大陆中部地壳应变局部化与应变弱化

大陆岩石圈流变学研究是构造地质学学科发展的必然,也是发展板块构造理论、探索大陆板块内部变形与动力学演化的核心问题。大陆中部地壳是大陆岩石圈中一个具有特殊性的圈层,其主要成分以花岗质岩石为代表,位于岩石脆-韧性转变域。在中部地壳层次上,岩石既具有脆性变形特点,又具有韧性变形属性,而且常常表现出多种流变强度。研究成果显示,中部地壳岩石流变具有许多特殊性:1)应变局部化是中部地壳流动最为典型表现形式;2)存在大陆地壳多震层:多震与强震,显示出中部地壳既弱又强的流变学属性;3)液/岩反应强烈,流体相直接影响着岩石的流变性;4)在许多地区存在有地球物理异常体(低速高导体)。大陆中部地壳应变局部化是板块相互作用过程中地壳层次上应变积累与集中的重要表现。在宏观尺度、中小型尺度和微观尺度上都有着重要的构造特点。地壳岩石的应变弱化,是诱发应变局部化的主要机制。多种形式的水致弱化(包括液压致裂、反应弱化、水解弱化等)与结构弱化(包括细粒化、晶格取向、成分分带性等)对于应变局部化具有重要的贡献。大陆地壳岩石流变学、中部地壳弱化与应变局部化研究,是未来岩石圈流变学研究的重要方向。     

Rheological stratification of the Indian continental lithosphere: Role of diffusion creep

Dynamic recrystallization and reduction in grain-size at large strains, e.g. in shear zones, leads to rheological weakening of the lithosphere and facilitates intense ductile deformation. In the present work, we include this effect into the rheological models of the Indian continental lithosphere to analyse its role in modifying the rheological structure and strength of the Indian lithosphere. The results computed by using quartz and felspar rheologies for the upper and lower crust, respectively, and grain-size dependent olivine rheology for the upper mantle, indicate an increase in the ductility of the mantle lithosphere.     

On formation mechanisms of deep sedimentary basins: Is there enough evidence for eclogitization?

This is a critical comment on the model of basin formation by eclogitization of mafic crust suggested by E. Artyushkov. The eclogitization model bears uncertainties in average parameters (thickness, density, pressure) of lithospheric mantle, crust, and sediments, which may bias the estimates of subsidence magnitude. Main pitfalls, however, lie in high-pressure petrology: The lithostatic pressure is insufficient for eclogite to form in the lower crust beneath deep basins. It is shown that linear extrapolation of laboratory data on the gabbro-to-eclogite transition onto the field of relatively low pressures and temperatures in the lithosphere is incorrect. The hypothesized role of hot mantle fluids in the gabbro-eclogite transformation appears doubtful in terms of both petrology and kinetics of metamorphic reactions. Eclogite volumes in none of well known eclogitic sites agree with those required for eclogitization-driven subsidence. Artyushkov’s criticism of the extension basin formation model is not quite just. There are recent models of a two-layer lithosphere that imply a possibility of brittle and ductile deformation at different crust rheologies. The models we refer to predict most of extension to occur in mantle lithosphere rather than in the crust, this extension being able to produce deep continental basins.     

Collisional plateaus

In the fifteen years since the importance of collisional plateaus with thickened continental crust began to be recognized as one of the inevitable consequences of the processes of plate tectonics, rapid progress in their understanding has come from studies of the world's only active terminal collision zones in the Himalayan-Tibetan and Turkish-Iranian plateaus.Ancient collisional plateaus are being recognized throughout the geological record (back to 3.8 Ga) from the occurrence of extensive areas (typically > 500,000 km²) of 8 kbar metamorphism in granulite facies or from the occurrence of extensive areas of higher level minimum-melt composition granite rocks whose isotopic signatures indicate reactivation of existing continental crust rather than addition of new crust from the mantle at the time of collision. Recognition of strike-slip faulting in the ancient collisional plateau areas indicates that “tectonic escape” may have been as important in the past as it is today.Earth may not be the only planet on which collisional plateaus are important. The highlands of Venus (approximately 7% of the surface with elevations over 1.5 km above mean planetary radius) can only exist as a result of crustal thickening, and not as a product of lithospheric thinning. Most of these highlands can be explained by models involving volcanic construction. However, the highest peaks, including Maxwell Montes, the highest mapped area of Venus rising over 10 km above mean planetary radius, require much greater crustal thickening to support them than can reasonably be explained by a volcanic mechanism. Geological features of Maxwell Montes inferred from radar images suggest some analogy between Maxwell Montes and the Tibetan plateau.It is somewhat paradoxical that extensional tectonics are commonly associated with continental collision, and that collision-related rifts may be the only sites where the uppermost layers of a collision-thickened crust are preserved from erosion. Extensional stress fields are generated during continental collision, primarily in areas associated with strike-slip faulting and “tectonic escape”. Additional extensional stresses are gravitationally generated associated with the topography and thickened crust in a collision zone. Tectonically thickened crust is particularly susceptible to rifting as its lithosphere is weak as a result of heating associated with magmatism. This lithosphere is also compositionally weak because of the relatively thick crust, dominated by a weak quartz rheology, and thin mantle lithosphere, dominated by a strong olivine rheology, in comparison with a lithosphere with a more normal crustal thickness. Thus, the common association of rifts and collision zones may be a consequence of both stresses generated during collision and modification of the lithosphere by collision.     

