Evolution of the late Cenozoic Chaco foreland basin, Southern Bolivia

Eastward Andean orogenic growth since the late Oligocene led to variable crustal loading, flexural subsidence and foreland basin sedimentation in the Chaco basin. To understand the interaction between Andean tectonics and contemporaneous foreland development, we analyse stratigraphic, sedimentologic and seismic data from the Subandean Belt and the Chaco Basin. The structural features provide a mechanism for transferring zones of deposition, subsidence and uplift. These can be reconstructed based on regional distribution of clastic sequences. Isopach maps, combined with sedimentary architecture analysis, establish systematic thickness variations, facies changes and depositional styles. The foreland basin consists of five stratigraphic successions controlled by Andean orogenic episodes and climate: (1) the foreland basin sequence commences between ～27 and 14 Ma with the regionally unconformable, thin, easterly sourced fluvial Petaca strata. It represents a significant time interval of low sediment accumulation in a forebulge‐backbulge depocentre. (2) The overlying ～14–7 Ma‐old Yecua Formation, deposited in marine, fluvial and lacustrine settings, represents increased subsidence rates from thrust‐belt loading outpacing sedimentation rates. It marks the onset of active deformation and the underfilled stage of the foreland basin in a distal foredeep. (3) The overlying ～7–6 Ma‐old, westerly sourced Tariquia Formation indicates a relatively high accommodation and sediment supply concomitant with the onset of deposition of Andean‐derived sediment in the medial‐foredeep depocentre on a distal fluvial megafan. Progradation of syntectonic, wedge‐shaped, westerly sourced, thickening‐ and coarsening‐upward clastics of the (4) ～6–2.1 Ma‐old Guandacay and (5) ～2.1 Ma‐to‐Recent Emborozú Formations represent the propagation of the deformation front in the present Subandean Zone, thereby indicating selective trapping of coarse sediments in the proximal foredeep and wedge‐top depocentres, respectively. Overall, the late Cenozoic stratigraphic intervals record the easterly propagation of the deformation front and foreland depocentre in response to loading and flexure by the growing Intra‐ and Subandean fold‐and‐thrust belt.     

Rapid extensive erosion of the North Alpine foreland basin at 5–4 Ma

An extensive low‐temperature thermochronology study of the Swiss part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin has been conducted with the aim of deciphering the late Neogene basin development. Apatite fission‐track (AFT) ages from wells located in the distal and weakly deformed Plateau Molasse reveal rapid, km‐scale erosion with an onset in early Pliocene times. The distribution of erosion implies that there was a strong gradient in late Miocene deposition rates along the strike of the basin, with an increase towards the northeast. Additionally, renewed tectonic activity and km‐scale out‐of‐sequence thrusting during Plio‐Pleistocene times is indicated by AFT data from wells within the thrusted, proximal Subalpine Molasse. Several different mechanisms driving late Neogene basin erosion and accelerated erosional discharge from the European Alps have been considered in the literature. Based on our AFT results, we reevaluate previously published hypotheses, and suggest that a change in climate and/or drainage reorganisation coincided and possibly interacted with preexisting tectonic and geodynamic forces in the Alpine region.     

Sediment routing evolution in the North Alpine Foreland Basin,Austria: interplay of transverse and longitudinal sediment dispersal

