African Neoproterozoic Mineral Deposits and Pan African Metallogenesis

Amalgamation of a number of continental fragments during the Late Neoproterozoic resulted in a united Gondwana continent. The time period in question, at the end of the Precambrian, spans about 250 million years between ∼800 and 550 Ma. Geological activity focused along orogenic belts in Africa during that time period is generally referred to as “Pan African.” We identify three age-related classes of tectonic terranes within these orogenic belts, differentiated on the basis of the formation-age of their crust: juvenile (e.g. mantle derived at or near the time of the orogenesis, ∼0.5–0.8 Ga), Paleoproterozoic (∼1.8–2.5 Ga), Archean (>2.5 Ga). We combine African mineral deposits data of these terranes on a new Neoproterozoic tectonic map of Africa. The spatial correlation between geological terranes in the belts and mineral occurrences are determined in order to define the metallogenic character of each terrane, which we refer to as their “metallogenic fingerprint.” We use these fingerprints to evaluate the effectiveness of mobilization (“recycling”) of mineral deposits within old crustal fragments during Pan African orogenesis. This analysis involves normalization factors derived from the average metallogenic fingerprints of pristine older crust (e.g. Palaeoproterozoic shields and Archean cratons not affected by Pan African orogenesis) and of juvenile Pan African crust (e.g. the Nubian Shield). We find that mineral deposit patterns are distinctly different in older crust that has been remobilized in the Pan African belts compared to those in juvenile crust of Neoproterozoic age, and that the concentration of deposits in remobilized older crust is in all cases significantly depleted relative to that in their pristine age-equivalents. Lower crustal sections (granulite domains) within the Pan African belts are also strongly depleted in mineral deposits relative to the upper crustal sections of juvenile Neoproterozoic terranes. A depletion factor for all terranes in Pan African orogens is derived with which to evaluate the role of mineral deposit recycling during orogenesis. We conclude that recycling of old mineral deposits in younger orogenic belts contributes, on average, to secular decrease of the total mineral endowment of continental crust. This could be of value when formulating exploration strategies.     

Mechanism of formation of fold belts and associated seismic anisotropy

Summary. Fold belts form due to shortening of deep basins on oceaic and continental crust. Basins on the oceanic crust should be characterized by a pronounced seismic anisotropy in the mantle lithosphere. Deep basins on the continental crust may develop from the stretching or the destruction of the lower crust under asthenospheric upwelling. These processes can produce seismic anisotropy in both the crust and mantle lithosphere. The character of the anisotropy is different for different basin forming processes. Considerable anisotropy should also arise from compression of the crust and mantle in fold belts. The formation of fold belts produces the original seismic anisotropy in continental lithosphere.     

The long-term thermal consequences of rifting: implications for basin reactivation

The attenuation of the continental crust during rifting and the subsequent filling of the rift‐related accommodation alter the long‐term thermal and mechanical state of the lithosphere. This is primarily because the Moho is shallowed due to density contrasts between the sediment fill and the crust, but also reflects the attenuation of the pre‐existing crustal heat production and its burial beneath the basin, as well the thermal properties of the basin fill. Moho shallowing and attenuation of pre‐existing heat production contribute to long‐term cooling of the Moho and thus lithospheric strengthening, as has been pointed out in many previous studies. In contrast, basin filling normally contributes to significant Moho heating allowing the possibility of long‐term lithospheric weakening, the magnitude of which is dependent on the thermal properties of the basin‐fill and the distribution of heat sources in the crust. This paper focuses on the thermal property structure of the crust and basin‐fill in effecting long‐term changes in lithospheric thermal regime, with particular emphasis on the distribution of heat producing elements in the crust. The parameter space appropriate to typical continental crust is explored using a formalism for the heat production distributions that makes no priori assumptions about the specific form of the distribution. The plausible parameter space allows a wide range in potential long‐term thermal responses. However, with the proviso that the accommodation created by the isostatic response to rifting is essentially filled, the long‐term thermal response to rift basin formation will generally increase average crustal thermal gradients beneath basins but cool the Moho due to its reduction in depth. The increase in the average crustal thermal gradient induces lateral heat flow that necessarily heats the Moho along basin margins, especially in narrow rift basins. Using coupled thermo‐mechanical models with temperature sensitive creep‐parameters, we show that such heating may be sufficient to localise subsequent deformation in the vicinity of major basin bounding structures, potentially explaining the offset observed in some stacked rift basin successions.     

