Foreland Basins Stuart Egan & Graham Williams, Keele University Introduction The term foreland basin was

introduced by Dic inson !"#$%&, who 'ro'osed two broad categories( )lthough mountain belts tend to be associated with the u'lift of roc material to several ilometres in height, they are bordered by regions of subsidence called foreland sedimentary basins* These basins are +wedge,sha'ed+ in cross,section with a de'th that gradually decreases from the mountain belt towards the ad-acent craton* Peripheral foreland basins , related to continent,continent collision !e*g* the .ndo,Ganges basin and the /orth )l'ine basin& Retro-arc foreland basins , related to the subduction of oceanic lithos'here !e*g* the 0ate 1eso2oic, 3eno2oic 4oc y 1ountain basins& How do foreland basins form and evolve? 5oreland basins are associated with regions of com'ressional tectonics* They are formed 'rimarily as a result of the downward fle6ing of the lithosphere in res'onse to the weight of the ad-acent mountain belt, though many geological and geodynamic 'rocesses combine to control their subse7uent evolution* The following sections 'rovide a schematic e6'lanation of the formation and evolution of a foreland basin( 3om'ressional stresses generated at lithos'here 'late boundaries !see diagram& may be sufficient to cause reverse movement along 're,e6isting and newly generated crustal faults* 4everse movement along a crustal or basement fault causes the hanging wall of the fault to be dis'laced over the footwall* )n u'lift structure is generated which is commonly referred to as a thrust anticline !see diagram&* This 'rocess of dis'lacing hanging wall material onto that of footwall generates a mountain belt and also re'resents thic ening of the crust* The formation of the mountain belt !i*e* thic ening of the crust& im'oses a load u'on the lithos'here, which res'onds by fle6ing* )s a conse7uence a foreland basin is generated ahead of the mountain belt* The de'th of the basin is a ma6imum immediately ad-acent to the mountain belt, but gradually decreases with increasing distance onto the foreland until eventually u'lift occurs in the form of a structure commonly referred to as a fle6ural or foreland bulge !see diagram&* The magnitude of mountain belt, foreland basin and fle6ural bulge are controlled by the com'le6 interaction of several geological and geodynamic 'rocesses* 5or e6am'le, the mountain belt will be eroded with time and, therefore, decreased in si2e* The material eroded, however, is mostly de'osited into the foreland basin generating further loading and enhancing the de'th of the basin !see diagram&* The evolution of a foreland basin during mountain building is a very dynamic and somewhat destructive 'rocess* Studies of mountain belt,foreland basin evolution have shown that, in general thrust movement 'ro'agates further and further onto the foreland* The dynamic nature of the thrusting 'rocesses is ca'able, therefore, of stac ing multi'le thrust anticline structures on to' of each other, thus increasing the si2e of the mountain belt* Similarly, foreland basin structure is continually modified as older sections are incor'orated or +cannibalised+ into new u'lift structures, while new basin develo'ment occurs further onto the foreland* The deformation also causes changes to occur within the lithos'here* 8erha's most im'ortant, is the downward fle6ing of the crust,mantle boundary, the Mohorovic discontinuity or Moho !see diagram&* The Structure and Stratigraphy of Foreland Basins .n structural terminology, basins associated with com'ressional tectonics are either categorised as foredeep !or toetrough& or piggy-back basins !see diagram&tem'late*cfm9name:figure;<* The former category can be a''lied to the basin de'ocentre forming ahead of the active thrust system, while 'iggy,bac basins refer to de'ocentres forming on to' of the moving thrust sheets* 1any thrust belts in the geological record show a codominance of these two ty'es of basin structures* 5or e6am'le, the )'ennines and Southern 8yrenees e6hibit a sort of cou'ling between the different basin structures such that as the thrust belt gradually migrated to the craton there was de'osition in both foredee' and 'iggy,bac basins* .n contrast, basin formation in the )l's was dominantly ta ing 'lace ahead of the thrust belt* .n general, the oldest de'osits found in foreland basins are dominated by fine grained, turbiditic sediments* They are considered to be associated with the initial develo'ment of mountain belt where the to'ogra'hy and, hence, sediment su''ly is relatively low* .n contrast, the later de'osits of foreland basins are dominantly shallow water or continental and are associated with a mature mountain belt where there is enhanced to'ogra'hy, erosion and, therefore, abundant sediment su''ly* .t should be 'ointed out, however, that the source of the material de'osited into the foreland basin is not always from the very front of the thrust belt* .n fact, u'lift structures at the thrust belt front may act as barriers to sediment trans'ort into the basin* 5or e6am'le, in the southern 8yrenees a lot of material has been de'osited from fluvial channels running 'arallel to the thrust belt front* These river systems cut through the