Integration of detrital zircon geochronology and three‐dimensional (3D) seismic‐reflection data from the Molasse basin of Austria yields new insight into Oligocene‐early Miocene palaeogeography and patterns of sediment routing within the Alpine foreland of central Europe. Three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection data show a network of deep‐water tributaries and a long‐lived (>8 Ma) foredeep‐axial channel belt that transported Alpine detritus greater than 100 km from west to east. We present 793 new detrital zircon ages from 10 sandstone samples collected from subsurface cores located within the seismically mapped network of deep‐water tributaries and the axial channel belt. Grain age populations correspond with major pre‐Alpine orogenic cycles: the Cadomian (750–530 Ma), the Caledonian (490–380 Ma) and the Variscan (350–250 Ma). Additional age populations correspond with Eocene‐Oligocene Periadriatic magmatism (40–30 Ma) and pre‐Alpine, Precambrian sources (>750 Ma). Although many samples share the same age populations, the abundances of these populations vary significantly. Sediment that entered the deep‐water axial channel belt from the west (Freshwater Molasse) and southwest (Inntal fault zone) is characterized by statistically indistinguishable age distributions that include populations of Variscan, Caledonian and Cadomian zircon at modest abundances (15–32% each). Sandstone from a shallow marine unit proximal to the northern basin margin consists of >75% Variscan (350–300 Ma) zircon, which originated from the adjacent Bohemian Massif. Mixing calculations based on the Kolmogorov–Smirnoff statistic suggest that the Alpine fold‐thrust belt south of the foreland was also an important source of detritus to the deep‐water Molasse basin. We interpret evolving detrital zircon age distributions within the axial foredeep to reflect a progressive increase in longitudinal sediment input from the west (Freshwater Molasse) and/or southwest (Inntal fault zone) relative to transverse sediment input from the fold‐thrust belt to the south. We infer that these changes reflect a major reorganization of catchment boundaries and denudation rates in the Alpine Orogen that resulted in the Alpine foreland evolving to dominantly longitudinal sediment dispersal. This change was most notably marked by the development of a submarine canyon during deposition of the Upper Puchkirchen Formation that promoted sediment bypass eastward from Freshwater Molasse depozones to the Molasse basin deep‐water axial channel belt. The integration of 3D seismic‐reflection data with detrital zircon geochronology illustrates sediment dispersal patterns within a continental‐scale orogen, with implications for the relative role of longitudinal vs. transverse sediment delivery in peripheral foreland basins.     

Pro- vs. retro-foreland basins

Alpine‐type mountain belts formed by continental collision are characterised by a strong cross‐sectional asymmetry driven by the dominant underthrusting of one plate beneath the other. Such mountain belts are flanked on either side by two peripheral foreland basins, one over the underthrust plate and one over the over‐riding plate; these have been termed pro‐ and retro‐foreland basins, respectively. Numerical modelling that incorporates suitable tectonic boundary conditions, and models orogenesis from growth to a steady‐state form (i.e. where accretionary influx equals erosional outflux), predicts contrasting basin development to these two end‐member basin types. Pro‐foreland basins are characterised by: (1) Accelerating tectonic subsidence driven primarily by the translation of the basin fill towards the mountain belt at the convergence rate. (2) Stratigraphic onlap onto the cratonic margin at a rate at least equal to the plate convergence rate. (3) A basin infill that records the most recent development of the mountain belt with a preserved interval determined by the width of the basin divided by the convergence rate. In contrast, retro‐foreland basins are relatively stable, are not translated into the mountain belt once steady‐state is achieved, and are consequently characterised by: (1) A constant tectonic subsidence rate during growth of the thrust wedge, with zero tectonic subsidence during the steady‐state phase (i.e. ongoing accretion‐erosion, but constant load). (2) Relatively little stratigraphic onlap driven only by the growth of the retro‐wedge. (3) A basin fill that records the entire growth phase of the mountain belt, but only a condensed representation of steady‐state conditions. Examples of pro‐foreland basins include the Appalachian foredeep, the west Taiwan foreland basin, the North Alpine Foreland Basin and the Ebro Basin (southern Pyrenees). Examples of retro‐foreland basins include the South Westland Basin (Southern Alps, New Zealand), the Aquitaine Basin (northern Pyrenees), and the Po Basin (southern European Alps). We discuss how this new insight into the variability of collisional foreland basins can be used to better interpret mountain belt evolution and the hydrocarbon potential of these basins types.     

Sedimentary sequences, seismofacies and evolution of depositional systems of the Oligo/Miocene Lower Freshwater Molasse Group, Switzerland

