stress distribution and plate boundary force associated with collision mountain ranges abstract tectonic stresses associated with collision mountain ranges are studied by finite element modelling large horizontal deviatoric tension is produced in the strong elastic core of the upper crust by the topographical loading and the associated crustal root equally significant is the effect of the dense downbulge of cool lithospheric mantle produced by plate convergence as recently observed beneath the alpine region this dense slab with its associated downflexure produces compression this compression is 25 or less of the theoretical value computed from the density moment function because of the finite width of the slab the actual state of upper crustal stress is a superimposition of root produced tension and slab produced compression an asymmetrically located deep slab produces large compressions at one edge of a mountain belt co existing with large tensions towards the other side of the range leading to mountain building at one edge and extensional tectonics elsewhere the stresses produced by the dense slab support and accentuate the crustal root in opposition to the self inflicted root erosion when the upper crust is thrust faulted the sinking slab produces a collision slab pull force of about 1 2 10 12 n m depending on slab size which is an essential factor with ridge push in initiating and developing mountain ranges surface downflexure produced by slab downpull may give rise to wide borderland sedimentary basins such as the po basin

magma systems related to the red sea opening abstract four distinct magma environments can be recognized in association with the red sea basin 1 1 mid ocean ridge basalts within the present actively spreading axial trough 2 2 basaltic dikes and layered gabbros within the extended precambrian crust on the arabian margin 3 3 granites and rhyolites developed in the extended precambrian crust and 4 4 plateau basalts asymmetrically distributed on the arabian flanks of the red sea these magmas developed as the result of the initial break up of africa and the establishment of an oceanic spreading center within the red sea original asymmetric continental extension occurred on east dipping detachment faults in the oligocene and caused morb like magmas to invade an extending precambrian crust contemporaneous small scale mantle convection initiated limited partial melting under the arabian plate to form the undersaturated alkali olivine plateau basalts slow extension through the miocene allowed an evaporite basin to develop in the red sea while small volumes of rift and plateau basalts formed on the arabian plate a small change in plate motion in the pliocene initiated the seafloor spreading in the axial trough where morb magmas formed oceanic crust rise of the asthenosphere produced small scale thermal perturbations under the arabian plate controlled by an east dipping master detachment fault small scale mantle convection extended partial melting 2 5 eastward under the arabian plate producing more undersaturated diverse alkali olivine plateau basalts distinct chemical and isotopic signatures of these four magma types lead to obvious actualistic correlations with the geodynamic setting

fault reactivation and structural inversion backarc and intraplate compressive deformations example of the eastern sunda shelf indonesia the tectonic evolution of the eastern sunda platform in indonesia is revealed by the study of seismic profiles and comprises three general tectonic periods during the cenozoic extension with graben infill from the paleogene to the early miocene a tectonically quiet period with only broad subsidence and a middle miocene recent period of folding inversion and thrusting these structures reveal changes in the intraplate stress field which was controlled by the changes in the boundary conditions of the plates collisions on the northern and eastern sides and interplate coupling southward along the java subduction zone inversions often occurred without reactivation of pre existing normal fault planes at the upper levels of these faults the factors controlling these deformations are discussed with special interest placed on the conditions for the potential reactivation of cohesionless normal faults inversion and reactivations were mostly controlled by the orientation of the pre existing fault planes in relation with the regional stress field and by the tectonic stress regime in a strike slip regime effective principal stresses 1 and 3 horizontal with 1 2 3 the optimum conditions for reactivation in isotropic rocks are pre existing faults that strike close to the potential two vertical conjugate failure planes the same mechanical properties as for pre existing fault prevail in such conditions strike slip movements and reverse strike slip movements and associated en echelon folds were generally observed in a compressive regime 1 and 2 horizontal with 1 2 3 typical steeply dipping normal faults are difficult to reactivate by slip movements we suggest that reverse slip movements occurred in the deeper levels of faults and were accommodated by flexure above the pre existing fault planes and the inversion of grabens the strongly inverted grabens are those whose orientation is perpendicular to the regional compression nevertheless with strong regional shortening large uplifts and thrust faults were observed with reactivation in the form of reverse or reverse strike slip movements along pre existing steeply dipping normal fault planes

internal deformation in clay models of extension by block faulting clay and sand have provided useful analogues for the failure by block faulting of continental crust under extension we performed experiments on clay models of such faulting and found that the total horizontal displacement on the major faults provided only 40 50 of the known extension similar experiments on sand showed that the displacement provided 70 80 of the known extension examination of the differential tilt in both models also underestimated the extension the hidden extension is due to internal deformation within the blocks assuming that the sand and clay deform exclusively by slip and rotation on four families of faults and that these faults have many scales we propose that the hidden extension occurs on faults below the visible scale we observed much of the deformation in sand because the grain size the lower limit for faulting was close to the minimum observable scale for the model on the other hand in clay two or three orders of faults lay below this scale giving rise to a hidden extension of 50 or more we cannot apply our results directly to the block faulting behavior of continental crust however our method of analysis suggests an approach that may have value deformation within the continental crust occurs at many scales some of these scales remain hidden when determining the amount of extension in such cases our postulated behavior for clay may present a useful analogue as it suggests that deformation within the blocks may play an important role for example estimates of extension found by summing the horizontal displacement on normal faults observed on multichannel seismic lines are lower than those given from analyses of the subsidence of many sedimentary basins and continental margins hidden deformation at a scale below that observable on the seismic line could account for this difference

crustal structure off norway 62 to 70 north abstract extensive geophysical surveys have been undertaken on the volcanic passive continental margin offshore norway between 62 and 70 n during the last 25 years three main margin segments have been identified the lofoten vesteralen margin the voring margin and the more margin the main features of the margins are prominent marginal highs including seaward dipping reflector sequences and an up to 22 km thick volcanic and transitional crust prominent escarpments the voring plateau escarpment and the faeroe shetland escarpment and up to 12 km deep post jurassic sedimentary basins east of the escarpments velocity depth solutions from about 250 sonobuoys expanding spread profiles and refraction profiles have been compiled and contoured isovelocity horizon contour maps and velocity transects outline a crust which broadly thickens from an oceanic crust with a normal oceanic type velocity structure to a ca 35 km thick continental crust with a continental velocity structure beneath the norwegian coast anomalous features include local crustal thickening below the more and vering marginal highs and high velocity bodies in the lower crust in the extension of the precambrian lofoten vesteralen archipelago the free air seasat derived gravity anomalies show a good correlation with the high velocity bodies and show prominent ne trending highs from the rockall plateau porcupine plateau region over the more voring and lofoten vesteralen margins to the southwestern barents sea

a physical explanation of the relation between flank uplifts and the breakup unconformity at rifted continental margins rift flank uplifts and the breakup or postrift unconformity are characteristic features of many rifted passive or atlantic type continental margins but are not predicted as primary features of simple lithospheric stretching models the explanations that have been proposed for their origin remain controversial either because they call upon special circumstances or because they are difficult to test plane strain finite element models are used in this paper to explore the dynamics of lithospheric necking during rifting and rupture the results agree with the conceptual interpretation that uplift of the rift boundaries to form flank mountains and uplift of the basin responsible for the breakup unconformity are related consequences of regional isostatic compensation of mass that is redistributed during the necking and rupture phases although the amplitudes of these uplifts depend on the model parameter values the relations between and relative signs of these two effects appear to be fundamental the explanation we propose may have been missed in recent studies because there has been a tendency to concentrate on kinematic stretching models which assume local isostatic equilibrium through out the rifting process such an approach is predicated on the assumption that the lithosphere has an insignificant strength or flexural rigidity during extension which is not true if our explanation is correct

tectonics and topography for a lithosphere containing density heterogeneities the purpose of this paper is to clarify the dynamic role of lithospheric density heterogeneities in particular with respect to mountain building and other processes of intraplate deformation density anomalies within or just beneath the lithosphere constitute major sources for tectonic stress fields the product of their magnitude by their depth is shown to characterize their ability to induce deformation this rule of the density moment directly yields the lithospheric thickening or thinning rate when applied to structures of large lateral extent for anomalies of lateral extent that is small in comparison with their depth the deformation is vertically inhomogeneous and has been computed with the help of simple physical models of a stratified viscous newtonian lithosphere the analytical treatment is based on fourier transform continent continent collision thickens not only the crust but the entire lithosphere the cold root underlying a mountain chain induces strong regional compressive stresses able to sustain the mountain bulding process without further help from forces transmitted from far away thus the continental lithosphere is in a somewhat metastable mechanical state adiabatic i e rapid thickening or thinning tends to grow further once initiated tectonic phases of strong compression correspond to the climax of such instabilities the response of models with cold lithospheric roots of various intensities has been computed both in two and three dimensions they yield velocity distributions and stress fields instructive comparisons are made with earthquake focal mechanisms and in situ stress measurements in the alpine and appalachian regions in the presence of lateral variations of the mechanical properties of the lithosphere the tectonic style is not only function of the local topography and of the nature of its compensation deformations in neighbouring provinces are coupled as shown by 3 dimensional models for example thickening sustained by a cold lithospheric root may generate extension in peripheral zones of weakness these last results illustrate the point that the computation of regional tectonic stresses requires the knowledge of the density anomalies within the lithosphere on the one hand and of geometrical constraints related to lateral mechanical heterogeneities on the other

