Imperial College London
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Professor Christopher Jackson

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Visiting Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

c.jackson Website

 
 
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Location

 

1.46ARoyal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Redpath:2022:10.1029/2021tc006823,
author = {Redpath, D and Jackson, CA and Bell, RE},
doi = {10.1029/2021tc006823},
journal = {Tectonics},
title = {Mechanical stratigrpahy controls normal fault growth and dimensions, outer Kwanza basin, offshore Angola},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021tc006823},
volume = {41},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Mechanical stratigraphy controls the growth patterns and dimensions of relatively small normal faults, yet how it influences the development of much larger structures remains unclear. Here, we use 3D seismic reflection data from the Outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola to constrain the geometry and kinematics of several normal faults formed in a deep-water clastic succession. The faults are up to 6.3-km long and 1.9-km tall and have up to 44 m of throw. Aspect ratios and lower-tip throw gradients are greater for faults that terminate downward at a c. 100 m thick, mass-transport complex (MTC; up to 5.2 and 0.12) than for those that offset it (up to 2.7 and 0.01). Faults that offset the MTC invariably have >30 m of throw. Based on their geometric properties and throw patterns, we interpret that the faults nucleated above the MTC and propagated down toward it. Upon encountering this unit, which we infer behaved in a more ductile manner than encasing strata, tip propagation was halted until tip stresses were sufficiently high (corresponding to minimum throw of c. 30 m) to breach it. Faults with smaller throw were unable to breach the MTC. We argue that using only geometric criteria to determine fault growth patterns can mask the significant control mechanical stratigraphy has on fault kinematics. Mechanical stratigraphy is therefore a key control on the growth of large, seismic-scale normal faults, in a similar way to that observed for far smaller structures
AU  - Redpath,D
AU  - Jackson,CA
AU  - Bell,RE
DO  - 10.1029/2021tc006823
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 0278-7407
TI  - Mechanical stratigrpahy controls normal fault growth and dimensions, outer Kwanza basin, offshore Angola
T2  - Tectonics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021tc006823
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021TC006823
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/95952
VL  - 41
ER  -
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