Foreland Basins

Nicole Buckhouse & Joe Dackman

Geology 755 Spring 2009
LAKE PETERS, ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALASKA (http://www.flickr.com/photos/33207078@N07/3096859517/)

Schedule
General parameters Retro-arc foreland basins Peripheral foreland basins Remnant ocean basins

General Parameters
Tectonic setting

Form at collisional and compressional plate margins On continental crust and adjacent to mountain belts

General Parameters
Structure

Orogenic belt Relatively un-shortened continental crust Thrust faults

Move sediments into basin

(from Decelles and Giles, 1996)

General Parameters
Topographic controls

Orogenic belt
Highland Sheds sediments Erosion rates increases with time as uplift occurs

General Parameters
Depositional model

Four stages
Initial basin formation Deep water Shallow water Uplift and erosion

General Parameters
Depositional model

Four stages
Initial basin formation

Depression of shelf and slope Uplift across peripheral bulge Basal unconformity forms from erosion across uplifting bulge Minimal sediments shed

(from Stockmal et al, 1992)

General Parameters
Depositional model

Four stages
Deep water

Rapid subsidence and little sedimentation leads to an initial deep water setting Shed sediments deposited in deep water

Alphabet and apple

(from Stockmal et al, 1992)

General Parameters
Depositional model

Four stages
Shallow water

Uplift resulting from continued convergence Higher sedimentation rates Foreland basin fills to/above sea-level Shallow-water to non-marine deposits

(from Stockmal et al, 1992)

General Parameters
Depositional model

Four stages
Uplift and erosion

Erosion across the basin results in uplift and more erosion Upper unconformity forms

(from Stockmal et al, 1992)

General Parameters

Sediment source and composition

Uplifted orogenic belt Idealized stratigraphy
Passive margin/basement Turbidites Hemipelagic mudstones Carbonate ramp Near-shore carbonates and deltaic deposits Siliciclastics from the orogenic belt

General Parameters
Recognition at map/regional scale

A mountain belt thrusted onto craton Adjacent depositional basin

(from Leckie and Smith, 1992)

General Parameters
Recognition in seismic

Asymmetric basin

(from Jervey, 1992)

General Parameters
Recognition in seismic

Rocky Mountain Foreland

(from Gries et al, 1992)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Retroarc Foreland Basins

A distinct type of foreland basin Forms on the overriding plate

craton-ward direction from thrust belt opposite side of orogeny from peripheral foreland

Both types of foreland basins form by

flexure of lithosphere

Retroarc Foreland Basins

There are three provinces in a full retroarc

system:

Foredeep (i.e. the "basin" itself) Forebulge Back-bulge basin

(from Decelles and Giles, 1996)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Profile of system is a damped sine curve,

several hundred km Subsidence of foredeep: 20-40x the uplift of forebulge Some authors (e.g. Decelles & Giles) also include the "wedge top" atop the orogenic wedge

(from Decelles and Giles, 1996)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Dynamic subsidence

Key to retroarc systems Drag forces from coupling with subducting slab Falls off exponentially away from thrust belt Generates accommodation on continental scale

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Combined profile

may (or may not) bring forebulge below base level

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Results of loading/unloading in thrust belt

note opposite behavior in adjacent provinces

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Other controls

variability of orogenic load along strike tilts basin basement tectonics - subsidence/uplift of individual blocks

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Three stages of sedimentation:

Underfilled

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Three stages of sedimentation:

Filled

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Retroarc Foreland Basins

Three stages of sedimentation:

Overfilled

(from Cateneaunu et al, 2004)

Peripheral Foreland Basins

Peripheral Foreland Basins

Form at collision zones on the continental crust of the subducting plate

(from Busby and Ingersoll, 1995)

Peripheral Foreland Basins

Arc-arc collision

Form small peripheral basins Izu-Bonin arc and Honshu arc in Japan Form more significant peripheral basins Luzon arc and mainland China
Late Cenozoic Formed the island of Taiwan

Arc-continent collision

Peripheral Foreland Basins

Continentcontinent collision

Largest peripheral basins Himalayan foreland basin

(from Bera et al, 2008)

Peripheral Foreland Basins

Himalayan foreland basin

(from Busby and Ingersoll, 1995)

Remnant Ocean Basins

Remnant Ocean Basins

Remnant Ocean Basins

Remnant Ocean Basins

Remnant Ocean Basins

Remnant Ocean Basins