temporal and spatial correlations between changes in plate motions and the evolution of rifted basins in africa we present the results of a backstripping study incorporating over 200 wells in 14 different basins or groups of basins located on the african interior or continental margins these results presented as mean tectonic subsidence rates averaged over appropriate periods are compared with the opening histories and changes in plate motions of the atlantic and indian oceans and the tethys mediterranean area for seven time steps from the late jurassic until present the results indicate a temporal and spatial correlation between phases of rapid subsidence in african basins and changes in plate motions and therefore are promising in terms of applicability of large scale plate motions in the studies of paleo stresses in sedimentary basins especially at times of initial rifting and formation of subduction zones reactivation of the basins appears to be primarily controlled by the orientation of the basin and underlying basement structures with respect to the stress direction the basins are preferably formed within weaker zones mostly pan african shear zones and the distance from the active plate boundary to the weak zone plays a minor role in whether or not it will be reactivated the presence of three important hot spots which were active during the early stages of break up of gondwana may have been important in preweakening the lithosphere at their sites this may have played an additional role in the localization of the basin deformation

width of continental rifts and rheological layering of the lithosphere abstract a review of some well known continental rifts shows that rift features such as maximum basin depth are dependent on the amount of extension conversely the initial rift width appears to be independent of the amount of extension a comparison is made with laboratory models of rifts developed in a brittle ductile lithosphere experimental models show that normal faults which bound a graben initially meet at the brittle ductile interface a relation between initial rift width and the depth of the brittle ductile transition is thus suggested implications for natural examples are discussed

geophysical investigations and crustal structure of the north american midcontinent rift system abstract geophysical investigations have had a prominent role in studying the 1100 ma midcontinent rift system because of limited surface exposures and deep drilling of the rift rocks gravity and magnetic anomaly data delineate the rift system its central volcanic filled graben and overlying and adjacent post rift sedimentary basins and the major faults of the system over its 2000 km length in central north america crustal seismic studies indicate a high velocity crust that is thickened to as much as 55 km along the rift deeply penetrating seismic reflection data obtained across the rift show that the crust was thinned to less than one half of its original thickness during rifting and the present crust has been thickened by addition of up to a total of 30 km of mantle derived volcanic rocks within grabens and clastic sediments deposited in overlying sag basins as well as by intrusions into the crust and crustal underplating these data also confirm the occurrence of a post rift regional compressional event that locally caused broad folding of the rift rocks and reactivation of the graben normal faults as high angle reverse faults with vertical throws of several kilometers geophysical data indicate that the rifting event had a profound effect on the entire vertical range of the crust and that structures and thus the tectonic evolution are similar along the entire length of the rift

lithospheric thinning uplift and heat flow preceding rifting abstract conversion of lithosphere into asthenosphere provides an active mechanism of lithospheric thinning and formation of intracontinental rifts the movement of the lithosphere asthenosphere boundary lab considered as a phase change is determined by the solution of a stefan like problem the ascent of the lab and the surface heat flow perturbation are calculated for different boundary conditions at the base of the lithosphere the calculations show that the rate of lithospheric thinning is independent of heat conduction across the lithosphere when the temperature increases at the lab the amplitude of thinning is also independent of the thickness of the lithosphere lithospheric thinning to the base of the crust could thus take place rapidly if a temperature perturbation on the order of 250 k is maintained at the lab the characteristic time depends strongly on the latent heat and on the difference between the geothermal and phase transition temperature gradients it is estimated to range between 1 and 30 m y this mechanism of lithospheric thinning appears to be compatible with petrological and geochronometric data on temporal changes in the depth of origin of magmas from the east african rift

modeling the tectonic development of the tucano and sergipe alagoas rift basins brazil abstract the tucano and sergipe alagoas basins of northeast brazil form part of a regional extensional basin system that was operative during the mesozoic breakup of south america and africa with both basins developing on precambrian crust the synchronous development of the rift basins suggest that they are genetically linked in space and time whereas the offshore sergipe alagoas basin is characterized by a substantial thickness of post rift sediment the tucano basin either failed to develop or at least preserve a significant thickness of post rift sediment observed primary porosities within both pre and syn rift tucano basin sediment imply that significant post rift sedimentation never occurred failure to develop significant post rift subsidence has important thermal and mechanical implications for the reaction of the lithosphere to rifting and can be explained in terms of 1 depth dependent lithospheric extension in which intracrustal detachments allow the extension of the crust to be decoupled from the thinning of the lithospheric mantle 2 small rates of extension that allow the lithosphere to cool during rifting and or 3 lithospheric rifting during which the flexural strength of the lithosphere remains high with respect to points 2 and 3 forward modeling demonstrates that finite rifting rates over a 20 25 m y period are insufficient to cool the lithosphere to the point where post rift subsidence fails to develop an interesting complication arises when the flexural strength of the lithosphere remains large during rifting it tends to suppress the vertical motions of the lithosphere such as those engendered by the cooling of the lithosphere following rifting thereby reducing significantly the amplitude of the post rift subsidence thus the lack of post rift sedimentation within a basin does not necessarily imply that extension has been limited to the crust from our kinematic modeling of the tucano basin the observed negative free air and bouguer gravity anomalies 120 mgals suggest that the flexural strength of the lithosphere has remained sufficiently large to maintain the load of the sediment we can model successfully the observed tucano basin architecture and gravity anomaly irrespective of whether we assume depth dependent or depth independent lithospheric extension primarily because the flexural strength of the lithosphere tends to buffer or suppress the amplitude of the post rift subsidence in contrast the adjacent sergipe alagoas basin is associated with low amplitude gravity anomalies which may reflect a resetting of flexural strength during rifting prior to rifting however there was no appreciable elevation difference between the tucano and sergipe alagoas regions as might be induced by a hot spot for example implying that the flexural strength of the lithosphere was similar the total thickness of the syn and post rift sediments within the sergipe alagoas basin is about the same as the thickness of rift phase sediments in the tucano basin thus the amount of crustal extension responsible for each basin was similar however since the sergipe alagoas basin contains 4 5 km of post rift sediments lithospheric mantle thinning in this region must have been significantly greater than the crustal extension to overcome the effects of flexural bufferring the need for lithospheric mantle thinning to be greater that crustal extension in the sergipe alagoas region was also a result obtained by modeling the development of the ocean continent boundary between brazil and africa from our coupled kinematic and rheological model of lithospheric extension we predict that the ocean continent boundary should form preferentially at the location of greatest crustal and lithospheric mantle thinning that is within the region of maximum depth independent lithospheric extension the ocean continent boundary formed east of the sergipe alagoas basin despite the fact that the tucano basin represents the region of greatest crustal thinning if extension had been uniform with depth beneath these basins the ocean continent boundary should have formed in the tucano basin as it did not some form of intracrustal detachment appears to have been operative to reduce lithospheric mantle thinning beneath the tucano basin while enhancing it beneath the offshore regions of the sergipe alagoas basin

some comments on two layer extensional models for the evolution of sedimentary basins simple extensional models that involve listric faulting in the brittle upper crust and plastic flow in the lower lithosphere have been shown to account for the subsidence history of various continental sedimentary basins and continental shelves in this paper we present structural evidence that extension in the continental lithosphere during rifting is not uniform we review evidence that the rifting process in major intracratonic rift basins is spasmodic rather than continuous that extension and subsidence within the rift during a tectonic phase is generally accompanied by uplift and erosion of the rift flanks that subcrustal heat input during rifting occurs over an area much broader than the rift proper and that there may be broad regional uplift before and or during rifting to explain the uplift of the flanks during rifting and their postrift subsidence we invoke two mechanisms subcrustal thinning by extension below the flanks and tilted major normal faults in the crust between graben and flanks the uplift and erosion of the flanks due to tilted faults probably do not significantly affect estimates of extension from subsidence analysis but uplift due to both sources can in certain cases be incorrectly attributed to regional uplift or doming we present a simplified analysis of the two layer extensional model for the elementary case in which extension is instantaneous and the crust is thinned by a different amount from the subcrustal lithosphere we provide a simple graphical method of data analysis to obtain the parameters that describe thinning of the crust and lithosphere during extension from the subsidence history application of this method to the central part of the pattani trough in the intracratonic gulf of thailand shows that extension and thinning of the lithosphere of a factor of 2 since late eocene can account for much of the subsidence history and the present day heat flow our analysis suggests that thinning of the crust in this area is 20 greater than thinning of the whole lithosphere assuming that none of the lithosphere is removed from the region of extension during rifting we show by simple geometric examples that a process of nonuniform extension implies that much greater thicknesses of sediment can be deposited in the center of a young basin than in the case of uniform extension of both crust and subcrustal lithosphere such an extensional process produces significant uplift of the flanks of the rift and as a result of erosion of the uplifted areas the effective cross sectional area of the basin can be increased by as much as 10 20 depending on the rate of erosion compared to the area that would have been created by a process of uniform extension finally we show that it may ultimately be possible to compute erosion rates from seismic cross sections of basins

