TY - JOUR TI - Synrift and postrift deformation of the Fundy Rift Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3PR7XMS PY - 2014 AB - Previous studies have shown that multiple phases of deformation affected the passive margin of eastern North America during and after rifting. The number, style and timing of postrift deformational events, however, are poorly constrained. To address this issue, I collected fracture data (faults with slickenlines, conjugate faults and tension fractures) from the Fundy rift basin and applied a stress inversion method. My analysis of these data suggests that at least two distinct faulting regimes and tectonic phases affected the basin during and after rifting. The relative chronology of the tectonic phases, based on crosscutting relationships and overprinting slickenlines, is: 1) rifting characterized by normal faulting and produced by SE displacement of the hanging wall, and 2) basin inversion, characterized by strike-slip faulting and produced by an average NE movement of the hanging wall. The relationship between the strain states and displacement directions suggests that counterclockwise vertical-axes rotations of fractures likely occurred during the second event due to left-lateral strike slip on the border-fault zone. Seismic data from the Fundy, Orpheus and Scotian basins, which share a common border-fault zone, provide insight on the absolute timing of the tectonic phases. The Fundy data show that Late Triassic/Early Jurassic strata thicken toward the border-fault zone. Thus, the normal-faulting phase likely occurred during Late Triassic/Early Jurassic rifting. Seismic data from the Orpheus and Scotian basins, with a more complete stratigraphic record, show multiple episodes of postrift deformation mostly evidenced by three major angular unconformities. Although the NE-directed shortening produced during basin inversion is similar to the present-day strain state, its correlation with the postrift unconformities is unclear. KW - Geological Sciences KW - Rifts (Geology)--North America KW - Plate tectonics--Canada KW - Fundy, Bay of LA - English ER -