Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Blue Nile Basin,Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau

The Blue Nile Basin, situated in the Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau, contains ∼1400 m thick Mesozoic sedimentary section underlain by Neoproterozoic basement rocks and overlain by Early–Late Oligocene and Quaternary volcanic rocks. This study outlines the stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Blue Nile Basin based on field and remote sensing studies along the Gorge of the Nile. The Blue Nile Basin has evolved in three main phases: (1) pre‐sedimentation phase, include pre‐rift peneplanation of the Neoproterozoic basement rocks, possibly during Palaeozoic time; (2) sedimentation phase from Triassic to Early Cretaceous, including: (a) Triassic–Early Jurassic fluvial sedimentation (Lower Sandstone, ∼300 m thick); (b) Early Jurassic marine transgression (glauconitic sandy mudstone, ∼30 m thick); (c) Early–Middle Jurassic deepening of the basin (Lower Limestone, ∼450 m thick); (d) desiccation of the basin and deposition of Early–Middle Jurassic gypsum; (e) Middle–Late Jurassic marine transgression (Upper Limestone, ∼400 m thick); (f) Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous basin‐uplift and marine regression (alluvial/fluvial Upper Sandstone, ∼280 m thick); (3) the post‐sedimentation phase, including Early–Late Oligocene eruption of 500–2000 m thick Lower volcanic rocks, related to the Afar Mantle Plume and emplacement of ∼300 m thick Quaternary Upper volcanic rocks. The Mesozoic to Cenozoic units were deposited during extension attributed to Triassic–Cretaceous NE–SW‐directed extension related to the Mesozoic rifting of Gondwana. The Blue Nile Basin was formed as a NW‐trending rift, within which much of the Mesozoic clastic and marine sediments were deposited. This was followed by Late Miocene NW–SE‐directed extension related to the Main Ethiopian Rift that formed NE‐trending faults, affecting Lower volcanic rocks and the upper part of the Mesozoic section. The region was subsequently affected by Quaternary E–W and NNE–SSW‐directed extensions related to oblique opening of the Main Ethiopian Rift and development of E‐trending transverse faults, as well as NE–SW‐directed extension in southern Afar (related to northeastward separation of the Arabian Plate from the African Plate) and E–W‐directed extensions in western Afar (related to the stepping of the Red Sea axis into Afar). These Quaternary stress regimes resulted in the development of N‐, ESE‐ and NW‐trending extensional structures within the Blue Nile Basin. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aspects of the structural evolution of the Lusitanian Basin in Portugal and the shelf and slope area offshore Portugal

The study provides a regional seismic interpretation and mapping of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic succession of the Lusitanian Basin and the shelf and slope area off Portugal. The seismic study is compared with previous studies of the Lusitanian Basin. From the Late Triassic to the Cretaceous the study area experienced four rift phases and intermittent periods of tectonic quiescence. The Triassic rifting was concentrated in the central part of the Lusitanian Basin and in the southernmost part of the study area, both as symmetrical grabens and half-grabens. The evolution of half-grabens was particularly prominent in the south. The Triassic fault-controlled subsidence ceased during the latest Late Triassic and was succeeded by regional subsidence during the early Early Jurassic (Hettangian) when deposition of evaporites took place. A second rift phase was initiated in the Early Jurassic, most likely during the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian. This resulted in minor salt movements along the most prominent faults. The second phase was concentrated to the area south of the Nazare Fault Zone and resulted here in the accumulation of a thick Sinemurian–Callovian succession. Following a major hiatus, probably as a result of the opening of the Central Atlantic, resumed deposition occurred during the Late Jurassic. Evidence for Late Jurassic fault-controlled subsidence is widespread over the whole basin. The pattern of Late Jurassic subsidence appears to change across the Nazare Fault Zone. North of the Nazare Fault, fault-controlled subsidence occurred mainly along NNW–SSE-trending faults and to the south of this fault zone a NNE–SSW fault pattern seems to dominate. The Oxfordian rift phase is testified in onlapping of the Oxfordian succession on salt pillows which formed in association with fault activity. The fourth and final rift phase was in the latest Late Jurassic or earliest Early Cretaceous. The Jurassic extensional tectonism resulted in triggering of salt movement and the development of salt structures along fault zones. However, only salt pillow development can be demonstrated. The extensional tectonics ceased during the Early Cretaceous. During most of the Cretaceous, regional subsidence occurred, resulting in the deposition of a uniform Lower and Upper Cretaceous succession. Marked inversion of former normal faults, particularly along NE–SW-trending faults, and development of salt diapirs occurred during the Middle Miocene, probably followed by tectonic pulses during the Late Miocene to present. The inversion was most prominent in the central and southern parts of the study area. In between these two areas affected by structural inversion, fault-controlled subsidence resulted in the formation of the Cenozoic Lower Tagus Basin. Northwest of the Nazare Fault Zone the effect of the compressional tectonic regime quickly dies out and extensional tectonic environment seems to have prevailed. The Miocene compressional stress was mainly oriented NW–SE shifting to more N–S in the southern part.     

