Geometries and Mechanisms of Thrusting, with special reference to the Appalachians

Kinematics of deformation at a thrust fault ramp (?) from syntectonic fibers in pressure shadows Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 1988
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Edward C. Beutner, Donald M. Fisher, James L. Kirkpatrick, 1988. "Kinematics of deformation at a thrust fault ramp (?) from syntectonic fibers in pressure shadows", Geometries and Mechanisms of Thrusting, with special reference to the Appalachians, Gautam Mitra, Steven Wojtal
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Strains thought to be associated with movement of a thrust sheet over a ramp are recorded by cleavages and syntectonic fibers within a thrust slice of the Hamburg sequence north of Reading, Pennsylvania. The three cleavages and bedding are coaxial with the regional east-northeast strike, and three related sets of fibers are found in pressure shadows on microscopic, near-spherical pyrite framboids. Viewed east-northeast at XZ sections, the oldest fiber set in the pressure shadows begins with a short segment at ∼40° to the slaty cleavage (S 1), but smoothly reorients clockwise to parallelism with the gently dipping S 1. A crenulation cleavage (S 2) crudely fans a broad antiform in S 0and S 1, but consistent north-northwest-side-up offsets across cleavage planes throughout the fold, and localized development of an extremely stylolitic character to S 2in the core of the fold, suggest that this cleavage preceded folding. Fibers of the first set curve sharply but continuously into fibers of the second set, which are parallel to S 2. A third cleavage (S 3) crenulates S 2and exhibits consistent top-toward-south-southeast offsets. Short fibers parallel to S 3are found on framboids in zones between S 2lamellae, but within the S 2lamellae, long fibers in cylindrical pressure shadows together with other features indicate a volume gain, subhorizontal extension during F 3development. The progression through these three deformation phases fits well with the strains expected during the movement of a thrust sheet: (1) on a flat; (2) through a closing bend onto a ramp; and (3) through an opening bend onto a higher flat.
- allochthons
- antiform folds
- Appalachians
- bedrock
- Berks County Pennsylvania
- displacements
- evolution
- extension
- faults
- folds
- foliation
- North America
- Pennsylvania
- ramps
- Reading Pennsylvania
- slaty cleavage
- slip cleavage
- strain
- structural analysis
- structural geology
- tectonics
- terranes
- three-dimensional models
- thrust faults
- United States
- pressure shadow