Rapid outer marginal collapse at the rift to drift transition of passive margin evolution,with a Gulf of Mexico case study

Interpretation of long‐offset 2D depth‐imaged seismic data suggests that outer continental margins collapse and tilt basinward rapidly as rifting yields to seafloor spreading and thermal subsidence of the margin. This collapse post‐dates rifting and stretching of the crust, but occurs roughly ten times faster than thermal subsidence of young oceanic crust, and thus is tectonic and pre‐dates the ‘drift stage’. We term this middle stage of margin development ‘outer margin collapse’, and it accords with the exhumation stage of other authors. Outer continental margins, already thinned by rifting processes, become hanging walls of crustal‐scale half grabens associated with landward‐dipping shear zones and zones of low‐shear strength magma at the base of the thinned crust. The footwalls of the shear zones comprise serpentinized sub‐continental mantle that commonly becomes exhumed from beneath the embrittled continental margin. At magma‐poor margins, outer continental margins collapse and tilt basinward to depths of about 3 km subsea at the continent–ocean transition, often deeper than the adjacent oceanic crust (accreted later between 2 and 3 km). We use the term ‘collapse’ because of the apparent rapidity of deepening (<3 Myr). Rapid salt deposition, clastic sedimentation (deltaic), or magmatism (magmatic margins) may accompany collapse, with salt thicknesses reaching 5 km and volcanic piles 1525 km. This mechanism of rapid salt deposition allows mega‐salt basins to be deposited on end‐rift unconformities at global sea level, as opposed to deep, air‐filled sub‐sea depressions. Outer marginal collapse is ‘post‐rift’ from the perspective of faulting in the continental crust, but of tectonic, not of thermal, origin. Although this appears to be a global process, the Gulf of Mexico is an excellent example because regional stratigraphic and structural relations indicate that the pre‐salt rift basin was filled to sea level by syn‐rift strata, which helps to calibrate the rate and magnitude of collapse. We examine the role of outer marginal detachments in the formation of East India, southern Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico, and how outer marginal collapse can migrate diachronously along strike, much like the onset of seafloor spreading. We suggest that backstripping estimates of lithospheric thinning (beta factor) at outer continental margins may be excessive because they probably attribute marginal collapse to thermal subsidence.     

Tectonic controls on base-level variations and depositional sequences within thrust-top and foredeep basins: examples from the Neogene thrust belt of central Sicily

Tectonic subsidence and uplift may be recorded by concomitant sedimentation, not only from decompacted accumulation curves but also from the evolving depositional environment relative to sea level at the time. In thrust belts there are two types of processes capable of generating vertical movements, each with different wavelengths and amplitudes. Regional subsidence is driven by flexural loading by the orogenic hinterland, the thrust belt and accumulated sediments of the underlying foreland lithosphere. Within this flexure, the foreland thrust belt will generate areas of local uplift, notably at the crests of thrust anticlines. In this contribution we examine how these processes have interacted to influence relative sea level as recorded by late Neogene sediments in an array of basins developed above and adjacent to the Maghrebian thrust belt of central Sicily. Two particular periods are addressed, the late Tortonian to early Messinian (Terravecchia Formation) and early to early late Pliocene. The earlier of these is characterized by a deltaic complex that formed prograding depositional geometries, migrating into perched basins. Collectively, however, these units are transgressive and migrate back towards the orogen. A depositional model is presented that links the migration of facies belts to subsidence caused by accentuated tectonic loading in the hinterland and break-back thrust sequences across the basins. We infer that a palaeobathymetric profile of underfilled sub-basins resulted and that this influenced the pattern of evaporite accumulation during Mediterranean desiccation in Messinian times. The Pliocene sediments, accumulated under renewed global sea levels, prograded towards the foreland. A waning tectonic load in the hinterland driving isostatic rebound, uplift and coastal offlap is the proposed explanation. This contribution is a case history for the depositional evolution of dominantly submarine thrust systems and their record of relative sea-level changes.     