ABSTRACT Magnetostratigraphic chronologies, together with sedimentological, petrological, seismic and borehole data derived from the Oligo/Miocene Lower Freshwater Molasse Group of the North Alpine foreland basin enable a detailed reconstruction of alluvial architecture in relation to Alpine orogenic events. Six depositional systems are recorded in the Lower Freshwater Molasse Group. The bajada depositional system comprises 200–400-m-thick successions of ribbon channel conglomerates and overbank fines including mud- and debris-flows which were derived from the Alpine border chain. The alluvial megafan depositional system is made up of massive pebble-to-cobble conglomerates up to 3 km thick which reveal a fan-shaped geometry. This depositional environment grades downcurrent into the conglomerate channel belt depositional system, which comprises an ≈2-km-thick alternation of channel conglomerates and overbank fines. The sandstone channel belt depositional system is bordered by the 100–400-m-thick overbank fines assigned to the floodplain depositional system. At the feather edge of the basin, 50–400-m-thick lacustrine sediments in both clastic and carbonate facies represent the lacustrine depositional system. The spatial and temporal arrangement of these depositional systems was controlled by the geometrical evolution of the Molasse Basin. During periods of enhanced sediment supply and during phases of stable sliding of the entire wedge, >2000-m-thick coarsening-and thickening-upward megasequences comprising the conglomerate channel belt, alluvial megafan and bajada depositional systems were deposited in a narrow wedge-shaped basin. In the distal reaches of the basin, however, no sedimentary trend developed, and the basin fill comprises a <500-m-thick series of sandstone meander belt, floodplain and lacustrine depositional systems. During phases of accretion at the toe of the wedge, the basin widened, and prograding systems of multistorey channel sandstones extended from the thrust front to the distal reaches of the basin. The rearrangement of the depositional systems as a function of changing orogenic conditions created discordances, which are expressed seismically by onlap and erosion of beds delimiting sedimentary sequences. Whereas stable sliding of the wedge succeeded by accretion at the toe of the wedge is recorded in the proximal Lower Freshwater Molasse by a coarsening-and thickening-upward megasequence followed by erosion, the opposite trend developed in the distal reaches of the Molasse. Here, fine-grained sandstones and mudstones were deposited during periods of stable sliding, whereas phases of accretion caused a coarsening- and thickening-up megasequence to form.     

Basin-wide mass-wasting complexes as markers of the Oligo-Miocene foredeep-accretionary wedge evolution in the Northern Apennines, Italy

Sedimentary bodies emplaced by mass‐wasting processes and exceeding tens of metres of thickness and a hundred of square kilometres in area are widespread in the Cretaceous–Pleistocene marine successions of the Northern Apennines of Italy. At least 10 such bodies are present in the stratigraphic record of the Oligo‐Miocene foredeep during the northeastern, time‐transgressive migration of the accretionary wedge‐foredeep system. The term mass‐wasting complex (MWC) is here adopted for these bodies to emphasize their multistory emplacement mechanism and polymictic composition with variously deformed slabs of different lithology, age and provenance. As one of the more intriguing features, their occurrence was associated with changes in turbidite deposition from basin plain to slope. Wide sectors of the internal margin of the basin (lobe‐fan) and even of the basin plain become a slope at the front of the accretionary wedge for a limited period of time (temporary slope). The temporary slope supplied the intrabasinal components of the MWCs, whereas the diffused extrabasinal components came from the front of the accretionary wedge. Therefore, an enhanced instability of the entire foredeep‐wedge system occurred systematically and cyclically. As a consequence, many variously consolidated sediments were transferred into the foredeep basin invading the depocentre and forcing the turbidite deposition towards the foreland, in a more northeasterly position. The presence of such MWCs therefore conditioned basin size and geometry in an analogous way as that reported for some modern convergent margins, as in the case of Costa Rica. Normal sedimentation was restored on top of the MWC only after the levelling of topographic irregularities.     

10 Myr evolution of sedimentation rates in a deep marine to non‐marine foreland basin system: Tectonic and sedimentary controls (Eocene,Tremp–Jaca Basin,Southern Pyrenees,NE Spain)

The propagation of the deformation front in foreland systems is typically accompanied by the incorporation of parts of the basin into wedge‐top piggy‐back basins, this process is likely producing considerable changes to sedimentation rates (SR). Here we investigate the spatial‐temporal evolution of SR for the Tremp–Jaca Basin in the Southern Pyrenees during its evolution from a wedge‐top, foreredeep, forebulge configuration to a wedge‐top stage. SR were controlled by a series of tectonic structures that influenced subsidence distribution and modified the sediment dispersal patterns. We compare the decompacted SR calculated from 12 magnetostratigraphic sections located throughout the Tremp–Jaca Basin represent the full range of depositional environment and times. While the derived long‐term SR range between 9.0 and 84.5 cm/kyr, compiled data at the scale of magnetozones (0.1–2.5 Myr) yield SR that range from 3.0 to 170 cm/kyr. From this analysis, three main types of depocenter are recognized: a regional depocenter in the foredeep depozone; depocenters related to both regional subsidence and salt tectonics in the wedge‐top depozone; and a depocenter related to clastic shelf building showing transgressive and regressive trends with graded and non‐graded episodes. From the evolution of SR we distinguish two stages. The Lutetian Stage (from 49.1–41.2 Ma) portrays a compartmentalized basin characterized by variable SR in dominantly underfilled accommodation areas. The markedly different advance of the deformation front between the Central and Western Pyrenees resulted in a complex distribution of the foreland depozones during this stage. The Bartonian–Priabonian Stage (41.2–36.9 Ma) represents the integration of the whole basin into the wedge‐top, showing a generalized reduction of SR in a mostly overfilled relatively uniform basin. The stacking of basement units in the hinterland during the whole period produced unusually high SR in the wedge‐top depozone.     

