Natural subsidence of the Venice area during the last 60 Myr

Integrated geohistory analysis performed on high‐resolution stratigraphy of Venezia 1 and Lido 1 wells (Quaternary–Pliocene interval) and low‐resolution stratigraphy of a simulated well extending Lido 1 down to the base of Cenozoic (Palaeocene–Miocene interval) is used to reconstruct the interplay between subsidence and sedimentation that occurred in the Venice area (eastern Po Plain) during the last 60 Myr, and to discuss the relationships between calculated subsidence rates and time resolution of stratigraphic data. Both subsidence and sedimentation are mostly related to the tectonic evolution of the belts that surround the Venice basin, influencing the lithosphere vertical motions and the input of clastic sediments through time. In particular, two subsidence phases are recorded between 40–33.5 and 32.5–24 Myr (0.13 and 0.14 mm year^?1, respectively), coeval with tectonic phases in the Dinaric belt. Vice versa, during the main South‐Alpine orogenic phase (middle–late Miocene), quiescence or little uplift (?0.03 mm year^?1) reflects the location of the Venice area close to the peripheral bulge of the South‐Alpine foreland system. Early Pliocene evolution is characterised by a number of subsidence/uplift events, among which two uplifts occurred between 5–4.5 and 3–2.2 Myr (at ?0.4 and ?0.2 mm year^?1, respectively) and can be correlated with tectonic motions in the Apennines. During the last million years, the Venice area was initially characterised by uplift (?0.6 mm year^?1 rising to ?1.5 mm year^?1 between 0.4 and 0.38 Myr), eventually replaced by subsidence at a rate ranging between 1.6 and 1.0 mm year^?1 up to 0.12 Myr and then decreased to 0.4 mm year^?1, as an average, up to present. Our results highlight that time resolution of the stratigraphic dataset deeply influences the order of magnitude obtained for the calculated subsidence rate. This is because subsidence seems to have worked through short‐lived peaks (in the order of 10⁵ years), alternating with long relatively quiescent intervals. This suggests caution when components of subsidence are deduced by subtracting long‐term to short‐term subsidence rate.     

Chronology and tectonic controls of Late Tertiary deposition in the southwestern Tian Shan foreland, NW China

Magnetostratigraphy from the Kashi foreland basin along the southern margin of the Tian Shan in Western China defines the chronology of both sedimentation and the structural evolution of this collisional mountain belt. Eleven magnetostratigraphic sections representing ～13 km of basin strata provide a two‐ and three‐dimensional record of continuous deposition since ～18 Ma. The distinctive Xiyu conglomerate makes up the uppermost strata in eight of 11 magnetostratigraphic sections within the foreland and forms a wedge that thins southward. The basal age of the conglomerate varies from 15.5±0.5 Ma at the northernmost part of the foreland, to 8.6±0.1 Ma in the central (medial) part of the foreland and to 1.9±0.2, ～1.04 and 0.7±0.1 Ma along the southern deformation front of the foreland basin. These data indicate the Xiyu conglomerate is highly time‐transgressive and has prograded south since just after the initial uplift of the Kashi Basin Thrust (KBT) at 18.9±3.3 Ma. Southward progradation occurred at an average rate of ～3 mm year^?1 between 15.5 and 2 Ma, before accelerating to ～10 mm year^?1. Abrupt changes in sediment‐accumulation rates are observed at 16.3 and 13.5 Ma in the northern part of the foreland and are interpreted to correspond to southward stepping deformation. A subtle decrease in the sedimentation rate above the Keketamu anticline is determined at ～4.0 Ma and was synchronous with an increase in sedimentation rate further south above the Atushi Anticline. Magnetostratigraphy also dates growth strata at <4.0, 1.4±0.1 and 1.4±0.2 Ma on the southern flanks the Keketamu, Atushi and Kashi anticlines, respectively. Together, sedimentation rate changes and growth strata indicate stepped migration of deformation into the Kashi foreland at least at 16.3, 13.5, 4.0 and 1.4 Ma. Progressive reconstruction of a seismically controlled cross‐section through the foreland produces total shortening of 13–21 km and migration of the deformation front at 2.1–3.4 mm year^?1 between 19 and 13.5 Ma, 1.4–1.6 mm year^?1 between 13.5 and 4.0 Ma and 10 mm year^?1 since 4.0 Ma. Migration of deformation into the foreland generally causes (1) uplift and reworking of basin‐capping conglomerate, (2) a local decrease of accommodation space above any active structure where uplift occurs, and hence a decrease in sedimentation rate and (3) an increase in accumulation on the margins of the structure due to increased subsidence and/or ponding of sediment behind the growing folds. Since 5–6 Ma, increased sediment‐accumulation (～0.8 mm year^?1) and gravel progradation (～10 mm year^?1) rates appear linked to higher deformation rates on the Keketamu, Atushi and Kashi anticlines and increased subsidence due to loading from both the Tian Shan and Pamir ranges, and possibly a change in climate causing accelerated erosion. Whereas the rapid (～10 mm year^?1) progradation of the Xiyu conglomerate after 4.0 Ma may be promoted by global climate change, its overall progradation since 15.5 Ma is due to the progressive encroachment of deformation into the foreland.     

