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  • Strike-Slip Fault Sylvester 1988

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    A paper in strike-slip tectonics

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    A paper in strike-slip tectonics

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    34 visualizações38 páginas

    Strike-Slip Fault Sylvester 1988

    Enviado por

    geoecologist
    A paper in strike-slip tectonics

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Sinalizar o conteúdo como inadequado
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    CENTENMAL ARTICLE Strike-slip faults Reprinted from Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 100, p. 1666-1703 ARTHUR G, SYLVESTER Department of eological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 ABSTRACT ‘The importance of strike-slip faulting was recognized near the turn of the century, chiely from investigations of surficial ofsets associated with major earthquakes ia. New Zealand, Japan, and California, Extrapola- tion from observed horizontal displacements during single earthquakes to more abstract concepts of long-term, slow accumulation of ‘hundreds of kilometers of horizontal transia- tion over geologic time, however, came al- ‘most simultaneously from several pars of the ‘world, but only after much regional geologic ‘mapping and synthesis. Strike-ip faults are classified either as ‘transform faults which cut the lithosphere 2s plate boundaries, or as transcurrent faults which are confined tothe crust. Each class of {faults may be subdivided further according to their plate or intraplate tectonic function. A ‘mechanical understanding of strike-slip faults thas grown out of laboratory model studies which give a theoretical bass to relate ful {ng to concepts of pure shear or simple shear. Conjugate sets of strike-slip faults form in pure shear, typically across the strike of a ‘convergent orogenic belt. Fault lengths are generally ess than 100 km, and displacements slong them are mensorable in a few to tens (of kilometers. Major strike-slip faults form in regional belts of simple shear, typically paral- lel to orogenic belts; indeed, recognition of the role strike-slip faults play in ancient oro- genic belts is becoming increasingly com- ‘monplace as regional mapping becomes more detailed and complete. The lengths and dis- placements of the great strike-slip faults range in the hundreds of kilometers. ‘The postion and orientation of associated folds, local domains of extension and shorten- ing, and elated fractures and faults depend on the bending or stepping geometry of the strike-slip fault or fault zone, and thus the degree of convergent or divergent strike sip. Elongate basins, ranging from sag ponds 10 thombochasms, form as eesul of extension in domains of divergent strike slip such as re- leasing bends; pl-apart basins evolve be- tween overstepping strike-slip fauts. The aurangement of suike-lip faults which bound basin i tulip-shaped in profiles normal to strike. Elongate uplift, ranging from pres- sare ridges to long, low bls or small moun (ain ranges, form as 4 result of crustal shortening in zones of convergent strike sip; they are bounded by an arrangement of strike-slip faults having the prof of x palm tree, Paleoseismic investigations imply that earthquakes occur more frequently on strke- ip faults than on intraplate normal and re- verse faults. Active strike-slip faults alo fer from other types of faults in that they evince fault creep, which is largely a surficial ‘phenomenon driven by elastic loading of the crust at seismogenic depths. Creep may be steady state or episod, pre-slsmic, co- seismic, or postseismic, depending on the ‘constitutive properties of the fault zone and the nature of the sate strain fed, among 2 umber of other factors which are incom pletely understood. Recent tudes have iden- fied relations between strike-slip faults and crustal delamination at or near the seismo- ‘gle zone, giving « mechanism for rerional rotation and translation of erusal slabs and Makes, but how general and widespread are these phenomena, and how the mechanisms operate that drive these detachment tectonics are questions that require addtional observa- tins, data, and modeling. Several’ fundamental. problems remsin poorly understood, including the nature of formation of en echelon fols and their rela- tion to strike-slip faulting; the effect of me- chanical stratigraphy on strke-ip-fault structural styles the thermal and stress states soag transform plate boundaries; and the discrepancy between recent geological and Historical faultstip rates relative to more sapid rates of slip determined from analyses ‘Geologist Society of America Bulletin, 