Collaborative Research: Detachment Faulting and Basin Development in a Convergent Setting: The Cordillera Blanca, Peru

California State University-Dominguez Hills Foundation, Carson CA

Investigators

Abstract

Detachment faults are large-scale extensional structures that are responsible for much of the extension observed in the crust, however the origin and evolution of detachments are poorly understood and controversial. This project will attempt to address the mechanisms and rates of detachment and associated basin development in an active modern example - the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault in the Peruvian Andes. The work centers on the temporal and spatial evolution of the supradetachment basin, the denudation history of the uplifted footwall, and the Quaternary kinematic history. Results will be incorporated into tectonic models for detachment faulting in oceanic-continental convergent settings, which are expected to be of general application in this tectonic setting.