piggyback basin development above a thin skinned thrust belt with two detachment levels as a function of interactions between tectonic and superficial mass transfer the case of the subandean zone bolivia abstract the subandean fold and thrust belt of bolivia is characterised by two major detachment levels and large piggyback basins sand box and numerical models have been used to study sedimentation and erosion control on thrust belt evolution and to study the retroactive effects of tectonics on piggyback development in thin skinned thrust belts with two detachment levels analogue models show that surface processes play a dominant role in controlling wedge evolutions erosion promotes fault reactivation and tectonic delamination passive roof duplex while sedimentation promotes forward shifting of the frontal thrust and consequently piggyback basin development numerical models were used to understand the development of the subandean fold and thrust belt of bolivia numerical experiments show that the simultaneity of basement tilting and high sedimentation rates promotes the formation of a stable tectonic wedge outer and inner faults are alternately active during the beginning of deformation a kinematic evolution that favours the development of piggyback basins between the step by step history of the thrust belt predicts that each change in tectonic location is recorded with large unconformities in basins but these unconformities are not well preserved from progressive erosion in the final geometry

duplex style and triangle zone formation insights from physical modeling duplexes are a common feature in thrust belts at many scales their geometries vary significantly from antiformal stacks with significant forethrusting in the cover e g southern pyrennes spain to triangle zones e g foreland canadian rockies to low displacement individually spaced ramp anticlines e g sub andean thrust belt bolivia we present a series of physical experiments demonstrating that the strength of the decollements relative to that of the intervening and overlying rock layers plays a significant role in controlling the duplex style the models comprise brittle layers made of dry quartz sand and decollements made of two types of viscous silicone polymers the strength of the decollements in the models is a function of the shortening rate applied to the model the relative strength of the decollements and surrounding rocks affects the development of active or passive roof duplexes triangle zones it also affects the amount of translation of individual thrust blocks and the spacing of thrust ramps which in turn determine if a duplex evolves into an antiformal stack or into individually spaced ramp anticlines model results indicate that specific associations of structural features form systematically under similar rheological and boundary conditions the presence of relatively strong decollements promotes local underthrusting of the cover individual ramp anticlines internal deformation of thrust sheets low early layer parallel shortening and sequential towards the foreland propagation of structures weak decollements promote forethrusting of the cover antiformal stacks coeval growth of structures and low internal strain with the exception of significant early layer parallel shortening no underthrusting at a regional scale occurred in any model

epicenter distribution and magnitude of earthquakes in fold thrust belts insights from sandbox models scaled analogue models are used to illustratethe eect of basal friction and erosion on fault activity andhence on epicentre distribution and magnitude of earth quakes in the sedimentary cover of active fold thrust belts model results suggest that in fold thrust belts shortenedabove low friction ductile decollements rock salt or over pressured mudstone low to moderate magnitude earth quakes mw 5 3 5 6 distributed over a wide area occuralong several long lived thrust faults conversely in areasshortened above high friction decollements large magnitudeearthquakes mw 6 6 6 8 distributed over a narrowzone are likely to occur along few short lived thrust ramps calculated magnitude of earthquakes from models and theirdistribution are in agreement with recorded earthquake pat tern from the zagros mountain belt which is partially short ened above a ductile decollement of hormuz salt formation model results also showed that erosion reactivates older in active thrusts and promotes formation of out of sequencethrusts