100, p 16€6-1703, 31 figs, | table, November 1988, aT of seafloor magnetic anomalies. Many of the concepts and problems concerning strike-slip, faults are derived from nearly a century of study of the San Andreas fault and have ‘added much information, but solutions 10 several remaining and new fundamental prob- lems will come when more attention is fo- ‘cused on other, les well studied strike-slip faults. INTRODUCTION ‘The cals scientific record of strike slip was ‘of a New Zealand earthquake in 1888, the same year the Geological Society of America was founded. Many other strike-slip faults have been discovered since that time, alo as a result of ‘observed surface ruptures. The great San Fran- ‘isco earthquake of 1906 on the San Andreas fault is particularly noteworthy in this regard. Surke-slip faults, however, are regional struc tures and require regional studies to document their existence and history. Several decades lapsed after that New Zealand earthquake be- fore the geological community had sufficient data to extrapolate from empirical, instantaneous strike-slip in earthquakes to more abstract interpretations that permited tensor even thou sands of Kilometers of crustal translation by strike slip over geologic time. Then plate tecton- ‘cs, with is startling concepts of crustal mobility, allowed geologists to overcome the limitations of fxist tectonics which prevailed before the 1960s and to understand the mechanical com- plexiies and tectonics of strike-slip. Extensive field investigations, innovative ‘experimental studies, mages of the third dimen sion by seismic reflection and driling, refined ating techniques, painstaking interpretations of paleosetmicity, and analyses of modem earth ‘quakes show that crustal slabs and plates have indeed slipgd horizontally great distances dur- ing geologic time, as Wegener’s hypotheses pre- Supposed, Now we Reve new fdas of Bow elongate uplits and basins rise and fll slong active strike-slip faults, we te increasingly com- palling evidence that crustal “miniplates” have Toated about vertical axes in broad zones of simple shear; we have good theoretical and ‘experimental models suppored with welldoc- mented geological examples to explain the ‘once thorny question of how major strike-slip {aults terminate, Our understanding of bow they ‘behave mechanically has improved, but we sill ‘know litle about these faults inthe third dimen- sion or about their thermo-mechanical behav. Seismology and paleosesmology have been es pecially important in providing mechanica un derstanding, because in continental areas such a: southern Califomia, New Zealand, and Asia, ac tive strike-slip falls canbe studied to give ideas ‘bout how they have behaved during geologic chaps because it is so well exposed along much of ts length, because itis an active faults close to « highly populated part of the United ‘States having several major academic and gov: ‘emmenial scientific groups living almost directly ‘upon i, and because of the presence of peo: Jeum in structural traps along it, the San An: reas fault is the most extensively studic! strike-slip fault inthe world (see summary pa pers by Crowell, 1979; ill, 1981; len, 1981). For that reason, the San Andreas fault has beet the source of many ideas pertaining to strike» tectonics (Hill, 1981); I therefore give the San ‘Andreas fault what may seem to some readers ‘an undue provincial emphasis inthis review. ‘The purposes ofthis paper are to collet and! review » number of principles, concepts, anc! notions about strike-slip fauls; to summaria: ‘what isknown about their geometric, kinematic, and tectonic implications to discuss some ofthe fuistanding problems; and 10 call attention some challenging problems that must receive al- tention over the next decade or $0 to gain bette: ‘understanding of thee structures. A plethora of literature citations is given to show the sources ‘of those principles, concepts and notions, and to {uide th reader toward more specific informa: tion, Many references to the older ltertur: demonstrate that many of our beliefs about srike-lip faults were perceived, even if onl ‘dimly, by remarkably insightful geologists well before the plate-tectonic revolution TERMINOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION Strike-ip faults and dip-lip faults are fend members of the spectrum in a kinemati lasification of faults (Reid and others, 1913; Perry, 1935). A stikeslip fault is “a fault on Which most of the movement is parallel to faults sike” (Bates and Jackson, 1987). ‘The term “wrench fault” was popularized by STRIKE-SUP FAULTS. (aa Apes ema te a TTR ap ne nn nd Ta Wot 9 2 so ne a rr me em “Moody and Hill (1956), who borrowed the term fom Kennedy (1946). Kennedy, in tum, was