Abstract One of the remarkable tectonic features of the Earths crust is the widespread presence of long, approximately straight and geomorphically prominent strike-slip faults which are a kinematic consequence of large-scale motion of plates on a sphere(Wilson 1965). Strike-slip faults form in continental and oceanic transform plate boundaries; in intraplate settings as a continental interior response to a plate collision; and can occur as transfer zones connecting normal faults in rift systems and thrust faults in fold thrust belts (Woodcock 1986; Sylvester 1988;Yeats et al. 1997; Marshak et al. 2003). Strike-slip faults also are common in obliquely convergent subduction settings where interplate strain is partitioned into arc-parallel strike-slip zones within the fore-arc, arc or back-arc region (Beck 1983; Jarrard 1986;Sieh & Natawidjaja 2000). When strike-slip faults initiate in natural and experimental settings, they commonly consist of en échelon fault and fold segments (Cloos 1928;Riedel 1929; Tchalenko 1970; Wilcox et al.1973). With increased strike-slip displacement,and independent of fault scale (Tchalenko 1970),fault segments link, and the linked areas along the principal displacement zone may define alternating areas of localized convergence and divergence along the length of the strike-slip fault system(Fig. 1; Crowell 1974; Christie-Blick & Biddle1985; Gamond 1987). Typically, divergent and convergent bends are defined as offset areas where bounding strike-slip faults are continuously linked and continuously curved across the offset, whereas more rhomboidally shaped stepovers are defined as zones of slip transfer between overstepping, but distinctly separate and subparallel strike slip faults (Wilcox et al. 1973; Crowell 1974;Aydin & Nur 1982, 1985). However, fault stopovers may evolve into continuous fault bends as the bounding faults and connected splays propagate and link across the stepover (e.g. Zhang et al.1989; McClay & Bonora 2001). Thus, the two terms and fault bend are often used interchangeably.

Abstract Restraining- and releasing bends with similar morphology and structure have been described by many previous studies of strike-slip faults in a variety of active and ancient tectonic settings. Despite the documentation of at least 49 restraining and 144 releasing bends along active and ancient strike-slip faults in the continents and oceans, there is no consensus on how these structural features are named and classified, or how their wide range of structures and morphologies are controlled by the distinctive strike-slip tectonic settings in which they form. In this overview, I have compiled published information on the strike-slip tectonic setting, size, basin and bend type, age, and models for active and ancient releasing and restraining bends. Examples of bends on strike-slip faults are compiled and illustrated from five distinctive active strike-slip settings: oceanic transforms separating oceanic crust and offsetting mid-oceanic spreading ridges; long and linear plate-boundary strike-slip fault systems separating two continental plates whose plate-boundary kinematics can be quantified for long distances along strike by a single pole of rotation (e.g. the San Andreas fault system of western North America); relatively shorter, more arcuate indent-linked strike-slip fault systems bounding escaping continental fragments in zones of continent–continent or arc–continent collision (e.g. the Anatolian plate); straight to arcuate trench-linked strike-slip fault systems bounding elongate fore-arc slivers generated in active and ancient fore-arc settings by oblique subduction (e.g. Sumatra); and cratonic strike-slip fault systems removed from active plate boundaries, formed on older crustal faults, but acting as ‘concentrators’ of intraplate stresses. By far the most common, predictable and best-studied settings for restraining and releasing bends occur in continental-boundary strike-slip fault systems, where arrays of two to eight en échelon pull-apart basins mark transtensional fault segments and single and sometimes multiple large restraining bends mark transpressional segments; fault areas of transtension versus transpression are determined by the intersection angles between small circles about the interplate pole of rotation and the trend of the strike-slip fault system. These longer and more continuous boundary strike-slip systems also exhibit a widespread pattern of ‘paired bends’ or ‘sidewall ripouts’, or adjacent zones of pull-aparts and restraining bends—that range in along-strike-scale from kilometres to hundreds of kilometres. En échelon arrays of pull-apart basins are also observed on active ‘leaky’ or transtensional oceanic transforms, but restraining bends are rarely observed. In indent-linked strike-slip settings, strike-slip fault traces bounding escaping continental fragments tend to be more arcuate, less-continuous, and more splayed – but paired bends are common. Trench-linked strike-slip fault patterns closely mimic the trends of the subduction zone; these strike-slip faults can vary from long and continuous to short and arcuate, depending on the trace of the adjacent subduction zone. Paired bends are also observed in this setting. Bends on active, cratonic strike-slip fault form isolated, seismically active structures that act as ‘stress concentrators’ for intraplate stress. Cratonic strike-slip faults are generally not associated with pull-apart basins, and therefore paired bends are not observed in this setting.ȃThe most likely geological models for the formation of releasing, restraining bends, and paired bends along boundary and trench-linked strike-slip faults include: progressive linkage of en échelon shears within a young evolving shear zone; this model is not applicable to older strike-slip fault traces that have accumulated significant, lateral fault offsets; formation of lenticular ‘sidewall ripout’ structures at scales ranging from outcrop to regional; ripouts are thought to form as a response to adherence or sticking along an adjacent and relatively straight strike-slip fault zone; this structural concept may help to explain the large number of paired bends embedded within strike-slip systems, sinusoidal curvature along the traces of many strike-slip faults, and the episodic nature of lateral shifts in the main strike-slip fault zone; interaction of propagating strike-slip faults with pre-existing crustal structures such as ancient rift basins. Propagation of new strike-slip faults and interaction with older structures may occur on plate boundary, indent-linked, and trench-linked strike-slip faults; and concentration of regional maximum compressive stress on pre-existing, basement fault trends in stable cratonic areas can produce active restraining-bend structures; periodic release of these bend-related stress concentrations is one of the leading causes of intraplate earthquakes within otherwise stable cratons.

