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Displacement rates of normal faults

Nature volume 390, pages 157–159 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Previous estimates of displacement rates on individual faults have been limited to neotectonic faults and averaged over time intervals of about 200 kyr or less1,2,3,4,5. These estimates have been highly variable, which has led to a belief that longer-term displacement rates on individual faults are likely to be variable as well. Here we report estimates of long-term normal-fault displacement rates averaged over time intervals ranging from 1 to 40 Myr, and based on observed decreases in displacement of progressively younger horizons intersected by syn-sedimentary faults. We find that displacement rates are remarkably stable over these longer time periods, and within a given fault system the rates are strongly dependent on the relative size of the fault (as measured by cumulative vertical displacement). Taken together, these results indicate that faults become large relative to nearby faults by having higher displacement rates, even when small, rather than as a consequence of having been active for longer. Our analyses also show that high regional strain rates tend to be accommodated by high fault displacement rates rather than high fault densities.

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Figure 1: Cross section, interpreted from a two-dimensional seismic reflection line, of the Smith Bank Fault and associated Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous growth strata (shaded), Inner Moray Firth, UK North Sea (after refs 20, 21).
Figure 2: Log–log plot of elapsed time against maximum displacement for faults in three offshore (Timor Sea, North Sea and Gulf Coast) and three onshore (Basin and Range (B&R), Kenya Rift and Aegean) regions.
Figure 3: Cumulative displacement plotted against elapsed time for 17 faults from the Timor Sea (N = 8) (a), and the Inner Moray Firth (N = 9) (b).
Figure 4: Log–log plots of displacement rates on nominal 500 m faults plotted against regional strain rate for Gulf Coast (GC), North Sea (NS), Timor Sea (TS), Aegean (A), northern Basin and Range (BR) and Kenya Rift (KR).

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Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Liverpool Fault Analysis Group for useful discussions; staff of BHP Petroleum, Exxon and Statoil for providing access to seismic and other data; and Geco-Prakla for releasing seismic data from the Inner Moray Firth. We also thank Conrad Childs and Graham Yielding for comments on early versions of this article, and Mark Anders and Brian Wernicke for their reviews. This research was partly funded by the DTI/NERC Hydrocarbon Reservoirs LINK Programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Fault Analysis Group, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    A. Nicol‡, J. J. Walsh & J. Watterson

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, UK

    J. R. Underhill

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Correspondence to J. J. Walsh.

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Nicol‡, A., Walsh, J., Watterson, J. et al. Displacement rates of normal faults. Nature 390, 157–159 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/36548

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