Thin-skinned shortening geometries of the South Fork fault: Bighorn basin, Park County, Wyoming

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Mountain Geologist; (USA)

OSTI ID:6250566

Clarey, T L ^[1]

---

1. Chevron USA, Inc., New Orleans, LA (USA)

This paper presents a new interpretation of the South Fork fault in light of thin-skinned thrust theory. Cross sections and seismic data are presented which indicate that the South Fork fault is an allochthonous salient which was emplaced in the Bighorn basin during the early to middle Eocene. All observed structural geometries can be interpreted as developing under a compressional regime, similar to the Wyoming-Utah-Idaho thrust belt. Faults either follow bedding-plane surfaces, cut up section in the direction of tectonic transport or form backthrusts. A single decollement within the Jurassic Gypsum Spring Formation appears to dominate. Tectonic transport was approximately southeast, parallel to tear faults in the allochthonous plate.

• OSTI ID: 6250566
• Journal Information: Mountain Geologist; (USA), Vol. 27:1; ISSN 0027-254X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
WYOMING
EOCENE EPOCH
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOMETRY
IDAHO
ORIGIN
SEISMIC SURVEYS
TECTONICS
UTAH
WESTERN US OVERTHRUST BELT
CENOZOIC ERA
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MATHEMATICS
NORTH AMERICA
SURVEYS
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
580000* - Geosciences