Search results for "shear"
showing 10 items of 804 documents
Geochronology of the Hout River Shear Zone and the metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa
2001
Abstract In this paper monazite U–Pb and zircon evaporation dates, stepleaching Pb/Pb results on garnet, staurolite and kyanite, and hornblende Ar/Ar data are presented which constrain the timing of granulite facies metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt and its thrusting onto the Kaapvaal Craton. The Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt is considered to be a lower crustal equivalent of the northern Kaapvaal Craton. Granulite exhumation is associated with southward thrusting along the Hout River Shear Zone which is a set of thrust and strike slip shear zones. Zircon ages for the Matok Intrusive Complex which was emplaced within the zone during this thrusting (c…
Geology of the Bozdag area, central Menderes massif, SW Turkey: Pan-African basement and Alpine deformation
1998
The Menderes massif consists of a Precambrian Core Series that preserves evidence for a polymetamorphic history and a Paleozoic/Mesozoic Cover Series that experienced only the Alpine tectonometamorphic evolution. Structural, petrographic, and geochronologic investigations in the central Menderes massif demonstrate that (a) part of the metamorphic and structural evolution of the Precambrian basement is older than the undeformed 551+/-1.4-Ma-old Birgi metagranite, and (b) inferred Alpine fabrics overprinting the Cover Series largely have the same attitudes as the old structures in the much older Core Series. The inferred Alpine fabrics include both contractional and extensional structures. Co…
Aspects of the kinematic history and mechanisms of superposition of the proterozoic mobile belts of eastern Central Africa (northern Malawi and south…
1993
Abstract Commonly the Proterozoic tectonic evolution of the Central African basement is subdivided into three major events: (1) the Ubendian (∼2300−1800 Ma), (2) the Irumide (∼1350−950 Ma), and (3) the Pan-African (∼900−450 Ma) orogenic cycles. Relics of the Ubendian event are granite intrusions and, possibly, an amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphism. The Ubendian orogeny was followed by deposition of clastic sediments (Muva supergroup). In northern Malawi these sediments and the underlying basement were then thrust to the east-southeast/southeast during the Irumide orogeny. Horizontal shearing along subvertical zones (i.e. the Ubendian belt) was associated with subhorizontal crusta…
Continental extension: From core complexes to rigid block faulting
2005
Extension of overthickened continental crust is commonly characterized by an early core complex stage of extension followed by a later stage of crustal-scale rigid block faulting. These two stages are clearly recognized during the extensional destruction of the Alpine orogen in northeast Corsica, where rigid block faulting overprinting core complex formation eventually led to crustal separation and the formation of a new oceanic backarc basin (the Ligurian Sea). Here we investigate the geodynamic evolution of continental extension by using a novel, fully coupled thermomechanical numerical model of the continental crust. We consider that the dynamic evolution is governed by fault weakening, …
Does second phase content control the evolution of olivine CPO type and deformation mechanisms? A case study of paired harzburgite and dunite bands i…
2021
Abstract We have examined the microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of six “paired” harzburgite and dunite samples from a small (~ 1 km2) area in the Ellis Stream Complex, Red Hills Massif, Dun Mountain ophiolite belt in New Zealand. Here, banded peridotites with isoclinal folds, E-W striking vertical foliations and vertical lineations are inferred to result from shear on vertical planes that overprint previous mantle structures. The samples contain five different olivine CPOs: typically known as A, C, D, E and AG-types. The co-located harzburgite and dunite of each pair show different CPOs (e.g., A vs E type). In each pair, dunite generally has larger grain siz…
Tectonic and lithological constraints on the evolution of the Karoo graben of northern Malawi (East Africa)
1995
The results of a lithostratigraphic, tectonic and kinematic study of the Karoo deposits of northern Malawi are reported. The objective of the lithostratigraphic study is to correlate the deposits of the Karoo basins of northern Malawi with the well-known deposits of southern Tanzania, thus establishing a stratigraphic framework through which the timing of faulting can be constrained. The kinematic analysis of faulting constrains the opening direction for the Karoo graben in this area and provides basic data to discuss the Karoo graben development within the regional tectonic framework of south-eastern Africa. The studied adults are defined by moderately to steeply dipping cataclastic zones …
An integrated approach to investigate the seismotectonics of northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian
2009
Abstract This paper deals with a comparison among recent structure and seismicity in the hinge zone between northern Sicily and southern Tyrrhenian, corresponding to both emerged and submerged northern portion of the Maghrebian chain. This hinge zone is part of a wider W–E trending right-lateral shear zone, mainly characterized by both a synthetic NW-SE/W–E oriented, and antithetic left-lateral N–S/NE-SW fault systems, which has been affecting the tectonic edifice, since the Pliocene. The inland structures have been mapped using aerial-photo interpretation, geological mapping and mesostructural analysis to reconstruct the stress regime in the study area. On the contrary, the offshore struct…
Evaluation of cliff recession in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento (Sicily)
2015
Abstract The sacral complex of the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, added in the UNESCO Heritage Site List, stands over the crest of a rigid calcarenite cuesta, which overlies a layer of partially saturated (S = 6–12%) carbonate sand. In turn, the sand stratum lies on a thick stratum of clays. The environment is highly prone to landslides as highlighted by several previous studies that identify the undermining of slopes and the discontinuity pattern, occurred in the late Neotectonic phase, as causes of cliff failure. For wider and less exposed areas, where the undermining local instabilities can be present because of the specific morphology of the site, a recent research has proposed a new in…
Metamorphism of Precambrian–Palaeozoic schists of the Menderes core series and contact relationships with Proterozoic orthogneisses of the western Çi…
2006
The tectonic setting of the southern Menderes Massif, part of the western Anatolide belt in western Turkey, is characterized by the exhumation of deeper crustal levels onto the upper crust during the Eocene. The lowermost tectonic units of the Menderes Massif are exposed in the Çine Massif, where Proterozoic basement orthogneisses of the Çine nappe are in tectonic contact with Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Selimiye nappe. In the southern Çine Massif, orthogneiss and metasedimentary rocks are separated by the southerly dipping Selimiye shear zone, preserving top-to-the-S shearing under greenschist facies conditions. In contrast, in the western Çine Massif, the orthogneiss is deform…
New evidence for the form and extent of the Pernicana Fault System (Mt. Etna) from structural and soil–gas surveying
1998
A multidisciplinary study based on structural and soil–gas surveys was carried out in order to investigate the relationship between soil CO2 degassing and the tectonic setting of the lower northeastern flank of Mt. Etna volcano. The results show that anomalous soil CO2 emissions occur mainly along faults trending WNW–ESE and also where these faults intersect the other main fault set (trending NE–SW) that displaces the study area. In particular, anomalies in CO2 degassing were revealed both along the Pernicana Fault and along another fault (Fiumefreddo Fault) which may represent the prolongation of the former towards the Ionian Sea coast. In the areas where these structures show evident surf…