Rifted margins mark the transition between continents and oceans, which are the two first-order types of land masses on Earth. Rifted margins contribute to our understanding of lithospheric extensional processes and are studied by various disciplines of Earth Science (geology, geophysics, geochemistry). Thanks to better and wider public access to high-quality data, our understanding in these areas has improved significantly over these last two decades. This book summarizes this knowledge evolution and details where we stand today, with a series of case examples included. It is structured in a practical way, with concise text descriptions and comprehensive diagrams. Continental Rifted Margins 1 is a useful resource for students and newcomers to the rifted margin community - a "cookbook" of sorts to facilitate the reading of scientific publications and provide basic definitions and explanations.

This work reviews the mechanism of rifting with a focus on pre-existing tectonic weaknesses in pre-rift and/or basement rocks, i.e., on tectonic inheritance. The passive margins that are studied in this book are the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the Eastern North America and the East and West Indian Continental Margins. The continental rifts that have been analysed are the East African Rift System, the Brazilian Continental Rift Systems and the European Cenozoic Rift System. It states how rifts and passive margins serve as valuable locations for hydrocarbon exploration. Tectonic inheritance/heritage examines the influence of pre-existing/pre-rift elements on the geometry, genesis and propagation of rift-related faults. Such elements include anisotropies in the shallow crustal levels, as well as the rheology of the lithosphere. Inheritance greatly influences the architecture of rifted passive margins including the attitude of faults and geometry of horsts, (half-) grabens, transfer zones etc. Inheritance is also a determining factor in the width of rifts and rift shoulder topography.

Rifted margins mark the transition between continents and oceans, which are the two first-order types of land masses on Earth. Rifted margins contribute to our understanding of lithospheric extensional processes and are studied by various disciplines of Earth Science (geology, geophysics, geochemistry). Thanks to better and wider public access to high-quality data, our understanding in these areas has improved significantly over these last two decades. This book summarizes this knowledge evolution and details where we stand today, with a series of case examples included. It is structured in a practical way, with concise text descriptions and comprehensive diagrams. Continental Rifted Margins 2 is a useful resource for students and newcomers to the rifted margin community – a "cookbook” of sorts to facilitate the reading of scientific publications and provide basic definitions and explanations.

This volume summarises our present understanding of the formation of passive continental margins and their ocean-continent transitions. It outlines the geological, geophysical and petrological observations that characterize extensional systems, and how such observations can guide and constrain dynamic and kinematic models of continental lithosphere extension, breakup and the inception of organized sea-floor spreading.

This textbook explains how mountains are formed and why there are old and young mountains. It provides a reconstruction of the Earths paleogeography and shows why the shapes of South America and Africa fit so well together. Furthermore, it explains why the Pacific is surrounded by a ring of volcanos and earthquake-prone areas while the edges of the Atlantic are relatively peaceful. This thoroughly revised textbook edition addresses all these questions and more through the presentation and explanation of the geodynamic processes upon which the theory of continental drift is based and which have led to the concept of plate tectonics. It is a source of information for students of geology, geophysics, geography, geosciences in general, general natural sciences, as well as professionals, and interested layman.

The main focus of the book is the geological and geophysical interpretation of sedimentary basins along the South, Central and North Atlantic conjugate margins, but concepts derived from physical models, outcrop analogues and present-day margins are also discussed in some chapters. There is an encompassing description of several conjugate margins worldwide, based on recent geophysical and geological datasets. An overview of important aspects related to the geodynamic development and petroleum geology of Atlantic-type sedimentary basins is also included. Several chapters analyse genetic mechanisms and break-up processes associated with rift-phase structures and salt tectonics, providing a full description of conjugate margin basins based on deep seismic profiles and potential field methods.--