Experimental models of 'Basement'-controlled salients - application to the proterozoic fold-thrust belt of the quadrilátero ferrífero (Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil)

Scaled sandbox models are used to simulate the development of ´basement´-controlled, salients. We investigate the controlling factors on the development of closed curvatures in map-view, considering constant both the sand pack thickness and the space between obstacles. These models are compared with the Fundão-Cambotas Fault System in the Proterozoic fold-thrust belt in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region, along the southeastern margin of the São Francisco craton. In the experiments, a pronounced curvature resulted from the margin-controlled salient process in the presence (i) of a basal ductile detachment, or (ii) of pre-existing structures. The results suggest that the convex-to-the-foreland, west-vergent Fundão-Cambotas Fault System that borders the Archean basement highs and displaced older Transamazonian structures westward, is partly a consequence of interaction of propagating thrusts with obstacles in the foreland.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gomes,Caroline J. S., Pereira-Filho,Milton, Braga,Silvia C. M.
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2003
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652003000200010
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Summary:Scaled sandbox models are used to simulate the development of ´basement´-controlled, salients. We investigate the controlling factors on the development of closed curvatures in map-view, considering constant both the sand pack thickness and the space between obstacles. These models are compared with the Fundão-Cambotas Fault System in the Proterozoic fold-thrust belt in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region, along the southeastern margin of the São Francisco craton. In the experiments, a pronounced curvature resulted from the margin-controlled salient process in the presence (i) of a basal ductile detachment, or (ii) of pre-existing structures. The results suggest that the convex-to-the-foreland, west-vergent Fundão-Cambotas Fault System that borders the Archean basement highs and displaced older Transamazonian structures westward, is partly a consequence of interaction of propagating thrusts with obstacles in the foreland.