passive roof thrusting and forelandward fold propagation in scaled brittle ductile physical models of thrust wedges a set of scaled analogue models was performed to investigate the role of a decollement layer in the structural style of fold and thrust belts silicone putty sgm 36 has been employed to represent the ductile decollement while frictional material quartz sand has been used to simulate the brittle behavior of roof and floor sequences situated above and below the decollement respectively in order to explore a wide combination of strength profiles models have been deformed under five distinct rates of compression 0 15 0 3 0 45 0 6 and 1 5 cm h 1 employing four different thicknesses for the silicone layer 0 1 0 2 0 4 and 0 8 cm experimental results indicate that roof sequences exhibit two distinct styles of deformation 1 passive roof duplex prd geometry e g banks and warburton 1986 and 2 outward propagation of folding ofp along the decollement e g davis and engelder 1985 in prd geometry the roof sequence remains relatively stationary being underthrust by a wedge shaped floor duplex while in ofp displacement along the floor thrusts is transferred horizontally along the decollement layer experiments suggest the occurrence of a genetic relationship between shear stresses at the base of the roof sequence b and within the ductile layer d and the development of prd or ofp geometry for a given strain rate the deformation pattern of roof sequences depends upon the b d ratio as well as the absolute b and d values the transition field between ofp and prd styles has been approximated by curvilinear regression of transition style experimental data points with a minimum value of d varying between about 112 and 160 pa to enter the prd field syntectonic sedimentation in the molasse basin is found to inhibit development of folding into the foreland but to promote prd style experiments simulate many of the principal characteristics of fold and thrust belts developed above a basal evaporite decollement as well as the development of passive roof duplexes at mountain fronts shear stress values inferred for many fold and thrust belts correlate well the deformation fields predicted by the present experimental study allowing to propose a simple model describing the mechanical behavior of natural roof sequences underlain by a decollement layer

four dimensional analog and geometrical modeling of the hides anticline papua new guinea structure of a giant gas field the hides anticline in the papua new guinea fold belt is the core part of the papua new guinea liquified natural gas project that commenced production in 2014 yet little is known about its internal structure particularly at depth the structure of the upper 3 km 9843 ft is relatively well constrained from surface data recent development wells and poor quality two dimensional seismic data but the deep structure has been obscure seismic data and gravity modeling suggest an underlying large normal fault in basement forward geometrical modeling using movetm and four dimensional analog sandbox modeling under an x ray tomography scanner have greatly constrained the structural interpretation the modeling confirms the presence of the underlying basement normal fault and suggests that it was mildly inverted prior to the onset of pure compression deformation in the sedimentary section the main detachment level was just above basement approximately 8 10 km 5 6 mi beneath the surface but this ramped up at the basement fault creating an array of triangle zone faults through the overlying sedimentary section building the hides anticline the early inversion was instrumental in initiating a back thrust and hinterland verging tight fold in the mesozoic section including the source reservoir and seal deformation in the thick miocene carbonates at the surface was detached from that in the underlying reservoir along an upper cretaceous mudstone horizon that varies strongly in thickness such that the 2 4 km 6562 13 123 ft high mesozoic structure verges northeast and the overlying miocene structure verges southwest analog modeling shows that a ductile stratigraphy is required with slow strain rates of approximately 1 3 km m y 3281 9843 ft m y

high level surfaces plateau uplift and foreland development bolivian central andes newly dated tertiary strata in the bolivian central andean plateau and synthesis of the tertiary record in the adjacent subandean fold thrust belt constrain the age of deformation in both regions age of deformation within the plateau is determined by dated crosscutting relations associated with a regionally extensive high level surface known as the san juan del oro surface new 40 ar 39 ar dates on undeformed strata above the high level surface preclude significant upper crustal shortening within the eastern cordillera after 10 ma tertiary strata within the adjacent subandean region demonstrate that formation of the fold thrust belt occurred after 10 ma on the basis of these data we propose a two stage model of late cenozoic andean growth that links plateau uplift to the development of the fold thrust belt in the first stage early plateau uplift occurred in response to widespread compressional deformation of the plateau eastern cordillera and altiplano during the second stage beginning after 10 ma upper crustal deformation within the plateau terminated and the subandean fold thrust belt developed crustal scale eastward thrusting along the eastern margin of the eastern cordillera drove subandean folding and thrusting the eastern cordillera served as the bulldozer for the deforming subandean wedge

the roles of complex mechanical stratigraphy and syn kinematic sedimentation in fold development insights from discrete element modelling and application to the pico del aguila anticline external sierras southern pyrenees