First direct age determination from the Jurassic radiolarian-bearing siliceous series (Jédidi Formation) of northwestern Tunisia

Our study presents preliminary biostratigraphic results from the Jurassic siliceous series of northwestern Tunisia. For the first time, radiolarians are extracted from the Jédidi formation and provide a direct age determination. They are the first radiolarian fauna documented from Tunisia. Two age assignments are comprised within the following intervals: (1) Late Bathonian–Early Callovian, (2) Late Bathonian–Early Oxfordian. These ages are compatible with recent stratigraphic synthesis proposed for the Jurassic series of Tunisia. The data suggest the correlation of the Jédidi formation with siliceous series of Middle–Late Jurassic age from the external zone of the Maghrebides belt rather than with true oceanic units from the Maghrebian flyschs or the internal zones of western Tethys. To cite this article: F. Cordey et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

新疆准噶尔盆地侏罗系齐古组凝灰岩SHRIMP 锆石U-Pb年龄

报道了准噶尔盆地获得侏罗纪齐古组凝灰岩精确的SHRIMP锆石 U-Pb年龄164.6 Ma ± 1.4 Ma(MSWD=1.3)。该年龄值几乎相当于国际地质年表中Callovian阶的底界年龄(164.7Ma±4.0Ma)。根据地层沉积速率推算,齐古组上界年龄值应为161.8Ma,接近Callovian阶的上界(161.2Ma±4.0Ma);其上的喀拉扎组上界年龄大致在160.0 Ma左右,此年龄值应位于牛津阶(Oxfordian)的下部。另外,下白垩统下部清水河组的时代为早白垩世早期(Berriasian)。由此得出：齐古组的主体时代为中侏罗世卡洛期(Callovian), 其下部跨入了巴通期最晚期(late Late Bathonian);喀拉扎组的时代可能仅为牛津期最早期(early Early Oxfordian),反映白垩系与侏罗系之间的不整合几乎缺失了整个上侏罗统,由此推断晚侏罗世曾发生过一次较强烈的构造运动。     

新疆准噶尔盆地侏罗系齐古组凝灰岩SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年龄

报道了准噶尔盆地获得侏罗纪齐古组凝灰岩精确的SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年龄164.6 Ma±1.4 Ma（MSWD=1.3）。该年龄值几乎相当于国际地质年表中Callovian阶的底界年龄（164.7Ma±4.0Ma）。根据地层沉积速率推算,齐古组上界年龄值应为161.8Ma,接近Callovian阶的上界（161.2Ma±4.0Ma）;其上的喀拉扎组上界年龄大致在160.0 Ma左右,此年龄值应位于牛津阶（Oxfordian）的下部。另外,下白垩统下部清水河组的时代为早白垩世早期（Berriasian）。由此得出：齐古组的主体时代为中侏罗世卡洛期（Callovian）,其下部跨入了巴通期最晚期（late Late Bathonian）;喀拉扎组的时代可能仅为牛津期最早期（early Early Ox-fordian）,反映白垩系与侏罗系之间的不整合几乎缺失了整个上侏罗统,由此推断晚侏罗世曾发生过一次较强烈的构造运动。     

