Influence of oblique basement strike–slip faults on the Mesozoic evolution of the south-eastern segment of the Mid-Polish Trough

A series of analogue models are used to demonstrate how the multistage development of the Mid‐Polish Trough (MPT) could have been influenced by oblique basement strike–slip faults. Based on reinterpretation of palaeothickness, facies maps and published syntheses of the basin development, the following successive stages in the Mesozoic history of the south eastern part of the MPT were simulated in the models: (1) Oblique extension of the NW segment of the MPT connected with sinistral movement along the Holy Cross Fault (HCF, Early Triassic–latest Early Jurassic). (2) Oblique extension of both NW and SE segment of the MPT, parallel to the HCF (latest Early and Middle Jurassic). (3) Oblique extension of the SE segment of the MPT and much lesser extension of its NW segment connected with dextral movement along the HCF (Early Oxfordian–latest Early Kimmeridgian). (4) Oblique extension of the SE segment of the MPT and much lesser extension of its NW segment connected with dextral movement along the Zawiercie Fault (ZF, latest Early Kimmeridgian–Early Albian). (5) Oblique inversion of the NW segment of the MPT connected with dextral movement along the HCF (Early Albian–latest Cretaceous). (6) Oblique inversion of the SE segment of the MPT along the W–E direction (latest Cretaceous–Palaeogene). The different sense of movements of these two basement strike–slip faults (HCF and ZF) resulted in distinct segmentation of the basin and its SW margin by successive systems of extensional en‐echelon faults. The overall structure of this margin is controlled by the interference of the border normal faults with the en‐echelon fault systems related to successive stages of movement along the oblique strike–slip faults. This type of en‐echelon fault system is absent in the opposite NE‐margin of the basin, which was not affected by oblique strike–slip faults. The NE‐margin of the basin is outlined by a typical, steep and distinctly marked rift margin fault zone, dominated by normal and dip–slip/strike–slip faults parallel to its axis. Within the more extended segment of the basin, extensive intra‐rift faults and relay ramps develop, which produce topographic highs running across the basin. The change in the extension direction to less oblique relative to the basin axis resulted in restructuring of the fault systems. This change caused shifting of the basin depocentre to this margin. Diachronous inversion of the different segments of the basin in connection with movement along one of the oblique basement strike–slip faults resulted in formation of a pull‐apart sub‐basin in the uninverted SE‐segment of the basin. The results of the analogue models presented here inspire an overall kinematic model for the southeastern segment of the MPT as they provide a good explanation of the observed structures and the changes in the facies and palaeothickness patterns.     

Tectonic setting of Cretaceous basins on the NE Tibetan Plateau: insights from the Jungong basin

Quantifying the Cenozoic growth of high topography in the Indo‐Asian collision zone remains challenging, due in part to significant shortening that occurred within Eurasia before collision. A growing body of evidence suggests that regions far removed from the suture zone experienced deformation before and during the early phases of Himalayan orogenesis. In the present‐day north‐eastern Tibetan Plateau, widespread deposits of Cretaceous sediment attest to significant basin formation; however, the tectonic setting of these basins remains enigmatic. We present a study of a regionally extensive network of sedimentary basins that are spatially associated with a system of SE‐vergent thrust faults and are now exposed in the high ranges of the north‐eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau. We focus on a particularly well‐exposed basin, located ～20 km north of the Kunlun fault in the Anyemaqen Shan. The basin is filled by ～900 m of alluvial sediments that become finer‐grained away from the basin‐bounding fault. Additionally, beds in the proximal footwall of the basin‐bounding fault exhibit progressive, up‐section shallowing and several intraformational unconformities which can be traced into correlative conformities in the distal part of the basin. The observations show sediment accumulated in the basin during fault motion. Regional constraints on the timing of sediment deposition are provided by both fossil assemblages from the Early Cretaceous, and by K–Ar dating of volcanic rocks that floor and cross‐cut sedimentary fill. We argue that during the Cretaceous, the interior NE Tibetan Plateau experienced NW–SE contractional deformation similar to that documented throughout the Qinling–Dabie orogen to the east. The Songpan‐Ganzi terrane apparently marked the southern limit of this deformation, such that it may have been a relatively rigid block in the Tibetan lithosphere, separating regions experiencing deformation north of the convergent Tethyan margin from regions deforming inboard of the east Asian margin.     