computerized x ray tomography analysis of sandbox models examples of thin skinned thrust systems computerized x ray tomography applied to analog sandbox experiments performed in a normal gravity field makes possible the analysis of the kinematic evolution as well as the three dimensional geometry of models that simulate tectonic deformations most of the plastic or viscous analog materials generally used in a normal gravity field for such models have x ray attenuations compatible with medical scanner images models using soft cohesionless granular materials were studied faults in granular materials corresponding to dilatant zones with lower by 30 50 x ray attenuation are thus clearly visible in the tomography images kinematic analysis was done on imbricate thrust propagation in materials with an internal friction angle of 30 thrust propagation is controlled mainly by a triangular pop up structure resulting from the nucleation of two conjugate thrusts at the basal decollement the pop up structure is created immediately in front of the previous thrust three dimensional geometry analysis was tested on lateral ramps parallel to the transport direction lateral ramps were induced by changing the frictional boundary conditions at the bottom of the model though the lateral ramps strike almost parallel to the transport direction their dip angle is comparable to the dip angle of frontal ramps

control of syntectonic erosion and sedimentation on kinematic evolution of a multidecollement fold and thrust zone analogue modeling of folding in the southern subandean of bolivia abstract several analogue modeling studies have been conducted during the past fifteen years with the aim to discuss the effects of sedimentation and erosion on foreland fold and thrust belt among which a few have analyzed these processes at kilometric scale malavieille et al 1993 nalpas et al 1999 barrier et al 2002 pichot and nalpas 2009 the influence of syn deformation sedimentation and erosion on the structural evolution of fftb has been clearly demonstrated here we propose to go further in this approach by the study of a more complex system with a double decollement level the natural study case is the bolivian sub andean thrust and fold belt which present all the required criteria such as the double decollement level a set of analogue models performed under a ct scan have been used to test the influence of several parameters on a fold and thrust belt system among which i the spatial variation of the sediment input ii the spatial variation of the erosion rate iii the relative distribution of sedimentation between foreland and hinterland these experiments led to the following observations 1 the upper decollement level acts as a decoupling level in case of increased sedimentation rate it results in the verticalization of the shallower part above the upper decollement level while the deeper parts are not impacted 2 similarly the increase of the erosion rate involves the uplift of the deeper part below the upper decollement level whereas the shallower parts are not impacted 3 a high sedimentation rate in the foreland involves a fault and fold vergence reversal followed by a back thrusting of the shallower part 4 a high sedimentation rate in the hinterland favours thrust development toward the foreland in the shallower parts

sedimentary basins and crustal thickening abstract we consider the development of sedimentary basins in a tectonic context dominated by horizontal shortening and vertical thickening of the crust well known examples are foreland basins others are ramp basins and buckle basins we have reproduced various styles of compressional basins in experiments properly scaled for gravity a multilayered model lithosphere with brittle and ductile layers floats on a model asthenosphere a computer driven piston provides shortening and thickening synchronous with erosion and sedimentation after a first stage of lithospheric buckling thrust faults appear mainly at inflection points slip on an isolated reverse fault is accompanied by flexure footwall flexure results in a foreland basin and becomes accentuated by sedimentation hangingwall flexure is less marked but may become accentuated by erosion motion on a fault leads to hangingwall collapse at the surface either footwall sedimentation or hangingwall erosion tends to prolong the active life of a reverse fault slip on any pair of closely spaced reverse faults of opposite vergence results in a ramp basin simultaneous slip produces a symmetric ramp basin whereas alternating slip results in a butterfly shaped basin with superposed foredeeps some well developed ramp basins become pushed down until bounding faults meet at the surface and the basin disappears from view at this stage the basin depth is equivalent to 15 km or more slip on any pair of widely spaced reverse faults of opposite vergence results in a pronounced central anticline between two distinct foredeeps in central asia and in western europe cenozoic crustal thickening is due to continental collision for central asia western china kyrgyzstan uzbekistan tajikistan we have compiled a regional structure contour map on the base of the tertiary as well as 4 regional sections foreland basins and ramp basins are numerous and associated with cenozoic thrusts large basins tarim junggar fergana tajik occur around and between mountain ranges but smaller basins issyk kul naryn occur within them in western europe the alps and pyrenees are surrounded by foreland basins ramp basins or intermediate styles in the andes and its foreland neogene thrusts and compressional basins are due to subduction of oceanic lithosphere in colombia they account for much of the cordillera oriental in nw argentina for the altiplano in west central argentina for the sierras pampeanas compressional basins are also common in other areas of older crustal thickening

