Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:06:33.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Molasse basins of Europe: a tectonic assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

P. F. Friend
P. F. Friend
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, England.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sedimentary basins are structures that formed either by subsidence of an area relative to its surroundings, or by uplift of the surroundings. The basin is defined by its sedimentary fill, and the vertical kinematics of the fill are reflected by stratal wedging, unconformities and, or, faulting. The following basin mechanisms are distinguished: locally (a) stretch, (b) thrust and piggy-back, (c) local uplift, and regionally (d) stretch-and-cool, (e) load-and-flex and (f) cratonic uplift.

Basin patterns are reviewed for the three main Phanerozoic episodes for which molasse-like features of sedimentation or tectonics are claimed. Sediment accumulation rates are used as an index of the vigour of basinal activity.

Within the area of the Caledonian orogen, Devonian basinal activity was locally very rigorous, some of it being late orogenic and some post-orogenic, and mostly apparently of ‘stretch-type’. The orogenic area stood high, relative to sea level, throughout Devonian times, but outside the orogenic area, the basins were less vigorous and marine.

Within the area of the Hercynian orogen, and outside it, Permian basins were generally not so active, apparently reflecting a different style of orogenesis. However, the whole area was standing high, relative to sea level. The Triassic basins, though post-orogenic, were rather more vigorous, although a marine transgression records the general lowering of the continental surface. Major evaporites accumulated in these settings.

In Cenozoic times, the narrow orogenic belts formed the most active basins, and these were of load-and-flex type, reflecting the importance of thrust-sheet movement, itself perhaps a result of the presence of Triassic evaporites. Other non-orogenic basins reflect both ‘stretch’ and ‘stretch-and-cool’ mechanisms. Only the Spanish basins appear to have been standing high, relative to sea level, perhaps in response to cratonic uplift.