Quantifying multiple Permian–Recent exhumation events during the break‐up of eastern Gondwana: sonic transit time analysis of the central and southern Perth Basin

The central and southern Perth Basin in southwestern Australia has a geological history involving multiple regional unconformity‐forming events from the Permian to Recent. This study uses sonic transit time analysis to quantify the magnitudes of net and gross exhumation for four stratigraphic periods from 43 wells. Most importantly, we quantify gross exhumation of the Permian–Triassic, Triassic–Jurassic, Valanginian break‐up and post‐Early Cretaceous events. Post‐Early Cretaceous gross exhumation averages 900‐m offshore and 600‐m onshore. Up to 200 m of this exhumation may be attributed to localized fault block rotation during extension in the Late Cretaceous and/or reverse fault re‐activation due to the compressive stresses in Australia in the last 50 Ma. The remainder is attributed to regional exhumation caused by epeirogenic processes either during the Cenozoic or at the Aptian–Albian boundary. Maximum burial depths prior to the Valanginian unconformity‐forming event were less than those reached subsequently, so that the magnitude of Valanginian break‐up exhumation cannot be accurately quantified. Gross exhumation prior to the break‐up of Gondwana was defined by large magnitude differences (up to 2500 m) between adjoining sub‐basins. At the end of Triassic, exhumation is primarily attributed to reverse re‐activation of faults that were driven by short‐wavelength inversion and exhumation at the end Permian is likely caused by uplift of rotated fault blocks during extension. The evidence from quantitative exhumation analysis indicates a switch in regime, from locally heterogeneous before break‐up to more regionally homogeneous after break‐up.     

The stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Dzereg Basin, western Mongolia: clastic sedimentation, transpressional faulting and basin destruction in an intraplate, intracontinental setting

The Dzereg Basin is an actively evolving intracontinental basin in the Altai region of western Mongolia. The basin is sandwiched between two transpressional ranges, which occur at the termination zones of two regional‐scale dextral strike‐slip fault systems. The basin contains distinct Upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic stratigraphic sequences that are separated by an angular unconformity, which represents a regionally correlative peneplanation surface. Mesozoic strata are characterized by northwest and south–southeast‐derived thick clast‐supported conglomerates (Jurassic) overlain by fine‐grained lacustrine and alluvial deposits containing few fluvial channels (Cretaceous). Cenozoic deposits consist of dominantly alluvial fan and fluvial sediments shed from adjacent mountain ranges during the Oligocene–Holocene. The basin is still receiving sediment today, but is actively deforming and closing. Outwardly propagating thrust faults bound the ranges, whereas within the basin, active folding and thrusting occurs within two marginal deforming belts. Consequently, active fan deposition has shifted towards the basin centre with time, and previously deposited sediment has been uplifted, eroded and redeposited, leading to complex facies architecture. The geometry of folds and faults within the basin and the distribution of Mesozoic sediments suggest that the basin formed as a series of extensional half‐grabens in the Jurassic–Cretaceous which have been transpressionally reactivated by normal fault inversion in the Tertiary. Other clastic basins in the region may therefore also be inherited Mesozoic depocentres. The Dzereg Basin is a world class laboratory for studying competing processes of uplift, deformation, erosion, sedimentation and depocentre migration in an actively forming intracontinental transpressional basin.     

The influence of basement faults on local extension directions: Insights from potential field geophysics and field observations

Complex arrays of faults in extensional basins are potentially influenced by pre‐existing zones of weakness in the underlying basement, such as faults, shear zones, foliation, and terrane boundaries. Separating the influence of such basement heterogeneities from far‐field tectonics proves to be challenging, especially when the timing and character of deformation cannot be interpreted from seismic reflection data. Here we aim to determine the influence of basement heterogeneities on fault patterns in overlying cover rocks using interpretations of potential field geophysical data and outcrop‐scale observations. We mapped >1 km to meter scale fractures in the western onshore Gippsland Basin of southeast Australia and its underlying basement. Overprinting relationships between fractures and mafic intrusions are used to determine the sequence of faulting and reactivation, beginning with initial Early Cretaceous rifting. Our interpretations are constrained by a new Early Cretaceous U‐Pb zircon isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry age (116.04 ± 0.15 Ma) for an outcropping subvertical, NNW‐SSE striking dolerite dike hosted in Lower Cretaceous Strzelecki Group sandstone. NW‐SE to NNW‐SSE striking dikes may have signaled the onset of Early Cretaceous rifting along the East Gondwana margin at ca. 105–100 Ma. Our results show that rift faults can be oblique to their expected orientation when pre‐existing basement heterogeneities are present, and they are orthogonal to the extension direction where basement structures are less influential or absent. NE‐SW to ENE‐WSW trending Early Cretaceous rift‐related normal faults traced on unmanned aerial vehicle orthophotos and digital aerial images of outcrops are strongly oblique to the inferred Early Cretaceous N‐S to NNE‐SSW regional extension direction. However, previously mapped rift‐related faults in the offshore Gippsland Basin (to the east of the study area) trend E‐W to WNW‐ESE, consistent with the inferred regional extension direction. This discrepancy is attributed to the influence of NNE‐SSW trending basement faults underneath the onshore part of the basin, which caused local re‐orientation of the Early Cretaceous far‐field stress above the basement during rifting. Two possible mechanisms for inheritance are discussed—reactivation of pre‐existing basement faults or local re‐orientation of extension vectors. Multiple stages of extension with rotated extension vectors are not required to achieve non‐parallel fault sets observed at the rift basin scale. Our findings demonstrate the importance of (1) using integrated, multi‐scale datasets to map faults and (2) mapping basement geology when investigating the structural evolution of an overlying sedimentary basin.     