influence of syntectonic sedimentation on thrust wedges in analogue models scaled analogue sandbox models have been used to simulate the growth of coulomb thrust wedges that include syntectonic sedimentation during thrusting increases in the syncontractional sedimentation rate dramatically change the shape of the coulomb thrust wedge decreasing the number of thrust slices the internal shortening and the critical taper of the wedge thrust trajectories change from ramp flat to sigmoidal with increased syncontractional sedimentation the analogue models show many similarities to thrust fault geometries in accretionary prisms and foreland fold and thrust belts in which thrust slices prograded into basins with active sedimentation

interaction between deformation and sedimentation in a multidecollement thrust zone analogue modelling and application to the sub andean thrust belt of bolivia fold and thrust belts are influenced by the presence of decollement levels as well as the amount of shortening and synkinematic sedimentation these parameters are studied at the scale of a thrust belt using a field approach combined with analogue and numerical modelling in this study we use analogue modelling to test the evolution of a single structure during sedimentation in a domain containing three prekinematic decollement levels the development of this structure in the analogue experiments shows that the expression of the deformation is strongly dependent on sedimentation rate i the structure propagates forward in an overall asymmetric shape if the sedimentation rate is slower than the uplift velocity or ii the structure grows vertically and its vergence changes at the surface if the sedimentation rate is similar to the uplift velocity or iii the structure grows vertically with a double vergence at the surface and at depth if the sedimentation rate is higher than the uplift velocity the results of the experiments are compared with structures in the subandean thrust belt to aid the interpretation of poor seismic data

implications of seismic waveforms complex physical properties associated with stagnant slab 1 anomalously broadened p waveforms of deep focus events were observed at some regional stations after sampling flattened high velocity zones the source processes of these events are short and the p waveforms at other stations as well as the corresponding sh waves do not show such anomaly the rays of the anomalous waves propagated in the vicinity of those whose waveforms can be synthesized with a relatively simple model m3 11 or m2 0 for a flattened cold slab in the transition zone we suggest that the p waveform broadening is caused by sv converted waves at the heterogeneities within a narrow zone near the 660 km discontinuity or slab boundary the creation of such heterogeneities may involve in the complex structure of phase transformation with water and cold temperature anomaly associated with stagnant slab

evolutionary model of the himalaya tibet system geopoem based on new modelling geological and geophysical data a two dimensional thermo mechanical laboratory modelling of continental subduction was performed the subducting continental lithosphere includes a strong brittle upper crust a weak ductile lower crust and a strong upper mantle the lithosphere is underlain by a low viscosity asthenosphere subduction is produced by a piston push force and the pull force from the mantle lithospheric layer which is denser than the asthenosphere the lithospheric layers are composed of material whose strength is sensitive to and inversely proportional to temperature throughout the experiment the model surface was maintained under relatively low temperature and the model base at higher temperature the subduction rate satisfied the peclet criterion modelling confirms that the continental crust can be deeply subducted and shows that slab break off delamination and tectonic underplating are fundamental events with drastic consequences on the subsequent evolution of the convergent system combining these results with previous purely mechanical modelling we elaborate a new evolutionary model for the himalaya tibet convergent system the principal successive stages are 1 subduction of the indian continental lithosphere to 200 250 km depth following subduction of the tethys oceanic lithosphere 2 failure and rapid buoyancy driven uplift of the subducted continental crust from ca 100 km depth to some depth that varies along the mountain belt 20 30 km on average 3 break off of the indian subducted lithospheric mantle with the attached oceanic lithosphere 4 subduction underplating of the indian lithosphere under asia over a few to several hundred kilometers 5 delamination roll back and break off of the indian lithospheric mantle 6 failure of the indian crust in front of the mountain belt formation of the main central thrust and underthrusting of the next portion of indian lithosphere beneath tibet for a few hundred kilometers at the beginning of stage 6 the crustal slice corresponding to the crystalline himalayas undergoes erosion activated uplift and exhumation fl 2000 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