influenced by E. M. Anderson, who used the term in 1905, because “wrench planes” was ‘used fora long time by the Scotsh Geological ‘Survey in the Highlands (Anderson, writen dis- cussion in Kennedy, 1946). All f these writers ‘wed the term for a deep-seated, regional, nearly vertical strike-slip fault which involves igneous ‘and metamorphic basement rocks as wells su- pracrustal sedimentary rocks (Moody and Hil, 1956; Wilcox and others, 1973; Biddle and CChriste-Blick, 1985). Other writers refered to such faults as “wanscurrent fauls” (Geikie, 1905); many sill do, and itis a good term for ‘any major strike-slip fault whose relation to a ‘cumdowew) ete Sp eter eee mS Tne tem pen wit eto, ‘Sheva cer tp an ae STi he tence teeta a compe semi RSS ta pet ae CRE TE a Ea te Soca Taha atone Eaateerrrrer raat genetic classification (for example, Woodcock, 1986) is not clear, ‘Many waiters have used “wrench fault” with increasing frequency for any and all strike-ip faults, whether or nt they ae regional, vertical, ‘or involve cxysulline basement. Many major strike-slip faults are not vertical, however, nor can they be shown to involve basement. More= cover, “wrench fault” cars the kinematic implcatién of torsion, which adds tothe confs- sion. For these reasons, I recant my previous infatuation with “wrench faults” (Sylvester, 1984) and recommend that strike-slip fault be sed fora faut of any scale along which move- ‘ment is parallel to the strike of the faut, that transform fault be reained for a plate-bounding — Figure 1. Plate-tectonle settings of major classes of transform faults (redrawn from Wou- ‘cock, 1986). Reproduced with permission of The Royal Society (London). 48 strike-slip faut, and that ranscurrent fault be revived as the general term forthe varity of ike-lip faults which do not cut the ithosphere (Table), ‘A transform fault i «kind of plate-bounding strike-slip faull, regional in scale, that cuts ‘through the lithosphere and fully accommodates the motion between plates, Woodcock (1986) has presented a useful, although genetic, classif- cation of transform faults according to their plate-tectonic setting (Fig. 1). The primary at- tributes of ridge transforms the fst of Wood- ‘cock’ four types, are that they link spreading ‘oceanic ridges and cut oceanic lithosphere (De- Long and others, 1979; Woodcock, 1986). They havea short active life asa strike-tip strand, but 4 long later history as an oceanic fracure 2one ‘with dip-stip displacements, anda sense of strike slip that is opposite to the sense of ridge offset (Wilson, 1965). Moreover, the apparent oft of ridge crests may be very much greater than the actual displacement along the ridge trans- form itself. Ancient ridge transforms are pres- cently restricted to ophiolite complexes, posing dificulties for thie recognition, but tily com- pelling examples have been described in ophio- lite complexes in California (Saleeby, 1977; Cannat, 1985), Washington (Millr,” 1985), Newfoundland (Karson and Dewey, 1978), [New Caledonia (Prnzhofer and Nicolas, 1980), the Apennines (Abbate and others, 1972), and ‘Turkey (Gianelli and others, 1972). They are recognized by the presence of one of more of the following features: a zone of intensely deformed peridotte having a vertical foliation and hori- zontal lineation, syetectonic dikes parallel tothe shear zone, hydrothermal alteration, and less than ‘normal crustal thickness owing to reduced par- tial melting. In addition, the penetratve shear strain decreases away from the ancient trans- form zone, and the sense of shear through the zone may be determined by the bending of the foliation or from the mineral fabric, Trench-lnked strike-slip faults (Fig. 1) are parallel to the trench and located within, or im ‘mediately bordering, the magmatic are. Wood- ‘cock (1986) does not regard them as true transforms, but they are, because they cut ‘through the lithosphere and delimit @fore-arc plate against @ hinterland plate. Although dis- placements measurable in hundreds of kilome- {ers are typical of trench-linked stike-lip faults, these faults accommodate only part ofthe total displacement behind the tench ata convergent plate boundary (Woodcock, 1986, p. 22). The ‘Semangko fault zone (Fitch, 1972; Page and others, 1979; Karig, 1980; Hla Muang, 1987) ‘may be regarded asthe prototype ofthis kind of fault. The Atacama fault inboard ofthe Chile trench in South America (Allen, 1965) may be another example. Ancient rench-inked strike- slip faults may be partially or completely oblit- erated or buried by the very plutons and AG. SYLVESTER volcanic ejecta that they channel to the surface Along the volcanic arc. Thus, major structural and lithologic discontinuities in the country rocks between batolths in the