Fault Kinematics Along the Coastal Plain of South Louisiana: Implications for Tectono-Climatic-Induced Deformation Along a Passive Continental Margin

Kinematic analysis of faults along the northern coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico shows a correlation between pulses of faulting during the late Cenozoic and changes in the tectonic and climatic settings acting on the source areas which provide sediments to the Gulf. Pulses of faulting during the Oligocene-Early Miocene, Late Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene correlate to major tectonic and climatic changes in the source region of sediments. Slip rates of faulting increase with younger events. The increase in slip rates is likely related to a combination of increase in sedimentation rates and pre-weakened Oligocene –Miocene rock that resulted from earlier faulting activity. The observations in this study also suggest that during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, crustal failure accompanying lithospheric flexure better explains the reactivation of faults on the coastal plain