The Role of Preexisting Basement Structures During Continental Collison: Insights from Analog “Sandbox” Modeling
Department
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Major
Geology
Research Advisor
Hogan, John Patrick
Advisor's Department
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Abstract
During continental collision, reactivation of preexisting faults may influence the development of geologic structures that lead to the formation of mountain chains. For example, during crustal rifting normal faults develop in the basement as it is extended. During continental collision (i.e., compression), we predict these normal faults will reactivate as reverse faults and change the shape and evolution of the accretional wedge. To help us better understand the role of “inherited basement structures” in the formation of orogenic wedges, we designed three analog “sandbox” models to simulate continental collision, where layers of colored sand represent sedimentary rocks and rigid boards with cuts represent the basement with normal faults. Model 1 represents continental collision without preexisting faults. Model 2 represents continental collision where the basement contains several normal faults all dipping in the same direction. Model 3 simulates a continental collision where the basement contains “Horst” and “Graben” style normal faulting.
Biography
Caroline Fernandez is an undergraduate senior in Geology. Her hobbies include; pottery, glass blowing, camping, scrapbooking, rock collecting, and reading. She hopes to find an exciting career as a geologist in the field of mining.
Research Category
Research Proposals
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Award
Research proposal poster session, First place
Location
Upper Atrium/Hallway
Presentation Date
07 Apr 2010, 9:00 am - 11:45 am
The Role of Preexisting Basement Structures During Continental Collison: Insights from Analog “Sandbox” Modeling
Upper Atrium/Hallway
During continental collision, reactivation of preexisting faults may influence the development of geologic structures that lead to the formation of mountain chains. For example, during crustal rifting normal faults develop in the basement as it is extended. During continental collision (i.e., compression), we predict these normal faults will reactivate as reverse faults and change the shape and evolution of the accretional wedge. To help us better understand the role of “inherited basement structures” in the formation of orogenic wedges, we designed three analog “sandbox” models to simulate continental collision, where layers of colored sand represent sedimentary rocks and rigid boards with cuts represent the basement with normal faults. Model 1 represents continental collision without preexisting faults. Model 2 represents continental collision where the basement contains several normal faults all dipping in the same direction. Model 3 simulates a continental collision where the basement contains “Horst” and “Graben” style normal faulting.
