Stollhofen H (1998)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 1998
Publisher: Elsevier
Pages Range: 47-83
Journal Issue: 119
DOI: 10.1016/S0037-0738(98)00040-2
Sedimentary and volcanic strata in the late-orogenic intermontane Saar-Nahe Basin preserve a record of sedimentary responses to motion on contemporaneously active faults. Studies of such deposits can constrain both concepts for lateral and vertical sedimentary facies development and geometric and kinematic models of intrabasinal extension. During Carboniferous-Permian syn-rift development, the Saar-Nahe Basin underwent a marked intrabasinal segmentation generated by the offsets of longitudinal normal faults and dextral (oblique) strike-slip faults which were developed perpendicular to the SW-NE basin elongation. The latter are interpreted as transtensional transfer faults which compartmentalized the basin into segments of differing structural style, bed thickness and facies development. The fault zones themselves bound an asseblage of variously sized uplifted and downthrown blocks showing variable magnitudes and senses of displacement. Their activities are recorded by the contrasting depositional histories of tephrostratigraphically constrained sedimentary units occupying footwall and hanging wall block positions during basin filling. The influence of faults on the depositional system is seen in their effect as topographic barriers, thus rstricting free dispersal and mixing of sediment. Particular sedimentary facies, such as coals and biogenic limestones, are confined to the immediate vicinity of the fault zones, indicating the isolation of sediment-starved areas near downthrown hanging walls. Other fault-generated depressions acted as depositional traps favouring considerable accumulations of basaltic lavas, volcaniclastic mass flows and fluvial channel deposits. In contrast, uplifted footwalls are characterized by the formation of unconformities and pedogenic features. The abundance of syn-tectonic deformation structures such as sediment-filled fissures, intraformational breccias, series of micro-faults, clastic dykes and other water-escape features within syn-rift strata and their distinct spatial linkage to fault zones implies considerable seismically triggered processes associated with faulting. The combined occurrence of abrupt variations in facies architecture across faults and seismotectonic structures suggests that the basin subsidence history involved a series of events rather than gradual change.
APA:
Stollhofen, H. (1998). Facies architecture variations and seismogenic structures in the Carboniferous-Permian Saar-Nahe Basin (SW Germany): Evidence for extension-related transfer fault activity. Sedimentary Geology, 119, 47-83. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(98)00040-2
MLA:
Stollhofen, Harald. "Facies architecture variations and seismogenic structures in the Carboniferous-Permian Saar-Nahe Basin (SW Germany): Evidence for extension-related transfer fault activity." Sedimentary Geology 119 (1998): 47-83.
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