Extensional tectonic regimes in the Aegean basins during the Cenozoic

Abstract Kinematics of faults in the Northern Aegean show three extensional tectonic regimes the tensional directions of which trend (1) WNW-ESE, (2) NE-SW and (3) N-S. These were active during the Upper Miocene, Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene and Mid Pleistocene-Present day, respectively. The main characteristics of the stress patterns (1) and (2) on the overall Aegean is tentatively explained by variations of the horizontal lithospheric stress value σ_zz due to the slab push and of the vertical lithospheric stress value σ_zz due to mass heterogeneities. During the Mid Pleistocene-Present, due to the slab push, tectonics were compressional along the arc boundary: σ_zz was σ1. In the Aegean basins, tectonics were extensional, c_2Z was σ1 as a consequence of the thickness of the continental crust and, possibly of an updoming asthenosphere; thus σ_zz became σ2, allowing tension σ3 to be orthogonal to the compression along the arc, i.e. to be roughly parallel to the arc trend. During the Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene, the extensional regime was distinctly different. The tensional directions were roughly radial to the arc. It is suggested that σ_zz was weakly compressional, or eventually tensional, due a seaward migration of the slab so that σ_zz became σ3. In the Northern Aegean, the stress pattern has been also controlled by the westward push of the Anatolian landmass. During the Mid Pleistocene-Present day, this was typically extensional (al was vertical) and the right lateral strike-slip motion on the North Anatolian Fault transformed into a N-S-stretching, E-W-shortening of the Northern Aegean. Dextral strike-slip motions along the North Aegean Trough fault zone were possible on NE-SW-striking faults. During the Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene, normal fault components were higher; however, because the angle between the NE-SW trend of the tensional axis and the strike of the fault zone was acute, dextral strike-slip components were possible on all the faults striking NE-SW to E-W. A clockwise 15^o rotation of Limnos with respect to Samothraki, Thraki and Thassos, suggested by structural data, was probably associated with these dextral motions. The WNW-ESE trending tension during the Upper Miocene indicates that the dextral North Anatolian Fault had not yet merged into the North Aegean Trough fault zone at that time. We propose that the formation of Aegean basins during the Cenozoic was related to the activity of two major Hellenic arcs. The ‘Pelagonian-Pindic Arc’ resulted in the formation of the subsident Aegean basins of Middle Eocene-Lower Miocene age and of the older Northern Aegean orogenic volcanism. The ‘Aegean Arc’ resulted in the formation of the subsident Aegean basins of Middle Miocene to Present day age and of the Southern Aegean orogenic volcanism. Were these arcs associated with a unique subduction zone or with two such zones ? In the first case, the slab is no more than 16 Myr old, in the second it may be as old as 45–50 Myr. The answer depends on the accuracy of the seismic tomography profiles.     

Operations and main results of the ECORS project in France

Summary. The ECORS project was launched in 1983 with the aim of studying fundamental mechanisms of geodynamics in France. The ECORS deep seismic profiles have concentrated on a few structures of major significance: outer zone of the Variscan orogen in northern France, the basin formed during the Bay of Biscay's opening and transects of recent orogenic ranges (Pyrenees and Alps). The seismic profiles have been carried out with all the available modern techniques of industry and completed wherever possible by additional geophysical surveys (magnetism, gravity, MT, wide-angle and refraction seismics) and geological surveys. The first results already shed new light on major geodynamic phenomena such as variations in the frontal Variscan detachment, lower crust formation, crustal behaviour during orogenesis and variations in the formation of cratonic basins.     

Gravity studies of the Rockall and Exmouth Plateaux using SEASAT altimetry

Abstract SEASAT altimetric measurements are used to determine the gravity anomalies across two passive continental margins: the western margin of the Rockall Plateau, UK, and the Exmouth Plateau off north-west Australia. The small gravity anomalies observed over the starved western margin of the Rockall Plateau require the existence of a major density contrast within the crust, as well as the Moho, and show that the elastic thickness is less than 5 km at the time of rifting. The gravity anomaly over the Exmouth Plateau is compared with the gravity anomaly calculated from the sediment loading of a thin elastic plate, taking account of the variation in crustal thickness. This comparison shows that the Exmouth Plateau also has a small effective elastic thickness of 5 km, even for loads emplaced between 60 and 120 Myr after rifting. Elastic thicknesses of about 5 km have also been reported for other sedimentary basins, and are to be expected if the rheological properties of the crust and mantle depend on the ratio of the present temperature to the melting temperature. Flexural effects are therefore likely to be of minor importance in sedimentary basins.     

