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The impact of oblique inheritance and changes in relative plate motion on the development of rift-transform systems

Farangitakis, G.P.; Heron, P.J.; McCaffrey, K.J.W.; van Hunen, J; Kalnins, L.M.K.

The impact of oblique inheritance and changes in relative plate motion on the development of rift-transform systems Thumbnail


Authors

G.P. Farangitakis

P.J. Heron

K.J.W. McCaffrey

L.M.K. Kalnins



Abstract

In transform margins, oblique structural inheritance and plate motion vector changes have a direct impact on the margin's morphology and duration of transform activity. We investigate the effect of these two factors using numerical modelling. To simulate oblique inheritance in continental lithosphere, we model an initial rift-transform-rift configuration oriented at a range of angles (−45o to +45o) with respect to the extension direction. In a second suite of calculations, we first extend a rift-transform-rift system orthogonally and then vary the extension direction to simulate rotation of the far-field stress directions, and hence the relative plate motion. We found that transpressional deformation on the transform results in increased duration of fault activity and diffuse, longer transform zones at higher angles, while the opposite is true for the transtensional case. These observations are in good agreement with natural examples such as the Ungava Transform Zone, the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Aden, indicating that relative plate rotation plays an important role in the structural evolution of transform margins. Finally, we present a metric that links current transform margin morphology to past evolution.

Citation

Farangitakis, G., Heron, P., McCaffrey, K., van Hunen, J., & Kalnins, L. (2020). The impact of oblique inheritance and changes in relative plate motion on the development of rift-transform systems. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 541, Article 116277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116277

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 12, 2020
Online Publication Date Apr 30, 2020
Publication Date Jul 1, 2020
Deposit Date Apr 16, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Print ISSN 0012-821X
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 541
Article Number 116277
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116277

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