Influence of early strike-slip deformation on subsequent perpendicular shortening: An experimental approach

Ricardo Soto , Joseph Martinod (1) , Francis Odonne (1)

1 LMTG - Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie

We used sandbox analogue models to study the influence of previous pure strike-slip and transpressional structures on subsequent perpendicular compression. We performed also a brittle–viscous system in order to analyse the presence of a viscous basal level. Experimental results show that a previous pattern generated under pure strike-slip and transpressive regime causes the reactivation of structures with favourable orientation and the nucleation of oblique thrusts and non-rectilinear deformation fronts under compression perpendicular to the first fault system. The presence of a viscous basal level with the imposed strain rate, which does not favour the coupling between the viscous layer and cover, inhibits the reactivation of previous structures. Comparison with a sector of Northern Chile margin (24–25°S), located in the forearc trench-parallel region supports the experimental results.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Ricardo Soto, Joseph Martinod, Francis Odonne. Influence of early strike-slip deformation on subsequent perpendicular shortening: An experimental approach. Journal of Structural Geology, 2007, 29 (1), pp.59-72. ⟨10.1016/j.jsg.2006.08.001⟩. ⟨hal-00320659⟩