Abstract Exceptional examples of restraining and releasing bend structures along major strike-slip fault zones are found in the California continental Borderland. Erosion in the deep sea is diminished, thereby preserving the morphology of active oblique fault deformation. Long-lived deposition of turbidites and other marine sediments preserve a high-resolution geological record of fault zone deformation and regional tectonic evolution. Two large restraining bends with varied structural styles are compared to derive a typical morphology of Borderland restraining bends. A 60-km-long, 15° left bend in the dextral San Clemente Fault creates two primary deformation zones. The southeastern uplift involves ‘soft’ turbidite sediments and is expressed as a broad asymmetrical ridge with right-stepping en echelon anticlines and local pull-apart basins at minor releasing stepovers along the fault. The northwest uplift involves more rigid sedimentary and possibly igneous or metamorphic basement rocks creating a steep-sided, narrow and more symmetrical pop-up. The restraining bend terminates in a releasing stepover basin at the NW end, but curves gently into a transtensional releasing bend to the SE. Seismic stratigraphy indicates that the uplift and transpression along this bend occurred within Quaternary times. The 80-km-long, 30–40° left bend in the San Diego Trough–Catalina fault zone creates a large pop-up structure that emerges to form Santa Catalina Island. This ridge of igneous and metamorphic basement rocks has steep flanks and a classic ‘rhomboid’ shape. For both major restraining bends, and most others in the Borderland, the uplift is asymmetrical, with the principal displacement zone lying along one flank of the pop-up. Faults within the pop-up structure are very steep dipping and subvertical for the principal displacement zone. In most cases, a Miocene basin has been structurally inverted by the transpression. Development of major restraining bends offshore of southern California appears to result from reactivation of major transform faults associated with Mid-Miocene oblique rifting during the evolution of the Pacific–North America plate boundary. Seismicity offshore of southern California demonstrates that deformation along these major strike-slip fault systems continues today.