The detrital record of late‐Miocene to Pliocene surface uplift and exhumation of the Venezuelan Andes in the Maracaibo and Barinas foreland basins

A multidisciplinary approach, combining sediment petrographic, palynological and thermochronological techniques, has been used to study the Miocene‐Pliocene sedimentary record of the evolution of the Venezuelan Andes. Samples from the Maracaibo (pro‐wedge) and Barinas (retro‐wedge) foreland basins, proximal to this doubly vergent mountain belt, indicate that fluvial and alluvial‐fan sediments of similar composition were shed to both sides of the Venezuelan Andes. Granitic and gneissic detritus was derived from the core of the mountain belt, whereas sedimentary cover rocks and uplifted foreland basin sediments were recycled from its flanks. Palynological evidence from the Maracaibo and Barinas basins constrains depositional ages of the studied sections from late Miocene to Pliocene. The pollen assemblages from the Maracaibo Basin are indicative of mountain vegetation, implying surface elevations of up to 3500–4000 m in the Venezuelan Andes at this time. Detrital apatite fission‐track (AFT) data were obtained from both stratigraphic sections. In samples from the Maracaibo basin, the youngest AFT grain‐age population has relatively static minimum ages of 5 ± 2 Ma, whereas for the Barinas basin samples AFT minimum ages are 7 ± 2 Ma. With exception of two samples collected from the Eocene Pagüey Formation and from the very base of the Miocene Parángula Formation, no evidence for resetting and track annealing in apatite due to burial heating in the basins was found. This is supported by rock‐eval analyses on organic matter and thermal modelling results. Therefore, for all other samples the detrital AFT ages reflect source area cooling and impose minimum age constraints on sediment deposition. The main phase of surface uplift, topography and relief generation, and erosional exhumation in the Venezuelan Andes occurred during the late Miocene to Pliocene. The Neogene evolution of the Venezuelan Andes bears certain similarities with the evolution of the Eastern Cordillera in Colombia, although they are not driven by exactly the same underlying geodynamic processes. The progressive development of the two mountain belts is seen in the context of collision of the Panama arc with northwestern South America and the closure of the Panama seaway in Miocene times, as well as contemporaneous movement of the Caribbean plate to the east and clock‐wise rotation of the Maracaibo block.     

Compressional salt tectonics and synkinematic strata of the western Kuqa foreland basin,southern Tian Shan,China

The synkinematic strata of the Kuqa foreland basin record a rich history of Cenozoic reactivation of the Palaeozoic Tian Shan mountain belt. Here, we present new constraints on the history of deformation in the southern Tian Shan, based on an analysis of interactions between tectonics and sedimentation in the western Kuqa basin. We constructed six balanced cross‐sections of the basin, integrating surface geology, well data and a grid of seismic reflection profiles. These profiles show that the Qiulitage fold belt on the southern edge of the Kuqa basin developed by thin‐skinned compression salt tectonics. The structural styles have been influenced by two major factors: the nature of early‐formed diapirs and the basinward depositional limit of the Kumugeliemu salt. Several early diapirs developed in the western Kuqa basin, soon after salt deposition, which acted to localize the subsequent shortening. Where diapirs had low relief and a thick overburden they tended to tighten into salt domes 3000–7000 m in height. Conversely, where the original diapirs had higher relief and a thinner overburden they tended to evolve into salt nappes, with the northern flanks of the diapirs thrusting over their southern flanks. Salt was expelled forward, up dip along the mother salt layer, tended to accumulate at the distal pinch‐out of Kumugeliemu salt located at the Qiulitage fold belt. Furthermore, the synkinematic strata (6–8 km thick) of the Kuqa basin indicate that during the Cenozoic reactivation of the Tian Shan, shortening of the western Kuqa basin was mainly in the hinterland until the early Miocene. Then, compression spread simultaneously southwards to the Dawanqi anticline, the Qiulitage fold belt and the southernmost blind detachment fold at the end of Miocene. The western Kuqa basin has a shortening of ca. 23 km. We consider that ca. 9 km was consumed from the end of the Miocene (5.2/5.8 Ma) to the early Pleistocene (2.58 Ma) and another ca. 14 km have been absorbed since then. Thus, we obtain a ca. 3.4/2.8 mm year^?1 average shortening from 5.2/5.8 to 2.58 Ma, followed by a 60–90% increase in average shortening rate to ca. 5.4 mm year^?1 since 2.58 Ma. This suggests that the reactivation of the modern Tian Shan has been accelerating up to the present day.     

The sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the Amur River and North Sakhalin Basin: new evidence from seismic stratigraphy and Neogene–Recent sediment budgets

The North Sakhalin Basin in the western Sea of Okhotsk has been the main site of sedimentation from the Amur River since the Early Miocene. In this article, we present regional seismic reflection data and a Neogene–Recent sediment budget to constrain the evolution of the basin and its sedimentary fill, and consider the implications for sediment flux from the Amur River, in particular testing models of continental‐scale Neogene drainage capture. The Amur‐derived basin‐fill history can be divided into five distinct stages: the first Amur‐derived sediments (>21–16.5 Ma) were deposited during a period of transtension along the Sakhalin‐Hokkaido Shear Zone, with moderately high sediment flux to the basin (71 Mt year^?1). The second stage sequence (16.5–10.4 Ma) was deposited following the cessation of transtension, and was characterised by a significant reduction in sediment flux (24 Mt year^?1) and widespread retrogradation of deltaic sediments. The third (10.4–5.3 Ma) and fourth (5.3–2.5 Ma) stages were characterised by progradation of deltaic sediments and an associated increase in sediment flux (48–60 Mt year^?1) to the basin. Significant uplift associated with regional transpression started during this time in southeastern Sakhalin, but the north‐eastward propagating strain did not reach the NE shelf of Sakhalin until the Pleistocene (<2.5 Ma). This uplift event, still ongoing today, resulted in recycling of older deltaic sediments from the island of Sakhalin, and contributed to a substantially increased total sediment flux to the adjacent basinal areas (165 Mt year^?1). Adjusted rates to discount these local erosional products (117 Mt year^?1) imply an Amur catchment‐wide increase in denudation rates during the Late Pliocene–Pleistocene; however, this was likely a result of global climatic and eustatic effects, combined with tectonic processes within the Amur catchment and possibly a smaller drainage capture event by the Sungari tributary, rather than continental‐scale drainage capture involving the entire upper Amur catchment.     

Using basin thermal history to evaluate the role of Miocene–Pliocene flat‐slab subduction in the southern Central Andes (27° S–30° S)

Studies in both modern and ancient Cordilleran‐type orogenic systems suggest that processes associated with flat‐slab subduction control the geological and thermal history of the upper plate; however, these effects prove difficult to deconvolve from processes associated with normal subduction in an active orogenic system. We present new geochronological and thermochronological data from four depositional areas in the western Sierras Pampeanas above the Central Andean flat‐slab subduction zone between 27° S and 30° S evaluating the spatial and temporal thermal conditions of the Miocene–Pliocene foreland basin. Our results show that a relatively high late Miocene–early Pliocene geothermal gradient of 25–35 °C km⁻¹ was typical of this region. The absence of along‐strike geothermal heterogeneities, as would be expected in the case of migrating flat‐slab subduction, suggests that either the response of the upper plate to refrigeration may be delayed by several millions of years or that subduction occurred normally throughout this region through the late Miocene. Exhumation of the foreland basin occurred nearly synchronously along strike from 27 to 30° S between ca. 7 Ma and 4 Ma. We propose that coincident flat‐slab subduction facilitated this wide‐spread exhumation event. Flexural modelling coupled with geohistory analysis show that dynamic subsidence and/or uplift associated with flat‐slab subduction is not required to explain the unique deep and narrow geometry of the foreland basin in the region implying that dynamic processes were a minor component in the creation of accommodation space during Miocene–Pliocene deposition.     