Strain partitioning due to salt: insights from interpretation of a 3D seismic data set in the NW German Basin

We present results from interpretation of a 3D seismic data set, located within the NW German sedimentary basin, as part of the Southern Permian Basin. We focused on the development of faults, the timing of deformation, the amount of displacement during multiphase deformation, strain partitioning, and the interaction between salt movements and faulting. We recognised the central fault zone of the study area to be the Aller-lineament, an important NW-trending fault zone within the superimposed Central European Basin System. From structural and sedimentological interpretations we derived the following evolution: (1) E–W extension during Permian rifting, (2) N–S extension within cover sediments, and E–W transtension affecting both basement and cover, contemporaneously during Late Triassic and Jurassic, (3) regional subsidence of the Lower Saxony Basin during Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous, (4) N–S compression within cover sediments, and E–W transpression affecting both basement and cover, contemporaneously during Late Cretaceous/Early Tertiary inversion and (5) major subsidence and salt diapir rise during the Cenozoic. We suggest that the heterogeneity in distribution and timing of deformation in the working area was controlled by pre-existing faults and variations in salt thickness, which led to stress perturbations and therefore local strain partitioning. We observed coupling and decoupling between pre- and post-Zechstein salt units: in decoupled areas deformation occurred only within post-salt units, whereas in coupled areas deformation occurred in both post- and pre-salt units, and is characterised by strike-slip faulting.     

The timing of salt structure growth in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) and implications for basin dynamics

In this paper, a literature‐based compilation of the timing and history of salt tectonics in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) is presented. The tectono‐stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Permian Basin is influenced by salt movement and the structural development of various types of salt structures. The compilation presented here was used to characterize the following syndepositional growth stages of the salt structures: (a) “phase of initiation”; (b) phase of fastest growth (“main activity”); and (c) phase of burial’. We have also mapped the spatial pattern of potential mechanisms that triggered the initiation of salt structures over the area studied and summarized them for distinct regions (sub‐basins, platforms, etc.). The data base compiled and the set of maps produced from it provide a detailed overview of the spatial and temporal distribution of salt tectonic activity enabling the correlation of tectonic phases between specific regions of the entire Southern Permian Basin. Accordingly, salt movements were initiated in deeply subsided graben structures and fault zones during the Early and Middle Triassic. In these areas, salt structures reached their phase of main activity already during the Late Triassic or the Jurassic and were mostly buried during the Early Cretaceous. Salt structures in less subsided sub‐basins and platform regions of the Southern Permian Basin mostly started to grow during the Late Triassic. The subsequent phase of main activity of these salt structures took place from the Late Cretaceous to the Cenozoic. The analysis of the trigger mechanisms revealed that most salt structures were initiated by large‐offset normal faults in the sub‐salt basement in the large graben structures and minor normal faulting associated with thin‐skinned extension in the less subsided basin parts.     

Tectonic inversion assessed by integration of geological and geophysical data: The intracontinental Rio do Peixe Basin,NE Brazil