Peruvian Andes may be vestiges of a trenchlinked stkeslip fault which localized a long narrow line of sub- ‘rc intrusions in an “Andinotype” orogenic en- vironment (Pitcher and Busell, 1977; Pitcher, 1979}, similarly, a Mesozoic trench-inked strike-slip fault may have been responsible for localization of plutons in the Sierra Nevada bathotith of California to the extent that they eventually obliterated the fault. Tobisch and others (1986) give evidence that the bathoith formed ina long-lived extensile tectonic regime related to tumnesceace, arising from subduction- zone heating and magmatism, and they implied that the extension may have been related to ‘orogen-parallel strike slip. The Foothills faut system, active in Late Jurassic time ia the west- em Sierra Nevada, may have been part of such & system of faults (Clark, 1960; Cebull, 1972}; 30 tlso may have been the proto-Kern Canyon fault which was active in the southern Sierra Nevada when the batholith was emplaced ia Mesozoic time (Saleeby and Busby-Spera, 1986), In addition, an increasing body of field evidence shows tht intusions of granitic plu- tons are related spatially, temporally, and genetically to strike-ip faut. Shear-heating at depth along strike-slip faults isan added factor in enhancing crustal anateris (Michard-Vitrac and others, 1980), and several workers have demonsirned the syakinematic intrusion of gra- nitic plutons into pullapart structures along major transform fault zones which, of course, ‘provide a domain of extension fo the intrusions (Davies, 1982; Hutton, 1982; Castro, 1985; Ga pais and Barbarin, 1986; Guinebertau and oth- es, 1987). ‘The San Andreas (California), El Pilar (Venezuela), Chaman (Pakistan), and Chugach- Fairweather-Queen Charlote (Alaska and Can- ada) faults are examples of active and dormant ‘boundary transform faults in Woodcock's clasi- fication (Fig. 1). They accommodate the hor- zontal displacement between continental of, rarely, oceanic plates which move horizontally ‘with respect to each other. Boundary transforms hhave long lives and large displacements, com- parable to those of trench-linked stike-lip faults (Woodcock, 1986, p. 23). They may ‘evolve naturally from indentinked strike-tip faults or they may reactivate old, steep faults having a variety of orientations ‘and mecha- ‘isms, including ancient subduction zones, a3 Hill (1971) proposed for the NewportIngle- ‘wood zone in southera California, and as Free- land and Diet (1972) postulated forthe El Pilar fault in northern Vencruela, Conversely arc and wench structures may owe their position to the former existence of regional strike-slip faults (Garewitz and Karig, 1986). 49 Indeatlinked srike-tip faults (Fig. 1) ae not true transform falls, because they do ot cut the lithosphere. Thy justapose pieces of continental lithosphere, especialy ia 20008 of plate conver- gence and tectonic escape. Displacements on singe faults may ange fom tens to hundreds of Aailometers and they may reactivate any kind of availabe pre-existing, steep type offal. Present examples include sever strike-slip faults in Tibet and southern China that formed in re- sponse to collision with India, nthe central part of scuther Japan where the Pacific pate con- ‘verges wit the Asian plate (Sugimura and Mat- sada, 1965), and in Tran where the northeast ‘edge ofthe Arabian plate converges with Eura- sia (Berberian, 1981; Til and ober, 1983). Indentinked faults may be the main cause of the pervasive lineament networks in Precam- ‘brian continental crust (Watterson, 1978; Burt- ‘man, 1980; Woodcock, 1986, p. 23) Toiraplate, or itracontinental, transform fauls are regional strike-slip faults which are similar to indentlnked srikesip fal in that they are restricted to the crust (Lemistki and Brown, 1988), but they need not be genetically related to “indentor tectonic," although they ‘ypically separate regional domains of extension, shortening, r shear. The Garlock fal, southern California, separates the southern end of the ex- tended Basin and Range province from the Mo- jve Desert characterized by dental shear and regional rotation about a vertical axis (Davis and Burchfie,1973).A series of strike slip faults similarly terminates the sorter end of the Basin and Range provine from a domain of plate convergence and asocated arc tectonics in Oregon (Lawrence, 1976). A tear fault accommodates the differential Asplacement within a given allochthon, or be- tween the alochthon and adjacent structural units (Biddle and Chrisie-Bick, 1985). Tear faults generally strike transverse tothe srke of the deformed rocks and are sometimes called transverse faults or even transcurrent faults for that reason. Tear fauls have been known for a Jong tie in many fod-thrst bel (fr example, the