岩石扩散蠕变及其地质意义

总结了近十年来岩石扩散蠕变显微构造鉴别特征，研究方法的最新进展，矿物颗粒大小和流体（包括熔体和水）等是影响扩散蠕变的重要因素。扩散蠕变与位错蠕变和超塑性变形有密切关系，它的研究对大陆裂谷化过程，大陆碰撞带中岩石圈地幔强度弱化，中下地壳韧性剪切应变局限化以及与相变有关的矿物粒度细小化作用的分布有重要应用意义。     

大陆板内构造变形及其动力学机制

典型大陆板内变形发生在克拉通化的大陆岩石圈内部,距离同变形期活动板块构造边界数百至2000km以上。收缩变形主要表现为区域尺度的盆地构造反转、结晶基底与上覆盖层共同卷入变形的厚皮式逆冲构造,具有变形局部化特征。因为流变学分层特征不同,大陆板内变形可以发生在中上部地壳、整个地壳乃至岩石圈尺度上,表现为不同波长的地壳或岩石圈尺度纵弯弯曲。大陆岩石圈板块内部物质组成与结构的不均一性、流体活动、热作用、克拉通内盆地巨厚沉积产生的覆盖效应、地壳加厚等导致的岩石圈强度的局部降低等,是导致大陆板内变形以及应变局部化的原因。构造活化是大陆板内变形的重要方式。板块俯冲或碰撞远程效应被认为是大陆板内变形的主导动力学模型,但是放射性元素积累导致的岩石圈强度热弱化,或大陆冰川消退触发板内应力状态变化等导致大陆板内变形的动力学模型也应该引起关注。     

关于华北克拉通燕山期岩石圈减薄的机制与过程的讨论:是拆沉,还是热侵蚀和化学交代?

关于华北克拉通燕山期岩石圈减薄作用,主要有两种模型:(1)岩石圈拆沉;(2)热侵蚀和/或化学交代。文中主要从岩浆活动与构造变形两个途径,通过(1)燕山带造山幕和结构要素组合以及造山过程的p-T-t轨迹;(2)收缩构造变形、火成岩构造组合和下地壳岩石捕虏体3个独立证据提出陆壳的构造加厚;(3)火成岩成因的壳幔相互作用模型和热模拟等,试图讨论华北地区克拉通有浮力的岩石圈如何转变为密度大的岩石圈,随之发生拆沉作用,而不是热侵蚀或化学交代机制使岩石圈地幔改造为EMI印记实现的减薄作用。大量对流的软流圈物质注入克拉通是诱发陆壳发生局部熔融所必需的条件。底侵玄武质岩浆的加热并弱化先前的冷和强的克拉通地壳,创造一个流变学条件,以使收缩构造变形和陆壳加厚成为可能。陆壳最下部和岩石圈地幔中形成的大量玄武质岩石,在构造加厚作用下,相转变为榴辉岩,致使原先有浮力的岩石圈转变为密度大的岩石圈,随之发生拆沉作用。     

