Regional seismic reflection line, southern Illinois Basin, provides new data on Cambrian rift geometry, Hicks Dome genesis, and the Fluorspar Area Fault Complex
- U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
- Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States)
Detailed studies of the subsurface structure of the Cambrian Reelfoot rift (RFR) in the Midwestern US provide important insights into continental rifting processes and into the structural fabric of a zone of modern intracratonic seismicity (New Madrid zone). High-quality oil industry seismic reflection data show that in the area of transition between the RFR and the Rough Creek Graben (RCG) the geometry of the Cambrian rift system is that of a half-graben that thickens to the southeast. This contrasts with the northward-thickening half-graben observed to the east in the RCG and with the more symmetric graben to the south in the RFR. An 82.8-km segment of a northwest-southeast seismic reflection profile in southeastern Illinois and western Kentucky shows that near Hicks Dome, Illinois, Middle and Lower Cambrian syn-rift sedimentary rocks occupy about 0.35 s (two-way travel time) on the seismic reflection section (corresponding to a thickness of about 970 m). This stratigraphic interval occupies about 0.45 s (1,250 m) near the Ohio river and is thickest against the Tabb Fault System (TFS) in Kentucky, where it occupies 0.7 s (1,940 m). The seismic data show that in this part of the Cambrian rift the master fault was part of the TFS and that normal displacement on the TFS continued through middle Paleozoic time. The seismic data also provide new information on the late Paleozoic development of Hicks-Dome and the surrounding Fluorspar Area Fault Complex (FAFC) in southeastern Illinois and western Kentucky. A series of grabens and horsts in the FAFC document a late Paleozoic reactivation of the RFR. Comparison of the reflection data with surface mineralization patterns shows that in most cases mineralized graben-bounding faults clearly cut basement or are splays from faults that cut basement.
- OSTI ID:
- 5807864
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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