Common basin models assume that the post‐rift tectonic evolution of most basins is usually associated with tectonic quiescence. However, tectonic inversion during the post‐rift phase has been proposed for several sedimentary basins worldwide, but how and why it happens is still a matter of debate, especially in intracontinental settings where the lithosphere is old and thick. Here, we use geological and geophysical data from the Rio do Peixe Basin in NE Brazil to show evidence that intracontinental sedimentary basins can be tectonically inverted by far‐field compressive stresses acting on pre‐existing weakness zones of lithospheric‐scale where stresses can concentrate and inversion can occur. Geomorphological and field data combined with seismic reflection, gravimetric and borehole data show that: (a) inversion occurred along two main Precambrian lithospheric‐scale shear zones, the Patos (E‐W trending) and Portalegre (NE‐SW trending), which had already been reactivated as basin‐bounding faults during the earlier rift stage; (b) post‐rift reactivation affected (mostly) the original master normal faults with the largest rift displacements, and locally produced new reverse faults; (c) during contraction, deformation was partitioned between fault reactivation and buckling of the incompetent sediment pushed against the hard basement; (d) all these signs of inversion have been observed in the field and can be demonstrated on seismic reflection profiles; and (e) combined gravimetric and seismic data show that the main structures of the basin were followed by an inversion. These data are consistent with the operation of WSW‐ENE horizontal maximum compressive stress as a result of combined pushes of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (towards the W) and the Andes (towards the E), responsible for the post‐rift oblique inversion of normal faults inherited from the rift phase and formed with vertical maximum compressive stress.     

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of Jurassic–Cretaceous diapiric structures: Miravete anticline,Maestrat Basin,Spain

Integration of extensive fieldwork, remote sensing mapping and 3D models from high-quality drone photographs relates tectonics and sedimentation to define the Jurassic–early Albian diapiric evolution of the N–S Miravete anticline, the NW-SE Castel de Cabra anticline and the NW-SE Cañada Vellida ridge in the Maestrat Basin (Iberian Ranges, Spain). The pre shortening diapiric structures are defined by well-exposed and unambiguous halokinetic geometries such as hooks and flaps, salt walls and collapse normal faults. These were developed on Triassic salt-bearing deposits, previously misinterpreted because they were hidden and overprinted by the Alpine shortening. The Miravete anticline grew during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous and was rejuvenated during Cenozoic shortening. Its evolution is separated into four halokinetic stages, including the latest Alpine compression. Regionally, the well-exposed Castel de Cabra salt anticline and Cañada Vellida salt wall confirm the widespread Jurassic and Early Cretaceous diapiric evolution of the Maestrat Basin. The NE flank of the Cañada Vellida salt wall is characterized by hook patterns and by a 500-m-long thin Upper Jurassic carbonates defining an upturned flap, inferred as the roof of the salt wall before NE-directed salt extrusion. A regional E-W cross section through the Ababuj, Miravete and Cañada-Benatanduz anticlines shows typical geometries of salt-related rift basins, partly decoupled from basement faults. These structures could form a broader diapiric region still to be investigated. In this section, the Camarillas and Fortanete minibasins displayed well-developed bowl geometries at the onset of shortening. The most active period of diapiric growth in the Maestrat Basin occurred during the Early Cretaceous, which is also recorded in the Eastern Betics, Asturias and Basque-Cantabrian basins. This period coincides with the peak of eastward drift of the Iberian microplate, with speeds of 20 mm/year. The transtensional regime is interpreted to have played a role in diapiric development.     

Fault-proximal stratigraphic record of episodic extension and oblique inversion, Bisbee basin, southwestern New Mexico, USA

Tectonic inversion models predict that stratigraphic thickening and local facies patterns adjacent to reactivated fault systems should record at least two phases of basin development: (1) initial extension‐related subsidence and (2) subsequent shortening‐induced uplift. In the central Peloncillo Mountains of southwestern New Mexico, thickness trends, distribution, and provenance of two major stratigraphic intervals on opposite sides of a northwest‐striking reverse fault preserve a record of Early Cretaceous normal displacement and latest Cretaceous–Paleogene reverse displacement along the fault. The Aptian–Albian Bisbee Group thickens by a factor of three from the footwall to the hanging‐wall block, and the Late Cretaceous?–Eocene Bobcat Hill Formation is preserved only in the footwall block. An initial episode of normal faulting resulted in thickening of upper Aptian–middle Albian, mixed siliciclastic and carbonate deposits and an up section change from coarse‐grained deltas to shallow‐marine depositional conditions. A second episode of normal faulting caused abrupt thickening of upper Albian, quartzose coastal‐plain deposits across the fault. These faulting episodes record two events of extension that affected the northern rift shoulder of the Bisbee basin. The third faulting episode was oblique‐slip, reverse reactivation of the fault and other related, former normal faults. Alluvial and pyroclastic deposits of the Bobcat Hill Formation record inversion of the Bisbee basin and development of an intermontane basin directly adjacent to the former rift basin. Inversion was coeval with latest Cretaceous–Paleogene shortening and magmatism. This offset history offers significant insight into extensional basin tectonics in the Early Cretaceous and permits rejection of models of long‐term Mesozoic shortening and orogen migration during the Cretaceous. This paper also illustrates how episodes of fault reactivation modify, in very short distances (<10 km), regional patterns of subsidence, the distribution of sediment‐source areas, and sedimentary depositional systems.     