uplift and extension at the gulf of suez indications of induced mantle convection reconstruction of tectonic movements since the initiation of the gulf of suez rift indicates that there has been 25 27 km of extension the uplift bordering rift indicates that lithosphere heating greatly exceeds that producible by uniform lithosphere extension i propose that small scale convection induced by the rifting augments the heating introduced by extensional rifting and produces the broad uplifts flanking the rift

the northeastern brazil and gabon basins a double rifting system associated with multiple crustal detachment surfaces analysis of structural stratigraphic and gravimetric data from the reconcavo tucano and sergipe alagoas basins in northeastern brazil and the gabon basin in africa shows that these basins originated in a double rifting system associated with multiple crustal detachment surfaces and that the direction of dip of the detachment surfaces was reversed at the vaza barris fault system this geometry is in agreement with models and data from modern rifts but it requires the existence of a predominantly extensional stress regime in the northern part of the south atlantic during the early stages of oceanic evolution evidence for the existence of such a stress regime is given by application of kinematic constraints to early cretaceous reconstructions of the south atlantic ocean interpretation of the regional geologic setting suggests that the double rifting system and the point of final continental rupture were controlled by the preexisting structural orientation of the tectonic provinces in the precambrian basement

towards a mechanical model for the formation of the pannonian basin abstract new maps showing crustal and lithospheric thickness variations in the pannonian basin and the surrounding east alpine carpathian and dinaric mountains have been prepared on the basis of recent seismic seismologic and electromagnetic data a map presenting miocene faults of regional significance has been also constructed for the same region by using a wealth of recently available national and or more local studies it is suggested that observed crustal and lithospheric structural contrasts have been controlled primarily by neogene kinematic history of the region kinematic history is characterized by the following main patterns 1 1 indentation by adria and large scale backthrusting in the southern alps 2 2 eastward escape and extension of the eastern alps 3 3 extensional collapse in the pannonian basin area 4 4 formation of broad wrench fault systems along strike in the dinarides and southern carpathians and the western carpathians with dextral and sinistral shear respectively 5 5 compression and accretion of the external thrust and fold belt in the eastern carpathians these kinematic patterns are thought to be interrelated and all are manifestations of the late stage evolution of an overthickened orogenic wedge in order to arrive at a better understanding of the mechanism of extension which formed the pannonian basin deep crustal seismic profiles hydrocarbon exploration reflection lines and borehole data have been analyzed in the little hungarian plain this plain represents the transition zone between the alps and the pannonian lowlands and the results are illustrated by eight interpreted cross sections one result of regional importance is the clear recognition that the transdanubian central range at the southeastern flank of the little hungarian plain is composed of alpine pre senonian thrust sheets this finding marks the end of a century of debate the allochthony of the substrata of the pannonian basin can be now considered proven another result of more general interest is that these cross sections document the mode of lithospheric extension preexisting compressional detachment planes reactivate as low angle normal faults and lead to tectonic unroofing of deeply buried metamorphic terranes characterized by ductile flow along subhorizontal lineation

basement control in the development of the early cretaceous west and central african rift system abstract the structural framework of the precambrian basement of the west and central african rift system wcars is described in order to examine the role of ancient structures in the development of this early cretaceous rift system basement structures are represented in the region by large pan african mobile belts built at ca 600 ma surrounding the 2 ga west african congo and sao francisco cratons except for the small gao trough eastern mali located near the contact nappe of the pan african iforas suture zone along the edge of the west african craton the entire wcars is located within the internal domains of the pan african mobile belts within these domains two main structural features occur as the main basement control of the wcars 1 an extensive network of near vertical shear zones which trend north south through the congo brazil nigeria niger and algeria and roughly east west through northeastern brazil and central africa the shear zones correspond to intra continental strike slip faults which accompanied the oblique collision between the west african congo and sao francisco cratons during the late proterozoic 2 a steep metamorphic nw se trending belt which corresponds to a pre pan african ca 730 ma ophiolitic suture zone along the eastern edge of the trans saharian mobile belt the post pan african magmatic and tectonic evolution of the basement is also described in order to examine the state of the lithosphere prior to the break up which occurred in the earliest cretaceous after the pan african thermo tectonic event the basement of the wcars experienced a long period of intra plate magmatic activity this widespread magmatism in part relates to the activity of intra plate hotspots which have controlled relative uplift subsidence and occasionally block faulting during the paleozoic and the early mesozoic this tectonic activity was restricted to west of the hoggar west of air and northern cameroon during the late jurassic early cretaceous the st helena mantle plume may have had an important effect in weakening the lithosphere across a broad zone from brazil to sudan however causes of extension and stretching are likely to be found in a plate tectonic framework at that time the opening of both the indian and atlantic oceans were the dominant forces which favoured the development of the wcars and its propagation by strike slip movements and extensional displacements along pre existing pan african lithospheric zones of weakness

active normal faulting and crustal extension a world wide review of fault plane solutions and focal depths for large normal faulting earthquakes on the continents shows that the overwhelming majority of such earthquakes nucleate in the depth range 6 15 km on faults dipping between 30 and 60 in the few cases where levelling or seismic data are good enough these normal faults are shown to be approximately planar from the surface to their nucleation depth at the base of the brittle crust there is evidence that in some cases as a result of the enormous transitory increase in strain rate during large earthquakes rupture continues into the normally ductile lower crust on surfaces with substantially gentler dips these low angle surfaces may be analogous to some of the detachments seen in metamorphic core complexes of the western usa but the nature of the motion on them depends on strain rate as well as on rheological contrasts between the detachments and the blocks on either side such contrasts however are unlikely to introduce substantial curvature to an originally planar shear zone if the observed spread in active normal fault dips is caused by rotation of the faults and the blocks they bound during extension then a maximum value of 1 7 can be accommodated by seismic activity on a single generation of normal faults with continued extension either a new generation of steeper faults cutting the rotated first faults is likely to form or the deformation will continue aseismically on faults dipping at less than 30 large earthquakes have not been observed to nucleate on very low angle 20 normal faults within the continental crust anywhere in the world such faults can of course move aseismically but are unlikely to do so on a large scale within the upper crust in areas where steep normal faults are seismically active thus extensional models that require concentrated simple shear on large sub horizontal faults within the brittle upper crust will also require a spatial separation between aseismic very low angle faulting and seismic highangle faulting since seismogenic high angle faults dominate the topography of extending regions upper crustal very low angle faulting if it occurs on a large scale presumably does so in areas that are relatively fiat

on the origin of the southern permian basin central europe abstract a detailed study of the structural and stratigraphic evolution of the southern permian basin during latest carboniferous to early jurassic times supported by quantitative subsidence analyses and forward basin modelling for 25 wells leads us to modify the conventional model for the rotliegend zechstein development of this basin the late permian early jurassic tectonic subsidence curves are typical for a permian to early triassic extensional stage that is followed by thermal subsidence however a purely extensional model is extremely problematic because active faulting during this time is minor and generally hard to document using inverse techniques to model the subsidence curves we quantitatively show that a significant component of late permian and triassic tectonic subsidence can be explained by thermal relaxation of early permian lithospheric thinning and by delayed infilling of paleo topographic depressions that developed during the early permian in this interpretation stephanian autunian wrenching resulted in thermal destabilisation of the lithosphere deep fracturing of the crust disruption and erosion of its sedimentary cover and regional uplift of the area of the future southern permian basin upon termination of wrench tectonics and associated volcanism towards the end of the autunian the southern permian basin began to subside in response to thermal contraction of the lithosphere the evolving basin was isolated from the world oceans and had subsided possibly up to some 700 m below their level at the beginning of upper rotliegend sedimentation after catastrophic flooding of this paleo topographic depression at the beginning of the zechstein changing sea level sedimentation and subsidence rates remained essentially in balance although the effects of triassic rifting overprinted parts of the southern permian basin its overall subsidence pattern persisted well into the jurassic in contrast to the remainder of the southern permian basin permian and triassic crustal extension contributed significantly to the subsidence of the polish trough

rheological structure and dynamical response of the dss profile baltic in the se fennoscandian shield abstract numerical modelling was applied to study the present day state of stress and deformation under different tectonic loading conditions at the seismic baltic skj profile in south eastern finland and in estonia the finite element method was used to solve the numerical problem the two dimensional model was constructed using the results from both seismic and thermal studies along the profile the model is 700 km long and 200 km deep and is roughly divided into an inhomogeneous laterally layered crust and a homogeneous mantle lithosphere both the linear elastic and non linear elasto plastic rheologies were used elasto plasticity was achieved by calculating a rheological strength as a function of depth along the profile different tectonic load cases were analysed with displacement force and pressure type boundary conditions also the effect of different strain rates was investigated the results suggest that even with relatively low compressive stress levels the lower crust deforms in a plastic manner for a wet crustal rheology when applying a dry crustal rheology plastic yielding is attained only with much higher stress fields

plate reorganization a cause of rapid late neogene subsidence and sedimentation around the north atlantic subsidence analysis of wells in the central north sea and labrador grand banks and oft the west greenland scotian shelf and united states atlantic margin shows distinct quantitative stratigraphic correlation patterns of circum north atlantic sites a significant departure from the overall decrease in subsidence for the pliocene occurs in many wells when the rate is found to have increased one or more orders of magnitude from oligocence miocene rates wells were selected along transects from shore to basin to find if relative basin position is influenced by differential basin subsidence although stratigraphic resolution is not detailed more basinward sites experienced up to four times larger subsidence rates in the late neogene than in the oligocene miocene with a peak in the pliocene wells at the basin edge experienced much less subsidence or showed uplift the observations are consistent with a rapid change of intraplate stress at the cause for this observed transition in neogene subsidence major reorganizations of spreading direction and rate occurred during the pliocene along the entire atlantic spreading system possibly in conjunction with more global changes in plate motions we propose that the associated changes in intraplate stress caused the excess margin subsidence relative uplift along basin edges is consistent with this mechanism of relative movement and may explain apparent eustatic changes in sea level

mixing by time dependent convection abstract two dimensional numerical flow models are employed to study the mixing of passive heterogeneities in the earth s mantle both simple kinematic models of time dependent flow and dynamic convection models are studied initially small blocks of tracers are inserted into the flow and their progressive dispersal is monitored through time some of the tracers also serve as infinitesimal strain markers three different regimes of mixing are observed a all heterogeneities are rapidly strained and stirred according to a turbulent mixing law where the size of a blob decreases exponentially with time b most heterogeneities are only slowly strained and possibly follow a laminar mixing law with a linear decrease with time of the size of a heterogeneity c the size reduction proceeds rapidly in part of the fluid but some poorly stirred islands persist for a long time all three regimes are found in various kinematic flow models while in the dynamic convection models only regime a is observed the effective strain rate in the exponential turbulent mixing law is more than an order of magnitude smaller than the average flow strain rate when the results from the dynamic convection models with variable viscosity are scaled to the upper mantle mixing over small length scales would be achieved after a few hundred million years for whole mantle convection with a significant increase of viscosity with depth mixing times could be in the order of 1 2 ga in the latter case it appears marginally possible that part of the isotopic heterogeneity observed in oceanic basalts has evolved within the convecting mantle rather than in physically separated reservoirs

geological interpretation of dekorp 2 s a deep seismic reflection profile across the saxothuringian and possible implications for the late variscan structural evolution of central europe abstract a 250 km long deep seismic section the first of its kind in west germany s dekorp project is interpreted in terms of late variscan collisional tectonics the structural model used is based on the intracontinental thrust tectonics concept of modern collision orogens the crustal profile across the saxothuringian zone seems to indicate north facing ramps antiformal stacks and culminations within the crystalline basement of the internal mid european variscides that have been only partially overprinted by permo mesozoic crustal stretching

effect of lithosphere thickness heterogeneities in controlling rift localization numerical modeling of the oslo graben 1 we present 2 d thermo mechanical and numerical modeling at lithospheric scale to assess the impact of pre existing lithosphere thickness contrast on rift localization the results of the modeling suggest that thickness heterogeneity was responsible for focussing rifting and passive asthenospheric upwelling in the permo carboniferous oslo graben at the western margin of the fennoscandian shield these findings are consistent with inferences from recent studies showing that both the crust mantle boundary and the base of the lithosphere are and were deeper at the eastern margin of the oslo graben resulting in contrasting crust and lithosphere thickness

from rifting to passive margin the examples of the red sea central atlantic and alpine tethys abstract evolution of the red sea gulf of suez and the central atlantic rift systems shows that an initial transtensive rifting phase affecting a broad area around the future zone of crustal separation was followed by a pre oceanic rifting phase during which extensional strain was concentrated on the axial rift zone this caused lateral graben systems to become inactive and they evolved into rift rim basins the transtensive phase of diffuse crustal extension is recognized in many intra continental rifts if controlling stress systems relax these rifts abort and develop into palaeorifts if controlling stress systems persist transtensive rift systems can enter the pre oceanic rifting stage during which the rift zone narrows and becomes asymmetric as a consequence of simple shear deformation at shallow crustal levels and pure shear deformation at lower crustal and mantle lithospheric levels preceding crustal separation extensional denudation of the lithospheric mantle is possible progressive lithospheric attenuation entails updoming of the asthenosphere and thermal doming of the rift shoulders their uplift provides a major clastic source for the rift basins and the lateral rift rim basins their stratigraphic record provides a sensitive tool for dating the rift shoulder uplift asymmetric rifting leads to the formation of asymmetric continental margins corresponding in a simple shear model to an upper plate and a conjugate lower plate margin as seen in the central atlantic passive margins of the united states and morocco this rifting model can be successfully applied to the analysis of the alpine tethys palaeo margins such as rif and the western alps

the sarmatian crustal segment precambrian correlation between the voronezh massif and the ukrainian shield across the dniepr donets aulacogen abstract sarmatia is the southernmost crustal segment of the east european precambrian craton the phanerozoic dniepr donets aulacogen dda subdivides it into unequal halves the ukrainian shield in the south and the voronezh massif in the north correlation between the ukrainian shield and the voronezh massif is reviewed the overall structure and age province subdivision of sarmatia are assessed and constraints are imposed on displacement along the dda it is shown that differences in the trends of the principal basement structures highlighted by magnetic anomalies outlining palaeoproterozoic banded iron formations are a consequence of the heterogeneous structure of the archaean palaeoproterozoic basement rather than the kinematics of the opening of the dda only minor right lateral displacement along the dda has occurred the main crustal units of the ukrainian shield i e the azov middle dniepr and ingul ingulets blocks correlate excellently with the oskol sumy and sevsk blocks of the voronezh massif which allows the definition of three coherent oskol azov sumy dniepr and sevsk ingulets crustal domains presently available radiometric datings show that these three domains all have archaean crustal ages of 3 65 3 0 3 2 3 1 and 3 1 2 8 ga respectively the inter domain boundaries appear largely to have existed already in the archaean but were subsequently masked by palaeoproterozoic deformation and overlain by proterozoic cover and nappe piles amongst the three crustal domains of central and eastern sarmatia the oskol azov and sevsk ingulets ones have been reworked substantially in the palaeoproterozoic while the sumy dniepr domain acted as a stable cratonic unit although apparently rotating anti clockwise between 2 3 and 2 1 ga ago the palaeoproterozoic banded iron belts of sarmatia can be subdivided into the cratonic margin krivoy rog type and the interior intra domain oskol type the former outline the cratonic sumy dniepr domain while the latter associate with nw se continental rifting that followed archaean zones of weakness inside the oskol azov domain the bryansk block in the northwestern part of the voronezh massif is a part of the large bryansk bragin granulite domain which was formed between ca 2 2 and 2 1 ga ago and extends into the northwestern ukrainian shield in the east the lipetsk losev volcanic belt and the east voronezh turbidite schist province follow the boundary between the sarmatian and volgo uralian crustal segments together these two crustal units appear to represent a palaeoproterozoic orogenic environment ca 2 1 2 0 ga in age

stresses and plate boundary forces associated with subduction plate margins primary tectonic stress in the lithosphere is predominantly caused by lateral density variations within the earth and associated topographical loading when such a stress system caused by major sublithospheric density anomalies is intersected by a weak zone which cuts across the lithosphere plate boundary forces develop and modify the plate interior stresses in this paper unite element analysis is used to model the stresses and plate boundary forces associated with subduction plate boundaries with dipping and vertical slabs extending to about 270 and 400 km depths having the subduction fault both locked and unlocked in such regions several types of horizontal deviatoric stress may occur including 1 local compression in the trench arc region caused by the dense sinking slab and the associated surface downflexure 2 plate interior tension which occurs when this compression is intersected by a weak subduction fault 3 local tension associated with thickening of the crust at the arc and elsewhere 4 local tension in the back arc region produced by the underlying low density upper mantle and 5 downbending stresses in the subducting slab thermal stresses and transmitted ridge push which are not included in the modelling here a gradient from compression in the forearc to tension in the back arc can be modelled in terms of these stresses when the fault is partially locked it is however the intersection of the local compression 1 by an unlocked or partially locked subduction fault that modifies the plate interior stresses and gives rise to the slab pull and trench suction plate boundary forces the state of stress in the interior of the overriding plate is also crucially influenced by back arc spreading where this occurs plate boundary forces have been evaluated for each of the models it is shown that slab pull and trench suction may be of comparable magnitude

stress in the indo australian plate cloetingh s and wortel r 1986 stress in the ind austr ian plate in b johnson and a w bally editors intraplate deformation characteristics processes and causes tectonophysics 132 49 67 we modelled the state of stress in the indo australian plate in order to investigate quantitatively variations observed in tectonic style the numerical procedure incorporates the dependence of slab pull and ridge push on the age of the oceanic lithosphere estimates are presented for the average net resistive forces at the himalayan collision zone the suction force acting on the overriding indo australian plate segment at the tonga kermadec trench and the drag at the base of the lithosphere our modelhng shows a concen ation of compressive stresses of the order of 3 5 lcbar in the ninetyeast ridge area the effects of the compressive resistance associated with himalayan collision and subduction of young lithosphere off the northern part of the sunda arc are focused in this region the stress field as calculated gives a consistent explanation for the observed concentration of seismic activity stein and okal 1978 and significant deformation in the oceanic crust weissel et al 1980 mcadoo and sandwell 1985 in the area the calculated stress field in the area adjacent to the southeast and central india ridges is characterized by tension parallel to the spreading axis this explains the concentration of near ridge normal faulting seismicity with t axes subparaile1 to the spreading ridge in the indian ocean as recently observed by bergman et al 1984 and wiens and stein 1984 the regional stress field along the strike of the sunda arc varies from compression seaward of and parallel to the sumatra trench segment to tension perpendicular to the java flores segment this explains the selective occurrence of well developed grabens seaward off the java flores segment of the trench observed by hilde 1983 our modelling shows that the observed rotation of the stress field denham et al 1979 in the australian continent is mainly the consequence of its geographic position relative to the surrounding trench segments and the variations of the forces acting on the down going slab in each of these the state of compression in west and central australia is induced by the action of resistive forces at the himalayan and banda arc collision zones the joint occurrence of high levels of compression in the plate s interior and normal faulting seismicity in the near ridge areas is a transient feature unique to the present dynamic situation of the indo australian plate

crustal structure of the northern part of the voring basin mid norway margin from wide angle seismic and gravity data abstract three regional ocean bottom seismograph obs profiles with a total of fifteen recovered obss were acquired in the northern part of the voring basin mid norway margin in 1996 the data have been modelled by inversion and forward modelling of the obs vertical components p waves the velocity is found to increase downwards within the sedimentary layers due to increasing depth of burial confining pressure within the two deepest sedimentary layers there seems to be an increase of 0 5 1 km s in velocity northwestwards this increase is most likely caused by high velocity sill intrusions in the sedimentary rocks emplaced during the rift episode leading to early eocene opening of the ne atlantic the presence of significant amounts of sills seems to terminate close to the nyk high along profile 5 dip profile and close to a dome northwest of the shelf edge along profile 6 dip profile the velocity in the top of this dome is anomalously high 3 4 km s at only 1 km depth beneath the seafloor suggesting that the high consists of volcanic rocks or heavily intruded sedimentary rocks the relatively low velocities derived from within the upper crystalline crust 5 9 6 2 km s confirms that the crust is of continental origin within the lower crust there seems to be a clear increase in velocity northwestwards from about 7 0 km s to about 7 4 km s suggesting that the amount of high velocity intrusions underplating in the lower crust decreases landwards the modelling of the strike profile profile 7 suggests that the transition from a lower crust dominated by magmatic intrusions to a more undisturbed continental lower crust is located approximately beneath this profile the model for profile 7 ties closely southwestwards to the models derived from obs data acquired in 1992 and northeastwards to lofoten obs data acquired in 1988 the models indicate that the thick magmatic intrusions in the sedimentary rocks and lower crust extend further landwards in the area of the 1992 survey and that the transition zone is related to the surt lineament the distribution of magmatic rocks thus seems to correlate strongly with pre breakup structures in addition to the p wave modelling gravity modelling has been performed along all profiles the gravity modelling confirmed all main aspects of the obs models and provided constraints on the crustal structures towards the ends of the profiles

senonian basin inversion and rejuvenation of rifting in africa and arabia synthesis and implications to plate scale tectonics abstract the late paleozoic to tertiary stratigraphic record of much of the african plate reflects the effects of continental rifting and passive margin development several short lived but widespread and tectonically important compressional or wrench dominated events occurred however during the permian to recent evolution of africa we focus here on the best documented of these events which occurred during the late santonian at that time older sedimentary basins mostly ene wsw trending were folded and inverted including some basins along the tethyan margin from morocco to the syrian arc and the intraplate benue southern chad basins and the lugh mandera basin in oman ophiolites were obducted following the santonian tectonism an extensive phase of rifting occurred in central and north africa and northern arabia spanning from campanian to maastrichtian or paleocene times rejuvenation or acceleration of subsidence occurred in several basins located along the tethyan margin along the atlantic and indian ocean margins as well as within the intraplate domain rifting was sometimes accompanied by magmatic activity especially in offshore northern libya and along the indian ocean margin compressional deformations rejuvenated or developed by latest maastrichtian times along the tethyan margin and locally within the intraplate domain one of the most remarkable attributes of the santonian tectonic event which we consider representative of the major trans african stress field changes is the rapidity with which the change was reflected stratigraphically across north and central africa and its short duration the cause of the santonian compressional event is directly linked to the change in poles of rotation for the opening of the atlantic at 83 85 ma the end of the cretaceous normal magnetic quiet zone this was also synchronous with the obduction of ophiolites along the northeast margin of arabia oman the onset of separation between india and madagascar with formation of the mascarene oceanic basin and the development of the european alpine chain we interpret these phenomena as causally related aspects of a global tectonic event the santonian compressional event as well as the campanian maastrichtian rifting event and the end cretaceous compressional event illustrate the critical connection between intraplate tectonic histories and processes occurring at sometimes very distant plate boundaries

analogue modelling of multiphase rift systems abstract analogue models of multiphase rift systems show that structures produced by the first phase of extension exertsignificant control on the geometries of the later phase extensional faults two experimental series series 1 and series 2 used different modelling media subjected to two phases of extension series 1 models used a simple homogeneous sandpack whereas series 2 models used a sand polymer multilayer in each series kinematic scenarios included orthogonal extension followed by oblique extension or vice versa extension directions for oblique rift kinematics varied from 75 to 30 to the axis of rifting in all models where oblique rifting superseded earlier orthogonal rift structures the second deformation phase produced segmented fault systems and reorientation of fault tips into high angles with respect to the extension vector higher angles of obliquity resulted in increased fault segmentation orthogonal extension superposed on earlier oblique rifting leads to coalescence of segmented faults although remnants of the inherited initial rift structure remained even for low angles of obliquity the sand polymer multilayer models produced more complex fault patterns than those in the simple homogeneous sandpack showing the possible complexities that can be generated during polyphase rifting persistent first phase rift faults caused boundary fault segmentation and salients and embayments along the boundary faults during the second deformation phase the natural occurrence of similar structural styles particularly in map view may indicate that previously unrecognised multiphase rifting has occurred in these natural examples

rift segment interaction and its relation to hydrocarbon exploration in continental rift systems 1 in both the early stages of continental rifting and the onset of sea floor spreading in the more advanced rifting longitudinally continuous rifting is accomplished by the propagation and linkage of isolated pockets of extension in the early continental rift phase these isolated pockets of deformation are defined as rift segments rift segments initially are distributed in a loose association of in line and en echelon geometry their propagation interaction and linkage into a continuous rift system creates a variety of rift geometries including rift splays gaps offsets passes and large scale transfer zones an understanding of these geometries and their associated fault patterns is critical for effective hydrocarbon exploration in these zones

thermomechanical structure of european continental lithosphere constraints from rheological profiles and eet estimates summary the eet equivalent elastic thickness of the lithosphere is a measure of the integrated lithospheric strength it is directly related to the mechanical thickness and rheology of the crustal and mantle lithosphere we present a comparison of eet estimates and strength profiles based on the extrapolation of rock mechanics data for different parts of the european and eurasian continental lithosphere we discuss the temporal and spatial variations in the mechanical thickness and strength inferred from data for precambrian segments of europe s lithosphere variscan europe and the alpine collision belt this analysis demonstrates important spatial and temporal variations in lithospheric rigidity for orogenic belts and sedimentary basins in eastern and western europe and asian parts of eurasia the eet estimates based on synthetic rheological profiles constrained by newly available geophysical data are consistent with the estimates of eet derived from flexural studies of sedimentary basins forelands and orogenic belts these rheological profiles suggest weakening of the major parts of the european and eurasian continental lithosphere by decoupling of the crustal and upper mantle parts a comparison with the seismicity depth distribution for some selected sites suggests that the intra plate seismicity is essentially restricted to the upper crustal parts of europe s lithosphere providing additional support to the notion of the decoupled lithosphere the presence of intra plate stress fields can explain a significant part of the observed variations in eet estimates within individual thermotectonic age groups a comparison of wavelengths of crustal and lithospheric folding with observations shows these wavelengths to be consistent with estimates of eet inferred from the rheological response of basins and orogens at more moderate levels of intra plate stress

upper rhine graben role of preexisting structures during rift evolution 1 the evolution of the cenozoic upper rhine graben was controlled by a repeatedly changing stress field and the reactivation of a complex set of crustal discontinuities that had come into evidence during permo carboniferous times a comparison of the spatial and temporal thickness distribution of synrift deposits with preexisting fault patterns permits to infer a sequence of distinct basin subsidence phases that can be related to changes in the ambient stress field reactivation of a system of late palaeozoic fault systems outlining troughs and highs controlled the nucleation of initially separated middle and late eocene basins the depocenters of which coincided with a preexisting wsw ene trend during oligocene crustal extension the individual basins coalesced resulting in the development of the ssw nne striking upper rhine graben during the late oligocene chattian change in stress field the upper rhine graben was probably reactivated as a dextral strike slip system with the central graben segment forming a releasing bend during the early miocene aquitanian a major reorientation of the regional stress field is held responsible for the main subsidence phase of the northern parts of the upper rhine graben this is reflected by a counterclockwise rotation and northeastward shift of the depocenter axis and later by the middle miocene uplift and erosion of the southern parts of the upper rhine graben during the plio quaternary the upper rhine graben was reactivated as a sinistral strike slip system with the central graben segment forming a restraining bend

a geophysical study of the hatton bank volcanic margin a summary of the results from a combined seismic gravity and magnetic experiment abstract this paper summarizes the results of a geophysical study of the hatton bank volcanic margin in the north atlantic normal incidence and synthetic aperture profiles saps show seaward dipping reflectors interpreted as subaerial basalt flows on the continental slope and in the adjacent ocean basin velocity depth profiles derived from expanding spread profiles esps shot along strike show elevated velocities in the lower crust on the continental slope the high velocities are interpreted as evidence for igneous underplating or intrusion gravity modelling shows high densities in the lower crust supporting a model of igneous accretion an ocean bottom seismometer obs and multichannel refraction line shot perpendicularly to strike through the midpoints of the esps further constrained the velocity structure across the margin the velocity model was refined as each dataset was processed clearly showing that multiple datasets were required in order to constrain the velocity structure tightly in particular esps were found to produce misleading results in places where the assumption that the sub surface structure is one dimensional inherent in the esp technique was not valid the final velocity model is used to infer the thickness of igneous material accreted across the hatton margin which is estimated to increase westwards from zero at the top of the bank to 18 km at the bottom of the continental slope and then thin rapidly to 11 km in the adjacent iceland basin as the oceanic crust thins its seismic velocity decreases suggesting a decrease in percentage partial melting these observations strongly support a model in which volcanic margins are produced by elevated asthenospheric temperatures

detachment faulting and the evolution of passive continental margins major detachment faults play a key role in the lithospheric extension process in the basin and range province and may also be important in other continental extension terranes such detachment faulting leads to an inherent asymmetry of extensional structure and of uplift subsidence patterns detachment models developed for the formation of metamorphic core complexes can also be applied to the formation of passive continental margins we therefore suggest the existence of upper plate and lower plate passive margins these give rise to a complementary asymmetry of opposing margins after continental breakup transfer faults offset marginal features and allow margins to switch from upper plate to lower plate characteristics along strike

post variscan evolution of the lithosphere in the rhine graben area constraints from subsidence modelling in the area of the cenozoic rhine rift system crustal and lithospheric thicknesses range between 24 and 35 km and 60 and 120 km respectively this rift system transects the deeply truncated variscan orogen and superimposed permo carboniferous wrench induced troughs and late permian and mesozoic thermal sag basins at the time of its westphlian consolidation the variscan orogen was probably characterized by 45 60 km deep crustal roots that were associated with its rheno hercynian saxo thuringian saxo thuringian bohemian and bohemian moldanubian sutures all of which are transected by the cenozoic rhine rift system during the stephanian early permian wrench induced disruption of the variscan orogen subducted lithospheric slabs were detached causing upwelling of hot mantle material during the resulting thermal surge partial delamination and or thermal thinning of the continental mantle lithosphere induced regional uplift at the same time the variscan orogenic roots were destroyed and crustal thicknesses reduced to 28 35 km in response to the combined effects of mantle derived melts interacting with the lower crust regional erosional unroofing of the crust and on a more local scale by its mechanical stretching towards the end of the early permian the potential temperature of the asthenosphere returned to ambient levels with this regional long term thermal subsidence of the lithosphere commenced controlling the development of a new system of late permian and mesozoic thermal sag basins however the evolution of these basins was repeatedly overprinted by minor short term subsidence accelerations that reflect the build up of far field stresses related to rifting in the tethyan and atlantic domains comparison of observed and modelled subsidence curves suggests that in the area of the rhine rift system the lithosphere had equilibrated with the asthenosphere at the end of the cretaceous at depths of 100 120 km before it became thermally destabilized again by cenozoic rifting and plume related magmatism modelled subsidence curves indicate that by the end of early permian times the thermal thickness of the remnant mantle lithosphere ranged between 10 and 50 km in areas that were later incorporated into mesozoic thermal sag basins this corresponds to mid permian thermal lithosphere thicknesses of 40 80 km the geological society of london 2004

low angle detachment origin for the red sea rift system abstract the tectonic and magmatic history of the jizan coastal plain tihama asir southwest arabia suggests a two stage evolution a first stage of extension began during the oligocene and ended with uplift of the arabian graben shoulder which began about 14 ma ago it was followed by a period of approximately 10 ma characterized by magmatic and tectonic quiescence a second stage of extension began roughly contemporaneously with the onset of seafloor spreading in the southern red sea some 4 5 ma ago and is still active today the geometry of faulting in the jizan area supports a wernicke model of simple shear for the development of the southern red sea regional asymmetries of the red sea area such as the distribution of volcanism the marginal topography and asymmetries in the geophysical signatures are consistent with such a model available seismic profiles allow a rough estimate for values of the arabian red sea margin and were used to simulate subsidence history and heat flow of the red sea for classical two layer stretching models neither finite uniform nor finite non uniform stretching models can account for observed subsidence and heat flow data thus two model scenarios of whole lithosphere normal simple shear are presented for the geological history of the southwestern arabian margin of the red sea these models are limited because of the serravallian rearrangement in the kinematics of the red sea

architecture and early evolution of the oslo rift abstract a revised assessment of architecture and pre rift fabric connections of the oslo rift has been undertaken and linked to a new appraisal of observations and data related to the initial phase of the rift evolution in addition to half graben segmentation accommodation zones and transfer faults are readily identified in the linking sectors between the two main grabens and between graben segments axial flexures are proposed between facing half grabens the accommodation zones were generally sites of volcanism during rifting pre rift tectonic structures played an influential role in the rift location and development the deviant n s axis of the vestfold graben segment is viewed as related to pre rift structural control through faults and shear zones this area was probably a site of proterozoic palaeozoic crustal and lithospheric attenuation field evidence suggests that the rift started as a crustal sag with no apparent surface faulting in a flat and low lying land at a time about 305 310 ma volcanism sub surface sill intrusion and faulting started about simultaneously some time after the initial sag 300 305 ma faulting and basaltic volcanism were initially localized to transfer faults along accommodation zones and a nnw sse transtensional zone along the eastern margin of the incipient vestfold graben segment this transtensional zone was probably created by right lateral simple shear tracing pre rift structures in response to a regional stress field with the tensional axis normal and the maximum compressional axis parallel to the nne ssw trending rift axis

baikal rift zone structure and geodynamics abstract the cenozoic baikal rift zone is superimposed on the caledonian baikal fold belt representing the suture between the precambrian siberian craton and several microcontinents the baikal rift zone consists of a system of disconnected fault bounded basins and extensional and wrench faults that straddles a major arch having a topographic relief of 2 3 km rifting activity commenced during the oligocene and is still active as evident from high seismicity of the baikal rift zone across the baikal rift zone upper crustal extension is considerably smaller than would be expected from its crustal thickness which decreases by 8 11 km across the baikal basins as compared to the adjacent unextended areas the discrepancy between upper and lower crustal attenuation could be attributed to intrusion of a major diapir indeed geophysical data indicate that the sayan baikal dome coincides with such a diapir the top of which is located at the crust mantle boundary this intrusion is held responsible for oligocene and quaternary doming of the rift zone development of the intra continental baikal rift system is thought to be related to asthenospheric diapirism active rifting however intra plate stresses in conjunction with the himalayan collision may have played some role

subsidence of the paris basin and its bearing on the late variscan lithosphere evolution a comparison between plate and chablis models abstract in this study two different models for the lithospheric thermal evolution are used to predict the long term subsidence of the paris basin the plate or chablis models have a constant temperature or constant heat flow at the base of the lithosphere these boundary conditions yield a different thermal relaxation time for a given equilibrium lithospheric thickness the final thermal steady state does not depend on the boundary condition fixed at the base of the lithosphere the thermal evolution of the lithosphere is computed taking into account temperature and pressure dependent thermal characteristics metamorphism in the crust top crustal erosion and phase transition in the mantle spinel garnet the long term tectonic subsidence of the paris basin constrains the mesozoic thermal evolution of the lithosphere and the amplitude of the initial thermal anomaly the chablis model including the effects of spinel garnet phase transition predicts present day lithospheric thickness in better agreement with observation than the plate model the chablis model involves a basal heat transfer of 37 mw m2 similar to the value beneath oceanic plates the long term subsidence of the paris basin obviously results from the decay of a thermal anomaly initiated during late variscan times we first assume that at 300 ma the lithosphere was less than 150 km thick and the thickened crust started returning to its present thickness 35 km by uniform lithospheric extension the subsidence data can be explained by short stephano autunian as well as long stephano triassic lasting extension these hypotheses both implicitly refer to extensional collapse of the variscan belt however the evolution of the variscan belt from 350 to 300 ma may have involved almost no crustal thickening but an anomalously thin lithosphere ca 55 km the corresponding thermal evolution of the lithosphere is computed using the chablis model with an initially high heat transfer of 61 mw m2 at the base of the base of the lithosphere at 280 ma this heat transfer is tuned to 40 mw m2 leading to lithospheric cooling from 280 to 30 ma which can also explain the paris basin subsidence for the short lasting extension hypothesis the late variscan lithospheric evolution predicted with the chablis model yields paleogeography magmatism and retrograde p t t paths in good agreement with those reported from areas around the paris basin conversely the plate model does not allow mantle melting during the end of carboniferous and permian times the long lasting extension hypothesis does not explain the paleogeographic evolution the timing of magmatism and retrograde p t paths showing isothermal decompression the hypothesis with a strong lithospheric delamination cannot be ruled out however it is less plausible than the extensional collapse hypothesis

kinematic thermal and petrological model of the central alps lepontine metamorphism in the upper crust and eclogitisation of the lower crust abstract seismic and seismological studies as well as gravimetric models indicate that a slab of european lithospheric mantle and lower crust is currently underthrust below the apulian crust we assume a simple kinematic model in which the lower and upper subducted european crusts are decoupled along a decollement the lower crust goes into subduction without deformation the upper crust deforms by pure shear with a horizontal compressional axis the total erosional flux is adjusted to balance upper crust input so that the belt keeps the same geometry different distributions of erosion being used the computed temperature field is steady state if the kinematic model applies during a minimum time of 40 myr for a convergence rate of 8 mm yr equilibrium mineral assemblages and densities are determined from the computed p t conditions for a granodioritic chemical composition of the upper crust and an andesitic composition of the lower crust assuming local isostasy the density model fits the average topographic profile across the central alps the p t t paths obtained for the part of the upper crust initially at depths 10 to 16 km are compatible with the medium pressure oligocene metamorphism in the lepontine dome the peak calculated temperature for the deepest non subducted crustal rocks is 600 c for a pressure of 0 8 gpa near the lower limit of high pressure amphibolites we thus propose that the lepontine metamorphism corresponds to the steady state thermal regime however either faster erosion rates in the internal part of the belt or tectonic denudation are required for exhumation of the deeper portion of the belt the computed temperature field implies eclogitisation of the lower crust at a depth of 55 to 60 km we conclude that the moho limiting the deepest part of the root may correspond to the eclogitisation phase change lower crust eclogites have a density comparable to or higher than that of the mantle depending on their chemical composition 3 37 for andesitic eclogites 3 56 for gabbroic eclogites thus andesitic eclogites may stay in gravitational equilibrium in the mantle below the root whereas gabbroic eclogites are gravitationally unstable and should sink

basaltic magmatism in the north sea and its relationship to lithospheric extension abstract mesozoic magmatism in the north sea rift system varies from mildly to strongly alkaline in character in the triple junction which occurs at the intersection of the viking graben moray firth central graben large volumes of alkali basalt erupted to form the forties volcanic province these basalts are located in the most extended region of the rift which underwent lithospheric stretching by a factor of two much smaller volumes of distinctive undersaturated volatile rich ultrapotassic and nephelinitic rocks were erupted and intruded in off axis regions in which is generally less than 1 2 the average thickness 1 km and composition of the forties basalts is most easily explained in terms of mixing of melt components derived from the asthenosphere and the more easily fusible volatile enriched parts of the continental lithosphere using recent work by mckenzie and o nions 1991 we show that asthenosphere of normal potential temperature will melt if it is brought rapidly to depths of less than 80 km the asthenosphere rose to 60 km during rifting in the forties region of the north sea the thickness 0 66 km and composition of melt produced from the asthenosphere is calculated using the results of a ree inversion scheme mckenzie and o nions 1991 the composition of the lithospheric melt component appears to be some mixture of nephelinite and ultrapotassic melt mixing asthenospheric and lithospheric melts in approximately equal proportions appears to be able to produce 1 2 km of melt whose elemental and isotopic composition is very similar to that of the forties basalts

impact of wind on the condition for column collapse of volcanic plumes the collapse of volcanic plumes has significant implications for eruption dynamics and associated hazards we show how eruptive columns can collapse and generate pyroclastic density currents as a result of not only the source conditions but also of the atmospheric environment the ratio of the potential energy and the kinetic energy at the source quantified by the richardson number and the entrainment efficiency quantified by the radial entrainment coefficient have already been identified as key parameters in controlling the transition between a buoyant and collapsing plume here we quantify how this transition is affected by wind using scaling arguments in combination with a one dimensional plume model air entrainment due to wind causes a volcanic plume to lower its density at a faster rate and therefore to favor buoyancy we identify the conditions when wind entrainment becomes dominant over radial entrainment and quantify the effect of wind on column collapse these findings are framed into a generalized regime diagram that also describes previous regime diagrams for the specific case of choked flows many observations confirm how bent over plumes typically do not generate significant collapses a quantitative comparison with the 1996 ruapehu and the 2010 eyjafjallajokull eruptions shows that the likelihood of collapse is reduced even at moderate wind speeds relative to the exit velocity at the vent

the subsidence of the williston basin a detailed comparison between the pre cretaceous stratigraphic record in the williston basin and the available information about phanerozoic sea level changes indicates that most stratigraphic breaks in the basin reflect eustatic control the basin appears to have been subsiding continuously and steadily about the same centre for most of the phanerozoic above a thick 55 km continental crust deposition kept up with subsidence and most of the sedimentary record was laid down close to sea level erosional breaks in the stratigraphic record may represent periods of removal of strata during episodes of low sea level a possible explanation of this essentially steady nonexponential subsidence record is that a mafic subcrustal body is undergoing transformation to eclogite