新疆准噶尔盆地侏罗系—白垩系生物地层和同位素年龄研究的新进展

研究的侏罗系—白垩系包括侏罗系头屯河组、齐古组、喀拉扎组和白垩系清水河组。清水河组的叶肢介、介形虫和孢粉化石组合研究的新成果表明:其地质时代为早白垩世早期(Berriasian)。齐古组下部的同位素年龄为164.6Ma±1.4Ma。此年龄值与国际地质年表对比,几乎与Callovian的底界年龄(164.7Ma±4.0Ma)相当。依据此年龄值和沉积厚度、沉积速率推算,齐古组的主要时代应为中侏罗世卡洛期(Callovian),其下部跨入巴通期最晚期;喀拉扎组的时代可能为牛津期最早期(early Early Oxfor-dian)。上列事实反映出在侏罗系与白垩系之间几乎缺失全部晚侏罗世的沉积,由此可以推断本区在晚侏罗世曾发生过一次较强烈的构造运动。     

Jurassic extension and Cenozoic inversion tectonics in the Asturian Basin,NW Iberian Peninsula: 3D structural model and kinematic evolution

We constructed a geological map, a 3D model and cross-sections, carried out a structural analysis, determined the stress fields and tectonic transport vectors, restored a cross section and performed a subsidence analysis to unravel the kinematic evolution of the NE emerged portion of the Asturian Basin (NW Iberian Peninsula), where Jurassic rocks crop out. The major folds run NW-SE, normal faults exhibit three dominant orientations: NW-SE, NE-SW and E-W, and thrusts display E-W strikes. After Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic thermal subsidence, Middle Jurassic doming occurred, accompanied by normal faulting, high heat flow and basin uplift, followed by Upper Jurassic high-rate basin subsidence. Another extensional event, possibly during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, caused an increment in the normal faults displacement. A contractional event, probably of Cenozoic age, led to selective and irregularly distributed buttressing and fault reactivation as reverse or strike-slip faults, and folding and/or offset of some previous faults by new generation folds and thrusts. The Middle Jurassic event could be a precursor of the Bay of Biscay and North Atlantic opening that occurred from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, whereas the Cenozoic event would be responsible for the Pyrenean and Cantabrian ranges and the partial closure of the Bay of Biscay.     

Unexpected Jurassic to Neogene vertical movements in ‘stable’ parts of NW Africa revealed by low temperature geochronology

In Morocco, it is generally considered that post‐Hercynian vertical movements were limited to the Atlas system, the passive continental margin and the Rif. Apatite FT and He ages from the Moroccan Meseta (Rehamna and Zaer Massif) document instead two episodes of subsidence and exhumation in Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous and during the Late Cretaceous to Neogene. The Meseta subsided to >3 km depth during the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic and was exhumed to the surface before the Late Cretaceous, during the rift and post‐rift stages of Central Atlantic opening. Erosion of the exhuming rocks is responsible for a thick package of terrigenous sands found in the Moroccan offshore and elsewhere along the NW Africa margin. About 1 km of subsidence affected the Meseta during the Late Cretaceous to Eocene. During the Neogene, these areas were brought back to the surface in association with bimodal folding with wavelengths of 100–150 km and >500 km.     

Evidence for Jurassic subduction from the Northern Calcareous Alps (Berchtesgaden; Austroalpine,Germany)

The closure of the western part of the Neotethys Ocean started in late Early Jurassic. The Middle to early Late Jurassic contraction is documented in the Berchtesgaden Alps by the migration of trench-like basins formed in front of a propagating thrust belt. Due to ophiolite obduction these basins propagated from the outer shelf area (=Hallstatt realm) to the interior continent (=Hauptdolomit/Dachstein platform realm). The basins were separated by nappe fronts forming structural highs. This scenario mirrors syn-orogenic erosion and deposition in an evolving thrust belt. Active basin formation and nappe thrusting ended around the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary, followed by the onset of carbonate platforms on structural highs. Starved basins remained between the platforms. Rapid deepening around the Early/Late Tithonian boundary was induced by extension due to mountain uplift and resulted in the reconfiguration of the platforms and basins. Erosion of the uplifted nappe stack including obducted ophiolites resulted in increased sediment supply into the basins and final drowning and demise of the platforms in the Berriasian. The remaining Early Cretaceous foreland basins were filled up by sediments including siliciclastics. The described Jurassic to Early Cretaceous history of the Northern Calcareous Alps accords with the history of the Western Carpathians, the Dinarides, and the Albanides, where (1) age dating of the metamorphic soles prove late Early to Middle Jurassic inneroceanic thrusting followed by late Middle to early Late Jurassic ophiolite obduction, (2) Kimmeridgian to Tithonian shallow-water platforms formed on top of the obducted ophiolites, and (3) latest Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sediments show postorogenic character.     