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.     

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.     

Changes in Cenozoic depositional environment and sediment provenance in the Danube Basin

The Danube Basin is situated between the Eastern Alps, Western Carpathians and Transdanubian mountain ranges and represents a classic petroleum prospection site. The basin fill is known from many 2D reflection seismic lines and deep wells with measured e‐logs which provided a good opportunity for theories about its evolution. New analyses of deep wells situated in the Danube Basin northeastern margin allowed us to refine stratigraphy and to interpret various depositional systems. This also allowed us to outline changes in provenance of sediment during the Cenozoic. The performed interpretation of the Palaeogene and Neogene depositional systems also confirmed the Oligocene–Early Miocene exhumation of the basin pre‐Neogene basement. Opening and development of the Middle to Late Miocene basin depocentres above the boundary between the Western Carpathians and Northern Pannonian domain was recognized. Our analysis contributed to a better understanding of the Hurbanovo–Diösjenő fault which acts as an inherited weakness zone along the boundary of two crustal fragments with different provenance. We document various basin types stacked one on another (retro‐arc, back‐arc and extensional hinterland basin). The analysis of sediment sources reveals intricate geodynamic processes during the Eastern Alpine–Western Carpathian orogenic system collision with European platform (formation of ALCAPA microplate) and its successive tectonics escape during the Pannonian Basin System origination.     

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.     

Hinterland basin development and infilling through tectonic and eustatic processes: latest Messinian‐Gelasian Valdelsa Basin,Northern Apennines,Italy

This article reports a stratigraphic and structural analysis of the Neogene‐Quaternary Valdelsa Basin (Central Italy), filled with up to 1000 m of uppermost Miocene to lower Pleistocene strata. The succession is subdivided into seven unconformity‐bounded stratigraphic units (synthems, or large‐scale depositional sequences) that include fluvio‐deltaic and shallow‐marine deposits. Structures related to basin shoulders and internal boundaries controlled the Neogene location and geometry of different depocentres. During the Tortonian‐Messinian, a buried NE‐trending high related to regional, basin‐transverse lineaments separated two adjacent sub‐basins. During the lower Pliocene, compressional displacement along NW‐trending, thrust‐related highs controlled the distribution of depocentres and dispersal of sediment. Extensional tectonics, although previously considered the dominant deformation style affecting the rear of the Northern Apennines since the late Miocene, is no longer considered a dominant control on tectono‐sedimentary development of the Valdelsa basin. Instead, the Valdelsa Basin shares features with continental hinterland basins of orogenic belts where compression, extension, and transcurrent stress fields determine a complex spatial and temporal record of accommodation and sediment supply. In the Valdelsa Basin tectonics and eustatic sea‐level fluctuations were dominant in forcing the deposition of sedimentary cycles at several scales. Zanclean and Gelasian large‐scale depositional sequences were mainly controlled by crustal shortening, whereas a eustatic signal was preferentially recorded during the Piacenzian. Smaller scale depositional sequences, common to most synthems, were controlled by orbitally forced glacio‐eustatic cycles.     

Unroofing the core of the central Andean fold‐thrust belt during focused late Miocene exhumation: evidence from the Tipuani‐Mapiri wedge‐top basin,Bolivia

