Extensional tectonics

Jan Kees Blom

December 2011
Extensional tectonics
Extensional faults
Terminology
Extensional fault systems
Low angle normal faults and core complexes
Geometries
Geological setting of extensional faults
Rifting
Gravity-controlled faulting
Local accommodation structures

Extension
Is mainly found at divergent (passive) plate
boundaries
Extension accomodated along normal faults
Normal faults
Extension is accommodated along
normal faults
normal comes from English coal
mines
For normal faults, the hanging
wall moves downward
Initial dip of fault is usually about
60
o
Strictly speaking, normal faults
are pure dip-slip faults without
any strike-slip component.
Note the geometrical relations
between slip, vertical throw,
heave and faultplane dip angle
Extensional fault systems
Domino style
Involves rotation of
layers (and faults)
Faults dip in the same
direction


Horst graben system
Layers remain
horizontal
Horst is high area
graben low area
Faults dip in opposite
directions
Domino formation
Needs weak layer in subsurface for detachment
No weak layer present => horst and grabens
Note listric (spoon shape) main fault
New faults will form with continued deformation

Domino example: Gullfaks
Not a true brittle domino system
Rotate beds horizontal => faults dip only 45
o
Blocks show a lot of internal faulting as well
Low angle extensional faulting
This continued extension and rotation may lead to low-
angle extensional faults
Originally, normal faults were considered to be steep
(60
o
) and thrusts low angle (30
o
), cf. Andersonian
faulting.
Careful mapping in the Basin and Range province in
the SW USA showed the existence of low angle normal
faults
They are now recognized all over the world:

Low angle problems
Few low angle normal faults are seismically active
Most have formed as the result of rotation of higher-
angle, active faults
They form an older generation of faults
Some low angle faults are not broken up by younger
faults however, and they are seismically active.
So what happens here then.?
Metamorphic core complexes
Model developed during the 80s
Involves the entire crust:
Metamorphic Core Complex
Core of metamorphic rocks (gneisses etc) that are
exposed in a window through non-metamorphic rocks
Contact between two types is shearzone/fault
First found in SW USA, but found all over
Oldest MCCs stem from Archean
Fault geometries
Extension faults can have a listric shape
On large scale also ramp-flat geometry
Associated faults may be antithetic or synthetic
Volume
problems
Gaps and overlaps
cant exist in the
subsurface

Hanging wall collapse Footwall collapse
Volume
problems
Domino faults
require ductile
material to fill the
gaps

Listric faulting
causes internal
deformation within
fault blocks
Dimensions
Also note asymmetrical infill of half grabens

Fault termination: relay ramps

Fault termination: transfer faults

More relays
Half grabens may form
in different directions
Accomodation zones
connect the different
half grabens
Extension history
over geological time
Remove younger layers
(backstripping) and
restore the layer offsets
Sudden sediment thickness
changes across faults
indicate when faults were
actively moving
For each layer, you can
make a graph of extension
against time
Extensional faulting
Normal faulting takes place in several geological settings
1. At divergent plate boundaries : involves basement
Rift basins
Rifted continental margins (passive margins)
Mid-oceanic ridges
2. Gravity driven : detached from basement
Deltaic settings (growth faults)
3. As local accommodation structures in thrust or strike-slip
terrains
Extensional tectonics on earth
1: Divergent margins: Evolution
Crustal extension accommodated by extensional faults
Down-thrown blocks become continental basins also known
as rift basins

African Rift valley
Continental rift
East African rift
system
5600 km long
Valleys (grabens)
bounded by faults
High heat flow
(geothermal energy)
Volcanism
Continental and
lacustrine
sedimentation

African Rift Valley
Continental rift
North sea system, continuing
into the Rhine graben
Location of the Rhine is no co-
incidence as it follows the rift
graben
Common location of
hydrocarbon and geothermal
energy

Rhine Graben
Evolution of continental margins 2
With continued extension, eventually basaltic magma
intrudes / extrudes
With sustained seafloor spreading, the continental
edges move away from centre (mid oceanic ridge)

Red Sea
Passive margins 3
Edge of the continent is called passive margin as it is
no longer an active plate boundary
Continental margin subsides as it cools down
Subsidence area become site of deposition for clastics
(usually deltaic) or carbonates
Yemen
Evolution of continental margin
Evolution through time
Note thin crust, and
thus enhanced heat
flow in early rifts, which
might lead to volcanism


