Strain-partitioned dextral transpression in the Great Boundary Fault Zone around Chittaurgarh, NW Indian Shield

Abstract Delimiting the Aravalli mountain range in the east, the Great Boundary Fault (GBF) occurs as a crustal-scale tectonic lineament in the NW Indian Shield. The structural and tectonic characteristics of the GBF are, as yet, not well-understood. We attempt to fill this gap by using a combination of satellite image processing, high-resolution outcrop mapping and structural analysis around Chittaurgarh. The study area exposes the core and damage zone of the GBF. Three successive phases of folding, F1, F2 and F3, are associated with deformation in the GBF. The large-scale structural characteristics of the GBF core are: (i) a non-coaxial refolding of F1 folds by F2 folds; and (ii) the parallelism between the GBF and F2 axial traces. In addition, numerous metre-scale ductile shear zones cut through the rocks in the GBF core. The damage zone is characterized by the large-scale F1 folds and the mesoscopic-scale strike-slip faults, thrusts and brittle-ductile shear zones. Several lines of evidence, such as the inconsistent overprinting relationship between the strike-slip faults and thrusts, the occurrence of en échelon folds and the palaeostress directions suggest that the GBF is a dextral transpression fault zone. Structural geometry and kinematic indicators imply a wrench- and contraction-dominated deformation in the core and damage zone, respectively. We infer that the GBF is a strain-partitioned dextral transpression zone.