Late Eocene–Pliocene basin evolution in the Eastern Cordillera of northwestern Argentina (25°–26°S): regional implications for Andean orogenic wedge development

Important aspects of the Andean foreland basin in Argentina remain poorly constrained, such as the effect of deformation on deposition, in which foreland basin depozones Cenozoic sedimentary units were deposited, how sediment sources and drainages evolved in response to tectonics, and the thickness of sediment accumulation. Zircon U‐Pb geochronological data from Eocene–Pliocene sedimentary strata in the Eastern Cordillera of northwestern Argentina (Pucará–Angastaco and La Viña areas) provide an Eocene (ca. 38 Ma) maximum depositional age for the Quebrada de los Colorados Formation. Sedimentological and provenance data reveal a basin history that is best explained within the context of an evolving foreland basin system affected by inherited palaeotopography. The Quebrada de los Colorados Formation represents deposition in the distal to proximal foredeep depozone. Development of an angular unconformity at ca. 14 Ma and the coarse‐grained, proximal character of the overlying Angastaco Formation (lower to upper Miocene) suggest deposition in a wedge‐top depozone. Axial drainage during deposition of the Palo Pintado Formation (upper Miocene) suggests a fluvial‐lacustrine intramontane setting. By ca. 4 Ma, during deposition of the San Felipe Formation, the Angastaco area had become structurally isolated by the uplift of the Sierra de los Colorados Range to the east. Overall, the Eastern Cordillera sedimentary record is consistent with a continuous foreland basin system that migrated through the region from late Eocene through middle Miocene time. By middle Miocene time, the region lay within the topographically complex wedge‐top depozone, influenced by thick‐skinned deformation and re‐activation of Cretaceous rift structures. The association of the Eocene Quebrada del los Colorados Formation with a foredeep depozone implies that more distal foreland deposits should be represented by pre‐Eocene strata (Santa Barbara Subgroup) within the region.     

Influence of the mechanical behaviour of brittle–ductile fold–thrust belts on the development of foreland basins

A two‐dimensional mathematical model considering coupling between a deforming elasto‐visco‐plastic fold–thrust belt, flexural subsidence and diffusional surface processes is solved using the Finite Element Method to investigate how the mechanical behaviour of brittle–ductile wedges influences the development of foreland basins. Results show that, depending mainly on the strength of the basal décollement, two end‐member types of foreland basin are possible. When the basal detachment is relatively strong, the foreland basin system is characterised by: (1) Highly asymmetrical orogen formed by thrusts concentrated in the incoming pro‐wedge. (2) Sedimentation on retro‐side takes place in one major foredeep basin which grows throughout orogen evolution. (3) Deposition on the pro‐side occurs initially in the foredeep, and continues in the wedge‐top before isolated basins are advected towards the orogen core where they become uplifted and exhumed. (4) Most pro‐wedge basins show an upward progression from low altitude, foredeep deposits at the base to high altitude, wedge‐top deposits near the surface. In contrast, when the basal detachment behaves weakly due to the presence of low viscosity material such as salt, the foreland basin system is characterised by (1) Broad, low relief orogen showing little preferential vergence and predominance of folding relative to faulting. (2) Deposition mainly in wedge‐top basins showing growth strata. (3) Many basins are initiated contemporaneously but form discontinuously due to the locus of active deformation jumping back and forth between different structures. Model results successfully reproduce first order observations of deforming brittle–ductile wedges and foreland basins. Moreover, the results support and provide a framework for understanding the existence of two main end‐member foreland basin types, simple and complex, associated with fold–thrust belts whose detachments are relatively strong and weak, respectively.     

