Exploring Application of K-Ar Isotopic Analyses to Fault Gouges: Is Age of Faulting Disclosed?: ABSTRACT

K-Ar isotopic analysis of three samples of illitic clay in fault gouge and one sample of ultracataclasite appear to contribute critical information on the timing and the physico-chemical environment of a middle Tertiary detachment fault near Tucson, Arizona. Work to date demonstrates that K-Ar dating of fault gouge and cataclasite is a frontier of research that may assume significance and practical importance to structural geologists, regional tectonicists, and economic geologists in evaluating the chronology of tectonic events involving fault displacements.