| 7:30 AM-4:00 PM, George R. Brown Convention Center: |
CANCELED: Fault Zone Deformation in Cretaceous Carbonates of Central Texas
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| Primary Leader: David A. Ferrill |
| Leader(s): Alan P. Morris, Chris Zahm |
| Field Trip Description: This field trip will visit outcrops of normal faults of the Balcones Fault System in a range of Cretaceous limestones exposed west and north of San Antonio in the Texas Hill Country. The trip will address a range of important parameters that influence fault zone characterization, fault network interpretations, and subseismic fault prediction including the importance of mechanical stratigraphy on failure angles, fault shape (fault refraction), fault propagation, fault arrest, fault-related folding, fault zone deformation and permeability architecture of faults in carbonates. A spectrum of faulting styles will be explored including fault propagation prior to significant displacement and fault tip folding prior to continued fault propagation, placed in the context of the mechanical stratigraphy with focus on developing predictive capabilities for fault zone deformation and the associated permeability changes within subsurface carbonate reservoirs and aquifers. The field trip will include an extended visit to the world class exposure of a seismic scale normal fault exposed in Canyon Lake Gorge where a flood in 2002 exhumed the fault over a distance of approximately 800 m cutting the heterolithic Upper Glen Rose Formation limestone and interbedded shale sequence. This outcrop provides a pristine natural laboratory to study fault zone deformation within a seismic scale normal fault. Some scrambling is required to fully explore this gorge exposure - boots or trail shoes are recommended as well clothing suited to the weather. |
| Field Trip will span: 2 days |
| Sponsor(s): Structural Geology and Tectonics Division |