Jura Mountains, Switzerland; Hei, 1919, 613-623; loy, 1964), and early model sud- ies reproduced them experimentally (Clos, 1933; Lee, 1929) Transfer fault bas been vse formally but increasingly for strke-ip faults thet connect ‘overtepping segments of parallel or en echelon strike-ip faults Commonly located atthe ends of pull-parts they “ransfer” the diplacement across the stepover from one paral ful seg- tent to the other. They have abo been called “oblique felts" (Mann and others, 1983) DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF STRIKE-SLIP FAULTING ‘The Book of Zechariah, written in 347 BC, contains what may be the fist reference to strike-slip faulting (Freund, 1971); in fact, one ion, although the sense ‘of slips not specified: “and the Mount of Olives, shall cleave inthe midst thereof toward the east ‘and toward the west, and there shall bea very ‘great valley; and half the mountain shall remove to the north, and half of itv the south” (Zecha- riah 14:4), ‘The Swiss geologist, Amold Escher von der Linth, may have been the first geologist to dis- cover and correctly interpret the geology of « strike-slip fault (Sengér, 1987, written com- ‘mun. Sengor and others, 1985). Escher noted ‘horizontal slickensides and the surprising linear- ty of the 8-km-long trace of the what is now called the "Sax Schwendi fult” which cuts the ‘Sint olds south of Wildkirhli inthe canton of ‘Appenzell, and he showed them to Suess (1885, p. 153, 158) in the 1850s, Esche’s mapping Clearly showed thatthe displacement is sinistral and ranges from 500 to 800 m. The earliest report of strike slip during an carthquake may be the anecdote that a sheep corral was transected by the surface rupture of the great 1857 earthquake on California's San ‘Andreas fault and was thus deformed into a structure shaped like the leter “S” (Wood, 1955), Freund (1971), however, gave credit for the first published record of strike slip McKay (1890, 1892), one of New Zealand's most dis- tinguished feld workers, who documented sur- {ace strike slip associated withthe earthquake of September 1, 1888, on what is now called the “Hope fault” on the South Island of New Zea- land. Koté (1893) described leflateral di- placement of up to 2 m and vertical displace- ‘ment up to 6 m at Midori, Japan, associated with the Mino-Owari eanthquake of 1891. The ‘Chaman fault in Pakistan was discovered in 1892 when the Queta-Chaman railroad was sinistral ofset 75 cm during an earthquake on that fault Griesbach, 1893). Those earthquakes ‘were in fil iste places, owever and their descriptions were published in journals wit im ited cteuation. ‘The phenomenon of strike-slip faulting was roundly evinced to the scientific world when a ‘maximum of 4.7 m of right-lateral slip abropty ‘occurred on the San Andreas fault in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. “Had the Sen Andreas been clasfied before 1906, it would probably have been described asa ‘nor- sma fault” (Willi, 1938a, p. 799), because no ‘lear indication of strike-slip faulting was recog nized on any of its segments that had been ‘mapped prior to 1906 (Hil, 1981). Many geo- morphic features considered today as being ©} cers of strike-slip faults, however, were 1 gnied before the earthquake along a linear zone several hundred kilometers long. (Fait- banks, 1907, p. 324; Gilbert, 1907, p. 228). It ‘was the nearly 300-km-long surface rupture it self, im fac, which clearly linked the sundry STRIKE-SLIP FAULTS segments together and demonstrated the length ‘and mechanism ofthe faut. The San Francisco earthquake incontovertbly tught contempo- rary geologists that substantial horizontal move- sens occur and recur along faults especialy in California (Lawson and others, 1908; Wood, 1916; Lawson, 1921), As ate a 1950, however, some gelogiss were not so certain: “io judge from meager repors availabe, primary dix placement of the Californian wholly ranscur- Feat kind is uncommon in other regions on a tajor sale. Some of the San Andreas fractures seem 10 be almost unique” (Cotton, 1950, ». 