Basin classification and plate tectonics

The plate tectonic model

proposes that the surface of
the Earth consists of a series
of relatively thin, but rigid,
plates that are in constant
motion. The present earth’s
surface is divided into a
dozen or so tectonic plates

Lithospheric cooling is
important, subduction, or
the sinking of a cold, dense
oceanic slab that pulls the
rest of the plate along with
it (slab pull), is generally
considered to be the most
important force (80%) in
running the plate tectonic
machinery
Plate movements
 Plates with large continental areas attached (e.g. Eurasia and North America) move
considerably more slowly than plates that are purely oceanic (e.g. Pacific plate).

Plate velocities (left scale in mm/year), total and continental area (106 km2) [Forsyth & Uyeda 1975].
Plates: NA=North America, SA=South America, PAC=Pacific, ANT=Antarctica, IND=India, AF=Africa,
EUR=Europe, NAZ= Nazca, COC=Cocos, CAR=Caribbean, Phil=Phillipines, ARAB=Arabia
 Hotspots

1.Volcano chain geometry reflects plate movement/direction

2.Plate velocity can be calculated if volcano tracks are dated
3.Oldest hotspot related volcanoes are c. 130 Ma
4.Hotspot reconstructions are absolute (latitude and longitude) assuming that hotspots are
stationary with respect to the mantle
 Seafloor
Spreading
BASIN CLASSIFICATION:
INTRAPLATE SETTINGS: (classes)
intracratonic basins (types)
active ocean basins
oceanic islands and plateaus/platforms
dormant ocean basins
DIVERGENT SETTINGS:
terrestrial rift valleys
proto-oceanic rift troughs
passive/rifted-margins
CONVERGENT SETTINGS:
trenches
fore-arc basins
intra-arc basins
back-arc and retro-arc basins
foreland basins: retro-arc and peripheral; broken
piggyback basins
TRANSFORM SETTINGS:
transtensional – transpressional – transrotational
HYBRID SETTINGS:
aulacogens
impactogens
BASIN CLASSIFICATION:

DIVERGENT SETTINGS:
terrestrial rift valleys: Rio Grande – Proterozoic Keweenawan rift
proto-oceanic rift troughs: Red Sea – Jurassic of East Greenland

INTRAPLATE SETTINGS:
passive (rifted-margins): west coast of Africa – west coast of Europe during Devonian
intra-cratonic basins: Chad Basin (Bottnic Sea) - Witwatersrand
active ocean basins: Pacific ocean – Oman, Cyprus
oceanic islands and plateaus (platforms): Hawaii – Mesozoic Snow Mtn. (Franciscan) California
dormant ocean basins: Gulf of Mexico/ Black Sea – Phanerozoic Tarim Basin (?)

CONVERGENT SETTINGS:
trenches: Chile trench – southern Wales during Upper Devonian
fore-arc basins: Sumatra – Cretaceous Great Valley (California)
intra-arc basins: Lago de Nicaragua – Early Jurassic Sierra Nevada (California)
back-arc and retro-arc basins: Marianes/ Japanese sea – Jurassic Josephine ophiolite (California)
foreland basins (retro-arc and peripheral; broken): Andes foothills/Persian Gulf – Nama/Swiss Molasse
piggyback basins: Peshawar basin (Pakistan) – Neogene (Apennines, Italy)

TRANSFORM SETTINGS:
transtensional – transpressional – transrotational: California/Alaska – Carboniferous St. Lawrence
(Canada)/Miocene Los Angeles

HYBRID SETTINGS:
aulacogens: Niger – Pongola (?)
impactogens: Baikal rift – Rhine Graben

Some of those basins let expect more or less HC !

 How do we identify the basins

• geochemical (isotope geochemical)

fingerprint of the igneous rocks

• tectonic pattern

• sedimentary infill (including fossils)

10
Rift basins
12
Typical structural pattern at a passive/rifted margin
Overloading at rifted/passive margins can lead to important
reservoirs - as organic rich source rocks might be deposited
16
Typical structural pattern
in foreland basin
 PIGGY-BACK BASIN:
(in foreland basins)

Foreland basin are ‘long-living’, relatively stable through Earth history and can include
organic-rich rocks rapidly buried caused by active tectonics and high sedimentation rates
19
Highly complex basins

Structural and
sedimentological
architectures in trans-
tensional or/and
transpressional
(strike-slip) basins are
difficult to describe

Strike-slip basins
21
 RETRO-ARC Active margin basins
Foreland basin
volcanic-arc

Fore-bulge Intra-arc basin

Accretionary prism
On oceanic crust: fore-arc basin
with mélange
Back-arc basin
On continental crust:
Retro-arc basin

N.B.
ARC BASINS ON CONTINENTAL CRUST: RETRO-ARC
ARC BASINS ON OCEANIC CRUST: BACK-ARC
UNKNOWN CRUST: ISLAND-ARC
Sedimentary
infill and
structural style
of arc related
basins - easy
to identify via
provenance
studies
24
Tectonic settings: NAME IT !
 We need to know:
• fore-arc basin
• foreland basin
• volcanic arc
• retro-arc basin
• back-arc basin
• island arc
• retro-arc foreland basin
• peripheral foreland basin
• strike-slip basin
• foreland basin bulge
• rift basin
• mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB)
• intra-arc basin