paleomagnetic determinations of vertical axis tectonic rotations from late cretaceous and paleocene strata of bolivia structural development of the altiplano during the past 10 m y involved crustal thickening and enhanced curvature of the central andes oroclinal bending of 30 explains reasonably the pattern of vertical axis rotations observed from units with ages 10 to 30 ma new paleomagnetic data from late cretaceous through paleocene strata of southeastern peru and the eastern cordillera of bolivia document rotations that are also counterclockwise on the north limb of the orocline and clockwise on the south limb however the rotations of units with ages 30 to 70 ma are more variable nearby areas have undergone differential vertical axis rotations of up to 60 these larger rotations that have affected 30 70 ma units in the central andes may represent 1 local rotations during late oligocene to present orogeny 2 local rotations during eocene orogeny and or 3 oroclinal bending during eocene orogency

deformation of brittle ductile thrust wedges in experiments and nature 1 even though the rheology of thrust wedges is mostly frictional a basal ductile decollement is often involved by comparison with purely frictional wedges such brittle ductile wedges generally display anomalous structures such as backward vergence widely spaced thrust units and nonfrontward sequences of thrust development laboratory experiments are used here to study the deformation of brittle ductile thrust wedges results are compared with natural systems in the jura mountains and the northern pakistan salt range and potwar plateau two series of three models are used to illustrate the effects of varying the basal wedge angle and shortening rate v these two parameters directly control variations in relative strength between brittle and ductile layers bd coupling wedges with strong bd coupling low and high v give almost regular frontward sequences with closely spaced thrust units and as such are not significantly different from purely frictional wedges weak bd coupling high and low v gives dominantly backward thrusting sequences intermediate bd coupling produces frontward backward oscillating sequences the spacing of thrust units increases as coupling decreases back thrusts develop in parts of a wedge where bd coupling is weak regardless of the thrust sequence wedges with weak bd coupling need large amounts of bulk shortening more than 30 to attain a state of equilibrium at which stable sliding along the base occurs on this basis we argue that a state of equilibrium has not yet been attained in at least some parts of the jura mountains and eastern salt range and potwar plateau thrust systems

influence of synkinematic sedimentation in a thrust system with two decollement levels analogue modelling abstract compressive systems in foreland domains are characterised by fold and thrust belts linked to the presence of one or several ductile layers in depth acting as a decollement level the main parameters controlling the structural evolution are the presence of a decollement level the amount and rate of shortening and the amount of synkinematic sedimentation the effect of these parameters has only been studied on a thrust belt scale furthermore only the effect of synkinematic sedimentation on a simple system with one decollement level has been studied at the scale of a single structure the aim of this study was to use analogue modelling to test the effect of shortening rate velocity and the localization of sedimentation on a single system characterised by the presence of two prekinematic decollement levels the main results showed variations in the structural vergence folding geometry symmetric or asymmetric the evolution of the deformation horizontal propagation versus vertical uplift and the decoupling of the lower and upper brittle structures in relation with the main parameters shortening rate and mass transfer the results of the experiments were then compared to natural examples from the sub andean thrust belt

continental shelf morphology and stratigraphy offshore san onofre california the interplay between rates of eustatic change and sediment supply abstract new high resolution chirp seismic data acquired offshore san onofre southern california reveal that shelf sediment distribution and thickness are primarily controlled by eustatic sea level rise and sediment supply throughout the majority of the study region a prominent abrasion platform and associated shoreline cutoff are observed in the subsurface from 72 to 53 m below present sea level these erosional features appear to have formed between melt water pulse 1a and melt water pulse 1b when the rate of sea level rise was lower there are three distinct sedimentary units mapped above a regional angular unconformity interpreted to be the holocene transgressive surface in the seismic data unit i the deepest unit is interpreted as a lag deposit that infills a topographic low associated with an abrasion platform unit i thins seaward by downlap and pinches out landward against the shoreline cutoff unit ii is a mid shelf lag deposit formed from shallower eroded material and thins seaward by downlap and landward by onlap the youngest unit iii is interpreted to represent modern sediment deposition faults in the study area do not appear to offset the transgressive surface the newport inglewood rose canyon fault system is active in other regions to the south e g la jolla where it offsets the transgressive surface and creates seafloor relief several shoals observed along the transgressive surface could record minor deformation due to fault activity in the study area nevertheless our preferred interpretation is that the shoals are regions more resistant to erosion during marine transgression the cristianitos fault zone also causes a shoaling of the transgressive surface this may be from resistant antecedent topography due to an early phase of compression on the fault the cristianitos fault zone was previously defined as a down to the north normal fault but the folding and faulting architecture imaged in the chirp data are more consistent with a strike slip fault with a down to the northwest dip slip component a third area of shoaling is observed off of san mateo and san onofre creeks this shoaling has a constructional component and could be a relict delta or beach structure

