Continental margins and their fossilized analogues are important repositories of natural resources. With better processing techniques and increased availability of high-resolution seismic and potential field data, imaging of present-day continental margins and their embedded sedimentary basins has reached unprecedented levels of refinement and definition, as illustrated by examples described in this volume. This, in turn, has led to greatly improved geological, geodynamic and numerical models for the crustal and mantle processes involved in continental margin formation from the initial stages of rifting through continental rupture and break-up to development of a new ocean basin. Further informing these models, and contributing to a better understanding of the features imaged in the seismic and potential field data, are observations made on fossilized fragments of exhumed subcontinental mantle lithosphere and ocean–continent transition zones preserved in ophiolites and orogenic belts of both Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age from several different continents, including Europe, South Asia and Australasia.

Developments in Geotectonics, 12: Sedimentary Basins of Continental Margins and Cratons focuses on the formation, movements, characteristics, and evolution of sedimentary basins of continental margins and cratons. The selection first offers information on mechanisms of basin subsidence and rheology of the lithosphere. Discussions focus on hypotheses of basin subsidence mechanism, testing the hypotheses, elastic properties and flexural rigidity of the lithosphere, and rheology of young continental margins. The text then elaborates on flexure of the lithosphere and continental margin basins and thermal and mechanical evolution of the Michigan basin. The book ponders on the formation of sedimentary basins of graben type by extension of the continental crust and major synchronous events in continental shelves. Topics include inception of shelf development, mid-cretaceous change, taphrogenic subsidence, and energy budget of wedge subsidence mechanism. The manuscript also examines development of graben associated with the initial ruptures of the Atlantic Ocean and observations on the processes of sedimentary basin formation at the margins of Southern Africa. The selection is a dependable reference for readers interested in the study of continental margins.

A microcomputer-based expert system with computer models for classifying world sedimentary basins as an aid to assessing petroleum resources.

In this work, the reader will find the basic concepts and vocabulary of sedimentary geology, along with a presentation of the new ideas that are in current use in petroleum exploration. This abundantly illustrated book will serve as an excellent educational tool and remain a valuable resource and handy reference work in any petroleum geology library.Contents: 1. Basics of dynamic geology. 2. Continental and oceanic basins. 3. Sedimentary driving mechanisms and environments. 4. Time evolution: Sedimentary sequences, stratigraphy. 5. From sediments to sedimentary basin rocks and mountain chains. 6. Petroleum systems. IndexState of Strain. 2. State of Stress. 3. Thermodynamics of Continuous Media. II. Mechanism of Material Strain. 4. Linear Elasticity. General Theory. 5. Plane Theory of Elasticity. 6. Behaviour of a Material Containing Cavities. 7. Thermodynamics of Saturated Porous Media. 8. Infinitesimal Thermoporoelasticity. 9. The Triaxial Test and the Measurement of Thermoporoelastic Properties. 10. Thermoporoelastoplasticity. General Theory and Application. III. Mechanisms of Material Cohesion Loss. 11. Fissuring. 12. Introduction to Damage Theory. 13. Appearance of Shearing Bands in Geomaterials.

This completely revised and enlarged second edition provides an up-to-date overview of all major topics in sedimentary geology. It is unique in its quantitative approach to denudation-accumulation systems and basin fillings, including dynamic aspects. The relationship between tectonism and basin evolution as well as the concepts of sequence cycle and event stratigraphy in various depositional environments are extensively discussed. Numerous, often composite figures, a well-structured text, brief summaries in boxes, and several examples from all continents make the book an invaluable source of information for students, researchers and professors in academia as well as for professionals in the oil industry.

This book contains 21 contributions, each written by an expert in the area of sedimentary basins. The first part of the book is devoted to the methodology used for these studies, in particular physical measurements (well-logging and seismic) and synthesis of subsurface data. The second part presents specific cases, each corresponding to a particular type of basin.

This book is devoted to the mechanisms of sedimentary basin formation on active plate margins, which show enormous diversity reflecting complex tectonic processes. Multidisciplinary approach pursuing basin-forming mechanism is based on geology, sedimentology, geochronology and geophysics. Some chapters are dedicated to the genetic analysis of sedimentary basins in wrench deformation zones in forearc and intra-arc regions. Another block of chapters deals with basin formation in peripheral regions of Eurasia and intra-arc / foreland basins under the influence of the fluctuation of stress regimes. Finally geophysical approaches to basin analyses are shown in some chapters from microscopic to regional scales. Diverse contents of the chapters provide the audience with the present accomplishments of basin researches on active margins by Earth scientists.