Geodynamic context for the deposition of coarse‐grained deep‐water axial channel systems in the Patagonian Andes

We present field and seismic evidence for the existence of Coniacian–Campanian syntectonic angular unconformities within basal foreland basin sequences of the Austral or Magallanes Basin, with implications for the understanding of deformation and sedimentation in the southern Patagonian Andes. The studied sequences belong to the mainly turbiditic Upper Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation that includes a world‐class example of conglomerate‐filled deep‐water channel bodies deposited in an axial foredeep depocentre. We present multiple evidence of syntectonic deposition showing that the present internal domain of the fold‐thrust belt was an active Coniacian–Campanian wedge‐top depozone where deposition of turbidites and conglomerate channels of Cerro Toro took place. Cretaceous synsedimentary deformation was dominated by positive inversion of Jurassic extensional structures that produced elongated axial submarine trenches separated by structural highs controlling the development and distribution of axial channels. The position of Coniacian‐Campanian unconformities indicates a ca. 50–80 km advance of the orogenic front throughout the internal domain, implying that Late Cretaceous deformation was more significant in terms of widening the orogenic wedge than all subsequent Andean deformation stages. This south Patagonian orogenic event can be related to compressional stresses generated by the combination of both the collision of the western margin of Rocas Verdes Basin during its closure, and Atlantic ridge push forces due to its accelerated opening, during a global‐scale plate reorganization event.     

Importance of inherited rift margin structures in the early North Alpine Foreland Basin, Switzerland

The earliest evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin in Switzerland was characterized by deposition in small, structurally partitioned sub-basins during the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, rather than in a single, large foredeep. These sub-basins, which were probably located between old rift margin fault-blocks reactivated during Alpine compression, were incorporated into the thrust wedge during thin-skinned deformation. In eastern Switzerland, the most external sub-basins with respect to the orogenic wedge (North Helvetic Flysch and Blattengrat units) have at their base an unconformity attributed to flexural forebulge erosion. More internal sub-basins (Sardona and Prättigau units) contain a conformable succession from the underlying passive margin stage and are dominated by deep-water sedimentation. In western Switzerland, both external sub-basins, now found in the Helvetic Diablerets and Wildhorn nappes, and deep-water internal sub-basins (Höchst-Meilleret Flysch, Neisen Flysch, Tarentaise Flysch) preserve a well-developed basal unconformity. Comparison of the eastern and western Swiss transects shows important intrabasinal lateral variations to be present. The western Swiss area was a topographic high for much of the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary; this is demonstrated by the increased chronostratigraphic gap at the karstified basal unconformity surface in western Switzerland. The strata onlapping this unconformity young to the west, suggesting that drowning of the emergent area was delayed compared with the east. In addition, reactivation and uplift of the rift margin structures occurred earlier in western Switzerland compared with eastern Switzerland. There is therefore strong evidence for lateral topographic gradients in the early foreland basin caused by differential amounts of tectonic reactivation of rift margin structures. In the early foreland basin-fill, these lateral variations are as important in determining depositional patterns as strike-normal changes across the basin.     

Tectono‐sedimentary Evolution of Early Pennsylvanian Alluvial Systems at the Onset of the Alleghanian Orogeny,Pocahontas Basin,Virginia

Foreland basin strata provide an opportunity to review the depositional response of alluvial systems to unsteady tectonic load variations at convergent plate margins. The lower Breathitt Group of the Pocahontas Basin, a sub‐basin of the Central Appalachian Basin, in Virginia preserves an Early Pennsylvanian record of sedimentation during initial foreland basin subsidence of the Alleghanian orogeny. Utilizing fluvial facies distributions and long‐term stacking patterns within the context of an ancient, marginal‐marine foreland basin provides stratigraphic evidence to disentangle a recurring, low‐frequency residual tectonic signature from high‐frequency glacioeustatic events. Results from basin‐wide facies analysis, corroborated with petrography and detrital zircon geochronology, support a two end‐member depositional system of coexisting transverse and longitudinal alluvial systems infilling the foredeep during eustatic lowstands. Provenance data suggest that sediment was derived from low‐grade metamorphic Grenvillian‐Avalonian terranes and recycling of older Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks uplifted as part of the Alleghanian orogen and Archean‐Superior‐Province. Immature sediments, including lithic sandstone bodies, were deposited within a SE‐NW oriented transverse drainage system. Quartzarenites were deposited within a strike‐parallel NE‐SW oriented axial drainage, forming elongate belts along the western basin margin. These mature quartzarenites were deposited within a braided fluvial system that originated from a northerly cratonic source area. Integrating subsurface and sandstone provenance data indicates significant, repeated palaeogeographical shifts in alluvial facies distribution. Distinct wedges comprising composite sequences are bounded by successive shifts in alluvial facies and define three low‐frequency tectonic accommodation cycles. The proposed tectonic accommodation cycles provide an explanation for the recognized low‐frequency composite sequences, defining short‐term episodes of unsteady westward migration of the flexural Appalachian Basin and constrain the relative timing of deformation events during cratonward progression of the Alleghanian orogenic wedge.     

