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The Late Oligocene to Early Miocene early evolution of rifting in the southwestern part of the Roer Valley Graben

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Abstract

The Roer Valley Graben is a Mesozoic continental rift basin that was reactivated during the Late Oligocene. The study area is located in the graben area of the southwestern part of the Roer Valley Graben. Rifting initiated in the study area with the development of a large number of faults in the prerift strata. Some of these faults were rooted in preexisting zones of weakness in the Mesozoic strata. Early in the Late Oligocene, several faults died out in the study area as strain became focused upon others, some of which were able to link into several-kilometer-long systems. Within the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene northwestward prograding shallow marine syn-rift deposits, the number of active faults further decreased with time. A relatively strong decrease was observed around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary and represents a further focus of strain onto the long fault systems. Miocene extensional strain was not accommodated by further growth, but predominantly by displacements along the long fault systems. Since the Oligocene/Miocene boundary coincides with a radical change in the European intraplate stress field, the latter might have contributed significantly to the simultaneous change of fault kinematics in the study area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Land and Soil Protection, Subsoil, and Natural Resources Division of the Flemish Government. I would like to thank K. van Baelen for her work on the figures and M. Broothaers for a first review of this manuscript. I also wish to thank R. van Balen and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful reviews and recommendations that led to further improvements to the manuscript.

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  1. VITO, Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Boeretang 200, 2400, Mol, Belgium

    Jef Deckers

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  1. Jef Deckers
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Deckers, J. The Late Oligocene to Early Miocene early evolution of rifting in the southwestern part of the Roer Valley Graben. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 1233–1243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-015-1236-5

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