Effects of mass waste events on thrust wedges: Analogue experiments and application to the Makran accretionary wedge

Olistostromes cover large portions of active thrust wedges like Makran, Gulf of Cadiz, and offshore Borneo. Olistostrome emplacement by submarine mass flow represents an instantaneous and massive mass redistribution that may influence thrust wedge mechanics. Different scenarios are experimentally tested. They show that the postolistostrome wedge development depends on the thickness and extent of the added load. These results are discussed after the example of the Iranian Makran wedge, situated between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. Mass redistribution caused by a late Miocene mass flow may explain a change in deformation style from intense folding and thrusting to gentle folding and eventually a jump of thrust imbrication toward the frontal offshore part of this active accretionary wedge. Citation: Smit, J., J.-P. Burg, A. Dolati, and D. Sokoutis (2010), Effects of mass waste events on thrust wedges: Analogue experiments and application to the Makran accretionary wedge, Tectonics, 29, TC3003, doi: 10.1029/2009TC002526.