750), Geologists were very slow to extrapolate the cobcerved movements during eanbquekes 10 repeiton of those movements over geologic tine, producing displacements of hundreds of Xilometer. The early English and Scotsh geo- logical iterate contains many descriptions of suke-lip als having fom a few tens of me- ters 0 few thousands of meters of horizontal developed at all scales and are in mutually ex- clusive domains for a given scale (Tir, 1984), ‘As much as 15 km of displacement has oc- curred acros some ofthe faults. Geometric at- ‘gu! sand palinspastic map reconstructions indicate that both fault sets formed initially at 30° 10 the east-west shortening direction and rote thereafter about a vertical axis awa, from it (Fre, 1984), as Freund (1970a) postu- lated for conjugate faults in the Sistan District of Iran (ee also Tirrul and others, 1983). The bull. strain appromches the magnitude of te segional pre shear: east-west shortening is up 10 25% ‘with north-south extension (Tirru, 1984). Other notable regional domains of trike sip caused by ‘bulk pure shear in areas of crustal convergence have been idemied in the Apennines of cetral Ttaly (Lavecchia and Pill, 1980, 1981), the Carpathian Pannonian basin in southeastern Eu- rope (Royden and otbers, 1982) the Makran of, southwest Pakistan (Platt and others, 1988), the southem Chilean Andes (Katz, 1962), and inthe sccretionary prism ofthe Aleutian treach (Lewis and others, 1988). ‘Simple Shear The major suike-dip Caults of the world ‘are in domains of simple shear which may be ‘thousands of kilometers long and tens of kilome- ters wide, and they have displacements mea- 56 sored in hundreds of kilometer. Within the 2o0e into the lower crst (Hearn and Claytor, 1986, 1986). When the focal mechanisms of very large sample of earthquakes ae analyze, the only ones with thrust mechanisms correct for ‘detachment below rotated slabs are not onty the deepest in southern Califomia, but are als> just those decp earthquakes located oneal the ‘central Transverse Ranges (Hearn and Claytor, 1986a, 1986b). Not coincidenully, the central ‘Transverse Ranges ae not isosatically compes- sated they lack a root ‘These studies, together with the dhrus-fault imerpetation of the Whittier Narrows earth- ‘quake of 1 Oczober 1987 (Haukson and other 1988), have revived the notioa of “flake tectoc~ fics” (Onburgh, 1972), that i, of “thinakinned {ectonics” in southern California (Yeats, 1968, 1981), wherein much or most ofthe Transvert Ranges is detached on deep and blind, north- dipping thrust faults (Webb and Kanamori, 1985). Above them, highstrength, fakesike slabs upto 15 km thick have detached from the lower crust to offset strike-slip faults at depth (fear and Clayton, 1986s, 1986b; Dewey an’ others, 1986; Lemiseki and Brown, 1988). I this model, the slabs may slide away from one ‘nother and are fee to rotate externally about a vertical axis inthe prevailing regime of simple shear. Webb and Kanamori (1985) postulated ‘that perhaps even the San Andreas fault is fet _t depth, but interpretations of seismic reflection ata across several segments of the fault seem 10 ‘egale that hypothesis (Lemiski and Brown, 1988). ‘These are profound hypotheses and revela- tions in southern California, where notions of a simple transform plate boundary have prevailed since Hamilton (1961) and Wilson (1965), fo- owing Carey (1958), gave platetectonic bases ‘to explain how borizootal displacements, meas- urable in hundreds of kilometers on the San An- reas fault, terminated abrupdy at is soutbern ‘and northern ends. The earthquake hazards posed by the blind thrust fauhs beneath the ‘Transverse Ranges give southern California con- ‘siderable reason for concern STRIKE-SLIP FAULTS IN CONVERGENT PLATE MARGINS (Orogen-Parallel Strike Sip fies to socommodate much of the borizontal plate motion, as proposed forthe Indo-Eurasia ‘coliion (Fich, 1972; Karig, 1980; Tappoaier tnd others, 1986). These motions result in part from the conversion ofthe horizontal compo ‘ent of oblique convergence onto a dete strike-lip fault behind or within the mag. .atic ar, resulting in srike-parallel chfling of ter- vanes along major, eachlinked, stikestip 1 fauks (Sarewite and Karig, 1986). Orogen- paral strike aus ae parca preva leat within presen-day,subdvctionare: com plexes characterized by oblique pate conver- gence (Fitch, 1972; Oxburgh, 1972; Saleeby, 1978, the mort popu cd example ofthis phenomenon being the Semangko fl system (Page and othes, 1979; Karig, 1980, Hla Muang, 1987) Now tat we have beter idea of the various roles and setings of srkeslip fault, evivalisoccring in the ceognition of Ste lip along the length of many cent oro- enc bes (Win, 1962; Reed td Bryant, 1964; Webb, 1969; Teponir, 197% Badly. 