Abstract Traditionally, geologists have viewed strike-slip stepover regions as progressively increasing in structural relief with increasing slip along the principal displacement zones (PDZs). In contrast, some stepover regions may migrate along the strike of the PDZs with respect to deposits affected by them, leaving a ‘wake’ of formerly affected deposits trailing the active stepover region. Such stepovers generate comparatively little structural relief at any given location. For restraining bends of this type, little exhumation and erosion takes place at any given location. Another characteristic of migrating stepovers is local tectonic inversion that may migrate along the strike of the PDZs. This is most easily observed for migrating releasing bends where the wake is composed of former pull-apart basin deposits that have been subject to shortening and uplift. This type of basin inversion occurs along the San Andreas Fault, wherein the wake is affected by regional transpression. Some migrating stepovers may evolve by propagation of the PDZ on one side of the stepover, and shut-off of the PDZ on the other side. Possible examples of migrating stepovers are present along the northern San Andreas fault system at scales from metres (sag ponds and pressure ridges) to tens of kilometres (large basins and transpressional uplifts). Migrating stepovers and ‘traditional’ stepovers may be end members of stepover evolutionary types, and the ratio of wake length to the amount of slip along the PDZs during stepover development measures the ‘migrating stepover component’ of a given stepover. For a ‘pure’ migrating type, the wake length may be equal to or greater than the PDZ cumulative slip during the time of stepover evolution, whereas for a ‘pure’ traditional type, there would be no wake.

Abstract At the surface, strike-slip fault stepovers, including abrupt fault bends, are typically regions of complex, often disconnected faults. This complexity has traditionally led geologists studying the hazard of active faults to consider such stepovers as important fault segment boundaries, and to give lower weight to earthquake scenarios that involve rupture through the stepover zone. However, recent geological and geophysical studies of several stepover zones along the San Andreas fault system in California have revealed that the complex nature of the fault zone at the surface masks a much simpler and direct connection at depths associated with large earthquakes (greater than 5 km). In turn, the simplicity of the connection suggests that a stepover zone would provide less of an impediment to through-going rupture in a large earthquake, so that the role of stepovers as segment boundaries has probably been overemphasized. However, counter-examples of fault complexity at depth associated with surface stepovers are known, so the role of stepovers in fault rupture behaviour must be carefully established in each case.

Abstract The Scotia–Antarctic plate boundary extends along the southern branch of the Scotia Arc, between triple junctions with the former Phoenix plate to the west (57°W) and with the Sandwich plate to the east (30°W). The main mechanism responsible for the present arc configuration is the development of the Scotia and Sandwich plates from 30–35 Ma, related to breakup of the continental connection between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Scotia–Antarctic plate boundary is a very complex tectonic zone, because both oceanic and continental elements are involved. Present-day sinistral transcurrent motion probably began 8 Ma ago. The main active structures that we observed in the area include releasing and restraining bends, with related deep extensional and compressional basins, and probable pull-apart basins. The western sector of the plate boundary crosses fragmented continental crust: the Western South Scotia Ridge, with widespread development of pull-apart basins and releasing bends deeper than 5000 m, filled by asymmetrical sedimentary wedges. The northern border of the South Orkney microcontinent, in the central sector, has oceanic and continental crust in contact along a large thrust zone. Finally, the eastern sector of the South Scotia Ridge is located within Discovery Bank, a piece of continental crust from a former arc. On its southern border, strike-slip and normal faults produce a 5500-m-deep trough that may be interpreted as a pull-apart basin. In the eastern and western South Scotia Ridge, despite extreme continental-crustal thinning, the basins show no development of oceanic crust. This geometry is conditioned by the distinctive rheological behaviour of the crust involved, with the bulk concentration of deformation within the rheologically weaker continental blocks.

Abstract Restraining bend mountain ranges are fundamental orogenic elements in the Altai, Gobi Altai and eastern Tien Shan. In this paper, 12 separate restraining bends are reviewed to identify common structural and topographic characteristics. The 12 restraining bends occur in one of three different tectonic settings: (1) strike-slip fault termination zones; (2) at a major strike-slip fault bend where the individual strike-slip fault can be traced continuously from one end of the range to the other; and (3) where two separate strike-slip fault segments converge and overlap. Fault maps of the 12 separate bends reveal that they are all flower or half-flower structures in cross-section, but there is considerable architectural diversity and all have unique individual topographic, structural and dimensional characteristics. Many factors account for the architectural diversity of the restraining bend mountains, especially stepover width, total amounts of strike-slip displacement, reactivation of older structures, tectonic setting, and the angular relation between fault trace and maximum horizontal stress. The stepover sense for regionally important strike-slip faults is controlled by pre-existing basement heterogeneities and is dominantly contractional. Therefore, releasing bends and transtensional basins are largely absent. Throughout the region there is a continuum of mountain range types, from purely contractional ridges to isolated restraining bends along strike-slip-dominated zones. Nucleation, topographic uplift, along- and across-strike growth of the bend, and restraining bend coalescence with adjacent ranges appears to be an important mountain-building process in the Altai, Gobi Altai and eastern Tien Shan; similar processes are likely in other intracontinental transpressional orogens.

