Tectonic Processes in Extensional Fault Systems
Summary
Extensional fault systems arise where the Earth’s crust and upper mantle undergo lateral stretching, leading to networks of normal faults that accommodate lithospheric thinning. Such systems characterise continental rifts, passive continental margins and intracontinental basins, and they evolve through a complex interplay of brittle failure in the upper crust and viscous flow at greater depths. Fault nucleation and growth are controlled by regional stress fields, rheological layering, pre-existing heterogeneities and fluid pressures. Structural inheritance from older orogenic fabrics or shear zones often guides the initiation, orientation and linkage of new faults, resulting in non-colinear fault sets and segmented basins. Fault segmentation and relay ramps exert first-order control on basin architecture, sediment routing and fluid migration pathways, with implications for seismic hazard, hydrocarbon accumulations, geothermal resources and CO₂ storage. Advances in geophysical imaging, physics-based numerical simulations and analogue experiments have refined our understanding of fault geometry, slip rate variability and segment interaction, emphasising the importance of realistic three-dimensional fault models for both scientific insight and practical applications.
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Tectonic Processes in Extensional Fault Systems publication trend
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Technical terms
Extensional Fault System: Network of normal faults accommodating lateral stretching of the lithosphere.
Normal Fault: Fracture in which the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall under an extensional regime.
Rift: Zone of lithospheric divergence characterised by fault-bounded basins and thinning crust.
Structural Inheritance: Influence of pre-existing lithospheric heterogeneities on the orientation, linkage and reactivation of new faults.
Fault Segmentation: Division of a continuous fault into discrete segments that dictate rupture extent, slip distribution and seismic behaviour.
References
- Structural inheritance in amagmatic rift basins: Manifestations and mechanisms for how pre-existing structures influence rift-related faults. Earth-Science Reviews (2023).
- Impact of Variable Fault Geometries and Slip Rates on Earthquake Catalogs From Physics‐Based Simulations of a Normal Fault. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (2023).
- Pre-existing intra-basement shear zones influence growth and geometry of non-colinear normal faults, western Utsira High–Heimdal Terrace, North Sea. Journal of Structural Geology (2020).
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