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Basins part-1
Basin definition
Areas of the earth where there is a net sedimentation
Or in the ancient fossil record of such areas
Zones of pronounced subsidence where sediment can
accumulate.
The larger the thickness of sediments and longer the
accumulation has taken place,
the more interesting to the oil companies the basin becomes.
Examples
Gulf of Mexico (today and ancient)
Pyrenees (ancient)
Oman (oil from 570 Ma stromatolites still in living position)
Basin definition
Sedimentary basins = areas where Earth's
crust dominated by subsidence
Sediment in basin accumulates to > 10 km
Deepest basin > 15km (Caspian & Gulf of
Mexico
Basins
MAKEUP of the EARTH
Rheological divisions
RIGID
lithosphere
DUCTILE
asthenosphere
RIGID
Crust Lithosphere
DUCTILE
mantle
Mantle
Asthenosphere
Oceanic Crust
Average Density: 3.0 g/cm3
Average Thickness: 7 km
Maximum Age: 180 million years
Continental Crust
Average Density: 2.7 g/cm3
Average Thickness: 35-40
Maximum Age: 4.0 billion years
Effects of Density
A block of continental lithosphere (containing continental crust plus
uppermost ) stands higher than a block of oceanic lithosphere
(containing oceanic crust) of the same dimensions
Continental crust:
Oceanic crust: 2.7 g/cm3
3.0 g/cm3 Lithospheric mantle
Lithospheric mantle ~ 3.3 g/cm3
~ 3.3 g/cm3
ISOSTASY
The equilibrium that
exists between parts
of the earth's crust,
which behaves as if it
consists of blocks
floating on the
underlying mantle,
rising if material (such
as an ice cap) is
removed and
sinking if material is
deposited
ISOSTASY
Removal of material
from the top will
induce uplift at the
surface.
Removal of material
from the bottom will
produce subsidence.
Thus, in the case of
tectonic extension,
isostasy will produce
an effect that is
opposite to thermal
uplift.
Concept of a Basin
Three dimensional architecture of basin fill.
Affected by spatial and temporal pattern of tectonic
subsidence:
Lithospheric deformation process.
Three basic causes of subsidence:
Loading and flexure (like an elastic plate).
Thermal and density changes - isostasy.
Faulting - isostasy.
Sea level changes.
Sediment supply rates and source position (drainage
basin outlets).
Basin Classification
Extensional:
Half graben/ graben - Rift Basin, e.g. Basin and
Range, U.S.A.
Mature oceanic speading - e.g. Atlantic margin
(Passive Margin).
Syn-rift, post-rift megasequences.
Compressional:
Foreland basin - flexural loading of the Earth's
lithosphere.
Two types:
Collisional, e.g. Himalaya.
Back arc, e.g. Andes/ Precordillera.
Piggy-back basin (thrust sheet top basin).
Strike-Slip Basins:
E.g. Dead Sea,
Geologic structures
Strain is change in shape or volume arising from stress
Geologic structures
(Stress)
3 types of stress:
1. compression: pushed together,
2. tension: pulled apart,
3. shear stress: moved horizontally past each
other.
motions of tectonic plates on Earths surface
from where does stress come?
Lithosphere plates
(7 plates)
African plate
Eurasian plate
Pacific plate
North American plate
South American plate
Antarctic plate
Indian-Australian plate
Stress and
deformation
relationship
s for deeply
buried,
warm rocks
under high
pressure (A)
and cooler
rocks near
the surface
(B). Breaking
occurs when
stress
exceeds
rupture
strength.
1. Divergent
2. Convergent
3. Transform
Island Arcs
Island arcs are of chains of volcanically active islands
arranged in a curved arc
An ocean trench occurs on the oceanwards side
Island arcs first develop on oceanic crust
The crustal thickness in an arc is intermediate
between oceanic and continental
Volcanic activity begins abruptly at a Volcanic Front
about 200 - 300 km in from the trench
The volcanic front and trench are separated by an
Arc-Trench gap with no volcanism
Chemical Differentiation
Mid-Ocean Ridge:
Partial melting of Mantle basalt magma
Subduction Zone:
Partial melting of basalt crust andesite magma
Mature Arcs:
Partial melting of andesite crust rhyolite magma
All of this is an irreversible chemical
differentiation of the mantle in several stages
Continental crust grows by accumulation of
increasingly silica-rich rocks
Eclogite with
garnets