Geology topics
J.H. McBride
Publications and source records attributed to J.H. McBride.
Variable deep structure of a midcontinent fault and fold zone from seismic reflection: La Salle deformation belt, Illinois basin
Deformation within the United States midcontinent is frequently expressed as quasilinear zones of faulting and folding, such as the La Salle deformation belt, a northwest-trending series of folds cutting through the center of the Illinois basin. Seismic reflection profiles over the southern La Salle deformation belt reveal the three-dimensional structural style of deformation in the lower Paleozoic section and uppermost Precambrian(?) basement. Individual profiles and structural contour maps show for the first time that the folds of the La Salle deformation belt are underlain at depth by reverse faults that disrupt and offset intrabasement structure, offset the top of interpreted Precambrian basement, and accommodate folding of overlying Paleozoic strata. The folds do not represent development of initial dips by strata deposited over a preexisting basement high. Rather, the structures resemble subdued “Laramide-style” forced folds, in that Paleozoic stratal reflectors appear to be flexed over a fault-bounded basement uplift with the basement-cover contact folded concordantly with overlying strata. For about 40 km along strike, the dominant faults reverse their dip direction, alternating between east and west. Less well expressed antithetic or back thrusts appear to be associated with the dominant faults and could together describe a positive flower structure. The overall trend of this part of the La Salle deformation belt is disrupted by along-strike discontinuities that separate distinct fold culminations. Observations of dual vergence and along-strike discontinuities suggest an original deformation regime possibly involving limited transpression associated with distant late Paleozoic Appalachian-Ouachita mountain building. Moderate-magnitude earthquakes located west of the western flank of the La Salle deformation belt have reverse and strike-slip mechanisms at upper crustal depths, which might be reactivating deep basement faults such as observed in this study. The La Salle deformation belt is not necessarily typical of other well-known major midcontinent fault and fold zones, such as the Nemaha ridge, over which Paleozoic and younger sediments appear to simply be draped.
Proterozoic structure, Cambrian rifting, and younger faulting as revealed by a regional seismic reflection network in the southern Illinois Basin
Four high-quality seismic reflection profiles through the southern Illinois Basin, totaling 245 km in length, provide an excellent regional subsurface stratigraphic and structural framework for evaluation of seismic risk, hydrocarbon occurrence, and other regional geologic studies. These data provide extensive subsurface information on the geometry of the intersection of the Cambrian Reelfoot and Rough Creek rifts, on extensive Proterozoic reflection sequences, and on structures (including the Fluorspar Area Fault Complex and Hicks Dome) that underlie a transitional area between the well-defined New Madrid seismic zone (to the southwest) and a more diffuse area of seismicity in the southern Illinois Basin. Our principal interpretations from these data are listed here in order of geologic age, from oldest to youngest: Prominent Proterozoic layering, possibly equivalent to Proterozoic (∼1 Ga) Middle Run Formation clastic strata and underlying (1.3–1.5 Ga) volcanic rocks of the East Continent rift basin, has been strongly deformed, probably as part of the Grenville foreland fold and thrust belt. A well-defined angular unconformity is seen in many places between Proterozoic and Cambrian strata; a post-Grenville Proterozoic sequence is also apparent locally, directly beneath the base of the Cambrian. We infer a major reversal in Cambrian rift polarity (accommodation zone) in the Rough Creek Graben in western Kentucky. Seismic facies analysis suggests the presence of basin-floor fan complexes at and near the base of the Cambrian interval and within parts of a Proterozoic post-Grenville sequence in several parts of the Rough Creek Graben. There is an abrupt pinchout of the Mount Simon Sandstone against crystalline basement beneath the Dale Dome (near the Texaco no. 1 Cuppy well, Hamilton County) in southeastern Illinois, and a more gradual Mount Simon pinchout to the southeast. Where crossed by the seismic reflection line in southeast Illinois, some faults in the Wabash Valley Fault System produce discrete offset in Ordovician and younger strata only; one of the Wabash Valley faults cuts the top of the Precambrian on this seismic profile. The data show clear evidence of late Paleozoic reverse faulting along both boundaries of the Rough Creek Graben in western Kentucky, although significant unreactivated Cambrian rift-bounding faults are also preserved. Chaotic reflection patterns in the lower and middle Paleozoic strata near Hicks Dome, southern Illinois, are related to a combination of intrusive brecciation, intense faulting, and alteration of carbonate strata by acidic mineralizing fluids, all of which occurred in the Permian. Late Paleozoic(?) reverse faulting is interpreted on one flank of the Rock Creek Graben, southern Illinois. Permian and Mesozoic(?) extensional faulting is clearly imaged in the Fluorspar Area Fault Complex; neotectonic studies suggest that these structures were reactivated in the Quaternary.