The formation of a failed continental breakup basin: The Cenozoic development of the Faroe‐Shetland Basin

Ultra‐large rift basins, which may represent palaeo‐propagating rift tips ahead of continental rupture, provide an opportunity to study the processes that cause continental lithosphere thinning and rupture at an intermediate stage. One such rift basin is the Faroe‐Shetland Basin (FSB) on the north‐east Atlantic margin. To determine the mode and timing of thinning of the FSB, we have quantified apparent upper crustal β‐factors (stretching factors) from fault heaves and apparent whole‐lithosphere β‐factors by flexural backstripping and decompaction. These observations are compared with models of rift basin formation to determine the mode and timing of thinning of the FSB. We find that the Late Jurassic to Late Palaeocene (pre‐Atlantic) history of the FSB can be explained by a Jurassic to Cretaceous depth‐uniform lithosphere thinning event with a β‐factor of ~1.3 followed by a Late Palaeocene transient regional uplift of 450–550 m. However, post‐Palaeocene subsidence in the FSB of more than 1.9 km indicates that a Palaeocene rift with a β‐factor of more than 1.4 occurred, but there is only minor Palaeocene or post‐Palaeocene faulting (upper crustal β‐factors of less than 1.1). The subsidence is too localized within the FSB to be caused by a regional mantle anomaly. To resolve the β‐factor discrepancy, we propose that the lithospheric mantle and lower crust experienced a greater degree of thinning than the upper crust. Syn‐breakup volcanism within the FSB suggests that depth‐dependent thinning was synchronous with continental breakup at the adjacent Faroes and Møre margins. We suggest that depth‐dependent continental lithospheric thinning can result from small‐scale convection that thins the lithosphere along multiple offset axes prior to continental rupture, leaving a failed breakup basin once seafloor spreading begins. This study provides insight into the structure and formation of a generic global class of ultra‐large rift basins formed by failed continental breakup.     

Tectonics of the late Mesozoic wide extensional basin system in the China–Mongolia border region

The China–Mongolia border region contains many late Mesozoic extensional basins that together constitute a regionally extensive basin system. Individual basins within the system are internally composed of a family of sub‐basins filled with relatively thin sedimentary piles mostly less than 5 km in thickness. There are two types of sub‐basins within the basins, failed and combined, respectively. The failed sub‐basins are those that failed to continue developing with time. In contrast, the combined ones are those that succeeded in growing by coalescing adjacent previously isolated sub‐basins. Thus, a combined sub‐basin is bounded by a linked through‐going normal fault that usually displays a corrugated trace on map view and a shallower dip on cross‐section. Along‐strike existence of discrete depocenters and alternation of sedimentary wedges of different types validate the linkage origin of combined sub‐basins. Localized high‐strain extension resulted in large‐amount displacement on linked faults, but contemporaneously brought about the cessation of some isolated fault segments and the formation of corresponding failed sub‐basins in intervening areas between active linked faults. Some combined sub‐basins might have evolved into supradetachment basins through time, concurrent with rapid denudation of footwall rocks and formation of metamorphic core complexes in places. A tectonic scenario of the broad basin system can be envisioned as an evolution from early‐stage distributed isolated sub‐basins to late‐stage focused combined or/and supradetachment sub‐basins bounded by linked faults, accompanied by synchronous cessation of some early‐formed sub‐basins. Initiation of the late Mesozoic extension is believed to result from gravitational collapse of the crust that had been overthickened shortly prior to the extension. Compression, arising from collision of Siberia and the amalgamated North China–Mongolia block along the Mongol–Okhotsk suture in the time interval from the Middle to Late Jurassic, led to significant shortening and thickening over a broad area and subsequent extensional collapse. Pre‐ and syn‐extensional voluminous magmatism must have considerably reduced the viscosity of the overthickened crust, thereby not only facilitating the gravitational collapse but enabling the lower‐middle crust to flow as well. Flow of a thicker crustal layer is assumed to have occurred coevally with upper‐crustal stretching so as to diminish the potential contrast of crustal thickness by repositioning materials from less extended to highly extending regions. Lateral middle‐ and lower‐crustal flow and its resultant upward push upon the upper crust provide a satisfying explanation for a number of unusual phenomena, such as supracrustal activity of the extension, absence or negligibleness of postrift subsidence of the basin system, less reduction of crustal thickness after extension, and non‐compression‐induced basin inversion, all of which have been paradoxical in the previous study of the late Mesozoic basin tectonics in the China–Mongolia border region.     