frontal thrust structures at localised 'ositions, carrying with them sedimentary material derived from within the orogenic belt* Foreland Basins in the Geological Record 1ost foreland basins occur in the immediate vicinity of continental collision 2ones* 5or e6am'le, the )l'ine foreland basins of southern Euro'e !see diagram&, which were generated as a result of the collision of the Euro'ean and )frican 'lates* .n contrast, other foreland basins occur within regions of com'ressional tectonics that are located relatively large distances from 'late collision 2ones !e*g* the 0aramide orogenic 'rovince, western US)&* This section focuses u'on two contrasting e6am'les foreland basin develo'ment in the geological record, namely the /orth )l'ine and 0aramide foreland basin structures( The North Alpine (Molasse basin( =ne of the most studied foreland basins in the geological record is the so,called 1olasse basin, which has formed ad-acent to the )l'ine mountain belt* .t e6tends a distance of about $>> m from 5rance to )ustria and has a ma6imum width of "<> m in southern Germany !see diagram&* .n cross,section !see diagram&, the basin has a diagnostic wedge sha'e with a ma6imum de'th of over % m ad-acent to the frontal thrusts of the )l'ine orogenic belt* This de'th gradually decreases to the northern limit of the basin, which occurs in either the ?ura 'rovince or crystalline basement of the @ohemian 1assif* Sedimentation in the /orth )l'ine basin too 'lace over a duration of a''ro6imately A> 1a from the early =ligocene to 0ate 1iocene* .t is referred to as the 1olasse basin because of the B1olasseB sedimentary infill, which is dominated by coarse detrital material of mostly continental origin* The !aramide Province" western #$A( The 0aramide 'rovince occurs within the 4oc y 1ountain region of the western US)* The structural style of the region is one of thick-skinned thrust tectonics where 8recambrian basement has been u'lifted due to shortening along large basement faults !see diagram&* .n addition, each u'lift is clearly related to an ad-acent foreland basin structure* The 0aramide orogeny occurred between late 3retaceous and mid to late Eocene times and was both 'receded and overla''ed in time by the thin,s inned Sevier thrust event to the West* @oth of these ma-or orogenic 'eriods are thought to have been driven by com'ressive stresses originating from the 'late boundary some "C>> m to the West where the 5arallon 'late was undergoing eastward subduction beneath the /orth )merican 'late*

The 0aramide thrust structures can be seen in cross,section !see diagram& to be ma-or crustal faults, which di' at an angles of about %> degrees* They have a 'lanar geometry over most of their 'rofile, abru'tly terminating !i*e* detaching& within the crust* .n most cases there are one or two ilometres of reverse movement along each of the thrusts* Dowever, the Wind 4iver and =wl 3ree thrust faults e6hibit "< and # m of shortening, res'ectively* 1ovement along these faults has u'lifted varying amounts of 8recambrian and 8alaeo2oic basement, which has caused lithos'here fle6ure to generate foreland sedimentary basins !e*g* the Green 4iver basin&* Further Information )llen, 8*)* & Domewood, 8 !Editors&* "#EF* 5oreland @asins* @lac well Scientific 8ublications* %<A'' , see section %&oreland basins' an introduction%( )llen, 8*)* & )llen, ?*4* "##>* @asin )nalysis( 8rinci'les )nd )''lications* @lac well Scientific 8ublications , see chapter )( Kearey, 8* & Gine, 5*?* Global Tectonics* @lac well Scientific 8ublications*A>C'' , see chapter *( )uthors( Dr Stuart Egan and 8rof* Graham Williams, De't* of Earth Sciences, Keele University