岩石圈HPE热弱化与陆内构造变形

大陆内部变形在很大程度受制于大陆岩石圈流变侧向不均一性,而温度(地热梯度)是影响地壳和地幔岩石流变性质的主导因素。由热引起的地壳/地幔岩石材料的热弱化是弱化的主要途径,为陆内变形准备了物质条件。在构造外力(板块相关的或非相关的)的作用下,这些受到热弱化的岩石材料极易发生变形,导致岩石圈内部的造山带和变形带的形成。文章试图在广泛的国内外文献搜集和综合分析基础上,介绍由生热元素(heat producing elements)聚集产生的地壳/地幔(岩石)热弱化以及随后地幔下降流构造力作用造成的大陆内部应变局部化和陆内构造变形。这些地幔下降流是由大陆岩石圈地幔重力(瑞利 泰勒型)不稳定性发育引起的。     

板块俯冲带水流体活动及其效应的定量化数值模拟

为探讨水流体活动对板块俯冲隧道过程及大陆碰撞造山的制约作用,采用热力学和动力学耦合的数值模拟方法,建立了系统的数值模型.结果显示俯冲隧道内的混杂岩存在两种不同的折返路径:（1）平行于俯冲隧道斜向上折返,形成靠近缝合带的高压-超高压变质岩;（2）近垂直穿过上覆地幔楔侵入地壳深度.这两种差异性的模式主要受控于俯冲带热结构.俯冲带的温度结构控制俯冲隧道内水流体和熔体活动,从而影响上覆地幔楔的弱化程度,最终导致俯冲带内物质的不同运移过程和折返路径.同时,大陆俯冲碰撞带的岩石圈变形和拆沉作用均与俯冲带的流体-熔体活动所导致的岩石圈弱化息息相关.数值模拟结果极大促进了对于板块俯冲带流体-熔体活动及其动力学过程的理解.      

Some remarks on high-temperature—low-pressure metamorphism in convergent orogens

Many high-temperature–low-pressure (high- T –low- P ) metamorphic terranes show evidence for peak mineral growth during crustal thickening strain increments at pressures near the maximum attained during the heating–cooling cycle. Such terranes are not readily explained as the conductive response to crustal thickening since the resulting Moho temperatures would greatly exceed the crustal liquidus and because heating due to conductive equilibration on length scales appropriate to lithospheric-scale strains must greatly outlast the deformation. Consequently, high- T –low- P metamorphism may be generated during crustal thickening only when significant heat is advected within the crust, as for example may occur during the segregation of granitic melts. We show that without the addition of asthenospheric melts and at strain rates appropriate to continental deformation the conditions required for significant lower crustal melting during deformation are only likely to be attained if heat flow into the lower crust during crustal thickening is increased substantially, for example, by removing the mantle part of the lithosphere. A simple parameterization of lithospheric deformation involving the vertical strain on the scale of the crust, _c, and the lithosphere, ₁ respectively, allows the potential energy of the evolving orogen to be readily evaluated. Using this parameterization we show that an important isostatic consequence of the deformation geometries capable of generating such high- T –low- P metamorphism during crustal thickening (with _c1) is an imposed upper limit to crustal thicknesses which is much lower than for homogeneous deformations (f_c= f₁) for the same initial lithospheric configuration.     

Rheological structure and dynamical response of the DSS profile BALTIC in the SE Fennoscandian Shield

Numerical modelling was applied to study the present-day state of stress and deformation under different tectonic loading conditions at the seismic BALTIC–SKJ profile in south-eastern Finland and in Estonia. The finite element method was used to solve the numerical problem. The two-dimensional model was constructed using the results from both seismic and thermal studies along the profile. The model is 700 km long and 200 km deep, and is roughly divided into an inhomogeneous, laterally layered crust and a homogeneous mantle lithosphere. Both the linear elastic and non-linear elasto-plastic rheologies were used. Elasto-plasticity was achieved by calculating a rheological strength as a function of depth along the profile. Different tectonic load cases were analysed with displacement, force and pressure type boundary conditions. Also, the effect of different strain rates was investigated. The results suggest that even with relatively low compressive stress levels the lower crust deforms in a plastic manner for a wet crustal rheology. When applying a dry crustal rheology, plastic yielding is attained only with much higher stress fields.     