The role of inherited extensional fault segmentation and linkage in contractional orogenesis: a reconstruction of Lower Cretaceous inverted rift basins in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

Lower Cretaceous early syn‐rift facies along the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, their provenance, and structural context, reveal the complex interactions between Cretaceous extension, spatio‐temporal trends in associated sedimentation, and subsequent inversion of the Cretaceous Guatiquía paleo‐rift. South of 4°30′N lat, early syn‐rift alluvial sequences in former extensional footwall areas were contemporaneous with fan‐delta deposits in shallow marine environments in adjacent hanging‐wall areas. In general, footwall erosion was more pronounced in the southern part of the paleorift. In contrast, early syn‐rift sequences in former footwall areas in the northern rift sectors mainly comprise shallow marine supratidal sabkha to intertidal strata, whereas hanging‐wall units display rapid transitions to open‐sea shales. In comparison with the southern paleo‐rift sector, fan‐delta deposits in the north are scarce, and provenance suggests negligible footwall erosion. The southern graben segment had longer, and less numerous normal faults, whereas the northern graben segment was characterized by shorter, rectilinear faults. To the east, the graben system was bounded by major basin‐margin faults with protracted activity and greater throw as compared with intrabasinal faults to the west. Intrabasinal structures grew through segment linkage and probably interacted kinematically with basin‐margin faults. Basin‐margin faults constitute a coherent fault system that was conditioned by pre‐existing basement fabrics. Structural mapping, analysis of present‐day topography, and balanced cross sections indicate that positive inversion of extensional structures was focused along basin‐bounding faults, whereas intrabasinal faults remained unaffected and were passively transported by motion along the basin‐bounding faults. Thus, zones of maximum subsidence in extension accommodated maximum elevation in contraction, and former topographic highs remained as elevated areas. This documents the role of basin‐bounding faults as multiphased, long‐lived features conditioned by basement discontinuities. Inversion of basin‐bounding faults was more efficient in the southern than in the northern graben segment, possibly documenting the inheritance and pivotal role of fault‐displacement gradients. Our observations highlight similarities between inversion features in orogenic belts and intra‐plate basins, emphasizing the importance of the observed phenomena as predictive tools in the spatiotemporal analysis of inversion histories in orogens, as well as in hydrocarbon and mineral deposits exploration.     

Intraplate subsidence and basin filling adjacent to an oceanic arc–continent collision: a case from the southern Caribbean‐South America plate margin

The upper Campanian–Lower Eocene synorogenic sedimentary wedge of the Ranchería Basin was deposited in an intraplate basin resting on a tilted continental crustal block that was deformed by collision and subsequent subduction of the Caribbean Plate. Upper Cretaceous–Lower Eocene strata rest unconformably upon Jurassic igneous rocks of the Santa Marta Massif, with no major thrust faults separating the Santa Marta Massif from the Ranchería Basin. The upper Campanian–Lower Eocene succession includes, from base to top: foraminifera‐rich calcareous mudstone, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic strata and mudstone, coal and immature fluvial sandstone beds. Diachronous collision and eastward tilting of the plate margin (Santa Marta Massif and Central Cordillera) favoured the generation of accommodation space in a continuous intraplate basin (Ranchería, Cesar and western Maracaibo) during the Maastrichtian to Late Palaeocene. Terrigenous detritus from the distal colliding margin filled the western segments of the continuous intraplate basin (Ranchería and Cesar Basins); in the Late Paleocene, continental depositional systems migrated eastwards as far as the western Maracaibo Basin. In Early Eocene time, reactivation of former extensional structures fragmented the intraplate basin into the Ranchería‐Cesar Basins to the west, and the western Maracaibo Basin and Palmar High to the East. This scenario of continent–oceanic arc collision, crustal‐scale tilting, intraplate basin generation and fault reactivation may apply for Upper Cretaceous–Palaeogene syntectonic basins in western Colombia and Ecuador, and should be considered in other settings where arc–continent collision is followed by subduction.     

