Stress fields during the evolution of large-scale strike-slip systems and tectonic slivers, Atacama Fault Zone, northern Chile

Tectonic evolution of crustal slivers generated during oblique subduction involves a series of translations and rotations. Slivers are defined by large-scale strike-slip faults, whereas internal blocks are by the faulting pattern related to the fault system. Translations and rotations are then likely to accommodate the internal deformation caused by external forces. The Atacama Fault System (AFS), a crustal-scale strike-slip fault in northern Chile, can be divided into three concave, oceanward segments, that show sinestral (Mesozoic) and normal (Cenozoic) displacements. Clockwise rotations of ca. 50° have been suggested for the AFS, mostly for the northernmost segment. The Paposo segment defines a sliver of 160 km long and 25 km wide. In the northern part, it exhibits intense internal faulting, duplexes, single- and multiple-core faults. To determine the stress field responsible for the development and evolution of the sliver, we measured 162 brittle fault planes on which we determined the sense and direction of maximum shear. Fault planes show a main NW-SE trend and subvertical dip-angles (Fig. 1). Brittle kinematic indicators indicate subhorizontal (sinestral) and subvertical (normal) movements. Fault-slip data was processed with the multiple inverse method. Input parameters were k=5 (grouping), e=9 (enhance) and d=1 (dispersion). Calculations show that σ1 axes are distributed on a NW-SE trending great-circle whereas σ3 axes are clustered near the horizontal in NE and SW orientations. Stress ratios average 0.55±0.20. In the horizontal, σ1 axes cover an arc of about 30° and σ3 axes cover about 60° (Fig. 1), suggesting a strike-slip stress field. On the contrary, the subvertical cluster of σ1 axes suggests a normal stress field. These analyses indicate that the Paposo Sliver developed during a period of NW-SE compression and NE-SW tension. The wide distribution of the tensile axes may denote rotation of the internal blocks to accommodate the deformation or an unsteady orientation of the main axis. However, previously proposed clockwise rotations within the Paposo sliver are few and scarce. We hypothesize that future detailed paleomagnetic work can unravel the block rotation pattern and the style of internal accommodation within the sliver.