A multidiscipline method of geological survey,seismic profile and gravity measurement applied to fold-and-thrust belt:a case study along the Hutubi River in the northern piedmont of Tianshan

Abstract

Fold-and-thrust belts are hot topics in the research of orogens. However, the single geological or geophysical discipline often provides multisolutions on the geometry of a fold-and-thrust belt. We introduce here a multidisciplinary method combining geological and geophysical methods, take the Hutubi River section as a case to study the geometry of the fold-and-thrust belt in the northern piedmont of Tianshan. Firstly, we have carefully taken geological survey and got structural data on the surface. Secondly, petroleum seismic profile was re-interpreted based on the surface data and drilled wells. However, the seismic profile is absent in the contact zone between the mountain and the Junggar basin. We therefore carried out gravity measurements and forward modeling along this profile with the densities of the basement and sediments. The result shows that the northern flank fault of Tianshan doesn't exist along the Hutubi River profile, and the basin sediments could be continually followed from the basin to the mountain interior. This indicates that the tectonic structures in the contact zones between the mountain and the basin are variable, as the western section in the Jingou River section shows that the Tianshan basement thrusts northward on the basin sediments. Based on the balance-section technology, the restored section shows 4. 8 km of shortening. Comparing with previous results, this indicates the heterogeneous deformation along the northern piedmont of Tianshan. It also implies that this multidisciplinary method could be widely used in the fold-and-thrust belt.