Regional tectonics and fracture patterns in the Fall River Formation (Lower Cretaceous) around the Black Hills foreland uplift, western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming

• Published in: Forced Folds and Fractures Vol. 169; no. 1; pp. 145 - 165
• Main Authors: Wicks, John L., Dean, Stuart L., Kulander, Byron R.
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Geological Society of London 1999; The Geological Society, London; Geological Society of London
• Series: Geological Society, London, Special Publications
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Geology, Exploration & Drilling; Geophysics, Geodesy & Seismology; Oil & Gas Engineering
• ISBN: 9781862390607; 1862390606
• ISSN: 0305-8719; 2041-4927
• DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2000.169.01.11

The Fall River Formation around the Black Hills uplift is pervasively fractured by layer-perpendicular joints. Systematic joints in the formation maintain consistent orientations over large areas and are commonly abutted by later-formed fractures, resulting in an orthogonal pattern. There are two major systematic sets, trending northeast and northwest, and one minor set trending north-south. The first two sets define two major fracture domains in the study area. The northwest joint set occupies a southern domain where it is the sole systematic fracture set. The northeast joint set is pervasively established throughout the northern domain, where northwest and north-south fracture sets are also developed in well-defined sectors. There is no genetic or spatial relationship between joint sets and local Laramide monoclines or folds of the region. Instead, the stratigraphic record indicates that joint development originated early in the lithification history of Fall River sandstones. Jointing occurred in response to local and regional extensional stresses that pervaded the northern and southern domains as a result of recurrent movement on basement faults that parallel the regional lineament system and surface structural zones throughout the region. Major uplift of the Black Hills and local fold development during Laramide time merely resulted in passive rotation of the early formed systematic and non-systematic joints.