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Geoscience ›› 2025, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (04): 871-883.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2025.030

• Tectonic Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Deformation and Activity Characteristics of Strike-slip Fault Zones in the Western Shunbei Area, Tarim Basin

HUANG Cheng1(), LIN Bo1, YU Yixin2,3,*(), YANG Fan2,3, YU Lang2,3, CHEN Junyu2,3, NIU Yuemeng2,3   

  1. 1. Northwest Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China
    2. National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
    3. School of Earth Sciences, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
  • Online:2025-08-10 Published:2025-08-27
  • Contact: YU Yixin

Abstract:

Several NNW-trending strike-slip faults are developed well in the area west of the Shunbei No.5 Fault Zone in the Tarim basin, which have controlled hydrocarbon accumulation in the Ordovician carbonate rocks.However, research on the development characteristics and formation mechanisms of these strike-slip fault zones remains limited.Based on the refined interpretation results of the latest 3D seismic data, the paper analyzes the characteristics of differential deformation of the strike-slip fault zones in the western Shunbei area, clarifies the activity periods and intensities of the strike-slip faults, and investigates their formation mechanisms in the context of regional orogenic events along the basin margin.The strike-slip fault zones in the western Shunbei area extend downward into the Precambrian and upward to the Permian. In cross-section, they mostly present as single upright faults, flower structures, and graben morphologies. On the plane, the strike-slip fault zones are mainly distributed in a NNW-trending linear and en-echelon pattern, with overlapping segments developed in local areas. The strike-slip fault zones mainly undergo right-lateral strike-slip movement, and the activity intensity of the fault zones gradually diminishes eastward.The strike-slip fault zones in the western Shunbei area have mainly gone through four evolutionary stages: the initial weak strike-slip stage in the Early Caledonian, the strong strike-slip stage in the Middle Caledonian, the weak strike-slip stage from the Late Caledonian to the Early Hercynian, and the continuous weak strike-slip stage from the Middle to the Late Hercynian.By analyzing the differential orogenic activities on the basin margin of the Tarim Basin and the characteristics of the regional stress field, it is pointed out that pre-existing shear fractures serve as the basis for the formation of the NNW-trending strike-slip fault zones in the western Shunbei area. Moreover, multi-stage adjustment deformation, oblique compression, and intra-plate block rotation also exert important influences on the development of the strike-slip fault zones.

Key words: strike-slip fault zone, differential deformation, activity intensity, Tarim Basin, western Shunbei

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