Divergent plate margin
Shallow seismicity, high heat flow, elevated shoulders
Mid-ocean rifts: thin, mechanically homogeneous crust
narrow zone of faulting (< 30 km) with closely spaced
parallel faults
Continental rifts: thick, mechanically inhomogeneous crust
wide zone of complex faulting (50 -100 km) with complex
faults (e.g reactivation of basement faults)
continued separation leads to passive continental margin
failure leads to rift basin draped by sedimentation during
thermal subsidence:
steerhead basin
Rift cross section
In some areas tilted fault blocks
In others horsts and grabens
Style of faulting can change going along the rift axis
Note steerhead geometry of post-rift (< Eocene) rocks
Overall symmetric structure...
Metamorphic Core complex
Generally asymmetric structure can also be found.

Santa Catalina-Rincon mountains
Near Tucson, AZ
Pure vs simple shear
Crust may be thinned and extended
- symmetrically and uniformly (pure shear)
- asymmetrically and localized (simple shear)
In reality?
Real world isnt always clear which model is
appropriate..
Transitional system
Red Sea: incipient oceanic crust
in center.
Two symmetric nearly passive
margins on either side
Mid oceanic ridge
Mid-Oceanic ridge
Create new lithosphere in 30 km wide zone, by intrusion,
extrusion, and extensional faulting
Rift valley (2-10 km wide) with 100s m of topography
Extensionally faulted volcanics (extrusive) and intrusive
rocks.
Magnetic reversals and sediment ages: 1 - 20 cm / yr
divergence
African plate
Antarctic plate
Mid Oceanic Ridge
Decompression melting of the
mantle, narrow zone (5km)
Ophiolites:
Olivine/Pyroxene at bottom
Basaltic magma rises
Plagioclase/O/Pyr give gabbro
Last magma forms sheeted
dikes and pillow basalts

Pillow basalt
Basalt extruded under water
Quick cooling produces pillow
shapes
2: Gravity-driven extensional faults
Very similar to a land-
slide
Extension on one
(upslope) side, often
compression on other
(downslope) side.
Rocks in between
undergo relatively simple
translation with little
internal deformation
Loading forces
1. Presence of a depositional slope
(0.5 degrees can be enough..)
induces a shear stress on
layering
2. Rivers flowing into sea reduce
flow rate, dumping their
sediments. These sediments
provide an extra load.
3. Sliding usually takes place on
weak layer such as
overpressured (i.e.
underconsolidated and plastic)
shales or salt
4. Listric shape leads to roll-over
structures that form very good
hydrocarbon traps
Brazil offshore
Rio Muni Basin, Eq.Guinea

Turner 1995
Gulf of Mexico
3: Local extensional faulting
lateral spreading in front of indentor (e.g. plate collision
between India - Himalayas)
extensional collapse of orogenically thickened crust (e.g,
Himalayas, Apennines)
down-bending of crust in fore-deeps. Do not develop into
rifts (e.g. Alpine Molasse trough)
Indentor & extensional collapse
Liu & Yang, 2003
Gravitational
collapse, Parinacota, Chile
Volcano collapsed about 8000
years ago
Continued activity built new cone
Gravitational collapse, Italy
Reactivated landslides very common, example from Emilia-
Romagna in Argille Scagliose (sst&lst blocks in mud matrix)
Soft material, flow surface already there, add water =>
landslide
Extensional collapse, also in Italy
Migration of trench has
extended the hanging wall
for the last 40 Ma
(back-arc spreading)
Molasse Basin
Down bending in front of orogen: local extension
Elsewhere.
Recent pictures taken by the
ESA Mars Explorer seem to
indicate extensional structures
on Mars as well
Top: Caldera of Olympus
Mons, image is about 100 km
across, caldera is 3 km deep
(vertical exaggeration 1.8)
Below: south of Valles
Marineris, possible Karst
terrain, image is 50 km across
More Mars
The Grabens of Claritas Fossae, which run for several
100s of km over the surface of Mars
Summary extensional faulting
Fossen: chapter 17

Extensional faults
Terminology
Extensional fault systems
Low angle normal faults and core complexes
Geometries
Geological setting of extensional faults
Rifting
Gravity-controlled faulting
Local accommodation structures

Next week: strike slip, salt and inversion tectonics
Chapters 18, 19