Abstract We describe the regional fault pattern, geological setting and active fault kinematics of Jamaica, from published geological maps, earthquakes and GPS-based geodesy, to support a simple tectonic model for both the initial stage of restraining-bend formation and the subsequent stage of bend bypassing. Restraining-bend formation and widespread uplift in Jamaica began in the Late Miocene, and were probably controlled by the interaction of roughly east–west-trending strike-slip faults with two NNW-trending rifts oriented obliquely to the direction of ENE-trending, Late Neogene interplate shear. The interaction of the interplate strike-slip fault system (Enriquillo- Plantain Garden fault zone) and the oblique rifts has shifted the strike-slip fault trace c . 50 km to the north and created the 150-km-long by 80-km-wide restraining bend that is now morphologically expressed as the island of Jamaica. Recorded earthquakes and recent GPS results from Jamaica illustrate continued bend evolution during the most recent phase of strike-slip displacement, at a minimum GPS-measured rate of 8±1 mm/a. GPS results show a gradient in left-lateral interplate strain from north to south, probably extending south of the island, and a likely gradient along a ENE–WSW cross-island profile. The observed GPS velocity field suggests that left-lateral shear continues to be transmitted across the Jamaican restraining bend by a series of intervening bend structures, including the Blue Mountain uplift of eastern Jamaica.

Abstract We report four new Ar/Ar dates and 18 new geochemical analyses of Pleistocene basalts from the Karasu Valley of southern Turkey. These rocks have become offset left-laterally by slip on the N20°E-striking Amanos Fault. The geochemical analyses help to correlate some of the less-obvious offset fragments of basalt flows, and thus to measure amounts of slip; the dates enable slip rates to be calculated. On the basis of four individual slip-rate determinations, obtained in this manner, we estimate a weighted mean slip rate for this fault of 2.89±0.05mm/a (±2σ). We have also obtained a slip rate of 2.68±0.54mm/a (±2σ) for the subparallel East Hatay Fault farther east. Summing these values gives 5.57±0.54mm/a (±2σ) as the overall left-lateral slip rate across the Dead Sea fault zone (DSFZ) in the Karasu Valley. These slip-rate estimates and other evidence from farther south on the DSFZ are consistent with a preferred Euler vector for the relative rotation of the Arabian and African plates of 0.434±0.012° Ma −1 about 31.1°N, 26.7°E. The Amanos Fault is misaligned to the tangential direction to this pole by 52° in the transpressive sense. Its geometry thus requires significant fault-normal distributed crustal shortening, taken up by crustal thickening and folding, in the adjacent Amanos Mountains. The vertical component of slip on the Amanos Fault is estimated as c. 0.15mm/a. This minor component contributes to the uplift of the Amanos Mountains, which reaches rates of c. 0.2–0.4mm/a. These slip rate estimates are considered representative of time since. 3.73±0.05Ma, when the modern geometry of strike-slip faulting developed in this region; an estimated 11km of slip on the Amanos Fault and c. 10km of slip on the East Hatay Fault have occurred since then. It is inferred that both these faults came into being, and the associated deformation in the Amanos Mountains began, at that time. Prior to that, the northern part of the Africa–Arabia plate boundary was located further east.

