Layer parallel stretching? Characterising magnetic and pore-fabric styles at a rifted continental margin: New insights from the Otway Ranges, Australia

This study presents the first analysis of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) coupled with anisotropy of P-wave velocity (APV) in sedimentary rocks from a passive continental margin. In the Otway Ranges, Australia, the Lower Cretaceous sediments deposited during a period of subsidence and structural quiescence display triaxial-magnetic fabrics typical of extensional deformation. The extensional interpretation from AMS is also supported by the orientation of the pore fabric measured using APV. The inferred extensional azimuths from both AMS and APV analyses are in good agreement with axes for renewed Late Cretaceous rifting and the continental break up of Gondwana, a period of structural evolution characterised by abnormally-high levels of paleostress in the Otway Basin. Predicated on this we introduce the concept of layer parallel stretching (LPSt), a process that describes pore-scale structuring representative of the first phase of extensional deformation during periods of intense tectonic extension, in this case the LPSt was oriented NE-SW. These extensional structural fabrics in the Otway Basin were preserved during NE-SW oriented basin inversion, a process that involved reactivation of the local detachment, the partitioning of strain, and low levels of coupling between the basement and the cover. The results highlight the applicability of AMS and APV for characterising rock anisotropy in sedimentary basins at continental margins and have distinct outcomes with respect to the structural framework of the study area in the Otway Ranges. •This is the first analysis of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and of P-wave velocity in sedimentary rocks at a passive margin.•Sediments deposited during a subsidence and structural quiescence display typical fabrics of extensional deformation recorded byAMS and APWV.•The layer parallel stretchingdescribes microscale structuring of the first phase of streching during periods of intense tectonic extension.