Rock mechanics observations pertinent to the rheology of the continental lithosphere and the localization of strain along shear zones

Emphasized in this paper are the deformation processes and rheologies of rocks at high temperatures and high effective pressures, conditions that are presumably appropriate to the lower crust and upper mantle in continental collision zones. Much recent progress has been made in understanding the flexure of the oceanic lithosphere using rock-mechanics-based yield criteria for the inelastic deformations at the top and base. At mid-plate depths, stresses are likely to be supported elastically because bending strains and elastic stresses are low. The collisional tectonic regime, however, is far more complex because very large permanent strains are sustained at mid-plate depths and this requires us to include the broad transition between brittle and ductile flow. Moreover, important changes in the ductile flow mechanisms occur at the intermediate temperatures found at mid-plate depths.Two specific contributions of laboratory rock rheology research are considered in this paper. First, the high-temperature steady-state flow mechanisms and rheology of mafic and ultramafic rocks are reviewed with special emphasis on olivine and crystalline rocks. Rock strength decreases very markedly with increases in temperature and it is the onset of flow by high temperature ductile mechanisms that defines the base of the lithosphere. The thickness of the continental lithosphere can therefore be defined by the depth to a particular isotherm T_c above which (at geologic strain rates) the high-temperature ductile strength falls below some arbitrary strength isobar (e.g., 100 MPa). For olivine T_c is about 700°–800°C but for other crustal silicates, T_c may be as low as 400°–600°C, suggesting that substantial decoupling may take place within thick continental crust and that strength may increase with depth at the Moho, as suggested by a number of workers on independent grounds. Put another way, the Moho is a rheological discontinuity. A second class of laboratory observations pertains to the general phenomenon of ductile faulting in which ductile strains are localized into shear zones. Ductile faults have been produced in experiments of five different rock types and is generally expressed as strain softening in constant-strain-rate tests or as an accelerating-creep-rate stage at constant differential stress. A number of physical mechanisms have been identified that may be responsible for ductile faulting, including the onset of dynamic recrystallization, phase changes, hydrothermal alteration and hydrolytic weakening. Microscopic evidence for these processes as well as larger-scale geological and geophysical observations suggest that ductile faulting in the middle to lower crust and upper mantle may greatly influence the distribution and magnitudes of differential stresses and the style of deformation in the overlying upper continental lithosphere.     

From continental rifting to seafloor spreading: Insight from 3D thermo-mechanical modeling

Continental rifting to seafloor spreading is a continuous process, and rifting history influences the following spreading process. However, the complete process is scarcely simulated. Using 3D thermo-mechanical coupled visco-plastic numerical models, we investigate the complete extension process and the inheritance of continental rifting in oceanic spreading. Our modeling results show that the initial continental lithosphere rheological coupling/decoupling at the Moho affects oceanic spreading in two manners: (1) coupled model (a strong lower crust mechanically couples upper crust and upper mantle lithosphere) generates large lithospheric shear zones and fast rifting, which promotes symmetric oceanic accretion (i.e. oceanic crust growth) and leads to a relatively straight oceanic ridge, while (2) decoupled model (a weak ductile lower crust mechanically decouples upper crust and upper mantle lithosphere) generates separate crustal and mantle shear zones and favors asymmetric oceanic accretion involving development of active detachment faults with 3D features. Complex ridge geometries (e.g. overlapping ridge segments and curved ridges) are generated in the decoupled models. Two types of detachment faults termed continental and oceanic detachment faults are established in the coupled and decoupled models, respectively. Continental detachment faults are generated through rotation of high angle normal faults during rifting, and terminated by magmatism during continental breakup. Oceanic detachment faults form in oceanic crust in the late rifting–early spreading stage, and dominates asymmetric oceanic accretion. The life cycle of oceanic detachment faults has been revealed in this study.     

Lower crust indentation or horizontal ductile flow during continental collision?

Conditions for indentation and channelised flow are investigated with two-dimensional thermomechanical models of Alpine-type continental collision. The models mimic the development of an orogen at an initial central portion of weakened lithosphere 150 km wide, coherent with several geological reconstructions. We study in particular the role of lower crustal strength in developing peculiar geometries after 20 Ma of shortening at 1 cm/year. Crustal layers produce geometries of imbricate layers, which result from two contrasted mechanisms of either channelised ductile lateral flow or horizontal rigid-like indentation:

– Channelised lateral flow develops when the lateral lower crust has a viscosity less than 10²¹ Pa s, exhibiting velocities opposite to the direction of convergence. This mechanism of deformation produces subhorizontal shear zones at the boundaries between the lower crust and the more competent upper crust and lithospheric mantle. It is also associated with a topographic plateau that equilibrates with a wide (about 200 km) but quasi-constant crustal root about 50 km deep.