Architecture of the evaporite accumulation and salt structures dynamics in Tiddlybanken Basin,southeastern Norwegian Barents Sea

An extensive, reprocessed two‐dimensional (2D) seismic data set was utilized together with available well data to study the Tiddlybanken Basin in the southeastern Norwegian Barents Sea, which is revealed to be an excellent example of base salt rift structures, evaporite accumulations and evolution of salt structures. Late Devonian–early Carboniferous NE‐SW regional extensional stress affected the study area and gave rise to three half‐grabens that are separated by a NW‐SE to NNW‐SSE trending horst and an affiliated interference transfer zone. The arcuate nature of the horst is believed to be the effect of pre‐existing Timanian basement grain, whereas the interference zone formed due to the combined effect of a Timanian (basement) lineament and the geometrical arrangement of the opposing master faults. The interference transfer zone acted as a physical barrier, controlling the facies distribution and sedimentary thickness of three‐layered evaporitic sequences (LES). During the late Triassic, the northwestern part of a salt wall was developed due to passive diapirism and its evolution was influenced by halite lithology between the three‐LES. The central and southeastern parts of the salt wall did not progress beyond the pedestal stage due to lack of halite in the deepest evaporitic sequence. During the Triassic–Jurassic transition, far‐field stresses from the Novaya Zemlya fold‐and‐thrust belt reactivated the pre‐salt Carboniferous rift structures. The reactivation led to the development of the Signalhorn Dome, rejuvenated the northwestern part of the salt wall and affected the sedimentation rates in the southeastern broad basin. The salt wall together with the Signalhorn Dome and the Carboniferous pre‐salt structures were again reactivated during post‐Early Cretaceous, in response to regional compressional stresses. During this main tectonic inversion phase, the northwestern and southeastern parts of the salt wall were rejuvenated; however, salt reactivation was minimized towards the interference transfer zone beneath the centre of the salt wall.     

How do pre‐existing normal faults influence rift geometry? A comparison of adjacent basins with contrasting underlying structure on the Lofoten Margin,Norway

Recent studies of natural, multiphase rifts suggest that the presence of pre‐existing faults may strongly influence fault growth during later rift phases. These findings compare well with predictions from recent scaled analogue experiments that simulate multiphase, non‐coaxial extension. However, in natural rifts we only get to see the final result of multiphase rifting. We therefore do not get the chance to compare the effects of the same rift phase with and without pre‐existing structural heterogeneity, as we may in the controlled environment of a laboratory experiment. Here, we present a case study from the Lofoten Margin that provides a unique opportunity to compare normal fault growth with and without pre‐existing structural heterogeneity. Using seismic reflection and wellbore data, we demonstrate that the Ribban Basin formed during Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting. We also show that the rift fault network of the Ribban Basin lacks a pre‐existing (Permian‐Triassic) structural grain that underlies the neighbouring North Træna Basin that also formed during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Being able to compare adjacent basins with similar histories but contrasting underlying structure allows us to study how pre‐existing normal faults influence rift geometry. We demonstrate that in Lofoten, the absence of pre‐existing normal faults produced collinear fault zones. Conversely, where pre‐existing faults are present, normal fault zones develop strong “zigzag” plan‐view geometries.     

Source to sink relations between the Tian Shan and Junggar Basin (northwest China) from Late Palaeozoic to Quaternary: evidence from detrital U‐Pb zircon geochronology

The tectonic evolution of the Tian Shan, as for most ranges in continental Asia is dominated by north‐south compression since the Cenozoic India‐Asia collision. However, precollision governing tectonic processes remain enigmatic. An excellent record is provided by thick Palaeozoic – Cenozoic lacustrine to fluvial depositional sequences that are well preserved in the southern margin of the Junggar Basin and exposed along a foreland basin associated to the Late Cenozoic rejuvenation of the Tian Shan ranges. U/Pb (LA‐ICP‐MS) dating of detrital zircons from 14 sandstone samples from a continuous series ranging in age from latest Palaeozoic to Quaternary is used to investigate changes in sediment provenance through time and to correlate them with major tectonic phases in the range. Samples were systematically collected along two nearby sections in the foreland basin. The results show that the detrital zircons are mostly magmatic in origin, with some minor input from metamorphic zircons. The U‐Pb detrital zircon ages range widely from 127 to 2856 Ma and can be divided into four main groups: 127–197 (sub‐peak at 159 Ma), 250–379 (sub‐peak at 318 Ma), 381–538 (sub‐peak at 406 Ma) and 543–2856 Ma (sub‐peak at 912 Ma). These groups indicate that the zircons were largely derived from the Tian Shan area to the south since a Late Carboniferous basin initiation. The provenance and basin‐range pattern evolution of the southern margin of Junggar Basin can be generally divided into four stages: (1) Late Carboniferous – Early Triassic basin evolution in a half‐graben or post‐orogenic extensional context; (2) From Middle Triassic to Upper Jurassic times, the southern Junggar became a passively subsiding basin until (3) being inverted during Lower Cretaceous – Palaeogene; (4) During the Neogene, a piedmont developed along the northern margin of the North Tian Shan block and Junggar Basin became a true foreland basin.     

