Abstract: Fault Development in Interbedded Clastic Sedimentary Rock
WILKINS, SCOTT J., MIACHAEL R. GROSS, MICHAEL A. WACKER, Florida International University
Summary
Fault growth in layered sedimentary rock may be understood by
analyzing fault displacement profiles with respect to lithologic
data. Fault data obtained from an interbedded sequence of clastic
sedimentary rocks were used to construct such fault displacement
profiles. Whereas profiles constructed from faults in homogeneous
media
often display continuous displacement gradients, our profiles
exhibit many aberrant trends, such as increased gradients and
noncentered, multiple maxima. We attribute these anomalies to the
theory of fracture partitioning, which states that faults are
initially confined to individual beds, and therefore display
characteristics associated with fault growth in relatively
homogeneous
media
. However, once isolated faults link across bed
boundaries, the medium is no longer homogeneous, and the irregular
profiles reflect this change from homogeneous to heterogeneous
media
. We conclude that universal models of fault growth used to
predict certain fault characteristics, such as the location of
maximum displacement and a continuous displacement gradient may not
be applied to faults in layered sedimentary rocks.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah