a new approach to the opening of the eastern mediterranean sea and the origin of the hellenic subduction zone part 1 the eastern mediterranean sea we identify long transform faults that frame the eastern mediterranean sea and that were active during jurassic and probably the early cretaceous during the opening of the central atlantic ocean

late cretaceous ca 84 ma compressive deformation of the stable platform of northeast africa egypt far field stress effects of the santonian event and origin of the syrian arc deformation belt large scale northeast trending asymmetric folds and associated contractional faults seismically induced slump structures and strike slip and extensional faults of santonian age occur within the eastern desert of egypt 150 km south of the syrian arc mobile belt the region also displays a locally developed angular unconformity at the base of the flat lying campanian limestone these features demonstrate that the deformation event responsible for the syrian arc also led to northwest southeast shortening in central egypt ca 84 ma the late santonian shortening corresponds precisely with a brief period of compression that swept across the entire african plate coeval with a significant change in the poles of opening of the north atlantic this santonian event is a prominent example of the role that far field compressional stresses can play in stable intraplate settings

evaporites petroleum exploration and the cenozoic evolution of the libyan shelf margin central north africa abstract the mediterranean margin of libya can be divided into three physiographic provinces the pelagian shelf the sirt embayment and offshore cyrenaica the petroleum potential of the pelagian shelf has been investigated but the sirt embayment and offshore cyrenaica are almost unexplored during 2004 2005 new 2d pre stack time migrated seismic data were acquired and used to examine the large scale structural depositional and salt tectonic features of the libyan shelf and slope the data cover approximately 38 000 line kilometers in water depths ranging from under 50 to over 3000 m cenozoic strata along much of the libyan margin have a demonstrable progradational character punctuated by surfaces of erosion and margin failure within the sirt embayment the most visible retrogradational surface becomes seismically coincident with the top of messinian unconformity this retrogradational surface extends for over 700 km along strike and cuts both sides of the sirt embayment over 5000 cubic kilometers of material are missing from above this surface there are two ideas for how retrogradation occurred one idea relates the retrogradation to margin erosion during the messinian salinity crisis the other idea suggests that a large part of the libyan margin experienced a cataclysmic failure during the late miocene some existing models for offshore libya have interpreted a widespread layer of halite lying within the messinian which thickens basinward this interpretation was probably based on the fact seismic reflection continuity was lost over much of the sirt embayment on older data beneath the top messinian unconformity the loss of good reflection character adversely affected exploration efforts by obscuring deep structures recent seismic data and a current understanding of salt behavior do not support the interpretation of thick halite within the messinian section regional observations do not indicate any mobile halite present in the sirt embayment there is a relatively thin high amplitude and high velocity layer of non halite evaporites mainly anhydrite which caps the messinian section where this high amplitude and high velocity layer is absent or eroded seismic continuity within the messinian interval is restored limited available well data support this interpretation true mobile halite is interpreted to exist in offshore libya only in the far west of the pelagian shelf near the tunisian border beneath the pelagian shelf are a series of tight contractional folds that are interpreted to be salt cored basins adjacent to the folds display geometries characteristic of salt withdrawal the fold crests formed bathymetric highs which served as nucleation sites for nummulitic shoal development these shoals are the principal reservoirs of the pelagian shelf

pleistocene climates in china dated by magnetic susceptibility the magnetic susceptibility of loess and interbedded soils in central china varies with the degree of pedogenesis and serves as a proxy measure of climate the concentration of magnetic minerals in the sediment is inversely proportional to sedimentation rates throughout the brunhes epoch susceptibility measurements combined with the reversal stratigraphy provide a time scale that is independent of astronomic chronology on this scale the susceptibility record closely parallels the oxygen isotope fluctuations in deep sea sediments suggesting a close interdependence of the chinese dust falls the volume of land based ice and global climate

