Sedimentary basin

For artificial basins to trap sediment, see Sediment basin.

Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock.[1][2][3] They form when long-term subsidence creates a regional depression that provides accommodation space for accumulation of sediments.[4] Over millions or tens or hundreds of millions of years the deposition of sediment, primarily gravity-driven transportation of water-borne eroded material, acts to fill the depression. As the sediments are buried, they are subject to increasing pressure and begin the processes of compaction and lithification that transform them into sedimentary rock.[5]

Simplified schematic diagrams of common tectonic environments where sedimentary basins are formed

Sedimentary basins are created by deformation of Earth's lithosphere in diverse geological settings, usually as a result of plate tectonic activity. Mechanisms of crustal deformation that lead to subsidence and sedimentary basin formation include the thinning of underlying crust; depression of the crust by sedimentary, tectonic or volcanic loading; or changes in the thickness or density of underlying or adjacent lithosphere.[6][7][8] Once the process of basin formation has begun, the weight of the sediments being deposited in the basin adds a further load on the underlying crust that accentuates subsidence and thus amplifies basin development as a result of isostasy.[4]

The long-term preserved geologic record of a sedimentary basin is a large scale contiguous three-dimensional package of sedimentary rocks created during a particular period of geologic time, a 'stratigraphic succession', that geologists continue to refer to as a sedimentary basin even if it is no longer a bathymetric or topographic depression.[6] The Williston Basin, Molasse basin and Magallanes Basin are examples of sedimentary basins that are no longer depressions. Basins formed in different tectonic regimes vary in their preservation potential.[9] Intracratonic basins, which form on highly-stable continental interiors, have a high probability of preservation. In contrast, sedimentary basins formed on oceanic crust are likely to be destroyed by subduction. Continental margins formed when new ocean basins like the Atlantic are created as continents rift apart are likely to have lifespans of hundreds of millions of years, but may be only partially preserved when those ocean basins close as continents collide.[7]

Sedimentary basins are of great economic importance. Almost all the world's natural gas and petroleum and all of its coal are found in sedimentary rock. Many metal ores are found in sedimentary rocks formed in particular sedimentary environments.[10][6][2] Sedimentary basins are also important from a purely scientific perspective because their sedimentary fill provides a record of Earth's history during the time in which the basin was actively receiving sediment.

More than six hundred sedimentary basins have been identified worldwide. They range in areal size from tens of square kilometers to well over a million, and their sedimentary fills range from one to almost twenty kilometers in thickness.[11][12][13][14]

  1. ^ Selley, Richard C.; Sonnenberg, Stephen A. (2015). "Chapter 8 - Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Systems". Elements of petroleum geology (3rd ed.). Amsterdam: Academic Press. pp. 377–426. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-386031-6.00008-4. ISBN 978-0-12-386031-6.
  2. ^ a b Coleman, J.L. Jr.; Cahan, S.M. (2012). Preliminary catalog of the sedimentary basins of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1111. p. 27.
  3. ^ Abdullayev, N.R. (30 June 2020). "Analysis of sedimentary thickness, volumes and geographic extent of the world sedimentary basins". ANAS Transactions, Earth Sciences (1). doi:10.33677/ggianas20200100040. S2CID 225758074.
  4. ^ a b Allen, Philip A.; John R. Allen (2008). Basin analysis: principles and applications (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6320-5207-3.
  5. ^ Boggs, Sam Jr. (1987). Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy. Columbus: Merrill Pub. Co. p. 265. ISBN 0675204879.
  6. ^ a b c Ingersoll, Raymond V. (22 December 2011). "Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins, with Revised Nomenclature". Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins: 1–43. doi:10.1002/9781444347166.ch1. ISBN 9781444347166.
  7. ^ a b Cathy J. Busby and Raymond V. Ingersoll, ed. (1995). Tectonics of sedimentary basins. Cambridge, Massachusetts [u.a.]: Blackwell Science. ISBN 978-0865422452.
  8. ^ Dickinson, William R. (1974). Tectonics and Sedimentation. Special Publications of the Society for Sedimentary Geology.
  9. ^ Woodcock, Nigel H. (2004). "Life span and fate of basins". Geology. 32 (8): 685. Bibcode:2004Geo....32..685W. doi:10.1130/G20598.1.
  10. ^ Boggs 1987, p.16
  11. ^ Klemme, H.D. (October 1980). "Petroleum Basins-Classifications and Characteristics". Journal of Petroleum Geology. 3 (2): 187–207. Bibcode:1980JPetG...3..187K. doi:10.1111/j.1747-5457.1980.tb00982.x.
  12. ^ Evenick, Jonathan C. (April 2021). "Glimpses into Earth's history using a revised global sedimentary basin map". Earth-Science Reviews. 215: 103564. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503564E. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103564. S2CID 233950439.
  13. ^ "Sedimentary Basins of the World". Robertson CGG.
  14. ^ Evenick, Jonathan C. (1 April 2021). "Glimpses into Earth's history using a revised global sedimentary basin map". Earth-Science Reviews. 215: 103564. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503564E. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103564. S2CID 233950439.