1982; Gates and csbes, 1986; Sarevite and Kari, 1986; Cousin and others, 1987; Feil and Thomas, 1988; Sengér, in press). ‘Strike-slip faulting is a ubiquitous process in ‘oleae ares of mot sibduton zone that have 1 continental overiing pate (Jara, 1986), tnd ar voleaocs uch as Mount St Helens are Tocated in exten 2o0es above deep shear zoe which sets preferential oriented 0 a¢- ommodate orzo ske sip wii the vol canic are (Weaver and. otbers, 1987) It is ‘noteworthy that the majority of volcanic erup- tions ae preceded by earthquakes having ske- sip focal mechanisms (Zobin, 1972; Weaver tnd tier, 1981), Geologic and. pakomagnetc evidence is twilng an interesting and compler sory of corogen-prle! lithospheric translation in mid- Sarai to cary Terry tie inthe eat Cor- dilean orogenic belt fom the wes outs of Mexico, Unied Sites, and Canada on into ‘Alaska's predic by Atwater (1970), and which may bea precunor of the kinds of mo- tions to be expected in orogenic bls aewhere. In the Corileranorgen the ane of anspor lay within the teach or bordered the volanic Arc, perhaps «ser of teachsinke, sie Slip fauks or boundary transforms at various poe in time and space. Srands ofthe fault ‘system had 175 km of dextral displacement in Lite Cretaceous or aly Tria time in what is ‘now the trans-Mexican volcanic belt (Gastil and Senay, 1973), as much as 1,000 km of dexral ‘placement along western Mexico (Krig and ter, 1978), atleast 1,200 km of dex i ‘cement west of what ow Bae Calloria (Hagstrum and others, 1985), and at least 900 kam of dental dplacenent of the preset coasts of worter Cafes and Oregon (Champion tnd otber, 1984; Bourgeois and Dot, 1985). “Te orogens bent in Washington and norieast Oregon (Care, 1958; Wise, 1963); then it re- ‘ins is sigh northwest tend north of the Shuswap terrane. and emerex agua in the other Rocky Movsiain-Tintina Teach sy tem in western Canada, where atleast 750 km, probably more “an 900 kam, of desta dis Placement oon Jin Mid Sura early ‘Cenozoic time (Gabrielse, 1985). Opposed to these dexal motions ae mid- Cretaceous sinisal movements of from 700 to £800 km that have been posted for other major fel i the orgen, including the Su ‘Nacimiento fault in central California (Seiders, 1983; Dickinson, 1983), and the Mojave. Sonora meashear in norher Mexico in mi Mesozoic time, whichis porlated to extend into easter California (Siver tnd Anderson, 1974; Anderion and Schmidt, 1983). The dec tion of fal li, whether dena or sina, on the various sik lipfulsn the trench tnked, stikesip fault sytem ia the Cordier rogen would cerainly have depended on the ange of abliqu convergence and thereat motion of one pate relativ othe oer at any given tne. Displacement long fas which bound tana ing terranes may as bave opposing ener of movement at ay given time Much of the dscusion about the origin movement, and eventual esting pace of spect teranes along the west margin ofthe Corie. {an orogen in Mesozoic time (Jones and eer, 1983; Beck, 1986) i involved inthis history, ‘simply because of the requirement of horizontal teasation for terane movement as is seen today along active, oblique convergent plate toundares(Serewite and Kari, 1986) Tectonic Escape ‘Along irregular convergent or collision front, nodes of constriction cause discrete pieces of crustal fragments and splinters termed “Scholls” to be expelled sideways on strike-ip faults having opposed senses of slip toward zones of overthrusting oF free faces formed by subduction zones. This process of tectonic es- cape” (Burke and Sengir, 1982) is a conse- quence of the inability of trenches to consume continental crust (McKenzie, 1972) and is pos- sible because ofthe extreme heterogeneity and low shear strength of continental rocks (Senge and others, 1985). The boundary force is pro- «duced by the buoyency ofthe continental crust, “The tem “Scholle” sa Geman word fr oe of fee fake, or a clo (of soi), and its an excellent descriptive word for a tectonic “take” “sah “tock “rust panel" or even “eran” where the tectonic domain it question is detached from the ith: ‘sphere and therfore cantot be termed & “pate” (Dewey and Sengir, 1979) Burke and Seng (1982) Seem 1 have extended scale wo ale sal tho: spheric domains, but I Believe tha “miniplate” or “Spiropate” are good terme Yor «mall lates. and pint iat elle be ws as Dewey atid gt lly itended ‘AG. SYLVESTER otis strength, “The surface expression ofthis buoyancy is « mountain bel, and itis therefore possible to regard the gravitational forces caused ‘by surface elevations as the driving forces for the motion of small plates” (McKenzie, 1972, pis). ‘Ore ofthe best examples of etonc escape is ‘strated by the Ansiolian schole in Turkey (Dewey and Sengir, 1979); it is driven west- ‘ward between the destral North Anatolian fault and the sinistral East Anatolian fault in response to the northward collision of the Arabian plate {nto the southern part ofthe Eurasian plate (Fig. 31) Similarly and on larger seal, «great ‘wedge of south Chia is being expelled eastward and southeastward between enormous intracon- tinestal transform faults, the sinistral Altyn Tagh and Kunlung fauls and the dental Red River fault, onto the Philippine and Pacific plates (Tapponier and others, 1982, 1986). There, ‘cape tectonics has progressed from south to north, causing reversals of movement onthe par- ticipaing strike-slip faults, and shunting ever larger scholles ofthe Asian lithosphere