Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 21-28 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of structural geology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2008 |
Abstract
Normal faults in nature exhibit a systematic variation of the slip direction along strike, with pure dip-slip at their centres that changes gradually to oblique slip near their tips. Here we evaluate the variation of the slip direction along normal faults by three-dimensional finite-element modelling. The model results reveal a nearly linear increase of the strike-slip component over two-thirds of the distance from the fault centre to its tips, which results in an increasing obliqueness of the slip vector along strike. Excluding the fault tips, the relationship between lateral slip and fault length can be approximated by a power-law function, which shows that the strike-slip component is proportional to the dip-slip and to the fault dip. The development of the sinistral and dextral slip components is caused by the orientation of the minimum principal stress, which is deflected toward the fault centre in both footwall and hanging wall. A comparison with two faults in the Central Apennines, Italy, shows good agreement between modelled and measured slip vectors. The occurrence of converging slip patterns implies that caution is advised when inferring oblique extension, regional stress trajectories and palaeostress fields from slip vectors measured away from the fault centre.
Keywords
- Finite-element models, Normal faults, Slip direction, Stress field
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Geology
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In: Journal of structural geology, Vol. 30, No. 1, 01.2008, p. 21-28.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Along-strike variations of the slip direction on normal faults
T2 - Insights from three-dimensional finite-element models
AU - Maniatis, Georgios
AU - Hampel, Andrea
N1 - Funding information: We thank the referees S. Ellis and A. Ganas for their constructive reviews and R. Hetzel for his critical comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the framework of an Emmy-Noether fellowship to A.H. (grant HA 3473/2-1) is gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2008/1
Y1 - 2008/1
N2 - Normal faults in nature exhibit a systematic variation of the slip direction along strike, with pure dip-slip at their centres that changes gradually to oblique slip near their tips. Here we evaluate the variation of the slip direction along normal faults by three-dimensional finite-element modelling. The model results reveal a nearly linear increase of the strike-slip component over two-thirds of the distance from the fault centre to its tips, which results in an increasing obliqueness of the slip vector along strike. Excluding the fault tips, the relationship between lateral slip and fault length can be approximated by a power-law function, which shows that the strike-slip component is proportional to the dip-slip and to the fault dip. The development of the sinistral and dextral slip components is caused by the orientation of the minimum principal stress, which is deflected toward the fault centre in both footwall and hanging wall. A comparison with two faults in the Central Apennines, Italy, shows good agreement between modelled and measured slip vectors. The occurrence of converging slip patterns implies that caution is advised when inferring oblique extension, regional stress trajectories and palaeostress fields from slip vectors measured away from the fault centre.
AB - Normal faults in nature exhibit a systematic variation of the slip direction along strike, with pure dip-slip at their centres that changes gradually to oblique slip near their tips. Here we evaluate the variation of the slip direction along normal faults by three-dimensional finite-element modelling. The model results reveal a nearly linear increase of the strike-slip component over two-thirds of the distance from the fault centre to its tips, which results in an increasing obliqueness of the slip vector along strike. Excluding the fault tips, the relationship between lateral slip and fault length can be approximated by a power-law function, which shows that the strike-slip component is proportional to the dip-slip and to the fault dip. The development of the sinistral and dextral slip components is caused by the orientation of the minimum principal stress, which is deflected toward the fault centre in both footwall and hanging wall. A comparison with two faults in the Central Apennines, Italy, shows good agreement between modelled and measured slip vectors. The occurrence of converging slip patterns implies that caution is advised when inferring oblique extension, regional stress trajectories and palaeostress fields from slip vectors measured away from the fault centre.
KW - Finite-element models
KW - Normal faults
KW - Slip direction
KW - Stress field
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=37549024249&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsg.2007.10.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jsg.2007.10.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:37549024249
VL - 30
SP - 21
EP - 28
JO - Journal of structural geology
JF - Journal of structural geology
SN - 0191-8141
IS - 1
ER -