Jurassic and Cretaceous climate in northern USSR,from paleotemperature determinations

Information is presented on paleoternperature determinations from the rostra of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous belen-mites in northern USSR. Mean annual paleotemperatures of the order of 13–25 °C were obtained on the basis of isotopic composition of oxygen (about 100 determinations showing the tendency for higher temperatures between the Bathonian and late Volgian times); and of the order of 10–22 °C, on the basis of Ca/Mg ratio (about 200 determinations). Seasonal fluctuations of paleotemperatures were about 5–7 °C. The conclusion is drawn that the northern reaches of Eurasia were situated approximately within the northern part of the subtropical zone - in the Toarcian, Late Jurassic, and Neocornian; and in the temperate zone - in Middle Jurassic and late Volgian times. --Authors.     

The Mesozoic structural evolution of the Gorgon Platform,North Carnarvon Basin,Australia

The Gorgon Platform is located on the southeastern edge of the Exmouth Plateau in the North Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Australia. A structural analysis using three-dimensional (3D) seismic data has revealed four major sets of extensional faults, namely, (1) the Exmouth Plateau extensional fault system, (2) the basin bounding fault system (Exmouth Plateau–Gorgon Platform Boundary Fault), (3) an intra-rift fault system in the graben between the Exmouth Plateau and the Gorgon Platform and (4) an intra-rift fault system within the graben between the Exmouth Plateau and the Exmouth Sub-basin. Fault throw-length analyses imply that the initial fault segments, which formed the Exmouth Plateau–Gorgon Platform Boundary Fault (EG Boundary Fault), were subsequently connected vertically and laterally by both soft- and hard-linked structures. These major extensional fault systems were controlled by three different extensional events during the Early and Middle Jurassic, Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, and illustrate the strong role of structural inheritance in determining fault orientation and linkage. The Lower and Middle Jurassic and Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous syn-kinematic sequences are separated by unconformities.     

晋东北地区燕山运动的基本特征——来自1:25万应县幅区域地质调查的总结

晋东北地区燕山期地壳活动剧烈而频繁, 经历了3次由伸展→挤压转换→隆升和岩浆活动过程。燕山运动早期形成早侏罗世断陷盆地和中侏罗世挤压坳陷型聚煤构造盆地; 中期中晚侏罗世形成被NW、NE向深大断裂围限的火山断陷盆地, 中基性-酸性火山喷发和浅成、超浅成中酸性岩浆侵入, 晚侏罗世末形成了一系列NNE向褶皱和逆冲推覆构造带; 晚期早白垩世再次形成断陷盆地和开阔平缓褶皱, 义县组不整合在火山岩之上, 晚白垩世处于挤压造山后的山体隆升阶段, 左云组不整合在义县组之上, 伴随有壳源型花岗岩侵入, NW、NE向断裂复活, 形成地堑、地垒式断裂组合, 导致山体隆升。      

Dinoflagellate cysts from the Upper Bajocian–Lower Oxfordian of the Dalichai Formation in Binalud Mountains (NE Iran): their biostratigraphical and biogeographical significance

The Binalud Mountains of NE Iran represent the easternmost extension of the Alborz Range. After the Mid-Cimmerian orogenic event and rapid subsidence, the deep marine sediments of the Dalichai Formation were deposited. A well-preserved section of the formation was sampled for palynological purposes. The study revealed diverse and nearly well-preserved dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. Thirty-six dinoflagellate cyst species identified lead to identification of four biozones: Cribroperidinium crispum (Late Bajocian), Dichadogonyaulax sellwoodii (Bathonian to Early Callovian), Ctenidodinium continuum (Early to Late Callovian), and Ctenidodinium tenellum (Early Oxfordian) biozones. The close similarities of dinoflagellate cyst assemblages between Binalud Mountains, NE Iran, with those of Alborz Mountains (Northern Iran) during Middle Jurassic confirm the connection between two sedimentary basins during this time in Iran. Meanwhile, this biozonation corresponds largely to that established in Northwest Europe and reveals the marine connection between NE and North of Iran with Northwest Europe and the Northwestern Tethys during the Late Bajocian to Early Oxfordian.     

The Jurassic structural evolution of the western Daqingshan area,eastern Yinshan belt,North China

The western Daqingshan area, located in the eastern Yinshan belt, is dominated by the southern Daqingshan fold-and-thrust system and the northern Shiguai basin. Based on detailed structural investigations, stratigraphic controls, and geochronology, a three-stage tectonic evolution is proposed for the western Daqingshan area during the Jurassic. The discovery of syndepositional normal faults in the Early–Middle Jurassic sequences suggests that an N–S extensional regime (ca. 200–170 Ma) characterized the first deformational stage, which controlled the initial formation of the Shiguai basin. Subsequently, the relatively expansive rift basin was dissected by the initial development of the Daqingshan fold-and-thrust system that was associated with a N–S compressional regime (ca. 170–160 Ma). This phase of deformation involved the Lower–Middle Jurassic synrift sediments into a series of E–W-trending compressional structures, and controlled the deposition of Late–Middle Jurassic Changhangou growth strata ahead of the deformation front. Finally, the progression of Daqingshan fold-and-thrust system was dominated by NW–SE compression (ca. 160–145 Ma), which converted the previous E–W-trending compressional structures into a stepped geometry marked by several NE-trending oblique footwall ramps, and resulted in the depocentre of the Late Jurassic Daqingshan synorogenic conglomerate migrating markedly northeastwards. The driving mechanisms for these three palaeostress fields are considered as asthenosphere upwelling following Permian–Triassic collisional orogenesis, closure of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean, and NW-directed subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific plate, respectively.     

川西前陆盆地中—新生代沉积迁移与构造转换

川西前陆盆地中—新生代各构造层的残余厚度展布和沉积特征分析发现,四川克拉通周缘的前陆盆地在晚三叠世时期发育于龙门山山前,明显属于龙门山褶皱逆冲构造载荷所形成的前渊凹陷;侏罗纪早期的沉积地层呈面状分布,没有表现出显著的挠曲沉降,指示了一个构造相对平静的阶段;中侏罗世早期前渊凹陷迁移至龙门山北段和米仓山山前,前渊沉积从晚三叠世的北东向转换为近东西向,广泛的湖泊相沉积预示了前陆盆地的欠充填状态;中侏罗世中晚期,川西盆地沉降中心又迁移到大巴山山前,相应的挠曲变形又从近东西向转化为北西向,构成了大巴山的前渊凹陷;晚侏罗世—早白垩世时期,沉降中心再次回到米仓山山前,巨厚的前渊凹陷沉积指示了米仓山冲断带的主要活动时期;白垩纪末—古近纪的前渊凹陷则跃迁至雅安—名山地区。川西前陆盆地的同造山沉降中心以四川盆地中心为核心在西部和北部呈弧形迁移,沉积序列不断更替和叠加。中生界各构造层底界构造图显示现今的构造低部位位于川西北地区和川西南地区,在川西北地区均有东西走向的等值线分布,而川西南地区等值线走向则为北东-南西向。因此分析认为,晚侏罗世至早白垩世的构造变形可能控制了川西盆地现今的地层变形,形成了川西北地区的南北向构造挤压结构,而晚期的新生代构造变形则主要体现在川西盆地的西南部,形成北东-南西向的地层展布特征。     

Structural Evolution and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Upper Paleozoic Northern Ordos Basin, North China

