Title
3D‐seismic evidence for thick‐skinned tectonics in a ‘classic’ thin skinned tectonics region (external Alpine foreland, Switzerland)
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Abstract
The north-western Alpine foreland in Switzerland and France comprises the Late Miocene Jura Mountains, considered a type example for thin-skinned thrusting where deformation of the sedimentary cover is decoupled from the basement along a regional basal detachment. To what extent basement faults were involved during its deformation is a matter of debate. We use 3D seismic data to investigate the deformation style along the easternmost tip of the Jura range in unprecedented detail. Here, basement-rooted normal faults were not only repeatedly reactivated before thrust belt formation but also contemporaneously active as reverse/transpressional faults. They either propagated up into the Mesozoic succession without interruption (‘hard linkage’) or apparently controlled the localisation of Mesozoic faults via smaller-scale shear zones (‘soft linkage’). Our analysis of the resulting fault geometries questions the existence of a large-scale basal detachment in this area and points out the importance of thick-skinned fault reactivation.
Keywords
fault reactivationseismic interpretationSwiss Jurathick-skinned tectonicsthin-skinned tectonics
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2045016
Appeared in
Title
Terra Nova
ISSN
0954-4879
Issued
2023
Publisher
Wiley
Date issued
2023
Access rights
Rights statement
© 2023 The Authors
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