eastward as Inia continues its nothward penetration into southern Asia (Tapponir and others, 1986). On 1 smaller, intracomtinental sale, the wedge- shaped Mojave Desert in southern California (ig. 9) is scholle being driven eastward be- {ween the sinistral Garlock fault and the dextral San Andress fault in response to the localized ‘upper-crustal shortening between irregular edges ofthe Pacific and North American plats (Mc- Kenzie, 1972; Cummings, 1976). ‘Aa interesting case ofthe tectonics of «block mosaic (Hil, 1982) is in southern China where north-south shortening and east-west elongation EXTENSIONAD ‘BROWNE N g EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ANATOLIAN, OVAL PROUNCE SN of a tectonic domain composed of a number of blocks cause horizonal slip of several blocks ‘relative to one another, thus opening lage basins berween blocks that are wedged away from one ‘nother slong stike-lip faults (Wu and Wang, 1988). FOUR PROBLEMS “Much ofthis paper has focused on the pecu- liars ofthe San Andreas fault, but just bow represcatatve are the kinematics, dymamics.and seismic behavior of the San Andreas fault, of strike-ip faults ia general, and for boundary ‘transform felts in pancular? The answers im portant for earthquake-hazard assessment and {fo understanding strike-slip mechanics and tec- tonics. The lesons learned from the boundary transform in California willbe watched with interest by the tectonic community worldwide, and just as many strikeslip concepts have evolved in southern California and spread ese- ‘where, 50 also wil thes latest revelations. Four fundamental problems bearing on the eophysical nature of srk lp faults are exem- plified by lessons lard from the San Andreas faul. (1) What are the implications of mechani- cal stratigraphy for determination of sike-ip structural styles? (2) Why does the San Andreas fait lack a heat low anomaly (Lachenbruch and Sass, 1980)? (3) Why are measurements of ‘resent surficial stress discordant with predic- tions made from kinematic models (Mount and ‘Suppe, 19873? (4) Why do paleosesmic detr- ‘minatoas of relative pte velocity acros the fault fall short of those determined from paleo- ‘magnetic data from the sea floor (Weldon and {least [ile lanaTOUAN CONTRACTIONAL Prevince jail | i Figure 31. Westward escape of Anatolian scholle between North Anatolian (NAF and East Anatolian (EAF) faults due to collision and contiaued convergence ofthe Arabian and Eura- sian plates (rom Sengtr and athers, 1985), Reproduced with permission of Society of Eeo- ‘nomic Paleontologists and Mineralogists and of Sengi, 1988. 1 Humphreys, 1986; Minster and Jordan, 1984, 1987)? Mechanical Stratigraphy ‘Only recently have the implications of me- chanical stratigraphy become apparent in con siderations of strike-slip structural styles. Ale though Sylvester and Smith (1976) certainly acknowledged the role of detachments in the transpressonal deformation that molded the Mecca Hills, it has been the work by Yeats (1981), Terres and Sylvester (1981), Webb and Kanamori (1985), Nicholson and others (1986), [Namson and Davis (1988), and others in central and southern California that has raised many fundamental questions about the widely held as- sumption that strike-slip faults are verical to ‘reat depth. That dogma grew chiefly out of ‘ay-model laboratory experiments in which the cay lacked mechanical layering. Just as the revelations of detachment have altered our con- caps of extensional deformation, so also will they alter our views of strike-slip deformation. Heat Flow ‘At this writing, a deep bole is being drilled rear the San Andreas fault where it transects the Transverse Ranges to answer the second two questions posed above. Near-surface stress meas- ‘urements (0 to | kim) show an increase of tess with depth consistent with estimates based on Iubortory frictional experiments (about 90 bars/km). Extensive conductive heatflow meas- ‘urements made near the fault, however, show ‘no discernible effects of frictional heating, sug- ‘esting that there side fisionl eating on the ‘ult, and thatthe upper limit forthe average ‘shear sues onthe ful is ess than 200 bars. The near-surface stress measurements therefore can- not be extrapolated to depths greater than 3 km without violating existing heatlow constraints. Several hypotheses have been advanced to ex- lain the lack of heat-ow anomaly. Among ‘them isthe idea that movement along the faults in response to very low stress, or that some un- {known “cooling mechanism” sat depth, suchas subsurface water flow, which reduces tempera- ture (O'Neil and Hanks, 1980). Geologic map- , selsmic studies, and regional gravity data eget tht he sellow low-eoge tats or

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