– In contrast, indentation occurs with lateral lower crust layers that have a viscosity greater than about 10²³ Pa s, producing significant shortening and thickening of the central crust. In this case topography develops steep and narrow (around 100 km wide), associated with a thickened crust exceeding 60 km depth. A crustal-scale pop-up forms bounded by subvertical shear zones that root into the mantle lithosphere.

中国大陆岩石圈等效粘滞系数的计算和讨论

大陆岩石圈的流变结构对岩石圈动力学过程有很大的影响,因此对岩石圈等效粘度的估计是大陆动力学研究中基础和重要的问题。文中对利用实验室流变实验结果估算岩石圈流变结构的计算方法中包含的多种不确定性进行了讨论,包括岩性、温度、应变速率、实验室速率数据外推到地质构造运动速率等因素对等效粘滞系数估算的影响,并以温度和应变速率的新研究成果为基础,对中国大陆地壳和上地幔等效粘滞系数做出了估计。中国中地壳等效粘滞系数一般在1021~1024Pa.s,下地壳等效粘滞系数在1021~1022Pa.s,其中青藏高原下地壳等效粘滞系数较低,约为1019~1020Pa.s;与前人研究认为青藏高原存在柔性下地壳流动的结论吻合。     

中国大陆现今构造作用的地块运动和连续变形耦合模型

板块构造基本理论（特别是其刚性块体假设）能否应用于大陆，是大陆动力学研究所面临的主要问题之一，不同的理论模型给出不同的回答。缺乏完整、可靠的构造变形运动学图像使得无法对不同的理论模型给予约束和检验，以至于无法回答上述基本问题。本文以中国大陆及其周边近年来的1350个GPS观测资料为主，结合活动断裂和地震活动性资料，研究中国大陆现今构造变形的运动学特征。中国大陆的现今构造变形既有刚性地块的运动，如塔里木、鄂尔多斯、华南等地块；又有非刚性的连续变形，如青藏高原和天山。在大陆构造变形过程中，由于岩石圈性质的不同而造成变形的分区差异和上部脆性地壳的分块运动，不仅有整体性好的刚性地块运动，也有刚性很差的连续变形。以粘塑性流变为特征的下地壳和上地幔在周边板块作用下发生连续流动，从底部驱动着上覆脆性地块的运动，而不同活动地块本身的性质决定着地块的整体性和变形方式，中国大陆的现今构造变形可以用耦合的地块运动和连续变形模式来描述。     

超越板块构造——我国构造地质学要做些什么?

对近十年来全球构造学和构造地质学的重要进展进行了简要评述.30年前建立的全球构造理论改变了人们对地球及其演化的认识.作为固体地球统一理论的板块构造主要涉及刚性板块边界之间的变形、地震活动和火山作用.至今还没有完整理论阐明板块运动的驱动力和地幔对流机制.板块边界和板内变形等许多问题仍然无法回答.大陆岩石圈和大洋岩石圈在成分、厚度和力学强度方面有明显的差别, 因此现有板块构造不完全适合于大陆构造.大陆地壳和地幔流变学的综合研究是认识大陆构造和超越板块构造的最佳途径.流变学是大陆造山带几何学和动力学的桥梁.大陆岩石圈对构造作用、重力作用和热作用的响应在很大程度上取决于其流变强度.岩石圈流变性质是岩石圈分层和塑性流动的主导因素.大量透入性变形和巨型大陆造山带内部构造显示非刚性特征.大陆构造和力学行为主要由地壳强度而不是地幔强度所控制.从大陆岩石圈多层性和力学强度不均匀性表征看, 现在是抛弃传统“三明治”构造模式的时候了.面对地球系统科学和地球动力学新思维发展趋势, 多学科综合研究大陆构造(造山带)和加速高水平构造地质学人才的培养是我国构造地质学发展的最紧迫任务      

Control of rheological stratification on rifting geometry: a symmetric model resolving the upper plate paradox