impact of synkinematic sedimentation on the geometry and dynamics of compressive growth structures insights from analogue modelling analogue sandbox models have been set up to study the impact of synkinematic deposits on the geometry and evolution of single thrusts and folds according to different sedimentation modes a slow or rapid sedimentation rate that is constant or changing in space and time and rheological profiles thin or thick sedimentary series with or without a basal decollement level a first series of experiments documents the influence of synkinematic deposits according to their sedimentation rate and the rheology of the prekinematic materials a second series investigates the influence of changes in the sedimentation rate through time a third one considers the influence of changes in the sedimentation rate in space all these experiments suggest that the geometry and evolution of single compressive growth structures vary according to the sedimentation rate the number and dip of their frontal thrust segments change with the ratio r between the sedimentation rate at the footwall of the faults and the uplift rate of their hanging wall the latter is then more or less uplifted depending on the dip of the thrusts as a result the overall structure has either a fault bend fold or a fault propagation fold geometry these rules are verified when the ratio r changes in space or through time in addition the rheological profile of the models also affects the geometry and evolution of compressive growth structures their structural style as well as the synsedimentary splitting and steepening of the associated thrusts varies according to the occurrence and strength of the brittle and ductile layers according to this modelling study the ratio r and its changes in space and time along with the rheology of the deformed materials are key parameters to better understand the geometrical and kinematical complexities of natural growth thrusts and folds and to improve their interpretation

influence of syntectonic sedimentation on thrust geometry field examples from the iberian chain spain and analogue modelling abstract steep thrusts are usually interpreted as oblique slip thrusts or inverted normal faults however recent analogical and numerical models have emphasised the influence of surface mass transfer phenomena on the structural evolution of compressive systems this research points to sedimentation and erosion during deformation as an additional explanation for the origin of steeply dipping thrusts the present study uses both field observations and analogue modelling to attempt to isolate critical parameters of syntectonic sedimentation that might control the geometry of the upper part of thrust systems a field study of thrust systems bounding two compressive intermountain tertiary basins of the iberian chain is first briefly presented we describe the surface geometry of thrusts surrounding the montalban basin and the alto tajo syncline at the vicinity of deposits of oligocene early miocene alluvial fans at the footwall of faults field observations suggest that synthrusting sedimentation should influence the structure of thrusts indeed the faults are steeper and splitted at the edge of the syntectonic deposits effects of sedimentation rate on footwall of thrusts and of its change along fault strike are further investigated on two layer brittle ductile analogue models submitted to compression and syntectonic sediment supply two series of experiments were made corresponding to two end members of depositional geometries in the first series the sedimentation was homogeneously distributed on both sides of the relief developed above the thrust front in the second series deposits were localised on a particular area of the footwall of thrust front in all experiments the sedimentation rate controls the number and the dip of faults for low sedimentation rates a single low angle thrust develops whereas for high sedimentation rates a series of steeper dipping thrust is observed in experiments with changing sedimentation rate along fault strike the thrust geometry varies behind the areas with the thickest sediment pile

analogue benchmarks of shortening and extension experiments we report a direct comparison of scaled analogue experiments to test thereproducibility of model results among ten different experimental modelling laboratories we present results for two experimen

fold thrust structures where have all the buckles gone special publication title folding and fracturing of rocks 50 years of research since the seminal text book of j g ramsay we dedicate the paper to the memory of martin casey 1948 2008 who did much through good humored argument to ensure that buckling ideas were not lost to what he called the ramping club the thrust belt community the fold thrust research group has been funded by interoil oilsearch and santos we thank paul griffiths and anonymous referee for comments together with hermann lebit for scientific editing the views expressed here of course remain those of the authors