Abstract Recent neotectonic, palaeoseismic and GPS results along the central Dead Sea fault system elucidate the spatial distribution of crustal deformation within a large ( c .180-km-long) restraining bend along this major continental transform. Within the ‘Lebanese’ restraining bend, the Dead Sea fault system splays into several key branches, and we suggest herein that active deformation is partitioned between NNE–SSW strike-slip faults and WNW–ESE crustal shortening. When plate motion is resolved into strike-slip parallel to the two prominent NNE–SSW strike-slip faults (the Yammouneh and Serghaya faults) and orthogonal motion, their slip rates are sufficient to account for all expected strike-slip motion. Shortening of the Mount Lebanon Range is inferred from the geometry and kinematics of the Roum Fault, as well as preliminary quantification of coastal uplift. The results do not account for all expected crustal shortening, suggesting that some contraction is probably accommodated in the Anti-Lebanon Range. It also seems unlikely that the present kinematic configuration characterizes the entire Cenozoic history of the restraining bend. Present-day strain partitioning contrasts with published observations on finite deformation in Lebanon, demonstrating distributed shear and vertical-axis block rotations. Furthermore, the present-day proportions of strike-slip displacement and crustal shortening are inconsistent with the total strike-slip offset and the lack of a significantly thickened crust. This suggests that the present rate of crustal shortening has not persisted for the longer life of the transform. Hence, we suggest that the Lebanese restraining bend evolved in a polyphase manner, involving an earlier episode of wrench-faulting and block rotation, followed by a later period of strain partitioning.

Abstract The Chainat duplex is about 100 km in a north–south direction, and was developed along the predominantly sinistral Mae Ping fault zone, which was active during the Cenozoic. The duplex is manifested as eroded, north–south- and NW–SE-striking outliers of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks rising from the surrounding flat plains of the Central Basin (a Pliocene–Recent post-rift basin). Satellite images, geological maps and magnetic maps have been used to reconstruct the structural geometry of the duplex, which is composed of a series of north–south-striking ridges, bounded to the north and south by NW–SE-striking faults. Overall, the duplex has the geometry of analogue restraining-bend models with relatively low displacement. No well-developed duplex-traversing short-cut faults linking the principal displacement zones are apparent. The duplex shows evidence for widespread sinistral motion, as well as some dextral reactivation the latter of which is particularly marked in the eastern part of the duplex. The main sinistral activity ended at about 30 Ma: subsequently, minor, episodic reactivation of the duplex may have occurred. Detailed timing of events cannot be determined from structures within the duplex, but the evolution of adjacent rift basins suggests that stresses developed during episodes of inversion may have also caused reactivation of strike-slip faults (sinistral for NW–SE to north–south striking faults) during the Miocene. Minor episodic dextral motion may also have been of Late Oligocene–Miocene and/or Pliocene–Recent age.

Abstract The c. 500-km-long Mae Ping fault zone trends NW–SE across Thailand into eastern Myanmar and has probably undergone in excess of 150 km sinistral motion during the Cenozoic. A large, c. 150-km-long, restraining bend in this fault zone lies on the western margin of the Chainat duplex. The duplex is a low-lying region dominated by north–south-trending ridges of Mesozoic and Palaeozoic sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks, flanked by flat, post-rift basins of Pliocene–Recent age to the north and south. A review of published cooling-age data, plus new apatite and zircon fission-track results indicates that significant changes in patterns of exhumation occurred along the fault zone with time. Oldest uplift and erosion (Eocene) occurred in the Umphang Gneiss region, west of an inferred thrust-dominated restraining-bend setting. From 36 Ma to 30 Ma, exhumation was strongest north of the duplex, along the NW–SE-trending segment of the fault zone at the (northern) exiting bend of the Chainat duplex. This region of the fault zone is characterized by a mid-crustal level shear zone 5–6 km wide (Lan Sang Gneisses), that passes to the NW into an apparent strike-slip duplex geometry. The deformation is interpreted to have occurred during passage around the northern restraining bend, which resulted in vertical thickening, uplift, erosion and extensional collapse of the northern side of the shear zone. This concentration of deformation at the bends at the ends of the restraining bend is thought to be a characteristic of strike-slip-dominated restraining bends. Following Late Oligocene–Early Miocene extension, there is apatite fission-track evidence for 22–18 Ma exhumation in the Chainat duplex, that coincides with a phase of inversion in the Phitsanulok Basin to the north. The Miocene–Recent history of the Chainat duplex is one of minor sinistral and dextral displacements, related to a rapidly evolving stress field, influenced by the numerous tectonic reorganizations that affected SE Asia during that time.