The Svalbard Eocene‐Oligocene (?) Central Basin succession: Sedimentation patterns and controls

A synthesis has been undertaken based on regionally compiled data from the post early Eocene foreland basin succession of Svalbard. The aim has been to generate an updated depositional model and link this to controlling factors. The more than kilometer thick progradational succession includes the offshore shales of the Gilsonryggen Member of the Frysjaodden Formation, the shallow marine sandstones of the Battfjellet Formation and the predominantly heterolithic Aspelintoppen Formation, together recording the progressive eastwards infill of the foredeep flanking the West Spitsbergen fold‐and‐thrust belt. Here we present a summary of the paleo‐environmental depositional systems across the basin, their facies and regional distribution and link these together in an updated depositional model. The basin‐margin system prograded with an ascending shelf‐edge trajectory in the order of 1°. The basin fill was bipartite, with offset stacked shelf and shelf‐edge deltas, slope clinothems and basin floor fans in the western and deepest part and a simpler architecture of stacked shelf‐deltas in the shallower eastern part. We suggest a foredeep setting governed by flexural loading, likely influenced by buckling, and potentially developing into a wedge top basin in the mature stage of basin filling. High‐subsidence rates probably counteracted eustatic falls with the result that relative sea‐level falls were uncommon. Distance to the source terrain was small and sedimentation rates was temporarily high. Time‐equivalent deposits can be found outbound of Stappen High in the Vestbakken Volcanic Province and the Sørvestsnaget Basin 300 km further south on the Barents Shelf margin. We cannot see any direct evidence of coupling between these more southerly systems and the studied one; southerly diversion of the sediment‐routing, if any, may have taken place beyond the limit of the preserved deposits.     

Constraint on foreland basin migration in the Zagros mountain belt using Sr isotope stratigraphy

We have constrained the time‐space migration of the Zagros foredeep basin by performing Sr isotope stratigraphy on 31 samples of marine macrofossils from Neogene sediments now exposed in the Zagros mountain belt in southwest Iran. Our results show that these deposits (represented mainly by the Mishan Formation) are strongly diachronous, with ages ranging between 17.2 ± 0.2 and 1.1 ± 0.1 Ma. These deposits are older in the west (Dezful region) and become progressively younger towards the south and the south‐east (Fars region). Our results show that the marine foredeep was replaced by a fluvial sedimentary environment between ca. 14 and 12 Ma in the western sector, while this occurred between ca. 8 and 1 Ma in the eastern sector, becoming younger towards the south. These results enable us to show that the foreland basin migrated perpendicular to the orogen at rates of between 17.5 and 50 mm year^?1 throughout the Neogene, exceeding migration rates in the Alps, Pyrenees, Apennines and Himalayan foreland basins. The sporadically elevated rates in the Zagros appear to be related to times when major widely spaced pre‐existing basement faults became reactivated. Finally, our results, when combined with published data, have enabled us to establish a new chronostratigraphic diagram for the Neogene portion of the Zagros foreland basin. Our study highlights that foreland basins are extremely dynamic settings where depocentres and palaeoenvironments may change rapidly in both time and space in relation to migrating deformation.     

Crustal thickening and crustal extension as controls on the evolution of the drainage network of the central Swiss Alps between 30 Ma and the present: constraints from the stratigraphy of the North Alpine Foreland Basin and the structural evolution of the Alps

The combined information about sedimentary petrography from the North Alpine Foreland Basin and structural geology from the Alps allows a qualitative reconstruction of the drainage network of the central Swiss Alps between 30 Ma and the present. This study suggests that crustal thickening and crustal thinning significantly controlled the location of the drainage divide. It also reveals the possible controls of crustal thickening/thinning on the change of the orientation of the drainage network from across-strike between 30 and 14 Ma to along-strike thereafter. Initial crustal thickening in the rear of the wedge is considered to have formed the drainage divide between north and south at 30 Ma. Because the location of crustal thickening shifted from east to west between ≈30–20 Ma, the catchment areas of the eastern dispersal systems reached further south than those of the western Alpine palaeorivers for the same time slice. Similarly, the same crustal dynamics appear to have controlled two phases of denudation that are reflected in the Molasse Basin by petrographic trends. Uplift in the rear of the wedge caused the Alpine palaeorivers to expand further southward. This is reflected in the foreland basin by increasing admixture of detritus from structurally higher units. However, tectonic quiescence in the rear of the wedge allowed the Alpine palaeorivers to cut down into the Alpine edifice, resulting in an increase of detritus from structurally lower units. Whereas uplift in the rear of the wedge was responsible for initiation of the Alpine drainage systems, underplating of the external massifs some 50 km further north is thought to have caused along-strike deviation of the major Alpine palaeorivers. Besides crustal thickening, extension in the rear of the wedge appears to have significantly controlled the evolution of the drainage network of the western Swiss Alps. Slip along the Simplon detachment fault exposed the core of the Lepontine dome, and caused a 50-km-northward shift of the drainage divide.     

