Investigating the effect of stratigraphic heterogeneity on the stress distribution resulting from the activity of blind thrust faults using numerical modeling

Authors

1 Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran

2 Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, university of Golestan

3 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran

4 , Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences and Earthquake Research Center of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Blind thrust faults are not visible on the ground, but they are able to grow and transfer stress to the surface and surrounding areas during earthquakes. The sequence covering the blind faults, which may be composed of different sedimentary units, can affect the growth of rupture and the distribution of stresses due to the movement of these faults. In this study, the effect of stratigraphic heterogeneity on stress distribution has been evaluated using numerical technique (Finite Element method). The simulation results show that the stress concentration in the salt layer and its overlying sequence is significantly reduced compared to the homogeneous model. While in the underlying layers of salt compared to the homogeneous state, more stress has accumulated in a larger area. Furthermore, comparison of the diagrams of vertical displacement show that despite the similar distribution pattern, the displacement values in the heterogeneous model is larger than the homogeneous one. Therefore, it can be concluded that the presence of ductile layers such as salt in the sedimentary sequence, increases the probability of rupture growth (due to stress concentration) in its underlying layers and reduces or stops the rupture growth towards the overlying layers and the ground surface (due to the sharp reduction of stress in the ductile layer). On the other hand, due to the higher degree of deformation (displacement) in the top layers, they facilitate the formation of new fold and fault structures.