Controls on fluvial sedimentary architecture and sediment‐fill state in salt‐walled mini‐basins: Triassic Moenkopi Formation,Salt Anticline Region,SE Utah,USA

The Triassic Moenkopi Formation in the Salt Anticline Region, SE Utah, represents the preserved record of a low‐relief ephemeral fluvial system that accumulated in a series of actively subsiding salt‐walled mini‐basins. Development and evolution of the fluvial system and its resultant preserved architecture was controlled by the following: (1) the inherited state of the basin geometry at the time of commencement of sedimentation; (2) the rate of sediment delivery to the developing basins; (3) the orientation of fluvial pathways relative to the salt walls that bounded the basins; (4) spatially and temporally variable rates and styles of mini‐basin subsidence and associated salt‐wall uplift; and (5) temporal changes in regional climate. Detailed outcrop‐based tectono‐stratigraphic analyses demonstrate how three coevally developing mini‐basins and their intervening salt walls evolved in response to progressive sediment loading of a succession of Pennsylvanian salt (the Paradox Formation) by the younger Moenkopi Formation, deposits of which record a dryland fluvial system in which flow was primarily directed parallel to a series of elongate salt walls. In some mini‐basins, fluvial channel elements are stacked vertically within and along the central basin axes, in response to preferential salt withdrawal and resulting subsidence. In other basins, rim synclines have developed adjacent to bounding salt walls and these served as loci for accumulation of stacked fluvial channel complexes. Neighbouring mini‐basins exhibit different styles of infill at equivalent stratigraphic levels: sand‐poor basins dominated by fine‐grained, sheet‐like sandstone fluvial elements, which are representative of nonchannelised flow processes, apparently developed synchronously with neighbouring sand‐prone basins dominated by major fluvial channel‐belts, demonstrating effective partitioning of sediment route‐ways by surface topography generated by uplifting salt walls. Reworked gypsum clasts present in parts of the stratigraphy demonstrate the subaerial exposure of some salt walls, and their partial erosion and reworking into the fill of adjoining mini‐basins during accumulation of the Moenkopi Formation. Complex spatial changes in preserved stratigraphic thickness of four members in the Moenkopi Formation, both within and between mini‐basins, demonstrates a complex relationship between the location and timing of subsidence and the infill of the generated accommodation by fluvial processes.     

Miocene to Quaternary basin evolution at the southeastern Andean Plateau (Puna) margin (ca. 24°S lat,Northwestern Argentina)

The Andean Plateau of NW Argentina is a prominent example of a high‐elevation orogenic plateau characterized by internal drainage, arid to hyper‐arid climatic conditions and a compressional basin‐and‐range morphology comprising thick sedimentary basins. However, the development of the plateau as a geomorphic entity is not well understood. Enhanced orographic rainout along the eastern, windward plateau flank causes reduced fluvial run‐off and thus subdued surface‐process rates in the arid hinterland. Despite this, many Puna basins document a complex history of fluvial processes that have transformed the landscape from aggrading basins with coalescing alluvial fans to the formation of multiple fluvial terraces that are now abandoned. Here, we present data from the San Antonio de los Cobres (SAC) area, a sub‐catchment of the Salinas Grandes Basin located on the eastern Puna Plateau bordering the externally drained Eastern Cordillera. Our data include: (a) new radiometric U‐Pb zircon data from intercalated volcanic ash layers and detrital zircons from sedimentary key horizons; (b) sedimentary and geochemical provenance indicators; (c) river profile analysis; and (d) palaeo‐landscape reconstruction to assess aggradation, incision and basin connectivity. Our results suggest that the eastern Puna margin evolved from a structurally controlled intermontane basin during the Middle Miocene, similar to intermontane basins in the Mio‐Pliocene Eastern Cordillera and the broken Andean foreland. Our refined basin stratigraphy implies that sedimentation continued during the Late Mio‐Pliocene and the Quaternary, after which the SAC area was subjected to basin incision and excavation of the sedimentary fill. Because this incision is unrelated to baselevel changes and tectonic processes, and is similar in timing to the onset of basin fill and excavation cycles of intermontane basins in the adjacent Eastern Cordillera, we suspect a regional climatic driver, triggered by the Mid‐Pleistocene Climate Transition, caused the present‐day morphology. Our observations suggest that lateral orogenic growth, aridification of orogenic interiors, and protracted plateau sedimentation are all part of a complex process chain necessary to establish and maintain geomorphic characteristics of orogenic plateaus in tectonically active mountain belts.     

Evolution of the intracratonic Officer Basin, central Australia: implications from subsidence analysis and gravity modelling

ABSTRACT The intracratonic basins of central Australia are distinguished by their large negative Bouguer gravity anomalies, despite the absence of any significant topography. Over the Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic Officer Basin, the anomalies attain a peak negative amplitude in excess of 150 mGal, amongst the largest of continental anomalies observed on Earth. Using well data from the Officer and Amadeus basins and a data grid of sedimentary thicknesses from the eastern Officer Basin, we have assessed the evolution of these intracratonic basins. One-dimensional backstripping analysis reveals that Officer and Amadeus basin tectonic subsidence was not entirely synchronous. This implies that the basins evolved as discrete geological features once the Centralian Superbasin was dismembered into its constituent basins. Two- and three-dimensional backstripping and gravity modelling suggest that the eastern Officer Basin evolved from a broad continental sag into a region of intracratonic flexural subsidence from the latest Neoproterozoic, when flexure of the lithosphere deepened the northern basin. The results from gravity modelling improve when the crust is thickened beneath the northern margin of the basin and thinned at the southern margin, as has been suggested by recent deep seismic data. The crustal thickening beneath the basin's northern margin abuts the region of greatest topographic relief and is consistent with the observed structure at the edges of many orogenic belts. If the Officer Basin evolved as a foreland-type basin from the late Proterozoic and has retained those features to the present, then one implication is that in the absence of any significant topography, cratonic lithosphere must be able to support stresses over very long periods of geological time.     

Subsidence in the super-deep Pattani and Malay basins of Southeast Asia: a coupled model incorporating lower-crustal flow in response to post-rift sediment loading

Two Early Cenozoic rifts in Southeast Asia (beneath the Pattani and Malay basins) experienced only limited upper-crustal extension (β≤1.5); yet very thick post-rift sequences are present, with 6–12 km of Late Cenozoic terrestrial and shallow-marine sediment derived from adjacent sources. Conventional post-rift backstripping requires depth-dependent lithospheric thinning by β=2–4 to explain these tremendous thicknesses. We assess an alternative explanation for this post-rift subsidence, involving lower-crustal flow from beneath these basins in response to lateral pressure-gradients induced by the sediment loads and the negative loads arising from the erosion of their sediment sources. We calculate that increased rates of erosion in western Thailand in the Early Miocene placed the crust in a non-steady thermal state, such that the depth (and thus, the pressure) at the base of the brittle upper crust subsequently varied over time. Following such a perturbation, thermal and mass-flux steady-state conditions took millions of years to re-establish. In the meantime, the lateral pressure-gradient caused net outflow of lower crust, thinning the crust beneath the depocentre by several kilometres (mimicking the isostatic effect of greater crustal extension having occurred beforehand) and thickening it beneath the sediment source region. The local combination of hot crust and high rates of surface processes, causing lower-crustal flow to be particularly vigorous and thus making its effects more readily identifiable, means that the Pattani and Malay basins represent a set of conditions different from basins in many other regions. However, lower-crustal flow induced by surface processes will also occur to some extent, but less recognisably, in many other continental crustal provinces, but its effects may be mistaken for those of other processes, such as larger-magnitude stretching and/or depth-dependent stretching.     

Tectonic and sedimentological evolution of the Pliocene–Quaternary basins of Zakynthos island, Greece: case study of the transition from compressional to extensional tectonics

Pliocene–Quaternary basins of the Ionian islands evolved in a complex tectonic setting that evolved from a mid to late Cenozoic compressional zone of the northern external Hellenides to the rapidly extending Pliocene–Quaternary basins of the Peloponnese. The northern limit of the Hellenic Trench marks the junction of these two tectonic regimes. A foreland-propagating fold and thrust system in the northern external Hellenides segmented the former Miocene continental margin basin in Zakynthos and permitted diapiric intrusion of Triassic gypsum along thrust ramps. Further inboard, coeval extensional basins developed, with increasing rates of subsidence from the Pliocene to Quaternary, resulting in four principal types of sedimentation: (1) condensed shelf-sedimentation on the flanks of rising anticlines; (2) coarse-grained sedimentation in restricted basins adjacent to evaporitic diapirs rising along thrust ramps; (3) larger basins between fold zones were filled by extrabasinal, prodeltaic mud and sand from the proto-Acheloos river; (4) margins of subsiding Quaternary basins were supplied at sea-level highstands by distal deltaic muds and at lowstands by locally derived coarse clastic sediment.     

Seismic reflection models of continental crust based on metamorphic terrains

Summary. Laboratory seismic velocity measurements on rock samples from metamorphic terrains, coupled with geologic cross sections, provide the basis for synthetic seismic reflection profiles for various types of continental crust. Results from greenstone belts, mylonite zones and partial cross sections of continental crust indicate that lithologic heterogeneity and geometrical factors control crustal reflection characteristics.     

Regular spacing of drainage outlets from linear mountain belts

Abstract Straight sections of many actively uplifting mountain belts have simple patterns of drainage, transverse to their main structural trend. Streams rising near or beyond the topographic ridgepole of these sections are spaced at seemingly regular intervals. To test whether this regularity exists, morphometric aspects of drainage networks were measured in 11 mountain belts. The spacing of drainage basins can be expressed using a spacing ratio, which in effect is the ratio of the length and the width of the catchments under consideration. Average spacing ratios for most linear mountain belts are within a narrow range of values between 1.91 and 2.23. A linear relationship exists between the spacing of catchment outlets and the distance between the main divide and the front of the mountain belt in which they have developed. The Nepalese Himalaya form an exception to this regular pattern. In this mountain belt drainage is blocked and diverted by structures that have developed in relation to the Main Boundary Thrust. Structural complications cause drainage patterns to become less regular, introducing important non trans verse components. The linear relationship between spacing of catchment outlets and half-width of the mountain belt may be expressed in an equation of the same general form as Hack's law of stream length and drainage basin area. It seems likely that the mechanism underlying Hack's law also explains the consistent regularity of drainage spacing in active mountain belts. However, no generally accepted explanation for Hack's law has been offered. The narrow range of spacing ratios found for drainage networks in active orogens may represent an optimal catchment geometry that embodies a ‘most probable state’ in the uplift-erosion system of a linear mountain belt. The linear relationship between the half-width of a mountain belt and spacing of catchment outlets has profound implications for the modelling of erosion of orogenic topography, and for the formation and filling of foreland basins.     

A model for the active origin and development of source-bordering dunefields on a semiarid fluvial plain: A case study from the Xiliaohe Plain, Northeast China

Source-bordering dunefields have been reported in some drylands of the planet, but scarcely in China where there are extensive drylands. This article reports them in China for the first time, and presents a model for their active origin and development on a semiarid fluvial plain by means of satellite image analyses and field investigations. Local- and regional-scale examples are chosen to analyze the spatial patterns of dunefields, as well as the relationships with the fluvial systems in the central part of Naiman Banner where the Jiaolai River runs, and the lower Laoha River, and the middle and lower Ulijimulun River (principal tributaries of the Xiliaohe River). The active origin and development of source-bordering dunefields can be divided into four stages in terms of the spatial patterns of dunefields and channel dynamics: Stage I — individual dunes on the downwind margins of river valleys where running water constantly erodes the steep slopes of valley and where the downwind slopes orient to local dominant winds; Stage II — individual local-scale dunefields formed by deflation of the steep valley slopes and extending antecedent dunes downwind, together with the downstream displacement of meanders; Stage III — individual large-scale dunefield belts along the downwind margins of river valleys formed through frequent lateral migrations of channel; Stage IV — regional-scale dunefields formed mainly by river diversions due to climatic changes or tectonic movements. On the one hand, it is the running water's lateral migration, especially meandering, that prepares suitable places for aeolian systems in terms of both wind flow fields and sand sources, and subsequently it can further cause separate local-scale source-bordering dunefields to link together as a regional-scale dunefield belt given sufficient time. On the other hand, diversions of the river are bound to occur following changing hydrologic regimes resulting from tectonic movements or significant climate change (at regional and millennium scales). As a result, when some dunefield belts as well as the adjacent channels are abandoned, new channels work elsewhere in the same way to actively form new source-bordering dunefields and even dunefield belts at a regional scale.     

