Plate -Tectonic Setting of Alluvial Basins
angles to the continental margins> which for periods
of a few millions or tens of millions of years act as the
major loci of crustal extension. Aulacogens are failed
rifts that have subsequently been affected by closure
of the ocean with which they are tectonically associated. Plate convergence and collision commonly
leads to compressional tectonics trending parallel to
the basin axis. Both the initial rifting and the subsequent plate convergence and collision may be
associated with some oblique or transcurrent plate
motion, giving rise to a component of strike-slip on
the bounding faults.
These basins commonly constitute important
petroleum provinces because of the combination of
good reservoir characteristics, good petroleum
source rocks, appropriate maturation levels, and excellent structural trapping configurations. Examples
of failed rifts containing important fluvial units are
o·
4'
I
383
the Viking Graben of the North Sea and its flanking
East Shetland Basin, Gippsland Basin off southeast
Australia, Benue Trough, Nigeria, and Kutei Basin,
Borneo (Kalimantan).
The North Sea is an intracratonic basin which
developed by a complex and lengthy series of extensional movements beginning in the late Paleozoic
(Ziegler 1988). The Upper Permian to jurassic rocks
of the North Sea were developed during a phase of
rift faulting and thermal subsidence related to the
incipient opening of the Atlantic Ocean (Fisher 1984;
Ziegler 1988; Steel and Ryseth 1990). The VikingCentral Graben was the major structure to develop at
this time (Figs. 9.22, 9.23, 1 1.44). Regional subsidence that accompanied rifting activated regional
drainages, leading to the development of major fluvial units> the Teist> Lomvi, Lunde, and Statfjord
Formations (Upper Permian-Sinemurian; Steel and
WELLS
,
.
2'
� Wells <1sea
CORRELATION LINES
-- Syn-ri!t deposits and
post-rift s€q�ences
1 �net 2
Fig. 11.44. Location of Viking Graben and related structures in the North Sea Basin. (Steel and Ryseth 1990)
angles to the continental margins> which for periods
of a few millions or tens of millions of years act as the
major loci of crustal extension. Aulacogens are failed
rifts that have subsequently been affected by closure
of the ocean with which they are tectonically associated. Plate convergence and collision commonly
leads to compressional tectonics trending parallel to
the basin axis. Both the initial rifting and the subsequent plate convergence and collision may be
associated with some oblique or transcurrent plate
motion, giving rise to a component of strike-slip on
the bounding faults.
These basins commonly constitute important
petroleum provinces because of the combination of
good reservoir characteristics, good petroleum
source rocks, appropriate maturation levels, and excellent structural trapping configurations. Examples
of failed rifts containing important fluvial units are
o·
4'
I
383
the Viking Graben of the North Sea and its flanking
East Shetland Basin, Gippsland Basin off southeast
Australia, Benue Trough, Nigeria, and Kutei Basin,
Borneo (Kalimantan).
The North Sea is an intracratonic basin which
developed by a complex and lengthy series of extensional movements beginning in the late Paleozoic
(Ziegler 1988). The Upper Permian to jurassic rocks
of the North Sea were developed during a phase of
rift faulting and thermal subsidence related to the
incipient opening of the Atlantic Ocean (Fisher 1984;
Ziegler 1988; Steel and Ryseth 1990). The VikingCentral Graben was the major structure to develop at
this time (Figs. 9.22, 9.23, 1 1.44). Regional subsidence that accompanied rifting activated regional
drainages, leading to the development of major fluvial units> the Teist> Lomvi, Lunde, and Statfjord
Formations (Upper Permian-Sinemurian; Steel and
WELLS
,
.
2'
� Wells <1sea
CORRELATION LINES
-- Syn-ri!t deposits and
post-rift s€q�ences
1 �net 2
Fig. 11.44. Location of Viking Graben and related structures in the North Sea Basin. (Steel and Ryseth 1990)