RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PALEOZOIC AND CENOSIOIC FAULTING ENSEMBLES IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE ALTAI-SAYAN FOLDED AREA

Abstract

Fault structures in folded areas are an important element of the geological structure. Their age and history of development affect seismicity, distribution of minerals, and engineering and geological characteristics of the area. The geological structure of the Altai-Sayan folded area was mainly formed during the Paleozoic and transformed during the Cenozoic activation. Geoinformation methods and technologies were used to compare between the Paleozoic and Cenozoic fault networks. It is shown that the degree of reactivation of the Paleozoic faults varies greatly within the territory.Conjugate analysis of the orientation and spatial distribution of faults of different ages in the study area does not confirm that the Cenozoic fault system was formed by reactivation or inherited development of the Paleozoic fault system. These two systems arose at different compression orientations. The left-lateral strike-slip ensemble was formed under sublatitudinal compression in the Paleozoic, and the right-lateral strike-slip ensemble - under submeridional compression in the Cenozoic. A significant coincidence between the directions of the main faults of different ages is due to their dominant strike along the boundaries of the accretionary complexes in the region.

Keywords

• altai-sayan folded area
• fault boundaries
• neotectonic activation
• cenozoic faults
• gis technologies