facies analysis and basin architecture of the neogene subandean synorogenic wedge southern bolivia foreland sedimentation in the subandean zone of south central bolivia spans from the upper oligocene to present it records sediment dispersal patterns in an initially distal and later proximal retroarc foreland basin and thereby contains stratigraphic information on the tectonic evolution of the adjacent andean fold thrust belt within the neogene orogenic wedge individual siliciclastic dominated depositional systems formed ahead of an eastward propagating deformation regime we defined described and interpreted eight architectural elements and 24 lithofacies from 15 outcrop locations representing the neogene foreland basin in the subandean zone and the chaco plain these are combined to interpret depositional settings the up to 7 5 km thick neogene wedge is subdivided in five stratigraphic units on the basis of facies associations and overall architecture 1 the basal oligocene miocene up to 250 m thick petaca formation consists dominantly of calcrete reworked conglomeratic pedogenic clasts and fluvial sandstone and mudstone this unit is interpreted to represent extensive pedogenesis under an arid to semiarid climate with subordinate braided fluvial processes 2 the overlying upper miocene up to 350 m thick yecua formation records numerous small scale transgressive regressive cycles of marginal marine tidal and shoreline facies of sandstone ooid limestones and varicoloured mudstone 3 the upper miocene up to 4500 m thick tariquia formation principally consists of sandstone with interbedded sandstone mudstone couplets representing frequent crevassing in anastomosing streams with an upsection increasing degree of connectedness 4 the up to 1500 m thick lower pliocene guandacay formation represents braided streams and consists principally of granule to cobble conglomerate interbedded with sandstone and sandy mudstone 5 the upper pliocene up to 2000 m thick emborozu formation consists predominantly of alluvial fandeposited cobble to boulder conglomerate interbedded with sandstone and sandy mudstone the coarsening and thickening upward pattern and eastward progradation coupled with the variable proportions of overbank facies channel size and degree of channel abandonment in the tariquia guandacay and emborozu formations reflect a distal through proximal fluvial megafan environment this long lived megafan grew by high sedimentation rates and a northeast through southeast radial paleoflow pattern on large coarse grained sediment lobes the marked overall

thrust geometry controlled by erosion and sedimentation a view from analogue models analogue sandbox models have been set up to study thrust systems formed above two decollements and affected by erosion and sedimentation the deformation was imaged by x ray scanner three erosion sedimentation conditions were tested for all the experiments a duplex develops between the two decollement levels for the experiment without erosion and without sedimentation ramp anticlines form in the upper series for the model with syntectonic sedimentation and without erosion the shortening in the upper series is first characterized by fault related folds and then by a forward propagation of the decollement that induces the development of a piggy back basin for the experiment with erosion and sedimentation a passive roof duplex is formed relationships between structural style and syntectonic superficial conditions in classical thin skinned thrust belts are similar to those found in the analogue models the ramp anticlines of the jura developed with low erosion and low sedimentation and the large sub andean thrust belt is controlled by syntectonic sedimentation whereas the passive roof duplex of pakistan is synchronized with intense erosion this study outlines the crucial effect of the superficial mass transport phenomena in the tectonic style of thrust belts