Foredeep palaeobathymetry and subsidence trends during advancing then retreating subduction: the Northern Apennine case (Oligocene‐Miocene,Italy)

The Northern Apennines provide an example of long‐term deep‐water sedimentation in an underfilled pro‐foreland basin first linked to an advancing orogenic wedge and then to a retreating subduction zone during slab rollback. New palaeobathymetric and geohistory analyses of turbidite systems that accumulated in the foredeep during the Oligocene‐Miocene are used to unravel the basin subsidence history during this geodynamic change, and to investigate how it interplayed with sediment supply and basin tectonics in controlling foredeep filling. The results show an estimated ca. 2 km decrease in palaeowater depth at ca. 17 Ma. Moreover, a change in basin subsidence is documented during Langhian time, with an average decompacted subsidence rate, during individual depocentre life, that increased from <0.3 to 0.4–0.6 mm y^?1, together with the appearance of a syndepositional backstripped subsidence bracketed between 0.1 and 0.2 mm y^?1. This change prevented the basin from complete filling during late Miocene and is interpreted as the foredeep response to initial rollback of the downgoing Adriatic slab. Thus, the Northern Apennine system provides an example of a pro‐foreland basin that experienced both a slow‐ and high‐subsidence regime as a consequence of the advancing then retreating evolution of the collisional system.     

Fluvial deposition during transition from flexural to dynamic subsidence in the Cordilleran foreland basin: Ericson Formation,Western Wyoming,USA

The Ericson Formation was deposited in the distal foredeep of the Cordilleran foreland basin during Campanian time. Isopach data show that it records early dynamic subsidence and the onset of basin partitioning by Laramide uplifts. The Ericson Formation is well exposed around the Rock Springs uplift, a Laramide structural dome in southwestern Wyoming; the formation is thin, regionally extensive, and does not display the wedge‐shaped geometry typical of foredeep deposits. Sedimentation in this area was controlled both by activity in the thrust belt and by intraforeland tectonics. The Ericson Formation is ideally situated both spatially and temporally to study the transition from Sevier to Laramide (thin‐ to thick‐skinned) deformation which corresponded to the shift from flexural to dynamic subsidence and the demise of the Cretaceous foreland basin system. We establish the depositional age of the Ericson Formation as ca. 74 Ma through detrital zircon U–Pb analysis. Palaeocurrent data show a generally southeastward transport direction, but northward indicators near Flaming Gorge Reservoir suggest that the intraforeland Uinta uplift was rising and shedding sediment northward by late Campanian time. Petrographic data and detrital zircon U–Pb ages indicate that Ericson sediment was derived from erosion of Proterozoic quartzites and Palaeozoic and Mesozoic quartzose sandstones in the Sevier thrust belt to the west. The new data place temporal and geographic constraints on attempts to produce geodynamic models linking flat‐slab subduction of the oceanic Farallon plate to the onset of the Laramide orogenic event.     

Tectonic heritage in drainage pattern and dynamics: the case of the French South Alpine Foreland Basin (ca. 45–20 Ma)

The spatial and temporal organization of depositional environments in drainage networks of foreland basins reflect the tectonic and erosional dynamics associated with the development of mountain belts. We provide field evidences for the initiation and evolution of a complex drainage system in the French South Alpine Foreland Basin related to Western Alps exhumation. Sedimentological and structural analyses of the Eocene–Early Miocene succession were investigated in the (1) Argens/Peyresq, (2) Barrême/Blieux/Taulanne and (3) Montmaur/St‐Disdier sectors. Combined with the existing structural data set, we propose a new model that integrates the regional tectonic activity, the palaeovalley orientation and their dynamics through time. The Eocene–Miocene deposits clearly show the existence of N–S‐oriented palaeovalleys. The systematic presence of early NE–SW‐ to N–S‐oriented strike‐slip and extensional faults in the palaeovalleys suggests that these tectonic structures were responsible for the formation of the initial N–S‐oriented basin‐floor topographies. The vertical offset of the strike‐slip faults induced sufficient accommodation space for the Cenozoic sedimentation since the Middle Eocene. It implies the creation of N–S‐oriented palaeovalleys during the northward Pyrenean‐Provençal phase, pre‐dating westward Alpine compression. Later, the Oligocene Alpine tectonic phase induced drainage expansion toward the orogenic wedge and the erosion of the exhumed internal massifs by transverse streams. The establishment of new connections between the old topographic lows formed a longitudinal drainage pattern that remains the locus of deposition in a regional sedimentary routing system. In this model, former strike‐slip faults correspond to weakness zones overprinted by the westward Alpine shortening that allowed the formation of the modern piggyback basin structure of the foreland and the long‐time preservation of the palaeovalley geometry.     

