Analog Models of Flanking Structures and a Natural Example in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to present analog models of flanking structures and to analyze the Fábrica Nova synform, Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, from a geometric point of view. We set up seven models using a linear viscous silicone and produced flanking structures with a shear velocity of 2 cm h-1. At different initial orientations with respect to the shear zone boundary, a rigid cross-cutting element with lubricated boundaries was deformed via sinistral bulk flow at a shear strain of γ = 1.28. The most interesting features of our experiments are the geometries of the different marker lines, which are heterogeneous and resulted from thickening and thinning of the silicone at the cross-cutting element terminations. To compare our analog models and the Fábrica Nova synform, we analyzed the outermost marker line of the analog models and the top surface of the Cauê Formation in the Paleoproterozoic metasediments. The best comparisons between the experiments and the natural example were obtained by our CIS90 model in terms of the flexure shape near the cross-cutting element and the cross-cutting element orientation. Thus, we suggest that the cross-cutting elements in both situations act as obstacles and consequently produce local perturbations in laminar flow.

Glass Microbeads in Analog Models of Thrust Wedges

ABSTRACT Glass microbeads are frequently used in analog physical modeling to simulate weak detachment zones but have been neglected in models of thrust wedges. Microbeads differ from quartz sand in grain shape and in low angle of internal friction. In this study, we compared the structural characteristics of microbeads and sand wedges. To obtain a better picture of their mechanical behavior, we determined the physical and frictional properties of microbeads using polarizing and scanning electron microscopy and ring-shear tests, respectively. We built shortening experiments with different basal frictions and measured the thickness, slope and length of the wedges and also the fault spacings. All the microbeads experiments revealed wedge geometries that were consistent with previous studies that have been performed with sand. However, the deformation features in the microbeads shortened over low to intermediate basal frictions were slightly different. Microbeads produced different fault geometries than sand as well as a different grain flow. In addition, they produced slip on minor faults, which was associated with distributed deformation and gave the microbeads wedges the appearance of disharmonic folds. We concluded that the glass microbeads may be used to simulate relatively competent rocks, like carbonates, which may be characterized by small-scale deformation features.

The role of backstop shape during inversion tectonics physical models

The style of deformation of rocks from basin-infilling sequences in positively inverted natural basins was discussed upon the results of laboratory experiments carried out in sandboxes with sand packs laid down in the space between two wooden blocks. The space simulated stages of crustal extension leading to (1) a half graben due to extension above a listric extensional detachment, with the blocks simulating the footwall and hanging wall, or (2) a graben, with the blocks simulating the external margins that drifted apart above a horizontal detachment. Combinations of two different angles were used to simulate the dip of curved normal faults along the internal face of the wooden blocks. Backstops in the half graben had a convex up internal face. Backstops in the graben had a concave up internal face. Shortening as partitioned in forward and backward movements within the sand packs, and the kinematics of contraction was largely influenced by the convex or concave internal faces. A buttress effect characterized by rotation of the sand pack close to the footwall was stronger for footwall with steeper-dipping internal faces. The results were compared to other physical experiments and applied to an inverted basin found in nature.

O estilo da deformação de sequências sedimentares de bacias submetidas a uma inversão tectônica positiva foi discutido a partir da análise de modelos laboratoriais, desenvolvidos em caixas de experimentos, com camadas de areia depositadas no espaço entre dois blocos de madeira. O espaço simulava estágios de extensão crustal que conduziram à formação de (1) um hemi-graben, gerado sobre um descolamento basal lístrico, com os blocos simulando o teto e o muro; e (2) um graben, com os blocos representando as margens externas que se distanciaram ao longo de um descolamento horizontal. Combinações de dois ângulos diferentes foram usadas para simular o mergulho das falhas normais curvas ao longo da face interna dos blocos de madeira. Nos hemi-grabens, os anteparos possuíam geometria convexa, e, nos grabens, geometria côncava. No pacote de areia, o encurtamento foi particionado em movimentos dirigidos a pós e antepaís, e a cinemática da contração foi fortemente influenciada pela geometria convexa ou côncava das faces internas dos anteparos. Um efeito obstáculo, caracterizado por rotação do pacote de areia, próximo ao bloco do muro, foi mais elevado junto às faces internas dos blocos de mais alto ângulo de mergulho. Os resultados foram comparados a outros experimentos físicos e aplicados a uma bacia invertida encontrada na natureza.