Intraplate Strike-Slip Reactivation of the Sinnyeong Fault in the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin, Korea, Due to the Concentration of Later Compressional Stress

Youngbeom Cheon, Cheol Woo Song, Son Kap Lee, Jong-Sun Kim, Moon Son

Department of Geological Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea.

DOI: 10.4236/gep.2013.13003                

Abstract

This study focuses on the geometry and kinematics of the Sinnyeong Fault which is the most conspicuous fault among the WNW-trending Gaeum Fault System in the Gyeongsang Basin,SE Korea. The fault is traced for over ca.70 kmand has a consistent WNW-trending strike with a nearly vertical dip. It has an asymmetric fault damage zone of several meters to several tens of meters in width and a several meter-thick fault core. Its main movement is interpreted as sinistral-reverse oblique-slip or sinistral strike-slip under NE-SW compressional stress regime, although it could have experienced other faultings with different senses before/after this movement. Cylindrical folds, having the NW-trending fold axes of low angle plunge, are only observed along the southern damage zone of the fault with a continuous narrow width of several tens of meters. It is thus interpreted that the formation of the folds and sinistral movement of the fault were almost contemporaneously generated due to the concentration of the regional NE-SW compressional stress along pre-existing WNW-trending faults or densely populated fracture zone in a relatively stable intraplate region.

Keywords

Sinnyeong Fault; Sinistral-Reverse Oblique-Slip; Compressional Stress; Pre-Existing Fault

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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