Normal fault array evolution above a reactivated rift fabric; a subsurface example from the northern Horda Platform,Norwegian North Sea

The impact of a pre‐existing rift fabric on normal fault array evolution during a subsequent phase of lithospheric extension is investigated using 2‐D and 3‐D seismic reflection, and borehole data from the northern Horda Platform, Norwegian North Sea. Two fault populations are developed: (i) a population comprising relatively tall (>2 km), N‐S‐striking faults, which have >1.5 km of throw. These faults are up to 60 km long, penetrate down into crystalline basement and bound the eastern margins of 6–15 km wide half‐graben, which contain >3 km of pre‐Jurassic, likely Permo–Triassic, but possibly Devonian syn‐rift strata; and (ii) a population comprising vertically restricted (<1 km), NW‐SE‐striking faults, which are more closely spaced (0.5–5 km), have lower displacements (30–100 m) and not as long (2–10 km) as those in the N–S‐striking population. The NW‐SE‐striking population typically occurs between the N‐S‐striking population, and may terminate against or cross‐cut the larger structures. NW–SE‐striking faults do not bound pre‐Jurassic half‐graben and are largely restricted to the Jurassic‐to‐Cretaceous succession. Seismic‐stratigraphic observations, and the stratigraphic position of the fault tips in both fault populations, allow us to reconstruct the Late Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous growth history of the northern Horda Platform fault array. We suggest the large, N‐S‐striking population was active during the Permo–Triassic and possibly earlier (Devonian?), before becoming inactive and buried during the Early and Middle Jurassic. After a period of relative tectonic quiescence, the N‐S‐striking, pre‐Jurassic fault population propagated through the Early‐Middle Jurassic cover and individual fault systems rapidly (within <10 Ma) established their maximum length in response to Late Jurassic extension. These fault systems became the dominant structures in the newly formed fault array and defined the locations of the main, Late Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous, syn‐rift depocentres. Late Jurassic extension was also accommodated by broadly synchronous growth of the NW‐SE‐striking fault population; the eventual death of this population occurred in response to the localization of strain onto the N–S‐striking fault population. Our study demonstrates that the inheritance of a pre‐existing rift fabric can influence the geometry and growth of individual fault systems and the fault array as a whole. On the basis of observations made in this study, we present a conceptual model that highlights the influence of a pre‐existing rift fabric on fault array evolution in polyphase rifts.     

Salt tectonics vs. inversion tectonics: The anticlines of the western Maestrazgo revisited (eastern Iberian Chain,Spain)

Many works in the last decades underline the role of evaporites, not just as a conditioning factor but as the engine for subsidence and eventually basin inversion. The western Mediterranean alpine ranges are being investigated in this regard because of the presence of discontinuous units of Permian to Triassic evaporites, deposited in the western Tethys basins. This work presents a thorough analysis of two particular structures (Cañada Vellida and Miravete anticlines) in the intraplate Maestrazgo basin (eastern Iberian Chain, Spain) in which evidence to support their reinterpretation as salt-driven structures have been recently reported. Our analysis includes (i) a comprehensive stratigraphic and structural study of the folds along their entire trace, (ii) the compilation of thickness and distribution of evaporite–bearing and supraevaporite units, paying special attention to changes in the thickness of units in relation to anticlines, and (iii) the study of fault patterns, sometimes in relation to the mechanical stratigraphy. All three aspects are also documented and discussed on a regional scale. The new data and interpretations reported here reinforce the extensional origin of the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous basins, and the role of regional extensional tectonics as the responsible for the development of first-order syn-sedimentary normal fault zones driving the formation and evolution of sub-basins. These basins were subsequently inverted and deformed, including the formation of complex, box-geometry anticlines that, in their turn, controlled deposition in Cenozoic basins. The review of the arguments that support the alternative of salt tectonics for the origin of such anticlines has allowed us to delve into the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the inverted extensional basins and to propose a specific model for the development of these faulted anticlines. The role of salt levels and other interlayered detachments in the structuring of sedimentary basins and their inversion is also pondered. The observations in the eastern Iberian Chain reported here have implications to assess ongoing reinterpretations in terms of salt tectonics in other alpine basins and ranges of the western Mediterranean.     

