Abstract Insights of spatial and temporal development of fault network in 3D is crucial for understanding the process evolution of complex fault network and for evaluating the regional and local stresses control on structure development. We demonstrate a fault network on the eastern Dampier Sub-basin, North West Shelf of Australia, which consists of (1) a ENE-trending fault array that has a through-going segment at depth and a series of left-stepping fault splays at upper levels, and (2) a network of ENE- and NNE-trending intersecting faults decoupled from the basement structures. This research shows that the segmented ENE-trending fault array developed through three extensional phases in the Late Paleozoic, in the Early Jurassic, and in the Late Middle Jurassic. Fault analysis shows that the summed displacement of the segmented, en echelon faults behaves as a single fault and that the basement fault controlled the fault array in the upper section through vertical linkages– a typical coherent fault system. The NNE- and ENE-trending intersecting faults formed simultaneously in the Late Middle Jurassic; as such, they might have controlled by 3D strain field released from the Rosemary and Mermaid fault systems bounding the fault network. This implies that fault geometry derived from 3D seismic interpretation need to be treated with caution as the alignment of fault sets may not directly relate to regional, far-field stress but, in some cases, significantly modified by local stresses induced by reactivated larger faults. This study provides an analogue for the interpretation of other rift systems, where structures were controlled by competing forces of regional and local stresses and where reactivated and newly-formed structures coexist in polyphase of extensions.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚西北大陆架丹皮尔盆地东部伸展断层网络的 3D 结构和演化

摘要 在 3D 中洞察断层网络的时空发展对于理解复杂断层网络的过程演化以及评估区域和局部应力对结构发展的控制至关重要。我们展示了澳大利亚西北大陆架东部丹皮尔子盆地的断层网络，它由（1）一个 ENE 向断层阵列组成，该断层阵列在深度处有一个贯穿段和一系列左步进断层张开在(2) ENE 和 NNE 走向的交叉断层与基底结构分离的网络。研究表明，分段式ＥＮＥ向断层阵列在晚古生代、早侏罗世和晚中侏罗世三个伸展阶段发育。故障分析表明，分段的总位移，梯形断层表现为单一断层，基底断层通过垂直联动控制上段断层阵列——典型的连贯断层系统。中侏罗世晚期同时形成NNE向和ENE向交叉断层；因此，它们可能受到限制断层网络的 Rosemary 和 Mermaid 断层系统释放的 3D 应变场的控制。这意味着需要谨慎对待从 3D 地震解释得出的断层几何形状，因为断层组的排列可能与区域远场应力没有直接关系，但在某些情况下，会因重新激活的较大断层引起的局部应力而显着改变。这项研究为其他裂谷系统的解释提供了一个类比，