Investigating possible earthquake-related structure beneath the southern Illinois Basin from seismic reflection
The relationship between seismicity and faults observed on seismic reflection profiles from the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) in the central Mississippi Valley has been intensively studied for the past 15 years. However, comparable studies relating reflector sequences and earthquakes in the southern Illinois Basin, located northeast of the NMSZ, have not been undertaken. This study investigates the possible relationship between the source parameters of the November 9, 1968, magnitude ( m bLg ) 5.5 earthquake (a NNE-trending, previously interpreted west-dipping reverse fault at 21.2 ± 5.4 km depth) in southern Illinois, and a zone of moderately dipping reflectors in crystalline (?) basement observed on a nearby high-quality seismic reflection profile. The 1968 event was the twentieth century's largest magnitude earthquake in the southern Illinois region. The zone of dipping basement reflectors is part of a broad prominent sequence, in which reflectors are subhorizontal or inclined with a strong west-dipping component, that appears beneath the Wabash Valley Fault System and extends to the west beneath the Illinois Basin where it steepens and plunges deeper into the crust over the 1968 hypocenter. More than one interpretation of the dipping reflector zone is admissible, including intrusion of igneous sills or thrust faults or both within a localized shear zone. The dipping reflector zone cannot be traced from the basement into the overlying Phanerozoic sedimentary section or associated directly with any particular previously mapped fault. If a tectonic interpretation is correct, the correlation between the 1968 reverse fault event and the reflector zone may mean that such quakes are nucleating along a blind compressional structure in the crystalline basement of southern Illinois, possibly analogous to the recent destructive southern California earthquakes.
Along-axis variability in crustal accretion at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Results from the OCEAN study
The OCEAN experiment is an integrated geophysical study of a region of the Cape Verde abyssal plain that formed at 140 Ma. Deep seismic reflection and ocean bottom hydrophone (OBH) refraction data were acquired along lines parallel and perpendicular to the paleoridge axis trend identified from a detailed magnetic anomaly survey. The igneous basement is overlain by about 1.3 km of sediment which enables improved imaging of intracrustal structure beyond that possible near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis. We describe the results of a 150-km long profile oriented parallel to magnetic anomalies M15 and M16, along which deep seismic reflection data collected by the British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate are complemented by refraction data constrained by four OBHs. The line spans an entire spreading segment between two fracture zones; the northern of which has an offset of 40 km and the other (central) has an offset of only 10 km. Away from the fracture zones, the mean igneous crustal thickness is 7.2 km; near both fracture zones, thinning of up to 4 km is observed, giving a mean igneous crustal thickness over the whole segment of approximately 6.5 km. Differences are seen between the two fracture zones in their seismic velocity structure, in the associated basement topography, and in the presence of a strong reflection extending into the mantle beneath the northern fracture zone. The boundary between oceanic layers 2 and 3 correlates with variably coherent normal incidence reflections and a change in the character of the reflectivity. A number of planar reflections up to 10 km in length are present within the middle and lower crust, dipping outward from beneath low-amplitude basement highs at ∼15°; these appear to be present only within layer 3. The Moho has several expressions in the reflection data, including isolated reflection events, a local increase in reflected amplitudes, and a downward decrease in coherent reflections. At the center of the segment there is a zone at the base of the crust within which both high- and low-velocity materials are present. This zone shows an enhanced level of discontinuous normal incidence reflectivity and may represent an initial fractionation event as melt was emplaced at the spreading ridge.
Detachment and steep normal faulting in Atlantic oceanic crust west of Africa
Improved images of the internal structure of Early Cretaceous North Atlantic crust reveal both probable detachment faults and more steeply dipping normal faults. The detachment faults occur as subhorizontal structures passing ∼ 1.5 km beneath fault blocks without offset; several steeper block-bounding faults appear to detach onto these structures. However, the detachments are bounded to the west (ridgeward) by presumably younger, more steeply west-dipping normal faults. In one possible interpretation, the detachment and the steep faults belong to the same “rolling-hinge” extension system. An intriguing alternative is that a phase of detachment faulting, perhaps related to increased magmatic activity, was succeeded by localized amagmatic extension along steeper and more deeply penetrating faults.