Relationship between deeper lithospheric processes and near-surface tectonics of sedimentary basins

Abstract

Interactions between upper lithosphere deformation, as manifested in the structure and evolution of sedimentary basins, and lower lithospheric deformation presumably reflect large-scale regional or global tectonic events. We review the current state of knowledge regarding these interactions and suggest areas of research which may lead to an improvement in this knowledge. Understanding the development of sedimentary basins requires insight into the processes responsible both for basin subsidence and also for distribution and preservation of sediments within the basins. While some classes of basins are better understood than others, there remain significant gaps both in our ability to account for available data and also in the data available to test current models and develop new ones. Subsidence in some classes of basins can be related to lithospheric scale processes occurring as part of the overall plate tectonic paradigm. For example, it is widely accepted that passive margin basins subside as a result of lithospheric extension (McKenzie, 1978) and that foreland basins are flexural consequences of collision between a continent and outboard terranes (Beaumont, 1981). On the other hand, models for the origin of intracratonic, forearc and trans-tensional basins are essentially still at cartoon level, involving processes that are difficult to quantify and evaluate. In the following we review a number of fundamental questions of vital interest for understanding of the relationship between deeper lithospheric processes and near-surface tectonics.