Keywords

References

Ahlers, S., Hergert, T., Henk, A., 2018. Numerical modelling of salt-related stress decoupling in sedimentary basins–Motivated by observational data from the North German Basin. Geosciences 9(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9010019
Berberian, M., 1976. Contribution to the seismotectonics of Iran (part II). Geological Survey of Iran 39, p. 518.
Berberian, M., 1977. Contribution to the seismotectonics of Iran (part III). Geological Survey of Iran 40, p. 300.
Berberian, M., 1981. Active faulting and tectonics of Iran. Zagros-Hindu Kush-Himalaya Geodynamic Evolution 3, 33-69. https://doi.org/10.1029/GD003p0033
Berberian, M., 1995. Master “blind” thrust faults hidden under the Zagros folds: active basement tectonics and surface morphotectonics. Tectonophysics 241(3-4), 193-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(94)00185-C
Berberian, M., Papastamatiou, D., 1978. Khurgu (north Bandar Abbas, Iran), earthquake of March 21, 1977; a preliminary field report and a seismotectonic discussion. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 68(2), 411-428. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0680020411
Berberian, M., Tcahlenko, J., 1976a. Earthquakes of the southern Zagros (lran): Bushehr region. Geological Survey of Iran 39, 343-370.
Berberian, M., Tcahlenko, J., 1976b. Earthquakes of Ban- dar Abbas-Hajiabad region (Zagros, lran). Geological Survey of Iran 39, 371-396.
Bonanno, E., Bonini, L., Basili, R., Toscani, G., Seno, S., 2017. How do horizontal, frictional discontinuities affect reverse fault-propagation folding? Journal of Structural Geology 102, 147-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2017.08.001
Bowers, G.L., 2007. Effect of inelastic sediment behavior on near-salt stresses and pore pressures. The Leading Edge 26(11), 1462-1465. https://doi.org/10.1190/1.2805767
Budynas, R.G., Nisbett, J. K., 2008. Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill, p. 1039.
Davis, D.M., Engelder, T., 1985. The role of salt in fold-and-thrust belts. Tectonophysics 119(1-4), 67-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(85)90033-2 
Derikvand, B., Alavi, S.A., Fard, I.A., Hajialibeigi, H., 2018. Folding style of the Dezful Embayment of Zagros Belt: Signatures of detachment horizons, deep-rooted faulting and syn-deformation deposition. Marine and Petroleum Geology 91, 501-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.01.030
Dewey, J.W., Grantz, A., 1973. The Ghir earthquake of April 10, 1972 in the Zagros mountains of southern Iran: seismotectonic aspects and some results of a field reconnaissance. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 63(6-1), 2071-2090. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0636-12071
Ekström, G., Stein, R.S., Eaton, J.P., Eberhart‐Phillips, D., 1992. Seismicity and geometry of a 110‐km‐long blind thrust fault 1. The 1985 Kettleman Hills, California, earthquake. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 97(B4), 4843-4864. https://doi.org/10.1029/91JB02925
Hancock, P.L., 1985. Brittle microtectonics: principles and practice. Journal of structural geology 7(3-4), 437-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8141(85)90048-3
Hauksson, E., Jones, L.M., Hutton, K., 1995. The 1994 Northridge earthquake sequence in California: Seismological and tectonic aspects. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 100(B7), 12335-12355. https://doi.org/ 10.1029/95JB00865
Heidbach, O., Rajabi, M., Cui, X., Fuchs, K., Müller, B., Reinecker, J., Reiter, K., Tingay, M., Wenzel, F., Xie, F., Ziegler, M.O., 2018. The World Stress Map database release 2016: Crustal stress pattern across scales. Tectonophysics 744, 484-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2018.07.007
Jackson, M.P., Vendeville, B.C., Schultz-Ela, D.D., 1994. Structural dynamics of salt systems. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 22(1), 93-117. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ea.22.050194.000521
Jaeger, J.C., Cook, N.G.W., Zimmerman, R.W., 2007. Fundamentals of rock mechanics, 4th edn Blackwell. Maiden, MA, p. 475.
James, G.A., Wynd, J.G., 1965. Stratigraphic nomenclature of Iranian oil consortium agreement area. American Association of Petroleum Geologists bulletin 49(12), 2182-2245. https://doi.org/10.1306/A663388A-16C0-11D7-8645000102C1865D
King, G.C., Stein, R.S., Rundle, J.B., 1988. The growth of geological structures by repeated earthquakes 1. Conceptual framework. Journal of Geophysical research: solid Earth 93(B11), 13307-13318. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB093iB11p13307
King, G.C.P., Soufleris, C., Berberian, M., 1981. The source parameters, surface deformation and tectonic setting of three recent earthquakes: Thessaloniki (Greece), Tabas-e-Golshan (Iran), and Carlisle (U.K.). Disasters 5(1), 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.1981.tb01127.x
Kirby, S.H., 1983. Rheology of the lithosphere. Reviews of Geophysics 21(6), 1458-1487. https://doi.org/10.1029/RG021i006p01458
Lee, J.C., Rubin, C., Mueller, K., Chen, Y.G., Chan, Y.C., Sieh, K., Chu, H.T., Chen, W.S., 2004. Quantitative analysis of movement along an earthquake thrust scarp: a case study of a vertical exposure of the 1999 surface rupture of the Chelungpu fault at Wufeng, Western Taiwan. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23(2), 263-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(03)00122-6
Li, S.Y., Urai, J.L., 2016. Rheology of rock salt for salt tectonics modeling. Petroleum Science 13(4), 712-724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-016-0121-6