The hydrocarbon potential of the Hangjinqi area in the northern Ordos Basin is not well known, compared to the other areas of the basin, despite its substantial petroleum system.Restoration of a depth-converted seismic profile across the Hangjinqi Fault Zone(HFZ) in the eastern Hangjinqi area shows one compression that created anticlinal structures in the Late Triassic, and two extensions in ~Middle Jurassic and Late Early Cretaceous, which were interrupted by inversions in the Late Jurassic–Early Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous, respectively.Hydrocarbon generation at the well locations in the Central Ordos Basin(COB) began in the Late Triassic.Basin modeling of Well Zhao-4 suggests that hydrocarbon generation from the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian coal measures of the northern Shanbei Slope peaked in the Early Cretaceous, predating the inversion in the Late Cretaceous.Most source rocks in the Shanbei Slope passed the main gas-migration phase except for the Hangjinqi area source rocks(Well Jin-48).Hydrocarbons generated from the COB are likely to have migrated northward toward the anticlinal structures and traps along the HFZ because the basin-fill strata are dipping south.Faulting that continued during the extensional phase(Late Early Cretaceous) of the Hangjinqi area probably acted as conduits for the migration of hydrocarbons.Thus, the anticlinal structures and associated traps to the north of the HFZ might have trapped hydrocarbons that were charged from the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian coal measures in the COB since the Middle Jurassic.     

An Alleghenian orocline: the Asturian Arc,northwestern Spain

The Asturian Arc was produced in the Early Permian by a large E–W dextral strike–slip fault (North Iberian Megashear) which affected the Cantabrian and Palentian zones of the northeastern Iberian Massif. These two zones had previously been juxtaposed by an earlier Kasimovian NW–SE sinistral strike–slip fault (Covadonga Fault). The occurrence of multiple successive vertical fault sets in this area favoured its rotation around a vertical axis (mille-feuille effect). Along with other parallel faults, the Covadonga Fault became the western margin of a proto-Tethys marine basin, which was filled with turbidities and shallow coal-basin successions of Kasimovian and Gzhelian ages. The Covadonga Fault also displaced the West Asturian Leonese Zone to the northwest, dragging along part of the Cantabrian Zone (the Picos de Europa Unit) and emplacing a largely pelitic succession (Palentian Zone) in what would become the Asturian Arc core. The Picos de Europa Unit was later thrust over the Palentian Zone during clockwise rotation. In late Gzhelian time, two large E–W dextral strike–slip faults developed along the North Iberian Margin (North Iberian Megashear) and south of the Pyrenean Axial Zone (South Pyrenean Fault). The block south of the North Iberian Megashear and the South Pyrenean Fault was bent into a concave, E-facing shape prior to the Late Permian until both arms of the formerly NW–SE-trending Palaeozoic orogen became oriented E–W (in present-day coordinates). Arc rotation caused detachment in the upper crust of the Cantabrian Zone, and the basement Covadonga Fault was later resurrected along the original fault line as a clonic fault (the Ventaniella Fault) after the Arc was completed. Various oblique extensional NW–SE lineaments opened along the North Iberian Megashear due to dextral fault activity, during which numerous granitic bodies intruded and were later bent during arc formation. Palaeomagnetic data indicate that remagnetization episodes might be associated with thermal fluid circulation during faulting. Finally, it is concluded that the two types of late Palaeozoic–Early Permian orogenic evolution existed in the northeastern tip of the Iberian Massif: the first was a shear-and-thrust-dominated tectonic episode from the Late Devonian to the late Moscovian (Variscan Orogeny); it was followed by a fault-dominated, rotational tectonic episode from the early Kasimovian to the Middle Permian (Alleghenian Orogeny). The Alleghenian deformation was active throughout a broad E–W-directed shear zone between the North Iberian Megashear and the South Pyrenean Fault, which created the basement of the Pyrenean and Alpine belts. The southern European area may then be considered as having been built by dispersal of blocks previously separated by NW–SE sinistral megashears and faults of early Stephanian (Kasimovian) age, later cut by E–W Early Permian megashears, faults, and associated pull-apart basins.     

Evolution, Migration, Controlling Factors and Forming Setting of Mesozoic Basins in Western Shandong