Development of sedimentary basins: differential stretching,phase transitions,shear heating and tectonic pressure

Classical models of lithosphere thinning predict deep synrift basins covered by wider and thinner post‐rift deposits. However, synextensional uplift and/or erosion of the crust are widely documented in nature (e.g. the Base Cretaceous unconformity of the NE Atlantic), and generally the post‐rift deposits dominate basins fills. Accordingly, several basin models focus on this discrepancy between observations and the classical approach. These models either involve differential thinning, where the mantle thins more than the crust thereby increasing average temperature of the lithosphere, or focus on the effect of metamorphic reactions, showing that such reactions decrease the density of lithospheric rocks. Both approaches result in less synrift subsidence and increased post‐rift subsidence. The synextensional uplift in these two approaches happens only for special cases, that is for a case of initially thin crust, specific mineral assemblage of the lithospheric mantle or extensive differential thinning of the lithosphere. Here, we analyse the effects of shear heating and tectonic underpressure on the evolution of sedimentary basins. In simple 1D models, we test the implications of various mechanisms in regard to uplift, subsidence, density variations and thermal history. Our numerical experiments show that tectonic underpressure during lithospheric thinning combined with pressure‐dependent density is a widely applicable mechanism for synextensional uplift. Mineral phase transitions in the subcrustal lithosphere amplify the effect of underpressure and may result in more than 1 km of synextensional erosion. Additional heat from shear heating, especially combined with mineral phase transitions and differential thinning of the lithosphere, greatly decreases the amount of synrift deposits.     

Reciprocal flexural behaviour and contrasting stratigraphies: a new basin development model for the Karoo retroarc foreland system, South Africa

The main Karoo Basin of South Africa is a Late Carboniferous–Middle Jurassic retroarc foreland fill, developed in front of the Cape Fold Belt (CFB) in relation to subduction of the palaeo-Pacific plate underneath the Gondwana plate. The Karoo sedimentary fill corresponds to a first-order sequence, with the basal and top contacts marking profound changes in the tectonic setting, i.e. from extensional to foreland and from foreland to extensional, respectively. Sedimentation within the Karoo Foreland Basin was closely controlled by orogenic cycles of loading and unloading in the CFB. During orogenic loading, episodes of subsidence and increase in accommodation adjacent to the orogen correlate to episodes of uplift and decrease in accommodation away from the thrust-fold belt. During orogenic unloading the reverse occurred. As a consequence, the depocentre of the Karoo Basin alternated between the proximal region, during orogenic loading, and the distal region, during orogenic unloading. Orogenic loading dominated during the Late Carboniferous–Middle Triassic interval, leading to the accumulation of thick foredeep sequences with much thinner forebulge correlatives. The Late Triassic–Middle Jurassic interval was dominated by orogenic unloading, with deposition taking place in the distal region of the foreland system and coeval bypass and reworking of the older foredeep sequences. The out of phase history of base-level changes generated contrasting stratigraphies between the proximal and distal regions of the foreland system separated by a stratigraphic hinge line. The patterns of hinge line migration show the flexural peripheral bulge advancing towards the craton during the Late Carboniferous–Permian interval in response to the progradation of the orogenic front. The orogenward migration of the foreland system recorded during the Triassic–Middle Jurassic may be attributed to piggyback thrusting accompanied by a retrogradation of the centre of weight within the orogenic belt during orogenic loading (Early Middle Triassic) or to the retrogradation of the orogenic load through the erosion of the orogenic front during times of orogenic unloading (Late Triassic–Middle Jurassic).