Numerical experiments reproduce the fundamental architecture of magma-poor rifted margins such as the Iberian or Alpine margins if the lithosphere has a weak mid-crustal channel on top of strong lower crust and a horizontal thermal weakness in the rift center. During model extension, the upper crust undergoes distributed collapse into the rift center where the thermally weakened portion of the model tears. Among the features reproduced by the modeling, we observe: (1) an array of tilted upper-crustal blocks resting directly on exhumed mantle at the distal margin, (2) consistently oceanward-dipping normal faults, (3) a mid-crustal high strain zone at the base of the crustal blocks (S-reflector), (4) new ocean floor up against a low angle normal fault at the tip of the continent, (5) shear zones consistent with continentward-dipping reflectors in the mantle lithosphere, (6) the mismatch frequently observed between stretching values inferred from surface extension and bulk crustal thinning at distal margins (upper plate paradox). Rifting in the experiment is symmetric at a lithospheric scale and the above features develop on both sides of the rift center. We discuss three controversial points in more detail: (1) weak versus strong lower crust, (2) the deformation pattern in the mantle, and (3) the significance of detachment faults during continental breakup. We argue that the transition from wide rifting towards narrow rifting with a pronounced polarity towards the rift center is associated with the advective growth of a thermal perturbation in the mantle lithosphere.     

Wilson cycle passive margins: Control of orogenic inheritance on continental breakup

Rifts and passive margins often develop along old suture zones where colliding continents merged during earlier phases of the Wilson cycle. For example, the North Atlantic formed after continental break-up along sutures formed during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. Even though such tectonic inheritance is generally appreciated, causative physical mechanisms that affect the localization and evolution of rifts and passive margins are not well understood.We use thermo-mechanical modeling to assess the role of orogenic structures during rifting and continental breakup. Such inherited structures include: 1) Thickened crust, 2) eclogitized oceanic crust emplaced in the mantle lithosphere, and 3) mantle wedge of hydrated peridotite (serpentinite).Our models indicate that the presence of inherited structures not only defines the location of rifting upon extension, but also imposes a control on their structural and magmatic evolution. For example, rifts developing in thin initial crust can preserve large amounts of orogenic serpentinite. This facilitates rapid continental breakup, exhumation of hydrated mantle prior to the onset of magmatism. On the contrary, rifts in thicker crust develop more focused thinning in the mantle lithosphere rather than in the crust, and continental breakup is therefore preceded by magmatism. This implies that whether passive margins become magma-poor or magma-rich, respectively, is a function of pre-rift orogenic properties.The models show that structures of orogenic eclogite and hydrated mantle are partially preserved during rifting and are emplaced either at the base of the thinned crust or within the lithospheric mantle as dipping structures. The former provides an alternative interpretation of numerous observations of ‘lower crustal bodies’ which are often regarded as igneous bodies. The latter is consistent with dipping sub-Moho reflectors often observed in passive margins.     

Stress and strain during fault-controlled lithospheric extension—insights from numerical experiments

Two-dimensional finite element techniques are used to study the temporal evolution and spatial distribution of stress and strain during lithospheric extension. The thermomechanical model includes a pre-existing fault in the upper crust to account for the reactivation of older tectonic elements. The fault is described using contact elements which allow for independent meshing of hanging wall and foot wall as well as simulation of large differential displacements between the fault blocks. Numerical models are run for three different initial temperature distributions representing extension of weak, moderately strong and strong lithosphere and three different extension velocities. In spite of the simple geodynamic boundary conditions selected, i.e., wholesale extension at a constant rate, stress and strain vary substantially throughout the lithosphere. In particular, in case of the weak lithosphere model, lower crustal flow towards the locus of maximum upper crustal extension results in the formation of a lower crustal dome while maintaining a subhorizontal Moho relief. The core of the dome experiences hardly any internal deformation, although it is the part of the lower crust which is exhumed the most. Stress fields in the lower crustal dome vary significantly from the regional trend underlining mechanical decoupling of the lower crust from the rest of the lithosphere. These differences diminish if cooler temperatures and, hence, stronger rheologies are considered. Lithospheric strength also exerts a profound control on the basin architecture and the surface expressions of extension, i.e., rift flank uplift and basin subsidence. If the lower crust is sufficiently weak, its flow towards the region of extended upper crust can provide a threshold value for the maximum subsidence which can be achieved during the syn-rift stage. In spite of continuous regional extension, corresponding burial history plots show exponentially decreasing subsidence rates which would traditionally be interpreted in terms of lithospheric cooling during the post-rift stage. The models provide templates to genetically link the surface and sub-surface expressions of lithospheric extension, for which usually no contemporaneous observations are possible. In particular, they help to decipher the information on the physical state of the lithosphere at the time of extension which is stored in the architecture and subsidence record of sedimentary basins.