The distinctive topography in western Shandong province consists of several NW-WNW-trending mountain ranges and intervening basins. Basins, in which late-stage sediments to the south have progressively overlapped the earlier sediments and ＂basement＂ rocks of the hanging-wall block, are bounded by S-SW-dipping normal faults to the north. Basin analysis reveals the Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary rocks accumulated both within the area of crustal extension and during extensional deformation; they contain a record of a sequence of tectonic events during stretching and can be divided into four tectonic-sequence episodes. These basins were initially developed as early as ca. 200 Ma in the northern part of the study area, extending dominantly N-S from the Early Jurassic until the Late Cretaceous. Although with a brief hiatus due to changes in stress field, to keep uniform N-S extensional polarity in such a long time as 130 Ma requires a relatively stable tectonic controlling factor responsible for the NW- and E-W-extensional basins. The formation of the extensional basins is partly concurrent with regional magmatism, but preceded magmatism by 40 Ma. This precludes a genetic link between local magmatism and extension during the Mesozoic. Based on integrated studies of basins and deformation, we consider that the gravitational collapse of the early overthickened continental crust may be the main tectonic driver for the Mesozoic extensional basins. From the Early Jurassic, dramatic reduction in north-south horizontal compressive stress made the western Shandong deformation belt switch from a state of failure under shortening to one dominated by extension and the belt gravitationally collapsed and horizontally spread to the south until equilibrium was established; synchronously, the normal faults and basins were developed based on the model of simple-shear extensional deformation. This may be relative to the gravitational collapse of the Mesozoic plateau in eastern China.     

Changes of Late Mesozoic Tectonic Regimes around the Ordos Basin (North China) and their Geodynamic Implications

A synthesis is given in this paper on late Mesozoic deformation pattern in the zones around the Ordos Basin based on lithostratigraphic and structural analyses. A relative chronology of the late Mesozoic tectonic stress evolution was established from the field analyses of fault kinematics and constrained by stratigraphic contact relationships. The results show alternation of tectonic compressional and extensional regimes. The Ordos Basin and its surroundings were in weak N-S to NNE-SSW extension during the Early to Middle Jurassic, which reactivated E-W-trending basement fractures. The tectonic regime changed to a multi-directional compressional one during the Late Jurassic, which resulted in crustal shortening deformation along the marginal zones of the Ordos Basin. Then it changed to an extensional one during the Early Cretaceous, which rifted the western, northwestern and southeastern margins of the Ordos Basin. A NW-SE compression occurred during the Late Cretaceous and caused the termination of sedimentation and uplift of the Ordos Basin. This phased evolution of the late Mesozoic tectonic stress regimes and associated deformation pattern around the Ordos Basin best records the changes in regional geodynamic settings in East Asia, from the Early to Middle Jurassic post-orogenic extension following the Triassic collision between the North and South China Blocks, to the Late Jurassic multi-directional compressions produced by synchronous convergence of the three plates (the Siberian Plate to the north, Paleo-Pacific Plate to the east and Lhasa Block to the west) towards the East Asian continent. Early Cretaceous extension might be the response to collapse and lithospheric thinning of the North China Craton.     

Jurassic stratigraphy of the Belluno Basin and Friuli Platform: a perspective on far-field compression in the Adria passive margin

Anomalous patterns of the sedimentary architecture have been recognized in passive margins, and only recently they have been associated with plate reorganization or compressional deformations propagating from distant margins. With the aim of discussing the sedimentary architecture and the potential tectonic perturbations to the passive margin pattern, we present the revision of the stratigraphy of a fossil passive margin, involved in the retrobelt of the Alpine orogeny. The main events at the transition from rifted to passive margin have been controlled by palaeoceanography, i.e. the trophic state of surface waters that hampered the carbonate photozoan productivity for a long period between Toarcian and Callovian. Toward the latest Bajocian–earliest Bathonian, the platform productivity increased, dominated by ooids. A regressional trend up to the Middle Bathonian allowed the rapid infilling of the previous rift basin. The successive aggradation in the platform was still dominated by non-skeletal grains until the Early Oxfordian. The Middle Oxfordian to Early Kimmeridgian was a time of recovery of the palaeoceanographic conditions allowing the establishment of a hydrozoan/coral rich platform. The sedimentation rates in the platform increased at the margin of the productive Friuli–Adriatic Platform. From Late Kimmeridgian on, the sedimentation rates at the platform margin returned to the pre-Oxfordian values. At the scale of the whole Adriatic Platform, the Middle Oxfordian to Early Kimmeridgian interval is variable in thickness from 0 to 800 m, and it depicts a couple of folds of around 80–100 km of wavelength. The subsidence analysis of wells and composite logs from literature suggests this interval as a perturbation to the passive margin trend of around 3 Myr of duration. We interpret this folding event, superimposed to the passive margin subsidence, as the far field expression of the transition from intraoceanic to continental obduction, occurred at the eastern Adria active margin.