Lin, J., Stein, R.S., 1989. Coseismic folding, earthquake recurrence, and the 1987 source mechanism at Whittier Narrows, Los Angeles Basin, California. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 94(B7), 9614-9632. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB094iB07p09614
Lin, J., Stein, R.S., 2004. Stress triggering in thrust and subduction earthquakes and stress interaction between the southern San Andreas and nearby thrust and strike‐slip faults. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 109(B2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JB002607
Logan, D.L., 2007. A first course in the finite element method. Cengage Learning, p. 954.
Lundin, E.R., 1992. Thin-skinned extensional tectonics on a salt detachment, northern Kwanza Basin, Angola. Marine and Petroleum Geology 9(4), 405-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/0264-8172(92)90051-F
McClay, K.R., Dooley, T., Lewis, G., 1998. Analog modeling of progradational delta systems. Geology 26(9), https://doi.org/771-774. 10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0771:AMOPDS>2.3.CO;2
Nikishkov, G.P., 2004. Introduction to the finite element method. University of Aizu, p. 70.
Nissen, E., Jackson, J., Jahani, S., Tatar, M., 2014. Zagros “phantom earthquakes” reassessed—The interplay of seismicity and deep salt flow in the Simply Folded Belt?. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 119(4), 3561-3583. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JB010796
Pfiffner, O.A., 2017. Thick-skinned and thin-skinned tectonics: a global perspective. Geosciences 7(3), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7030071
Pollard, D.D., Fletcher, R.C., 2005. Fundamentals of structural geology. Cambridge University Press, p. 497.
Quittmeyer, R.C., Jacob, K.H., 1979. Historical and modern seismicity of Pakistan, Afghanistan, northwestern India, and southeastern Iran. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 69(3), 773-823. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0690030773
Raith, A.F., Urai, J.L., 2018. Squeeze Mining-Induced Stress Changes in the Faulted Overburden of the Veendam Salt Pillow.  Conference: Proceedings of the 9th Conference on the Mechanical Behavior of Salt (SaltMech IX), Hannover, Germany, ISBN: 978-3-9814108-6-0
Ramsay, J.G., Lisle, R.J., 2000. Applications of continuum mechanics in structural geology (Techniques of modern structural geology 3. Academic Press, p. 460.
Roering, J.J., Cooke, M.L., Pollard, D.D., 1997. Why blind thrust faults do not propagate to the Earth's surface: Numerical modeling of coseismic deformation associated with thrust‐related anticlines. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 102(B6), 11901-11912. https://doi.org/10.1029/97JB00680
Sherkati, S., Molinaro, M., de Lamotte, D.F., Letouzey, J., 2005. Detachment folding in the Central and Eastern Zagros fold-belt (Iran): salt mobility, multiple detachments and late basement control. Journal of Structural Geology 27(9), 1680-1696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2005.05.010
Smart, K.J., Couzens-Schultz, B.A., 2001. Mechanics of blind thrusting: comparison of numerical and physical modeling. The Journal of Geology 109(6), 771-779. https://doi.org/10.1086/323194
Stein, R.S., King, G.C., 1984. Seismic potential revealed by surface folding: 1983 Coalinga, California, earthquake. Science 224(4651), 869-872. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.224.4651.869
Strijker, G., Beekman, F., Bertotti, G., Luthi, S.M., 2013. FEM analysis of deformation localization mechanisms in a 3-D fractured medium under rotating compressive stress orientations. Tectonophysics 593, 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2013.02.031
Tingay, M., Bentham, P., De Feyter, A., Kellner, A., 2011. Present-day stress-field rotations associated with evaporites in the offshore Nile Delta. Bulletin 123(5-6), 1171-1180. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30185.1
Vendeville, B.C., 2005. Salt tectonics driven by sediment progradation: Part I—Mechanics and kinematics. American Association of Petroleum Geologists bulletin 89(8), 1071-1079. https://doi.org/10.1306/03310503063
Vergés, J., Goodarzi, M.G.H., Emami, H., Karpuz, R., Efstathiou, J., Gillespie, P., 2011. Multiple detachment folding in Pusht-e Kuh arc, Zagros: Role of mechanical stratigraphy. https://doi.org/10.1306/13251333M942899
Walker, R.T., Khatib, M.M., Bahroudi, A., Rodés, A., Schnabel, C., Fattahi, M., Talebian, M., Bergman, E., 2015. Co-seismic, geomorphic, and geologic fold growth associated with the 1978 Tabas-e-Golshan earthquake fault in eastern Iran. Geomorphology 237, 98-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.02.016
Xu, X., Wen, X., Han, Z., Chen, G., Li, C., Zheng, W., Zhnag, S., Ren, Z., Xu, C., Tan, X., Wei, Z., 2013. Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake: A blind reserve-fault event. Chinese Science Bulletin 58(28-29), 3437-3443. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s11434-013-5999-4
Yeats, R.S., Lillie, R.J., 1991. Contemporary tectonics of the Himalayan frontal fault system: folds, blind thrusts and the 1905 Kangra earthquake. Journal of Structural Geology 13(2), 215-225. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8141(91)90068-T
Zeng, S., Cai, Y., 2018. Factors that affect coseismic folds in an overburden layer. Frontiers of earth science 12(1), 17-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-016-0618-8
Zhao, S., Müller, R.D., Takahashi, Y., Kaneda, Y., 2004. 3-D finite-element modelling of deformation and stress associated with faulting: effect of inhomogeneous crustal structures. Geophysical Journal International 157(2), 629-644. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02200.x
Advanced Applied Geology
Volume 12, Issue 4
January 2023
Pages 768-786

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics