Basin Margin (basin + margin)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Basin- and Mountain-Building Dynamic Model of "Ramping-Detachment-Compression" in the West Kunlun-Southern Tarim Basin Margin

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 2 2008
CUI Junwen
Abstract: Analysis of the deformation structures in the West Kunlun-Tarim basin-range junction belt indicates that sediments in the southwestern Tarim depression were mainly derived from the West Kunlun Mountains and that with time the region of sedimentation extended progressively toward the north. Three north-underthrusting (subducting), steep-dipping, high-velocity zones (bodies) are recognized at depths, which correspond to the central West Kunlun junction belt (bounded by the Küda-Kaxtax fault on the north and Bulungkol-Kangxiwar fault on the south), Quanshuigou fault belt (whose eastward extension is the Jinshajiang fault belt) and Bangong Co-Nujiang fault belt. The geodynamic process of the basin-range junction belt generally proceeded as follows: centering around the magma source region (which largely corresponds with the Karatag terrane at the surface), the deep-seated material flowed and extended from below upward and to all sides, resulting in strong deformation (mainly extension) in the overlying lithosphere and even the upper mantle, appearance of extensional stress perpendicular to the strike of the orogenic belt in the thermal uplift region or at the top of the mantle diapir and localized thickening of the sedimentary cover (thermal subsidence in the upper crust). Three stages of the basin- and mountain-forming processes in the West Kunlun-southern Tarim basin margin may be summarized: (1) the stage of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ramping-rapid uplift and rapid subsidence, when north-directed thrust propagation and south-directed intracontinental subduction, was the dominant mechanism for basin- and mountain-building processes; (2) the stage of Late Cretaceous-Paleogene deep-level detachment-slow uplift and homogeneous subsidence, when the dominant mechanism for the basin- and mountain-forming processes was detachment (subhorizontal north-directed deep-level ductile shear) and its resulting lateral propagation of deep material; and (3) the stage of Neogene-present compression-rapid uplift and strong subsidence, when the basin- and mountain-forming processes were simultaneously controlled by north-vergent thrust propagation and compression. The authors summarize the processes as the "ramping-detachment-compression basin- and mountain-forming dynamic model". The basin-range tectonics was initiated in the Late Jurassic, the Miocene-Pliocene were a major transition period for the basin- and mountain-forming mechanism and the terminal early Pleistocene tectonic movement in the main laid a foundation for the basin-and-mountain tectonic framework in the West Kunlun-southern Tarim basin margin. [source]


Basement controls on Acadian thrusting and fault reactivation along the southern margin of the Welsh Basin

GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009
D. I. Schofield
Abstract Inversion of the Lower Palaeozoic Welsh Basin during the Early to Mid-Devonian is generally thought to have been achieved by a combination of approximately co-axial shortening and transcurrent movement along major faults to produce a strongly partitioned transpressional strain. However, new field observations from Rhydwilym in southwest Wales reveal superimposed deformations which indicate that thrust tectonics operated within the Welsh Borderland Fault System (WBFS) along this segment of the basin margin. An increasing regional magnetic response towards the south suggests that contrasting depth to magnetic basement across the WBFS may have buttressed basin shortening and provided the focus for thrusting and late-Caledonian or proto-Variscan reactivation. British Geological Survey © Nerc 2009. All rights reserved. [source]


Geophysical exploration for interlayer slip breccia gold deposits: example from Pengjiakuang gold deposit, Shandong Province, China

GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 2 2004
Z. Qingdong
ABSTRACT Interlayer slipping breccia-type gold deposit , a new type of gold deposit, defined recently in the northern margin of the Jiaolai Basin, Shandong Province, China , occurs in interlayer slip faults distributed along the basin margin. It has the features of large orebody thickness (ranging from 14 m to 46 m, with an average thickness of 30 m), shallow embedding (0,50 m thickness of cover), low tenor of gold ore (ranging from 3 g/t to 5 g/t), easy mining and ore dressing. This type of gold deposit has promising metallogenic forecasting and potential for economic exploitation. A ground gamma-ray survey in the Pengjiakuang gold-ore district indicates that the potassium/thorium ratio is closely related to the mineralization intensity, i.e. the larger the potassium/thorium ratio, the higher the mineralization. The gold mineralized alteration zone was defined by a potassium/thorium ratio of 0.35. A seismic survey confirms the location of the top and bottom boundaries and images various features within the Pengjiakuang gold mineralization belt. The gold-bearing shovel slipped belt dips to the south at an angle of 50,55° at the surface and 15,20° at depth. The seismic profile is interpreted in terms of a structural band on the seismic section characterized by a three-layered model. The upper layer is represented by weakly discontinuous reflections that represent the overlying conglomerates. A zone of stronger reflections representing the interlayer slip fault (gold-bearing mineralized zone) is imaged within the middle of the section, while the strongest reflections are in the lower part of the section and represent metamorphic rocks at depth. At the same time, the seismic reflection survey confirms the existence of a granite body at depth, indicating that ore-forming fluids may be related to the granite. A CSAMT survey showed that the gold-bearing mineralized zone is a conductive layer and contains a low-resistivity anomaly ranging from 2 ,m to 200 ,m. [source]


NEOGENE TECTONIC HISTORY OF THE SUB-BIBANIC AND M'SILA BASINS, NORTHERN ALGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL

JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
H. L. Kheidri
The southern Bibans region in northern Algeria is located in the external zone of the Tell fold-and-thrust belt. Field observations in this area together with seismic data integrated with previous studies provide evidence for a number of Tertiary deformation phases. Late Eocene Atlassic deformation was followed by Oligocene (?)-Aquitanian-Burdigalian compression, which was associated with the development of a foreland basin in front of a southerly-propagating thrust system. Gravity-driven emplacement of the Tellian nappes over the basin margin probably occurred during the Langhian-Serravallian-Tortonian. The Hodna Mountains structural culmination developed during the Miocene-Pliocene. Analysis of brittle structures points to continued north-south shortening during the Neogene, consistent with convergence between the African and Eurasian Plates. The unconformably underlying Mesozoic-Cenozoic autochthonous sequence in this area contains two potential source rock intervals: Cenomanian-Turonian and Eocene. Reservoir rocks include Lower Cretaceous siliciclastics and Upper Cretaceous to Palaeogene carbonates. Structural style has controlled trap types. Thus traps in the Tell fold-and-thrust belt are associated with folds, whereas structural traps in the Hodna area are associated with reactivated normal faults. In the latter area, there is also some evidence for base-Miocene stratigraphic traps. [source]


Basin- and Mountain-Building Dynamic Model of "Ramping-Detachment-Compression" in the West Kunlun-Southern Tarim Basin Margin

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 2 2008
CUI Junwen
Abstract: Analysis of the deformation structures in the West Kunlun-Tarim basin-range junction belt indicates that sediments in the southwestern Tarim depression were mainly derived from the West Kunlun Mountains and that with time the region of sedimentation extended progressively toward the north. Three north-underthrusting (subducting), steep-dipping, high-velocity zones (bodies) are recognized at depths, which correspond to the central West Kunlun junction belt (bounded by the Küda-Kaxtax fault on the north and Bulungkol-Kangxiwar fault on the south), Quanshuigou fault belt (whose eastward extension is the Jinshajiang fault belt) and Bangong Co-Nujiang fault belt. The geodynamic process of the basin-range junction belt generally proceeded as follows: centering around the magma source region (which largely corresponds with the Karatag terrane at the surface), the deep-seated material flowed and extended from below upward and to all sides, resulting in strong deformation (mainly extension) in the overlying lithosphere and even the upper mantle, appearance of extensional stress perpendicular to the strike of the orogenic belt in the thermal uplift region or at the top of the mantle diapir and localized thickening of the sedimentary cover (thermal subsidence in the upper crust). Three stages of the basin- and mountain-forming processes in the West Kunlun-southern Tarim basin margin may be summarized: (1) the stage of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ramping-rapid uplift and rapid subsidence, when north-directed thrust propagation and south-directed intracontinental subduction, was the dominant mechanism for basin- and mountain-building processes; (2) the stage of Late Cretaceous-Paleogene deep-level detachment-slow uplift and homogeneous subsidence, when the dominant mechanism for the basin- and mountain-forming processes was detachment (subhorizontal north-directed deep-level ductile shear) and its resulting lateral propagation of deep material; and (3) the stage of Neogene-present compression-rapid uplift and strong subsidence, when the basin- and mountain-forming processes were simultaneously controlled by north-vergent thrust propagation and compression. The authors summarize the processes as the "ramping-detachment-compression basin- and mountain-forming dynamic model". The basin-range tectonics was initiated in the Late Jurassic, the Miocene-Pliocene were a major transition period for the basin- and mountain-forming mechanism and the terminal early Pleistocene tectonic movement in the main laid a foundation for the basin-and-mountain tectonic framework in the West Kunlun-southern Tarim basin margin. [source]


Provenance of siliciclastic and hybrid turbiditic arenites of the Eocene Hecho Group, Spanish Pyrenees: implications for the tectonic evolution of a foreland basin

BASIN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010
M. A. Caja
ABSTRACT The Eocene Hecho Group turbidite system of the Aínsa-Jaca foreland Basin (southcentral Pyrenees) provides an excellent opportunity to constrain compositional variations within the context of spatial and temporal distribution of source rocks during tectonostratigraphic evolution of foreland basins. The complex tectonic setting necessitated the use of petrographic, geochemical and multivariate statistical techniques to achieve this goal. The turbidite deposits comprise four unconformity-bounded tectonostratigraphic units (TSU), consisting of quartz-rich and feldspar-poor sandstones, calclithites rich in extrabasinal carbonates and hybrid arenites dominated by intrabasinal carbonates. The sandstones occur exclusively in TSU-2, whereas calclithites and hybrid arenites occur in the overlying TSU-3, TSU-4 and TSU-5. The calclithites were deposited at the base of each TSU and hybrid arenites in the uppermost parts. Extrabasinal carbonate sources were derived from the fold-and-thrust belt (mainly Cretaceous and Palaeocene limestones). Conversely, intrabasinal carbonate grains were sourced from foramol shelf carbonate factories. This compositional trend is attributed to alternating episodes of uplift and thrust propagation (siliciclastic and extrabasinal carbonates supplies) and subsequent episodes of development of carbonate platforms supplying intrabasinal detrital grains. The quartz-rich and feldspar-poor composition of the sandstones suggests derivation from intensely weathered cratonic basement rocks during the initial fill of the foreland basin. Successive sediments (calclithites and hybrid arenites) were derived from older uplifted basement rocks (feldspar-rich and, to some extent, rock fragments-rich sandstones), thrust-and-fold belt deposits and from coeval carbonate platforms developed at the basin margins. This study demonstrates that the integration of tectono-stratigraphy, petrology and geochemistry of arenites provides a powerful tool to constrain the spatial and temporal variation in provenance during the tectonic evolution of foreland basins. [source]


Carbonate sedimentation in a starved pull-apart basin, Middle to Late Devonian, southern Guilin, South China