Abstract In the eastern Southern Alps (NE Italy), Liassic north–south extensional structures are prominent. The southern Trento Platform also experienced extension during the Palaeogene, when reactivation of some pre-existing faults occurred, coupled with nucleation of new faults. During Neogene shortening, these structures were reactivated once again, but with strike-slip kinematics. In this framework, the Gamonda–Tormeno restraining stepover represents the final result of an overlap zone which evolved through time. In the first stage (Lias to Early Cretaceous) a prominent splay developed at the tip of the Gamonda Fault by lateral propagation and breaching of independent segments. At the same time, there was kinematic interaction between the antithetic Gamonda and Tormeno faults, followed by diachronous motion on crossing faults and the development of a narrow graben. During the second stage of extensional tectonics (Palaeocene to Early Oligocene), the reactivation and propagation of the overlapping faults along with the generation of new faults led to deepening of the graben. In the third stage (Miocene to present), the final structure of a strike-slip restraining stepover was accomplished. Due to the mechanical stratigraphy and complex inherited architecture of the relay zone where stratigraphic sequences with different rheological properties are juxtaposed, the style of shortening is different in the western and eastern sides of the stepover. The Gamonda–Tormeno structure represents a unique example of how a relay zone may change through time.

Abstract The east–west Minas fault zone, separating the Early Palaeozoic Meguma and Avalon terranes of the Appalachians, experienced dextral strike-slip motion during the Carboniferous. Abundant oblique contractional structures indicate localized dextral transpression, immediately south of the zone, probably associated with a restraining bend. Subsurface data indicate that the deformed Horton Group clastic rocks are thrust above younger Windsor Group evaporites. Excellent exposures on wave-cut platforms of the Bay of Fundy show structures developed in transpression, including NE-trending upright and inclined folds; south-verging thrust and reverse faults; and NW-striking normal faults. Northwest-trending boudins, which are perpendicular and slightly rotated in a clockwise sense relative to fold hinges, provide a field indicator for dextral transpression. The earliest folds (F 1 ) are curvilinear and may have formed by deformation of wet sediment. F 2 tectonic folds show weak axial-planar cleavage. Locally, these have been rotated into reclined orientations; spectacular downward-facing folds are probably due to refolding by more east–west F 3 folds. The structures observed are consistent with pure-shear-dominated transpression, with the local angle of convergence α increasing over time. This strain history is compatible with progressive strain partitioning, probably associated with the spreading of topography developed at the restraining bend.

Abstract The 500-km-long strike-slip North Island Fault System (NIFS) intersects and terminates against the Taupo Rift. Both fault systems are active, with strike-slip displacement transferred into the rift without displacing normal faults along the rift margin. Data from displaced landforms, fault-trenching, gravity and seismic-reflection profiles, and aerial photograph analysis suggest that within 150 km of the northern termination of the NIFS, the main faults in the strike-slip fault system bend through 25°, splay into five principal strands and decrease their mean dip. These changes in fault geometry are accompanied by a gradual steepening of the pitch of the slip vectors, and by an anticlockwise swing (up to 50°) in the azimuth of slip on the faults in the NIFS. As a consequence of the bending of the strike-slip faults and the changes in their slip vectors, near their intersection, the slip vectors on the two component fault systems become subparallel to each other and to their mutual line of intersection. This subparallelism facilitates the transfer of displacement from one fault system to the other, accounting for a significant amount of the NE increase of extension along the rift, whilst maintaining the overall coherence of the strike-slip termination. Changes in the slip vectors of the strike-slip faults arise from the superimposition of rift-orthogonal differential extension outside the rift margin, resulting in differential motion of the footwall and hanging-wall blocks of each fault in the NIFS. The combination of rift-orthogonal heterogeneous extension (dip-slip) and strike-slip, results in a steepening of the pitch of the slip vectors on the terminating fault system. Slip vectors on each splay close to their terminations are, therefore, the sum of strike-slip and dip-slip components, with the total angle through which the pitch of the slip vectors steepens being dependent on the relative values of both these two component vectors. In circumstances where interaction of the velocity fields for the intersecting fault systems cannot resolve to a slip vector that is boundary-coherent, either rotation about vertical axes of the terminating fault relative to the through-going fault system may take place to accommodate the termination of the strike-slip fault system, or the rift may be offset by the strike-slip fault system rather than terminating into it. At the termination of the NIFS, an earlier phase of such rotations may have produced the 25° anticlockwise bend in fault strike and contributed up to about one-third of the anticlockwise deflection in slip azimuth. On the terminating strike-slip NIFS, therefore, rotational and non-rotational termination mechanisms have both played a role, but at different times in its evolution, as the thermal structure, the rheology and the thickness of the crust in the rift intersection region have changed.