As the highest part of the central Andean fold‐thrust belt, the Eastern Cordillera defines an orographic barrier dividing the Altiplano hinterland from the South American foreland. Although the Eastern Cordillera influences the climatic and geomorphic evolution of the central Andes, the interplay among tectonics, climate and erosion remains unclear. We investigate these relationships through analyses of the depositional systems, sediment provenance and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of the upper Miocene Cangalli Formation exposed in the Tipuani‐Mapiri basin (15–16°S) along the boundary of the Eastern Cordillera and Interandean Zone in Bolivia. Results indicate that coarse‐grained nonmarine sediments accumulated in a wedge‐top basin upon a palaeotopographic surface deeply incised into deformed Palaeozoic rocks. Seven lithofacies and three lithofacies associations reflect deposition by high‐energy braided river systems, with stratigraphic relationships revealing significant (～500 m) palaeorelief. Palaeocurrents and compositional provenance data link sediment accumulation to pronounced late Miocene erosion of the deepest levels of the Eastern Cordillera. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of interbedded tuffs suggest that sedimentation along the Eastern Cordillera–Interandean Zone boundary was ongoing by 9.2 Ma and continued until at least ～7.4 Ma. Limited deformation of subhorizontal basin fill, in comparison with folded and faulted rocks of the unconformably underlying Palaeozoic section, implies that the thrust front had advanced into the Subandean Zone by the 11–9 Ma onset of basin filling. Documented rapid exhumation of the Eastern Cordillera from ～11 Ma onward was decoupled from upper‐crustal shortening and coeval with sedimentation in the Tipuani‐Mapiri basin, suggesting climate change (enhanced precipitation) or lower crustal and mantle processes (stacking of basement thrust sheets or removal of mantle lithosphere) as possible controls on late Cenozoic erosion and wedge‐top accumulation. Regardless of the precise trigger, we propose that an abruptly increased supply of wedge‐top sediment produced an additional sedimentary load that helped promote late Miocene advance of the central Andean thrust front in the Subandean Zone.     

Propagation of orographic barriers along an active range front: insights from sandstone petrography and detrital apatite fission-track thermochronology in the intramontane Angastaco basin, NW Argentina

The arid Puna plateau of the southern Central Andes is characterized by Cenozoic distributed shortening forming intramontane basins that are disconnected from the humid foreland because of the defeat of orogen‐traversing channels. Thick Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary fills in Puna basins have reduced topographic contrasts between the compressional basins and ranges, leading to a typical low‐relief plateau morphology. Structurally identical basins that are still externally drained straddle the eastern border of the Puna and document the eastward propagation of orographic barriers and ensuing aridification. One of them, the Angastaco basin, is transitional between the highly compartmentalized Puna highlands and the undeformed Andean foreland. Sandstone petrography, structural and stratigraphic analysis, combined with detrital apatite fission‐track thermochronology from a ～6200‐m‐thick Miocene to Pliocene stratigraphic section in the Angastaco basin, document the late Eocene to late Pliocene exhumation history of source regions along the eastern border of the Puna (Eastern Cordillera (EC)) as well as the construction of orographic barriers along the southeastern flank of the Central Andes. Onset of exhumation of a source in the EC in late Eocene time as well as a rapid exhumation of the Sierra de Luracatao (in the EC) at about 20 Ma are recorded in the detrital sediments of the Angastaco basin. Sediment accumulation in the basin began ～15 Ma, a time at which the EC had already built sufficient topography to prevent Puna sourced detritus from reaching the basin. After ～13 Ma, shortening shifted eastward, exhuming ranges that preserve an apatite fission‐track partial annealing zone recording cooling during the late Cretaceous rifting event. Facies changes and fossil content suggest that after 9 Ma, the EC constituted an effective orographic barrier that prevented moisture penetration into the plateau. Between 3.4 and 2.4 Ma, another orographic barrier was uplifted to the east, leading to further aridification and pronounced precipitation gradients along the mountain front. This study emphasizes the important role of tectonics in the evolution of climate in this part of the Andes.     

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.     

Miocene–Recent tectonic and climatic controls on sediment supply and sequence stratigraphy: Canterbury basin, New Zealand

The well‐constrained seismic stratigraphy of the offshore Canterbury basin provides the opportunity to investigate long‐term changes in sediment supply related to the formation of a transpressive plate boundary (Alpine Fault). Reconstructions of the relative motion of the Australian and Pacific plates reveal divergence in the central Southern Alps prior to ～20.1 Ma (chron 6o), followed by increasing average rates of convergence, with a marked increase after ～6 Ma (late Miocene). A strike–slip component existed prior to 33.5 Ma (chron 13o) and perhaps as early as Eocene (45 Ma). However, rapid strike–slip motion (>30 mm yr^?1) began at ～20.1 Ma (chron 6o). Since ～20.1 Ma there has been no significant change in the strike–slip component of relative plate motion. Sedimentation rates are calculated from individual sequence volumes that are then summed to represent sequence groups covering the same time periods as the tectonic reconstructions. Rates are relatively high (>22 mm yr^?1), from 15 to ～11.5 Ma (sequence group 1). Rates decrease to a minimum (<15 mm yr^?1) during the ～11.5–6 Ma interval (sequence group 2), followed by increased rates during the periods of ～6–2.6 Ma (21 mm yr^?1; group 3) and 2.6–0 Ma (～25 mm yr^?1; group 4). Good agreement between sedimentation and tectonic convergence rates in sequence groups 2–4 indicates that tectonism has been the dominant control on sediment supply to the Canterbury basin since ～11.5 Ma. In particular, high sedimentation rates of 21 and ～25 mm yr^?1 in groups 3 and 4, respectively, may reflect increased plate convergence and uplift at the Southern Alps at ～6 Ma. The early‐middle Miocene (～15–11.5 Ma) high sedimentation rate (22 mm yr^?1) correlates with low convergence rates (～2 mm yr^?1) and is mainly a response to global climatic and eustatic forcing.     

