Identification of fracture development period and stress field analysis based on fracture fabrics in tectonic superposition areas

As a direct consequence of multiple periods of stress applied on areas with tectonic superposition, the multiple-periods fractures have complex abutting relationships, and the field study of fractures is usually restricted by outcrop conditions, such as section direction. Therefore, previous studies of superposed stress fields based on fractures have been generally performed in areas with proper observation conditions and clear abutting relationships. In contrast, in many other areas, the identification of fracture development period based on field observation is often infeasible. Compared to abutting relationships, fracture fabrics obtained from field measurement are not affected by the restriction of outcrops and consequently are more representative of the fractures. According to the analysis of fracture fabrics and fracture features, this paper has separated and extracted the superposed fracture sets and identified the fracture development period in the area without available abutting relationships. Taking the southern segment of the Longmen Mountain thrust belt as an example, fractures of two development periods are identified and timed in the tectonic superposition area between two adjacent fold belts. The analysis of stress direction in each period suggests that the structural boundaries, consisting of such pre-existing structures as faults and anticlines, could have induced directional rotation in the subsequent stress. An equivalent result was achieved using a finite element simulation of the stress field. Based on the stress analysis of the field sites and the stress field simulation, the stress variation in the tectonic superposition area is well modeled.