dynamic processes controlling evolution of rifted basins abstract the extension of the lithosphere controlling the development of rifted basins is driven by a combination of plate boundary forces frictional forces exerted on the base of the lithosphere by the convecting asthenosphere and deviatoric tensional stresses developing over upwelling branches of the asthenospheric convection system although mantle plumes are not a primary driving force of rifting they play an important secondary role by weakening the lithosphere and by controlling the level of rift related volcanic activity a distinction between active and passive rifting is only conditionally justified the extension of the lithosphere depending on its rate and magnitude and the potential temperature of the asthenosphere can cause by adiabatic decompression partial melting of the lower lithosphere and upper asthenosphere in rift systems the level and timing of volcanic activity is highly variable the lack of volcanic activity implies passive rifting an initial passive rifting stage can be followed by a more active one during which magmatism plays an increasingly important role magmatic destabilization of the moho may account for the frequently observed discrepancy between upper and lower crustal extension factors combined with evidence for thermal thinning of the mantle lithosphere this suggest that the volume of the lithosphere is not necessarily preserved during rifting as advocated by conventional stretching models the structural style of rifts is controlled by the rheological structure of the lithosphere the availability of crustal discontinuities that can be tensionally reactivated the mode orthogonal or oblique and amount of extension and the lithological composition of pre and syn rift sediments simple shear extension prevails in rifts that subparallel the structural grain of the basement pure shear extension is typical for rifts cross cutting the basement grain pre existing crustal and mantle lithospheric discontinuities contribute to the localization of rift systems the duration of the rifting stage of extensional basins is highly variable stress field changes can cause abrupt termination of rifting in major rift systems progressive strain concentration on the zone of future crustal separation entails abandonment of lateral rifts depending on constraints on lateral block movements crustal separation can be achieved after as little as 9 my and as much as 280 my of rifting activity syn rift basin subsidence is controlled by isostatic adjustment of the crust to mechanical stretching of the lithosphere its magmatic inflation and thermal attenuation of the mantle lithosphere post rift basin subsidence is governed by thermal reequilibration of the lithosphere asthenosphere system deep seated thermal anomalies related to syn rift pull up of the asthenosphere lithosphere boundary have decayed after 60 my by about 65 and after 180 my by about 95 the magnitude of post rift subsidence is a function of the rift induced thermal anomaly and crustal density changes the potential temperature of the asthenosphere and initial water depths intraplate stresses can have an overprinting effect on post rift subsidence stretching factors derived from post rift subsidence analyses must be corrected for such effects

experimental models of extensional forced folds we have used single layer and multilayer clay models to study the development of forced folds above normal faults our modeling results show that the deformation patterns associated with extensional forced folding depend on the dip of the underlying normal fault and the presence of layer parallel detachments in single layer clay models extensional forced folds are upward widening monoclines anticlinal axial surfaces dip in the same direction as underlying master normal faults and synclinal axial surfaces dip in the opposite direction of master normal faults most secondary faults are upward steepening normal faults if master normal faults are steeply dipping however many secondary normal faults become high angle reverse faults at shallow depths the propagation and linkage of secondary faults into through going normal faults terminates the development of extensional forced folds more folding occurs prior to fault linkage if the master normal fault is steeply dipping rather than gently dipping most dipping beds and secondary faults are preserved in the hanging walls of the through oing normal faults in multilayer clay models with layer parallel detachments extensional forced folds are also upward widening monoclines slip on the lowest detachment laterally transfers extension induced by normal faulting and forced folding from the master normal fault to the detachment edge slip on overlying detachments accommodates minor thickness changes associated with upward widening of the fold secondary faults include low angle normal faults near the anticlinal axial surface minor thrust faults near the synclinal axial surface and high angle normal faults above the detachment edge the model predicted deformation patterns are similar to those of extensional forced folds from the gulf of suez and offshore norway this similarity suggests that our modeling results apply to extensional forced folds and can provide guidelines for interpreting field well and seismic data

nature of crustal reflectivity along the dekorp profiles in germany in comparison with reflection patterns from different tectonic units worldwide a review reflectivity of the continental crust displays many different patterns the dekorp lines are used as a basis for comparing and reviewing reflectivity in different tectonic units the brittle upper crust generally exhibits only two types of reflectivity it is either rather transparent preferably in some extensional provinces or and it shows traces of thrust and shear zones of former or present ruptures as these zones have a low impedance interior with few exceptions their first reflection onsets have a negative polarity and evince strong but short signals which sometimes can be correlated over several kilometers the generally ductile lower crust displays a completely different reflectivity in warm extensional and thin crusts the lower part is full of reflecting lamellae it is suggested that this type of reflectivity has a thermo rheological origin the creation of lamellae must take place in a ductile material with contrasting impedance under extensional stresses it can be associated with mineral alignment and corresponding seismic anisotropy destruction of lamellae may take place by a cooling process transforming parts of the lower crust into a brittle regime small stresses might deform or break the lamellae and leave a certain dispersed reflectivity like that in some old and cold shields there are no observations of reflecting lamellae in the upper crust or in the upper mantle in all areas the moho is the last reflecting band reflection moho which most often is identical with the classical refraction moho there are isolated mostly dipping reflections in the uppermost mantle in zones where the last tectonic event a delamination or subduction was not succeeded by a heating process the uppermost mantle is brittle again in most areas and may keep the memory of a cold collision over billions of years

development of asymmetric basins along continental transform faults abstract many basins associated with wrench or transform faults are asymmetrical both longitudinally and laterally the sense of basin asymmetry changes along the strike of transform faults geophysical data from the dead sea rift and other transforms indicate that wrench induced asymmetric basins are bounded on only one side by a transform fault this implies that during the evolution of such basins maximum compression was parallel to the transform the direction of extension can change during the geologic evolution of a basin a possible explanation of this observation takes the strength of the fault into into consideration in the case of a weak fault in a strong crust the horizontal principal stresses would probably rotate to orientations parallel and perpendicular to the fault thus minimizing the shear stress on the main fault basins formed by regional extension such as in the east african rift system sometimes show similar features recent studies have shown that these basins often undergo oblique extension this suggests that the asymmetry in these basins may result from simultaneous strike slip motion and fault normal extension similar to the way asymmetry is produced in large transform basins periods of oblique extension can alternate with periods of orthogonal extension the asymmetry formed during periods of oblique extension is often preserved in the stratigraphic record

proterozoic sutures and terranes in the southeastern baltic shield interpreted from babel deep seismic data abstract a hitherto unknown terrane and its bounding sutures have been revealed by a combined study of normal incidence and wide angle seismic data along the babel profile in the baltic sea this intermediate terrane is situated between a northern terrane of svecofennian age and a southwestern terrane of gothian age it is delimited upwards by two low angle and oppositely dipping sutures and occupies mainly middle and lower crustal levels with a width of 300 km at moho level the 1 86 ga suture against the northern terrane is imaged by a prominent almost continuous ne dipping crustal reflection from 3 5 to 14 s twt over 175 km where it downlaps on the moho sub moho velocities change from 8 2 to 7 8 km s 0 2 over less than 25 km a relatively strong ne dipping normal incidence and wide angle reflection at 19 23 s twt indicates that the suture extends into the upper mantle the pervasive ne dipping reflection fabric of the intermediate terrane is interpreted as shear zones that developed during collision and possibly were reactivated by later events high poisson s ratios suggest a mafic composition or high fluid content the 1 86 ga collision was probably succeeded by continental break up and removal of an unknown continent except for the intermediate terrane subsequent formation of an east dipping subduction zone further to the west led to the emplacement of 1 81 1 77 ga old granitoids in the southern part of the transscandinavian igneous belt the 1 65 1 60 ga suture against the southwestern terrane is defined by a semi continuous band of strong sw dipping reflections between 3 and 8 s twt over 65 km which are interpreted as a low angle thrust zone along which gothian crust overrode the intermediate terrane the identification of three individual seismic terranes in the southeastern part of the baltic shield provides new evidence for palaeoproterozoic plate tectonic processes

spreading mode of backarc basins in the western pacific abstract a number of phases are suggested in backarc spreading extension of the arc lithosphere is followed by spreading and formation of oceanic crust in the backarc basin in some basins a third phase of rifting with a reorientation of the spreading direction occurs during the second and third phases spreading is governed by rotation about a nearby pole and spreading axes are oblique to the transform faults this contrasts with the geometry of mid oceanic ridges where the ridges are on great circles perpendicular to the transform faults three spreading models are defined according to the various angular relations between transform faults and spreading axes backarc basins facing the pacific plate tend to open with axes spaced among adjacent ridge segments on projections parallel to the spreading axes type i spreading mode in some cases new spreading occurs in the countiguous area forming overlapped spreading axes type ii spreading mode initial spreading to form a backarc basin tends to spread with both spaced and overlapped axes type iii spreading mode inner backarc basins intercalated with other basins between the pacific plate also tend to spread with type iii spreading mode spreading modes and possible mechanisms for these formations in the backarc basins in the western pacific are discussed