Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 325-337.doi: 10.11743/ogg20210206

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Geometrical and kinematical characteristics of the Mazartag fault zone in Bachu Uplift, Tarim Basin

Yong Zhang1(), Menglin Zheng2, Jiajun Chen3, Mingzhe Deng4, Fanglei Tian3, Weikang Zhang3, Yingqiang Li1   

  1. 1. Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, SINOPEC, Beijing 100083, China
    2. Petrochina Xinjiang Oilfield Company, Karamay, Xinjiang 834000, China
    3. School of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
    4. Wuxi Branch of Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, SINOPEC, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214126, China
  • Received:2020-05-02 Online:2021-04-28 Published:2021-04-21

Abstract:

The Mazartag fault zone at the southeastern margin of the Bachu Uplift has drawn wide attention because of its partial exposure and dents of intensive Quaternary activities.The study on the geometric and kinematical characteristics of the zone may provide a basis for exploring the evolution characteristics of the stress field in the Bachu Uplift and even the Tarim Basin, and also for an indirect observation of intensity variations of stress fields (of the basin) at the zone through various stages.The geometry of the Mazartag fault zone was then characterized and combined with seismic data and outcrop observation to establish 3D sections via 3D modeling, and to restore the evolution process with balanced section restoration.The results show that the Mazartag fault zone is characterized by layered deformation and the structural style along the fault zone is relatively consistent.The outcrops are shaped by the Quaternary activities.Vertical overlapping fault planes of each structural layer are easily identified in the 3D sections.All these suggest that the Mazartag fault zone was initially a weak normal fault zone formed in the basement that then went through the Early Ordovician inversion, Silurian reactivation, and Late Permian decollement along the bottom of the Middle Cambrian in succession.At the end of the Paleogene, the zone was activated further and started to form the Cenozoic decollement fault zone along the Paleogene in the early Eocene.The decollement faults have been active from the early Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene to Quaternary, and thrusted the Cenozoic strata to the surface to take the present relief.

Key words: 3D model, layered deformation, geometrical characteristics, kinematical characteristics, Mazartag fault zone, Bachu Uplift, Tarim Basin

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