Plio-Quaternary sediment budget between thrust belt erosion and foreland deposition in the central Andes, southern Bolivia

Estimates of the physical boundary conditions on sediment source and sink regions and the flux between them provide insights into the evolution of topography and associated sedimentary basins. We present a regional‐scale, Plio‐Quaternary to recent sediment budget analysis of the Grande, Parapeti and Pilcomayo drainages of the central Andean fold‐thrust belt and related deposits in the Chaco foreland of southern Bolivia (18–23°S). We constrain source‐sink dimensions, fluxes and their errors with topographic maps, satellite imagery, a hydrologically conditioned digital elevation model, reconstructions of the San Juan del Oro (SJDO) erosion surface, foreland sediment isopachs and estimated denudation rates. Modern drainages range from 7453 to 86 798 km² for a total source area of 153 632 km². Palaeo‐drainage areas range from 9336 to 52 620 km² and total 100 706 km², suggesting basin source area growth of ～50% since ～10 Ma. About 2.4–3.1 × 10⁴ km³ were excavated from below the SJDO surface since ～3 Ma. The modern foredeep is 132 080 km² with fluvial megafan areas and volumes ranging from 6142 to 22 511 km² and from 1511 to 3332 km³, respectively. Since Emborozú Formation deposition beginning 2.1 ± 0.2 Ma, the foreland has a fill of ～6.4 × 10⁴ km³. The volume and rate of deposition require that at least ～40–60% of additional sediment be supplied beyond that incised from below the SJDO. The data also place a lower limit of ≥0.2 mm year^?1 (perhaps ≥0.4 mm year^?1) on the time‐ and space‐averaged source area denudation rate since ～2–3 Ma. These rates are within the median range measured for the Neogene, but are up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than some observations, as well as analytic solutions for basin topography and stratigraphy using a two‐dimensional mathematical model of foreland basin evolution. Source‐to‐sink sediment budget analyses and associated interpretations must explicitly and quantitatively reconcile all available area, volume and rate observations because of their inherent imprecision and the potential for magnification when they are convolved.     

Insights in the exhumation history of the NW Zagros from bedrock and detrital apatite fission‐track analysis: evidence for a long‐lived orogeny

We present the first fission‐track (FT) thermochronology results for the NW Zagros Belt (SW Iran) in order to identify denudation episodes that occurred during the protracted Zagros orogeny. Samples were collected from the two main detrital successions of the NW Zagros foreland basin: the Palaeocene–early Eocene Amiran–Kashkan succession and the Miocene Agha Jari and Bakhtyari Formations. In situ bedrock samples were furthermore collected in the Sanandaj‐Sirjan Zone. Only apatite fission‐track (AFT) data have been successfully obtained, including 26 ages and 11 track‐length distributions. Five families of AFT ages have been documented from analyses of in situ bedrock and detrital samples: pre‐middle Jurassic at ～171 and ～225 Ma, early–late Cretaceous at ～91 Ma, Maastrichtian at ～66 Ma, middle–late Eocene at ～38 Ma and Oligocene–early Miocene at ～22 Ma. The most widespread middle–late Eocene cooling phase, around ～38 Ma, is documented by a predominant grain‐age population in Agha Jari sediments and by cooling ages of a granitic boulder sample. AFT ages document at least three cooling/denudation periods linked to major geodynamic events related to the Zagros orogeny, during the late Cretaceous oceanic obduction event, during the middle and late Eocene and during the early Miocene. Both late Cretaceous and early Miocene orogenic processes produced bending of the Arabian plate and concomitant foreland deposition. Between the two major flexural foreland episodes, the middle–late Eocene phase mostly produced a long‐lasting slow‐ or nondepositional episode in the inner part of the foreland basin, whereas deposition and tectonics migrated to the NE along the Sanandaj‐Sirjan domain and its Gaveh Rud fore‐arc basin. As evidenced in this study, the Zagros orogeny was long‐lived and multi‐episodic, implying that the timing of accretion of the different tectonic domains that form the Zagros Mountains requires cautious interpretation.     

