Deformation mechanisms and geometries of superposed fault zones in dolostones

Abstract Understanding how heterogeneous rock volumes deform is crucial in structural geology, and several studies have addressed this issue by focusing on the impact that the mechanical stratigraphy of a layered stratigraphic sequence has on deformation. However, mechanical layering can also develop subparallel to fault surfaces within the upper crust, and how these anisotropies affect subsequent deformation has been much less explored. This work addresses this aspect by structurally and mechanically characterizing superposed fault zones developed in Triassic dolostones that crop out in the fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Apennines. We investigate how layering associated with an early, reservoir-scale, normal fault zone (F1), inherited from Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic pre-orogenic extension, influenced the deformation mechanisms and the geometry of younger strike-slip faults (F2) that formed at an angle to it in the early Pliocene in association with out-of-sequence tectonics during the Apennine orogeny. We combined field surveys and laboratory analyses using a multiscalar and multimethodological approach. Meso- and microstructural observations and geomechanical, laboratory, and in situ tests were employed to describe fault rock attributes. We found that the architecture of the F1 normal fault primarily consists of four tens-of-meters-thick, subparallel fault rock units. They have a cataclastic core, and are bounded in the hanging wall by cemented micromosaic breccia, and in the footwall by high-strain and low-strain fault rocks. The younger F2 strike-slip faults developed alternatively as either cataclastic shear bands or compaction bands and occur in either localized or anastomosing geometries. By combining data, we demonstrate that the particle size distribution, porosity, and rock strength of the fault rock units related to older normal faults are the main controls on the deformation mechanisms (i.e., cataclasis versus compaction) and geometry (i.e., localized anastomosed) of the subsequent strike-slip faults. Our study highlights that preexisting highly porous fault rocks favor the development of compaction deformation bands. Conversely, low rock strength facilitates the formation of discrete and diffuse slip surfaces. These results can have significant implications for assessing fluid flow in multifaulted dolomite reservoirs.