in a variety of settings on or within an accretionary wedge at an active convergent margin; none can yet be singled out as a uniquely diagnostic "subduction mélange." This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
Geological survey
Cite
Citations (390)