A model for post‐orogenic development of a mountain range and its foreland

Decaying mountain ranges often show a surprisingly dynamic pattern of landscape evolution. Although one might expect a simple, monotonic decline in relief over time, evidence from several inactive mountain ranges shows alternating sequences of deposition and erosion in the associated basins, suggesting variations in relief and exhumation rate in the ranges themselves. Examples include the Southern Rocky Mountains, the Pyrenees, the European Alps and the Atlas Mountains. In this paper, we explore the possible origins of post‐orogenic landscape dynamics using a simple mathematical model of a mountain range and an adjacent foreland basin. The analysis highlights the importance of mass balance. In particular, a switch from basin exhumation to renewed sedimentation requires either an increase in sediment influx from the range or a decrease in sediment outflux beyond the basin margin. Although it is widely understood that post‐orogenic changes in erosion and sediment flux can have multiple causes (including climate change, regional tectonic uplift or tilting, or exhumation of variable lithologies), an important implication of our analysis is that the impact of such changes must differ in sign or magnitude between the range and the basin to be recorded. This requirement places an important constraint on viable explanations for alternating sequences of deposition and erosion in a decaying mountain‐basin pair.     

Tectonic and oceanographic control of sedimentary patterns in a small oceanic basin: Dove Basin (Scotia Sea,Antarctica)

Dove Basin, a small oceanic domain located within the southern Scotia Sea, evidences a complex tectonic evolution linked to the development of the Scotia Arc. The basin also straddles the junction between the main Southern Ocean water masses: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the Southeast Pacific Deep Water (SPDW) and the Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW). Analysis of multichannel seismic reflection profiles, together with swath bathymetry data, reveals the main structure and sediment distribution of the basin, allowing a reconstruction of the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the basin and assessment of the main bottom water flows that influenced its depositional development. Sediment dispersed in the basin was largely influenced by gravity‐driven transport from adjacent continental margins, later modified by deep bottom currents. Sediments derived from melting icebergs and extensive ice sheets also contributed to a fraction of the basin deposits. We identify four stages in the basin evolution which – based on regional age assumptions – took place during the early Miocene, middle Miocene, late Miocene–early Pliocene and late Pliocene–Quaternary. The onsets of the ACC flow in Dove Basin during the early Miocene, the WSDW flow during the middle Miocene, and the SPDW during the late Miocene were influenced by tectonic events that facilitated the opening of new oceanic gateways in the region. The analysis of Dove Basin reveals that tectonics is a primary factor influencing its sedimentary stacking patterns, the structural development of new oceanic gateways permitting the inception of deep‐water flows that have since controlled the sedimentary processes.     

Late Quaternary stratigraphy,sedimentology and geochemistry of an underfilled lake basin in the Puna plateau (northwest Argentina)

Depositional models of ancient lakes in thin‐skinned retroarc foreland basins rarely benefit from appropriate Quaternary analogues. To address this, we present new stratigraphic, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of four radiocarbon‐dated sediment cores from the Pozuelos Basin (PB; northwest Argentina) that capture the evolution of this low‐accommodation Puna basin over the past ca. 43 cal kyr. Strata from the PB are interpreted as accumulations of a highly variable, underfilled lake system represented by lake‐plain/littoral, profundal, palustrine, saline lake and playa facies associations. The vertical stacking of facies is asymmetric, with transgressive and thin organic‐rich highstand deposits underlying thicker, organic‐poor regressive deposits. The major controls on depositional architecture and basin palaeogeography are tectonics and climate. Accommodation space was derived from piggyback basin‐forming flexural subsidence and Miocene‐Quaternary normal faulting associated with incorporation of the basin into the Andean hinterland. Sediment and water supply was modulated by variability in the South American summer monsoon, and perennial lake deposits correlate in time with several well‐known late Pleistocene wet periods on the Altiplano/Puna plateau. Our results shed new light on lake expansion–contraction dynamics in the PB in particular and provide a deeper understanding of Puna basin lakes in general.