The Structural Inheritance of Pre-existing Structure on the Evolution of Continental Rifts
Pre-existing structures of different scales and types have formed in continental lithosphere during multiple-stages tectonic activity,the structural inheritance of which profoundly influenced the evolution of the continental rift basins,and shaped the architecture of rifts and the geometry of rift-related faults.How to accurately reveal the influence of pre-existing structures on the continental rift has always been a challenge in the tectonics and structural study of rift basins.Focusing on this problem,this paper briefly introduces the types of pre-existing structures at the lithospheric scale and the upper crustal scale in the continental rift basin based on previous study,as well as the main identification techniques including field geological survey,satellite remote sensing image recognition,geophysical data interpretation etc.The two main structural inheritance mechanisms,"reactivation"and"strain/stress re-orientation"of pre-existing structures are introduced,as well as the atypical fault pattern in both plane and cross-section view caused by them,and the spatial distribution,depth and scale of pre-existing structures are important factors that determine the strength of their influence.Specially,recent results of structural analogue/numerical modeling experiments of pre-existing structures versus rift evolution are presented and reviewed.The application prospect of modeling experiments in the study of the activation mechanism of pre-existing structures and the influence on rift evolution is discussed.Finally,the limitations of the current research is discussed,as well as some key research direction in the future,including the construction of surface-subsurface identification standards for different types of pre-existing structures,the 3D fine characterization and spatial superposition characteristics of pre-existing structures and rift structures,and the mutual corroboration of analogue and numerical modeling.
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