BASIN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2001
D. Chen
ABSTRACT Geological mapping and sedimentological investigations in the Guilin region, South China, have revealed a spindle- to rhomb-shaped basin filled with Devonian shallow- to deep-water carbonates. This Yangshuo Basin is interpreted as a pull-apart basin created through secondary, synthetic strike-slip faulting induced by major NNE,SSW-trending, sinistral strike-slip fault zones. These fault zones were initially reactivated along intracontinental basement faults in the course of northward migration of the South China continent. The nearly N,S-trending margins of the Yangshuo Basin, approximately coinciding with the strike of regional fault zones, were related to the master strike-slip faults; the NW,SE-trending margins were related to parallel, oblique-slip extensional faults. Nine depositional sequences recognized in Givetian through Frasnian strata can be grouped into three sequence sets (Sequences 1,2, 3,5 and 6,9), reflecting three major phases of basin evolution. During basin nucleation, most basin margins were dominated by stromatoporoid biostromes and bioherms, upon a low-gradient shelf. Only at the steep, fault-controlled, eastern margin were thick stromatoporoid reefs developed. The subsequent progressive offset and pull-apart of the master strike-slip faults during the late Givetian intensified the differential subsidence and produced a spindle-shaped basin. The accelerated subsidence of the basin centre led to sediment starvation, reduced current circulation and increased environmental stress, leading to the extensive development of microbial buildups on platform margins and laminites in the basin centre. Stromatoporoid reefs only survived along the windward, eastern margin for a short time. The architectures of the basin margins varied from aggradation (or slightly backstepping) in windward positions (eastern and northern margins) to moderate progradation in leeward positions. A relay ramp was present in the north-west corner between the northern oblique fault zone and the proximal part of the western master fault. In the latest Givetian (corresponding to the top of Sequence 5), a sudden subsidence of the basin induced by further offset of the strike-slip faults was accompanied by the rapid uplift of surrounding carbonate platforms, causing considerable platform-margin collapse, slope erosion, basin deepening and the demise of the microbialites. Afterwards, stromatoporoid reefs were only locally restored on topographic highs along the windward margin. However, a subsequent, more intense basin subsidence in the early Frasnian (top of Sequence 6), which was accompanied by a further sharp uplift of platforms, caused more profound slope erosion and platform backstepping. Poor circulation and oxygen-depleted waters in the now much deeper basin centre led to the deposition of chert, with silica supplied by hydrothermal fluids through deep-seated faults. Two ,subdeeps' were diagonally arranged in the distal parts of the master faults, and the relay ramp was destroyed. At this time, all basin margins except the western one evolved into erosional types with gullies through which granular platform sediments were transported by gravity flows to the basin. This situation persisted into the latest Frasnian. This case history shows that the carbonate platform architecture and evolution in a pull-apart basin were not only strongly controlled by the tectonic activity, but also influenced by the oceanographic setting (i.e. windward vs. leeward) and environmental factors. [source]


Origin and Accumulation of Natural Gases in the Upper Paleozoic Strata of the Ordos Basin in Central China

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2009
Yangming ZHU
Abstract: The natural gases in the Upper Paleozoic strata of the Ordos basin are characterized by relatively heavy C isotope of gaseous alkanes with ,13C1 and ,13C2 values ranging mainly from ,35, to ,30, and ,27, to ,22,, respectively, high ,13C excursions (round 10) between ethane and methane and predominant methane in hydrocarbon gases with most C1/(C1 -C5) ratios in excess of 0.95, suggesting an origin of coal-derived gas. The gases exhibit different carbon isotopic profiles for C1 -C4 alkanes with those of the natural gases found in the Lower Paleozoic of this basin, and believed to be originated from Carboniferous-Permian coal measures. The occurrence of regionally pervasive gas accumulation is distinct in the gently southward-dipping Shanbei slope of the central basin. It is noted that molecular and isotopic composition changes of the gases in various gas reservoirs are associated with the thermal maturities of gas source rocks. The abundances and ,13C values of methane generally decline northwards and from the basin center to its margins, and the effects of hydrocarbon migration on compositional modification seem insignificant. However, C isotopes of autogenetic calcites in the vertical and lateral section of reservoirs show a regular variation, and are as a whole depleted upwards and towards basin margins. Combination with gas maturity gradient, the analysis could be considered to be a useful tool for gas migration. [source]