cenozoic crustal thickening wrenching and rifting in the foothills of the southernmost andes abstract the southernmost andes form an orocline between the patagonian cordillera trending n s and the fueguian cordilleras trending e w on the foreland side is the magellan basin the area has a history of paleozoic compression triassic to early cretaceous rifting and late cretaceous to quaternary compression in response to changing plate tectonics major structures of late cretaceous and cenozoic age vary along the strike in the patagonian cordillera and foothills folds and thrusts trend nnw slightly oblique to the orogen whereas strike slip faults are parallel to the orogen and right lateral in the fueguian cordilleras and foothills folds and thrusts trend ese slightly oblique to the orogen whereas strike slip faults are parallel to the orogen and left lateral in the axial zone of the magellan basin folds and thrusts are parallel to the orogen and rifts are sub perpendicular to it to a first approximation the pattern of structures has mirror symmetry about the axis of the magellan basin in detail however wrenching appears to be more prevalent in the fueguian cordillera and foothills than it is in the patagonian cordillera and foothills minor faults of cenozoic age are common in the foothills from a kinematic analysis of fault slip data 1 shortening and stretching directions are mostly sub horizontal 2 shortening directions vary in trend from ene in the patagonian foothills to ne in the fueguian foothills and 3 stretching directions are sub parallel to traces of major thrusts in the fueguian cordillera and foothills strike slip faulting is prevalent in the patagonian foothills crustal thickening is prevalent over strike slip faulting the kinematics reflect a combination of thrusting and wrenching and they are consistent with the major structures to investigate the origin of the cenozoic structures we used analogue models on a fully lithospheric scale where an oceanic plate subducted beneath a continental corner the corner was an area of transition from frontal subduction to transcurrent motion the boundary conditions may not have been fully realistic but the experiments did account for the major elements of the structural pattern in southernmost south america including rifts that are perpendicular to the orogen and counterclockwise block rotations

pre existing salt structures and the folding of the zagros mountains four dimensional analogue x ray tomography imagery is used to investigate the role played by pre existing salt structures during compressive deformation initially linear salt structures evolve towards more axisymmetric diapirs depending on the diapir geometry and on its thickness relative to the sedimentary column thickness the diapirs are either 1 shortened and localize sharp overturned folds for vertical pipe like diapirs or else 2 act as preferentially oriented ramps the diapir being incorporated in the fold for pillow like diapirs the ridges have a strong effect on the lateral extent and orientation of folds they disconnect the folds formed on either side of the salt wall compressional relays between ridges allow for a folded connection between both sides the zagros mountains in southern iran offer a large variety of comparable structures associated with the hormuz salt level which acts as the regional decollement most of the salt structures have been active from the early palaeozoic until the present day the firstorder critical taper is controlled by the distribution of hormuz decollement level and by its thickness at a smaller scale the fold geometry and size are locally controlled by the pre existing salt structures which are the main source of heterogeneity in the deformation

synchronous and velocity partitioned thrusting and thrust polarity reversal in experimentally produced doubly vergent thrust wedges implications for natural orogens a sandbox analog modeling research program was used to study the detailed evolution of doubly vergent thrust wedges high resolution multilayers of thin alternating sand and mica layers were used in contractional coulomb wedge experiments to simulate deformation of anisotropic brittle upper crustal strata in doubly vergent orogens experiments incorporating syntectonic sedimentation in foreland basins and in piggyback basins were also carried out our laboratory models evolved in two main stages 1 initial high velocity thrusting in the retrowedge and high frequency together with low displacement folding and thrusting in the prowedge and 2 low frequency high displacement synchronous thrusting in the prowedge and low velocity thrusting in the retrowedge transition from stage i to stage ii occurred when the growing wedges reached the critical height at which they behaved as a backstop for further prowedge accretion addition of syntectonic sediments increased the persistence of stage i and triggered out of sequence thrusting in the axial zone of the experimental orogens thrust motion was stick slip retrovergent thrusting occurred along a long lived ramp whose lower tip was located at the subduction slot provergent kink bands nucleated at the subduction slot in stage i in contrast during the second stage of wedge evolution kink bands nucleated in a piggyback fashion in the foreland far from the subduction slot and then evolved into high displacement faults that remained active up until the end of the experiments at progressively decreasing rates of thrusting the axial zones of the model wedges were characterized by fast uplift rates during stage i due to backward translation of the belt along the retrovergent long lived ramp and due to the localization of deformation close to the subduction slot outward migration of the deformation front in the prowedge region during stage ii caused the progressive decrease in the rate of the wedge uplift until it eventually stopped analytical models to quantify the coulomb behavior in the wedges validated the reversal of thrust polarity with increasing shortening triggered by the buildup of the topographic load during deformation this thrust polarity reversal highlights problems with the classic concept of back thrusting as a reflection of a significant change in the deformation regime our results compare well with the kinematic evolution of natural accretionary prisms and of thrust and fold belts such as the lesser antilles arc system the mediterranean ridge and the pyrenees