Evidence of predominatly reverse-slip on Billefjorden fault zone, northern Dickensonland, Spitsbergen
The Billefjorden fault zone is a 0.5 to 1.0 km wide zone of parallel and branching faults trending N4/sup 0/W. The Balliolbreen fault, the principal strand, has reverse separation and displaces Hecla Hoek metamorphic rocks on the east against Devonian Old Red Sandstone on the west. Large displacement is not required to explain the absence of Old Red Sandstone east of the fault because the Old Red Sandstone thins rapidly to the east. Prior to being overlain by Carboniferous rocks, the Balliolbreen fault dipped about 60/sup 0/ and other fault strands dip 39/sup 0/ to 68/sup 0/. Folds in Old red Sandstone are tight and overturned adjacent to the fault zone and become open and upright to the west. Fold axes and thrusts with separations not exceeding a few hundred meters have sinuous patterns and trends ranging from N40/sup 0/E to N45/sup 0/W; they do not intersect the fault zone with consistent trend characteristic of strike-slip faults. The gentle dip of individual fault strands and the pattern of folds and thrusts suggest east-west compression and predominatly reverse-slip. Eight samples of Old Red Sandstone have yielded a paleomagnetic pole of 32/sup 0/N, 160/sup 0/E, similar (within errors) to others determined for Spitsbergen. Comparison with paleopoles in upper Silurian and lower Devonian rocks in Norway indicates either no movement or right-slip of Spitsbergen with respect to Norway. These results do not support earlier suggestions of post-Old Red Sandstone left-slip of 200 to 1000 km on the Billefjorden fault zone.
- Research Organization:
- Lamar-Merifield Geologists, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6463030
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8510489-
- Journal Information:
- Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOMETRY
NORWAY
SANDSTONES
PALEOMAGNETISM
ANTICLINES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
INCLINED STRATA
ORIENTATION
EUROPE
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRATA
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MAGNETISM
MATHEMATICS
ROCKS
SCANDINAVIA
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
WESTERN EUROPE
580100* - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)