Tectonic controls on Cenozoic foreland basin development in the north‐eastern Andes,Colombia

In order to evaluate the relationship between thrust loading and sedimentary facies evolution, we analyse the progradation of fluvial coarse‐grained deposits in the retroarc foreland basin system of the northern Andes of Colombia. We compare the observed sedimentary facies distribution with the calculated one‐dimensional (1D) Eocene to Quaternary sediment‐accumulation rates in the Medina wedge‐top basin and with a three‐dimensional (3D) sedimentary budget based on the interpretation of ～1800 km of industry‐style seismic reflection profiles and borehole data. Age constraints are derived from a new chronostratigraphic framework based on extensive fossil palynological assemblages. The sedimentological data from the Medina Basin reveal rapid accumulation of fluvial and lacustrine sediments at rates of up to ～500 m my^?1 during the Miocene. Provenance data based on gravel petrography and paleocurrents reveal that these Miocene fluvial systems were sourced from Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene sedimentary units exposed to the west in the Eastern Cordillera. Peak sediment‐accumulation rates in the upper Carbonera Formation and the Guayabo Group occur during episodes of coarse‐grained facies progradation in the early and late Miocene proximal foredeep. We interpret this positive correlation between sediment accumulation and gravel deposition as the direct consequence of thrust activity along the Servitá–Lengupá faults. This contrasts with one class of models relating gravel progradation in more distal portions of foreland basin systems to episodes of tectonic quiescence.     

The Miocene Saint-Florent Basin in northern Corsica: stratigraphy, sedimentology, and tectonic implications

Late early–early middle Miocene (Burdigalian–Langhian) time on the island of Corsica (western Mediterranean) was characterized by a combination of (i) postcollisional structural inversion of the main boundary thrust system between the Alpine orogenic wedge and the foreland, (ii) eustatic sealevel rise and (iii) subsidence related to the development of the Ligurian‐Provençal basin. These processes created the accommodation for a distinctive continental to shallow‐marine sedimentary succession along narrow and elongated basins. Much of these deposits have been eroded and presently only a few scattered outcrop areas remain, most notably at Saint‐Florent and Francardo. The Burdigalian–Langhian sedimentary succession at Saint‐Florent is composed of three distinguishing detrital components: (i) siliciclastic detritus derived from erosion of the nearby Alpine orogenic wedge, (ii) carbonate intrabasinal detritus (bioclasts of shallow‐marine and pelagic organisms), and (iii) siliciclastic detritus derived from Hercynian‐age foreland terraines. The basal deposits (Fium Albino Formation) are fluvial and composed of Alpine‐derived detritus, with subordinate foreland‐derived volcanic detritus. All three detrital components are present in the middle portion of the succession (Torra and Monte Sant'Angelo Formations), which is characterized by thin transitional deposits evolving vertically into fully marine deposits, although the carbonate intrabasinal component is predominant. The Monte Sant'Angelo Formation is characteristically dominated by the deposits of large gravel and sandwaves, possibly the result of current amplification in narrow seaways that developed between the foreland and the tectonically collapsing Alpine orogenic wedge. The laterally equivalent Saint‐Florent conglomerate is composed of clasts derived from the late Permian Cinto volcanic district within the foreland. The uppermost unit (Farinole Formation) is dominated by bioclasts of pelagic organisms. The Saint‐Florent succession was deposited during the last phase of the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia–Calabria continental block and the resulting development of the Provençal oceanic basin. The succession sits at the paleogeographic boundary between the Alpine orogenic wedge (to the east), its foreland (to the west), and the Ligurian‐Provençal basin (to the northwest). Abrupt compositional changes in the succession resulted from the complex, varying interplay of post‐collisional extensional tectonism, eustacy and competing drainage systems.