graphitization of organic matter and fluid deposited graphite in palaeoproterozoic birimian black shales of the kaya goren greenstone belt burkina faso west africa palaeoproterozoic black shales form an essential part of the birimian volcanosedimentary belt in burkina faso west africa the mean rmax values and the atomic h c values of the bulk carbonaceous matter bcm together with rock structures and mineral assemblages indicate that these carbon rich rocks were metamorphosed to sub greenschist and low grade greenschist facies x ray diffraction reveals that the 002 graphite peak width in half maximum fwhm ranges from 0 43 to 0 71 2 in sub greenschist facies and from 0 27 to 0 41 2 in greenschist facies rocks but the d 002 values in both groups of rocks are approximately the same 3 35 a the bcm of individual samples is composed of particles with very variable shape reflectance and raman spectra type i particles that predominate in sub greenschist facies are fine grained irregular or elongate bodies 1 to 3 m in size their maximum reflectance rmax ranges between 2 5 and 8 2 and raman parameters r1 and r2 range from 0 5 to 1 4 and 0 5 to 0 8 respectively type ii particles are lath shaped up to 40 m large bodies commonly arranged parallel to white mica flakes the number of these particles increases from sub greenschist to greenschist facies maximum reflectance varies between 6 and 11 2 and r1 and r2 raman parameters range from 0 05 to 0 7 and from 0 1 to 0 5 respectively type iii particles occur in hydrothermally altered and sheared rocks these are nodular aggregates composed of grains up to 10 m in size this type of particles has very high reflectance rmax 11 15 and its raman spectra indicate a very high degree of structural ordering corresponding to well ordered graphite type i particles represent original organic matter in the metasediments type ii particles are believed to have been formed either in situ by solid state transformation of type i particles or by crystallization from metamorphic fluids gradual graphitization of the type i organic particles and the growth of lath shaped type ii particles from a fluid phase is assumed to have taken place under the peak metamorphic conditions associated with the burial of birimian sediments during thrust tectonism progressive tectonic accretion and crustal thickening during the d1 event of the eburnean orogeny the growth of equant high reflectance postkinematic nodular aggregates of type iii particles is ascribed to the reduction of co2 rich fluids during a hydrothermal event associated with late eburnean d2 exhumation and strike slip movements type i carbonaceous particles were only slightly affected by high temperature low pressure contact metamorphism during intrusion of late eburnean magmatic bodies whereas formation of type ii or iii particles was not recorded in contact metamorphosed rocks at all

the relationship between aromaticity vitrinite reflectance and maceral composition of coals implications for the use of vitrinite reflectance as a maturation parameter abstract previous studies on the aromaticity f a of coals have either limited themselves to the effects of rank or to differences between the macerals and generally conclude that f a and rank increase simultaneously although not necessarily linearly this study contains 13 c cp mas nmr analysis data of more than 70 coals obtained from different coal basins these are combined with published data to produce a data base with more than 130 analyses the aim is to determine the influence of rank and maceral composition on the measured f a of coals a plot of f a vs r o vitrinite reflectance shows a non linear relationship that can be described by a polynomial equation the shape of the curve produced by this equation is determined by the processes that occur during maturation only approx 50 of the coals in the data base have f a values that are accurately predicted by the vitrinite reflectance this is an indication of the large spread of values observed in the plot of f a vs r o as a result of the processes that occur during maturation the influence of the maceral composition on the f a was restricted to coals with r omax values 0 70 r o the equation generated shows that more than 80 of the coals tested with this level of rank have f a values that can be accurately predicted by an equation containing the r omax value the total vitrinite content and the contents of fusinite semifusinite and macrinite in the coals comparison of the f a values obtained from vitrinitic type iii kerogen with the f a values obtained from liptinitic sporinites and type ii kerogens reveals a pattern which illustrates the structural changes that occur during maturation both vintrinites and liptinites show a change in the slope in an f a vs r o plot although the reflectance level at which the change in slope occurs differs between the two kerogen types the changes in molecular structure that occur within the two kerogen types during maturation are discussed the implications of the f a r o relationship of vitrinites on the use of vitrinite reflectance as a maturation parameter are also discussed

egyptian tethyan margin in the mesozoic evolution of a mixed carbonate siliciclastic shelf edge from western desert to sinai abstract during the mesozoic the egyptian margin was an oblique margin with nw se oriented transform fault system in the eastern mediterranean basin mesozoic margins were characterized by mixed carbonate siliciclastics platforms where subsidence and eustasy were the main parameters controlling the facies distribution and geometries of the platform to basin transition geometries and facies on the platform slope basin profile are today well constrained on the levant side but are still poorly known on the egyptian side geometries and stratigraphic architecture of the egyptian margin have been mapped thanks to a regional seismic and well data base provided by a joint industrial academic group upmc total this study brings new understandings on the seismo stratigraphic architecture of the platform slope basin system in a key area from western desert to nile delta and the levant margin mapping of the top jurassic and top cretaceous horizons shows the seismic geomorphology of the margin and the hinge line from western desert to sinai during the jurassic carbonate platforms were prograding with a distal thickening of the external platform with gentle slope profiles paleo valleys and embayments since the cretaceous the margin shows an aggrading and retrograding mixed carbonate siliciclastic platform succession with abrupt nw se trending paleo shelf edges affected by large gravity slide scars and distally steepened segments this structure of the platform edges is strongly controlled by the inherited tethyan transform fault directions along the hinge line embayments are interpreted as megaslides the basin filling is characterized by an alternation of chaotic seismic facies and high amplitude reflectors onlapping the paleoslopes mass transport complex mtc deposits are characterized by the mobilization of thick sedimentary sections up to 3500 m in thickness as a mixed amalgamation of debris flows internally preserved blocks and or compressively deformed distal allochthonous masses transported materials have been sourced from the dismantling of the mesozoic mixed carbonate siliciclastic platform and they can spread down slope over areas as large as 70 000 km 2 based on stratigraphic correlations with global sea level changes platform instability could have been triggered by the gravitational collapse of the carbonate siliciclastic platform under its own weight after successive subaerial exposures periods which were able to enable karstification processes

high resolution lacustrine record of the late glacial holocene transition in central europe abstract in this paper we present the high resolution record of proxy climatic data in central europe during the final stages of the last deglaciation derived from the annually laminated sediments of lake go ciaz central poland the isotopic palynological and other microfossil data confirm sudden changes of climate at the onset and termination of the younger dryas completed within 150 and 70 years respectively in close agreement with the previous estimates derived from the polar ice cores and marine sediments in the upper yd some amelioration of climate took place already about 600 years before the main yd preboreal transition counting of annual varves in the lake sediments allows a direct estimate of the duration of the younger sdryas in central europe it lasted approximately 1640 years substantially longer than suggested by previous estimates derived from laminated lake sediments and glacial varves but agreeing with the radiocarbon calibration data obtained for barbados corals the calendar ages of the boundaries of the yd 12 920 and 11 280 cal bp are tentatively set

metamorphism of carbonaceous material in the tono contact aureole kitakami mountains japan abstract optical and x ray studies of carbonaceous material in the tono contact metamorphic aureole kitakami mountains northeast japan have revealed that metamorphic graphitization proceeded through two discontinuous changes first optically anisotropic domains develop within the coaly phytoclast forming transitional material and then ordered graphite crystallizes by the decomposition of pre existing carbonaceous materials coaly material disappears in the uppermost chlorite zone transitional material appears in the middle of the lower chlorite zone graphite appears in the upper chlorite zone and its modal abundance increases across the andalusite iso grad to the cordierite isograd where all the carbonaceous materials have converted to graphite the apparently continuous variation in the crystallographic parameters of the bulk carbonaceous material during graphitization is largely due to variation in the modal proportions of three types of carbonaceous materials the temperature of graphitization in the present area is at least 100 c higher than the temperature in the sanbagawa and new caledonia high pressure metamorphic terrains probably due to the slow reaction rate of metamorphic graphitization and to the short duration of contact metamorphism

vitrinite and vitrinite like solid bitumen reflectance in thermal maturity studies correlations from diagenesis to incipient metamorphism in different geodynamic settings abstract vitrinite reflectance vr is a useful and reliable parameter to monitor the level of organic matter maturation from the immature stage to graphite additionally vr is a useful and essential tool in modelling the temperature maturation time path huminite vitrinite bearing sedimentary and meta sedimentary rocks can be used to reconstruct the thermal history of basins or orogenic terranes throughout their geological history the usefulness of vr evidently depends on the presence of huminite vitrinite phytoclasts however pre upper silurian rocks and many organic rich marine rocks e g sapropelic sediments lack of huminite vitrinite particles furthermore vitrinite is sparse in carbonate sediments however the presence of bitumen in rocks lacking type iii kerogen provides a valuable aid via its reflectance vitrinite like solid bitumen reflectance vlbr and or solid bitumen reflectance br to fulfil the above described tasks that vr enables this study presents basically a relationship between br vlbr and vr for various types of geodynamic settings and over the largest possible range of maturation levels so that vlbr may be used as a substitute for vr whereas the effort to correlate vr with br is not novel it is the first time that the vr br correlation is re judged discriminating bitumen from vlb moreover for the first time the correlation is established for various geodynamic settings the investigated geological contexts are 1 sedimentary basins e g the saar ruhr ohio west virginia and petrosani basins 2 metasedimentary terranes occurring as inverted basins in orogenic belts e g from the subalpine molasse helvetic austroalpine and danubian nappe systems and having suffered from very low to low grade metamorphism from anchizone to greenschist facies 3 metasedimentary terranes e g slates and schists from the franciscan and alpine belts that were subducted at anchizone to blueschist facies conditions and 4 metasedimentary rocks affected by contact metamorphism together the frequent geological settings are referred and most of the earth geothermal conditions and heat fluxes considered despite temperature pressure and heating time also heat flow gradient dependences cannot be ignored

structure and emplacement of mud volcano systems in the south caspian basin the term mud volcano system is coined to describe the set of structures associated with a constructional edifice mud volcano and feeder complex that connects the volcano to its source stratigraphic unit three dimensional 3 d seismic data from the south caspian basin are used to investigate the structural elements and evolution of these systems mud volcano systems initiate via early kilometer scale biconic edifices termed pioneer cones these are fed by fluidization pipes tens of meters in width subsequent kilometer scale mud volcanoes grew via persistent extrusion fed by numerous additional fluidization pipes injected in the country rock this subvolcanic intrusion complex creates a densely intruded cylindrical zone similar in cross section to gryphon swarms observed at an outcrop onshore wall rock erosion and compaction of the intruded zone leads to the collapse of a downward tapering cone enveloping the cylindrical zone capped by ring faults that define a kilometer scale caldera that downthrows the overlying mud volcano mud volcanoes get buried during basin subsidence and can look like intrusive laccoliths at first glance on seismic data reactivation of mud flow through a conduit system generates a stack of superimposed mud volcanoes through time large volcanoes continue to dewater during burial and may locally remobilize this model of mud volcano evolution has similarities with igneous and salt tectonic systems to reduce drilling and geologic uncertainty mud volcano system extent and impacts on a reservoir can be assessed on 3 d seismic data simon stewart received his ph d from the imperial college london in 1992 in 1992 2000 he was seismic interpreter at amerada hess in support of exploration and appraisal drilling in the north sea in 2000 he moved to bp and has since worked on structural geology and well planning in the americas middle east and the former soviet union his special interest is in the integration of structural geology and seismic interpretation richard davies received his ph d from the university of edinburgh in 1995 in 1995 2003 he was with mobil and exxonmobil working on field development and exploration the north sea the west of shetlands and the west niger delta deep water slope in 2003 2005 he was a senior lecturer in earth sciences at cardiff university united kingdom currently he is professor and director of cerees center for research into earth energy systems durham university united kingdom his special interest is in seismic scale expression of fluid migration and diagenesis

mechanism and timing of tectonic inversion in cyrenaica libya integration in the geodynamics of the east mediterranean abstract in the eastern mediterranean the south tethys paleo margin experienced poly phased rifting episodes during paleozoic and mesozoic times this domain has been subsequently inverted by discontinuous events occurring since the late cretaceous as a consequence of the africa eurasia convergence the cyrenaica promontory northeast libya including the jabal al akhdar antiformal ridge is not yet involved in the africa eurasia collision zone it thus gives an opportunity to analyze tectonic inversions occurring early in the development of the system and their possible causal links with events occurring along the plate boundary i e within the hellenic subduction for this purpose we present new geological cross sections supported by offshore industrial 2d seismic profiles imaging the northeast prolongation of the antiformal ridge indenting the mediterranean ridge accretionary prism the onshore part of this ene wsw trending structure exposes upper cretaceous to recent sedimentary rocks well calibrations allow us to be precise about the geometry of the structure inherited from a lower cretaceous rift basin and the timing of the main tectonic events oligocene sediments seal unconformably the main episodes of contractional deformation just below growth strata of late ypresian to priabonian age indicate a protracted folding episode during the middle late eocene post dating an older late cretaceous inversion this evolution contrasts with what is observed in the adjacent sirt basin characterized at the same time by extensional deformation and subsidence finally we appraise how far these tectonic scenarios match the geodynamic evolution of the hellenic domain

upper limits for vitrinite and bituminite reflectance as coalification parameters abstract reflectance versus depth diagrams for vitrinite from carboniferous beds and for bituminite from the late permian kupferschiefer in northern germany led to the conclusion that there may exist upper limits for the applicability of reflectance as a maturity parameter at 6 r r and 8 r max for vitrinite or 4 r r and 5 r max for bituminite the vitrinite threshold values may mark the end of the diagenesis anchimetamorphism field and the boundary between meta anthracite and semi graphite

african monsoons an immediate climate response to orbital insolation the croll milankovitch astronomical theory of climate1 3 has received strong support from the evidence of a linear climatic forcing by obliquity and precession although nonlinearity had to be assumed for eccentricity4 5 moreover interglacials have appeared to be controlled by the orbital insolation6 although a phase shift of 6 000 5 000 yr is seen between an astronomical climate index and terrestrial climate indicators dominated by the northern ice sheet dynamics climate proxy data of low latitudes are less directly dependent on the ice sheets here it is shown that during the past 464 000 yr african monsoons signalled by the east mediterranean sapropels were heaviest always and only when a northern summer monsoon index computed from the orbital variation of insolation reached maximum values this occurred during all the interglacials but also twice during glacial periods thus tropical aridity is not the single climatic pattern of glacial periods an immediate terrestrial climate response to orbital variations of insolation is established

climate of the last 53 000 years in the eastern mediterranean based on soil sequence stratigraphy in the coastal plain of israel abstract in this paper we present a detailed record of proxy climatic events in the coastal belt of the eastern mediterranean during the past 53 000 years a sequence of alternating palaeosols aeolianites and dune sands which have been dated by luminescence and by 14c was studied by the magnetic susceptibility particle size distribution clay mineralogy and soil micromorphology thirteen proxy climatic events demonstrating fluctuations of relatively dry and wet episodes were recognized the soil parent materials as well as the different soil types were rated in a semi quantitative dry to wet scale the palaeosol sequence is compared to a proxy climatic record of oxygen and carbon isotopes in speleothems from a karstic cave in central israel and to a record of lake levels of lake lisan and its successor which is known as the dead sea a genuine red mediterranean soil rhodoxeralfs localy designated as hamra soil developed during the last glacial stage from 40 to 12 5 thousand calendar years bp climatic fluctuations that were recorded in speleothems and in changing lake levels were not preserved in this soil during the cold and dry younger dryas ca 12 5 to 11 5 calendar ka bp a thick bed of loess material deriving from atmospheric dust of the sahara and arabian deserts covered the entire coastal belt during this phase lake lisan was desiccated and turned into the modern smaller dead sea during the early holocene some 10 7 5 calendar ka bp a second red hamra soil developed in warm and wet environments associated with a relatively high stand of the dead sea level a depletion of 18o and a significant enrichment of 13c in the speleothems were recorded during this episode this event was in phase with the widespread distribution of freshwater lakes in the sahara desert and the accumulation of the s1 sapropel in the eastern mediterranean several small scale dry and somewhat wet fluctuations of the late holocene from 7 5 calendar ka bp to the present were recorded in the coastal belt changes in human history as reflected in archaeological records are associated with proxy climatic fluctuations periods of desertification and deterioration are coupled with dry episodes periods of relative human prosperity are coupled with wetter episodes

examples of deep water play types in the matruh and herodotus basins of nw egypt numerous deep water play types have been identified along the transform margin of nw egypt a large segment of the offshore matruh basin has play types related to a prominent shale decollement within the matruh canyon the footwalls of the growth faults associated with the shale detachment provide fault controlled three way closures very similar to the well known rafts in the lower congo basin in west africa as updip extension transitions to downdip contraction some thin skinned toe thrust imbrications can be found in the ultradeep water part of matruh basin another important play type in the deep water offshore matruh basin is related to the prominent syn rift hinge zone of an interpreted transform margin of the eastern mediterranean this play type could serve as a play opener along the transform margin of nw egypt and ne libya the offshore matruh and herodotus basins of nw egypt represent an underexplored region of the mediterranean with only one deep water well drilled along the margin to date

correlation of very low grade data to calibrate a thermal maturity model in a nappe tectonic setting a case study from the alps abstract vitrinite and bituminite reflectance data xrd studies on clay minerals radiometric data and geochemical data have been used to investigate metamorphism of very low and low grade sediments from the lower austroalpine and south penninic nappes in the oberhalbstein valley central alps numerical maturity modelling methods are calibrated with petrological structural and new geochronological data to reconstruct temperature histories even in nappe tectonic settings the combination of low grade data and maturity modelling shows that the duration of peak temperature metamorphism plays an important role in the alteration of organic matter vitrinite reflectance vr often does not correlate with other low grade parameters but in the oberhalbstein equilibrium between the different parameters is evident because heating near the peak conditions for more than 20 ma took place it is proposed to use the comparison to evaluate equilibrium conditions for the temperature parameters in general in addition from petrological work and vr modelling the pressure conditions are estimated the results yield an eroded overburden of 6 1 km and a temperature gradient of 30 2 c km 1 at the base of the nappe stack pressure conditions of 4 1 kbar are determined and therefore no evidences for a high pressure event the main heating is dated between 90 and 70 5 ma and is attributed to nappe stacking in the upper crust

reflectance of vitrinite like macerals as a thermal maturity index for cambrian ordovician alum shale southern scandinavia the middle cambrian to lower ordovician alum shale in southern scandinavia contains kerogen macerals resembling vitrinite the age of this rock unit excludes terrestrially derived vitrinite as an origin for these macerals nevertheless the vitrinite like macerals respond to heating in a way similar to that of suppressed vitrinite in younger shales this similarity is demonstrated both for the natural system where alum shale maturity ranges from immature to low grade metamorphic conditions and for hydrous pyrolysis experiments where an immature sample of alum shale was isothermally heated at temperatures ranging from 280 to 360 degrees c for 72 hr reflectance values from the naturally matured alum shale show an increase in standard deviations i e anisotropy with i creasing maturity and a negative relationship with atomic h c ratios of the total kerogen these relationships are similar to those observed in post ordovician vitrinites comparisons with other vitrinites subjected to hydrous pyrolysis indicate the vitrinite like macerals in the alum shale follow the suppressed vitrinite pathway rather than the coal vitrinite pathway the occurrence of vitrinite like macerals in the alum shale indicates that traditional vitrinite reflectance measurements are useful in evaluating thermal maturity of pre silurian rocks

organic petrographic investigations of the kupferschiefer in northern germany abstract results of an organic petrographic study of the kupferschiefer zechstein upper permian in northern germany are presented because vitrinite occurs only sporadically in this black shale the random reflectance r r of a relatively high reflecting vitrinite like variety of bituminite was measured as a maturity parameter and the problems connected with this procedure were investigated the main organic component is bituminite generally with an abundance of more than 90 sporomorphs and algae are relatively scarce inertinite is usually a trace component and vitrinite is present only in some samples taken close to the coast of the zechstein sea migrabitumen also occurs in small amounts in a few samples the range of the bituminite reflectance values is often considerable and depends on rank anisotropy particle size porosity and shearing interpretation of the reflectance values is made difficult by differences of up to 0 4 r r between layers within the kupferschiefer hydrothermal alteration may also be present the difference between the reflectance of the light and normal varieties of bituminite disappears between 0 9 and 1 2 r r bituminite behaves in a way very similarly to vitrinite during coalification their reflectance is identical between 2 and 4 r r below 2 r r the reflectance of bituminite is lower than that of vitrinite linear regression curves valid up to 4 r r were calculated for r max versus r r and for r r versus r max taking certain limitations into consideration bituminite reflectance may be used as a coalification parameter

growth faults above shale seismic scale outcrop analogues from the makran foreland sw pakistan abstract the southern makran fold thrust belt pakistan displays unique outcrop examples of well exposed kilometre scale listric growth faults that displace miocene age deltaic growth strata by several hundreds of metres to kilometers the largest growth faults are counter regional landward dipping bounding major clastic depocentres exposed over areas 1000 km 2 stratal offset along these faults can exceed 1 5 km fault zone thicknesses range between ca 100 and 400 m and average fault thickness displacement ratios are around 1 10 high resolution satellite data show in unprecedented detail the faults and the stratigraphic architecture of associated growth sequences which comprise kilometre scale progradational clinoforms thick mudstone units and basinwards wedging sandstone shale deposits the true vertical thickness of the syn kinematic record is in places up to 8 km making the outcrop examples equivalent to major growth faulted successions known from seismic data of large deltas and at least an order of magnitude larger than other outcrop examples a comparison of the makran outcrops with seismic reflection examples offshore nw borneo reveals distinct similarities in the gross depocentre geometries and internal architecture the key control for growth faulting is interpreted to result from sedimentary loading with rapid sedimentary progradation causing the development of rollover synclines by differential compaction and fluid expulsion and counter regional growth faults preferentially forming on the basinward side of these synclines the data and interpretations presented can be used to assess the key parameters that contribute to the development of growth faults and growth successions above shale reinforcing structural and stratigraphic observations from seismic interpretation and modelling studies in demonstrating their occurrence in exposure