Abstract Metre- to kilometre-scale en échelon strike-slip faults were mapped at the 1:10 000 scale in the Gánt mining area of the Vértes Hills in central Hungary. Good exposures allow detailed observation of brittle structures within the transfer zones of the overstepping fault segments. The strike-slip segments are subvertical to steeply dipping, with a rake of 20–30° accommodating a noticeable dip-slip. Displacement transfer between strike-slip faults was achieved through transtensional relay ramps, which represent a specific type of transfer zone. The breaching faults are oblique-normal or pure normal types. Their strike, dip and the obliquity of their striae change systematically. This occurred in order to accommodate extension across the relay ramp. Low-angle connecting faults occur at a high angle to the main fault, and form preferentially when the striae approach the orientation of the strike of the main fault. Slip vectors on the main and secondary connecting fault planes are subparallel, so defining a coherently moving hanging wall. A stress-inversion method was applied for the main fault segments, which characterize a state of stress of regional significance. Calculations were performed for the whole data-sets, including data for the guided connecting faults of the transtensional relay ramps, even though, in theory, stress inversion is not realistic for faults with a guided slip. Indeed, calculations gave a state of stress that is differs from that of the regional stress state. The results should be a warning to geologists that fault geometry has to be clarified in overstepping fault arrays before using the data-set for fault-slip inversion.

Abstract We propose a theoretical model, supported by a field study, to describe the patterns of fault/fracture meshes formed within dilational stepovers developed along faults accommodating regional scale wrench-dominated transtension. The geometry and kinematics of the faulting in the dilational stepovers is related to the angle of divergence (α), and differs from the patterns traditionally predicted in dilation zones associated with boundary faults accommodating strike-slip displacements (where α = 0°). For low values of oblique divergence (α<30°) and low strain, the fault–fracture mesh comprises interlinked tensile fractures and shear-extensional planes, consistent with wrench-dominated transtension. At higher values of strain, a switch occurs from wrench- to extension-dominated transtension, leading to the reactivation and/or disruption of the early-formed structures. These structural processes lead to the development of a geometrically complex and kinematically heterogeneous fault pattern, which may affect and/or perturb the development of a through-going fault linking and facilitating the slip transfer between the two overlapping fault segments. As a result, dilational stepover zones will tend to form long-lived sites of localized extension and subsidence in regional transtensional tectonic settings. Cyclic increases/decreases of structural permeability will be related to slip on the major boundary faults that control the distribution of fluid-flow paths and, consequently, the long- and short-term structural evolution of these sites. Our model also predicts complex and more realistic subsurface fluid migration pathways relevant to our current understanding of hydrothermal ore deposits and hydrocarbon migration and storage.

Abstract High-temperature, volcanic-centre-related hydrothermal systems involve large fluid-flow volumes and are observed to have high discharge rates in the order of 100–400 kg/s. The flows and discharge occur predominantly on networks of critically stressed fractures. The coupling of hydrothermal fluid flow with deformation produces the volumes of veins found in epithermal mineral deposits. Owing to this coupling, veins provide information on the fault–fracture architecture in existence at the time of mineralization. They therefore provide information on the nature of deformation within fault zones, and the relations between different fault sets. The Virginia City and Goldfield mining districts, Nevada, were localized in zones of strike-slip transtension in an Early to Mid-Miocene volcanic belt along the western margin of North America. The Camp Douglas mining area occurs within the same belt, but is localized in a zone of strike-slip transpression. The vein systems in these districts record the spatial evolution of strike-slip extensional and contractional stepovers, as well as geometry of faulting in and adjacent to points along strike-slip faults where displacement has been interrupted and transferred into releasing and restraining stepovers.