Quaternary sediments in the Dien Bien Phu fault zone, NW Vietnam: a record of young tectonic processes in the light of OSL-SAR dating results

The Dien Bien Phu fault zone (DBP), orientated NNE to N, is one of the most seismically active zones in Indochina. In NW Vietnam, this zone is 160 km long and 6–10 km wide, cutting sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of the Late Proterozoic, Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age, as well as Palaeozoic and Late Triassic granitoids. Along the DBP relatively small, narrow pull-apart basins occur, the three largest of which (Chan Nua, Lai Chau and Dien Bien Phu) have been studied in detail. All of them are bounded by sinistral and sinistral-normal faults, responsible for offset and deflected drainage, presence of numerous shutter ridges and displaced terraces and alluvial fans. The normal component of motion is testified to by well-preserved triangular facets on fault scarps, highly elevated straths in river watergaps, overhanging tributary valleys, as well as high and uneven river-bed gradients.Our observations indicate a minimum recent sinistral offset ranging from 6–8 to 150 m for Holocene valleys to 1.2–9.75 km for middle–late Pleistocene valleys in different fault segments. The thickness of Quaternary sediments varies from 5–25 m in the Lai Chau area to some 130 m in the Dien Bien Phu Basin. In the Lai Chau Basin, the middle terrace (23 m) alluvia of Nam Na River at Muong Te bridge have been optically stimulated luminescence/single aliquot regenerative dose technique (OSL-SAR) dated at 23–40 to 13 ka. These sediments were normal-faulted by some 11 m after 13 ka, and mantled by vari-coloured slope loams, 8–12 m thick, containing colluvial wedges composed of angular debris. These wedges were probably formed due to at least three palaeoseismic events postdating 6 ka. In the Dien Bien Phu Basin, in turn, alluvium of the upper Holocene terraces has been OSL-SAR dated to 6.5–7 and 1.7–1.0 ka, whereas the younger (sub-recent) terrace sediments give ages of 0.5–0.2 ka.Displaced terraces and alluvial fans allow us to suppose that the sinistral and sinistral-normal faults bounding narrow pull-apart basins in the southern portion of the DBP fault reveal minimum rates of left-lateral strike-slip ranging from 0.6 to 2 mm/year in Holocene and 0.5–3.8 mm/year in Pleistocene times, whereas rates of Holocene uplift tend to attain 1 mm/year north of Lai Chau and 0.4–0.6 mm/year west of Dien Bien Phu. More precise estimations, however, are difficult to obtain due to poor age control of the displaced drainage. Rates of Quaternary strike-slip are comparable with those of the Red River fault; the sense of movement being, however, opposite. Taking into account the presence of two phases of Late Cenozoic strike-slip of contrasting sense of motion, as well as the geometry of the two fault zones, we hypothesize that the Red River and Dien Bien Phu faults are conjugate faults capable of generating relatively strong earthquakes in the future.     

Constraining the burial history of the Ghadames Basin, North Africa: an integrated analysis using sonic velocities, vitrinite reflectance data and apatite fission track ages

Constraining the burial history of a sedimentary basin is crucial for accurate prediction of hydrocarbon generation and migration. Although the Ghadames Basin is a prolific hydrocarbon province, with recoverable oil discovered to date in excess of 3.5 billion bbl, exploration on the eastern margin is still limited and the prospectivity of the area depends on the identification of effective source rocks and the timing of hydrocarbon generation. Sonic velocity, apatite fission track (FT) and vitrinite reflectance analysis offer three complementary methods to determine burial history and provide independent analytical techniques to evaluate the timing and amount of exhumation. The results indicate that two phases of tectonic activity had the biggest influence on basin evolution: the Hercynian (Late Carboniferous–Triassic) and Alpine (Late Mesozoic/Cenozoic) tectonic events. Exhumation during the Hercynian tectonic event increases from the SE, where an almost complete Palaeozoic section is preserved, towards the NW. This study quantifies the significant regional Alpine exhumation of the southern and eastern margins of the basin, with important implications for the timing of hydrocarbon maturation and expulsion, particularly for the Silurian source rock interval. Incorporating elevated Alpine exhumation values into burial history models for wells in the eastern (Libyan) part of the basin allows calibration with available maturity (Ro_eq) data using moderate values of Hercynian erosion. The result is preservation of the generation potential of Silurian (Tanezzuft) source rocks until maximum burial during Mesozoic/Cenozoic time, which improves the chance for preservation of hydrocarbon accumulations following entrapment.