Keywords

AlpineCaledoniancratonic upliftevaporitefaciesHercynianload-and-flexorogenysedimentstretch-and-coolsubsidencetectonismthrust and piggy-back
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 76 , Issue 4 , 1985 , pp. 451 - 462
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Astin, T. R. & Thirlwall, M. F. 1983. Discussion on implications for Caledonian plate tectonic models of chemical data from volcanic rocks of the British Old Red Sandstone. J GEOL SOC LONDON 140, 315–8.Google Scholar
Bally, A. W. 1983 (ed.). Seismic expression of structural styles (3 vols). Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists.Google Scholar
Bally, A. W. & Snelson, S. 1982. Realms of subsidence. In Miall, A. D. (ed.) Facts and principles of world petroleum occurrence, 9–94. MEM CAN SOC PET GEOL 6.Google Scholar
Barton, P. & Wood, R. 1984. Tectonic evolution of the North Sea basin: crustal stretching and subsidence. GEOPHYS J R ASTRON SOC 79, 987–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, R. L. & Jackson, J. A. 1980 (eds). Glossary of geology, 2nd edn. Falls Church, Virginia: American Geological Institute.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. & Tauxe, L. 1982. Isochronous fluvial systems in Miocene deposits of Northern Pakistan. SEDIMENTOLOGY 29, 331–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birnbaum, S. J. & Coleman, M. J. 1979. Source of sulphur in the Ebro basin (northern Spain)—Tertiary non-marine evaporite deposits as evidenced by sulphur isotopes. CHEM GEOL 25, 163–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, J. A. & Smythe, D. K. 1984. MOIST and the continuity of crustal reflector geometry along the Caledonian–Appalachian orogen. J GEOL SOC LONDON 141, 105–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BRGM 1974. Geologie de basin d'aquitaine. Paris: BRGM.Google Scholar
Brynhi, I. & Skjerlie, F. J. 1975. Syndepositional tectonism Kvamshesten district (Old Red Sandstone), Western Norway. GEOL MAG 112, 593–600.Google Scholar
Curnelle, R., Dubois, P. & Sequin, J. C. 1982. The Mesozoic–Tertiary evolution of the Aquitaine Basin. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON A 305, 63–84.Google Scholar
Desmons, J. 1980 (Convener). Theme 7, Tectogenetic stages of the Alpine Chains: correlation of the deformational, metamorphic and magmatic events. MEM BRGM 115, 289–351.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. 1981. The strength of rocks in thrust sheets. EOS 62, 397.Google Scholar
Elliott, D. & Johnson, M. R. W. 1980. Structural evolution in the northern part of the Moine thrust belt, NW Scotland. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 71, 69–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falke, H. 1976 (ed.). The continental Permian in Central, West and South Europe (NATO Advanced Study Institute Series C, vol. 22), Dordrecht: Riedel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feys, R. 1976. La Permien et la phase saalienne dans le basin de Brive (SW de la France). In Falke, H. (ed.) The continental Permian in Central, West and South Europe (NATO Advanced Study Institute Series C, vol. 22), 80–90. Dordrecht: Riedel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friend, P. F. 1981. Devonian sedimentary basins and deep faults of the northernmost Atlantic borderlands. In Kerr, J. W. & Fergusson, A. J. (eds) Geology of the North Atlantic Borderlands, 149–65. MEM CAN SOC PET GEOL 7.Google Scholar
Gardiner, P. R. R. & McCarthy, I. A. J. 1981. The Late Palaeozoic evolution of Southern Ireland in the context of tectonic basins and their Trans-Atlantic significance. In Kerr, J. W. & Fergusson, A. J. (eds) Geology of the North Atlantic Borderlands, 342–90. MEM CAN SOC PET GEOL 7.Google Scholar
Garrido-Megias, A. & Villena Morales, J. 1977. El Trias germanico en Espana: Paleografia y estudio secuencial. CUAD GEOL IBER 77(4) 37–56.Google Scholar
Graham, J. R. 1983. Analysis of the Upper Devonian Munster Basin, an example of a fluvial distributory system. In Collinson, J. D. & Lewin, J. (eds) Modern and Ancient Fluvial Systems, 473–83. SPEC PUBL INT ASSOC SEDIMENT 6.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B. 1971. Tectonic transpression in Caledonian Spitsbergen. GEOL MAG 108, 27–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, W. B., Cox, A. V., Llewellyn, P. G., Pickton, C. A. G., Smith, A. G. & Walters, R. 1982. A geologic time scale. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hirst, J. P. P. 1983. Oligo-Miocene alluvial systems in the northern Ebro basin, Huesca Province, Spain. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge University.Google Scholar
House, M. R. 1975. Facies and time in Devonian tropical areas. PROC YORKS GEOL SOC 40, 233–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hossack, J. R. 1984. The geometry of listric growth faults in the Devonian basins of Sunnfjord, West Norway. J GEOL SOC LONDON 141, 629–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsü, K. J. 1970. The meaning of the word flysch—a short historical search. In Lajoie, J. (ed.) Flysch sedimentation in North America, 1–11. SPEC PAP GEOL ASSOC CAN 7.Google Scholar
IGCC 1971. International geological map of Europe and the Mediterranean region, 1:5,000,000. International Geological Congress Commission for the Geological Map of the World, Bundesanstalt for Bodenforschung and UNESCO, Hanover.Google Scholar
IGME 1977. Mapa Tectonico de la Peninsula Iberica Y Baleares, 1:1,000,000. Madrid: Instituto Geologico y Minero de Espana.Google Scholar
Jordan, T. E. 1981. Thrust loads and foreland basin evolution. BULL AM ASSOC PETROL GEOL 65, 2506–20.Google Scholar
Llopis Llado, N., De, Villalta J. F., Cabanas, R., Pelaez Pruneda, J. R. & Vilas, L. 1967. Le Devonian de l'Espagne. In Oswald, D. H. (ed.) The Devonian System 1, 171–88. Calgary: Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists.Google Scholar
McKenzie, D. P. 1978. Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 40, 25–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miall, A. D. 1978. Tectonic setting and syndepositional deformation of molasse and other non-marine paralic sedimentary basins. CAN J EARTH SCI 51, 1613–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ori, G. G. & Friend, P. F. 1984. Sedimentary basins formed and carried piggy-back on active thrust sheets. GEOLOGY 12, 475–8.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puigdefabregas, C. 1975. La sedimentacion molasica en la cuenca de Jaca. MONOGR INST ESTUD PIRENAICOS 104.Google Scholar
Riba, O. 1976. Syntectonic unconformities of the Alto Cardener, Spanish Pyrenees: a genetic interpretation. SEDIMENT GEOL 15, 213–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. G. 1982. Late Cenozoic uplift of stable continents in a reference frame fixed to South America. NATURE 296, 400–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. G. & Drewry, D. J. 1984. Delayed phase change due to hot asthenosphere causes Transantarctic uplift? NATURE 309, 536–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sopena, A., Virgili, C., Hernando, S. & Ramos, A. 1977. Permico continental en Espana. CUAD GEOL IBER 77(4), 11–34.Google Scholar
Steel, R. J. & Gloppen, T. G. 1980. Late Caledonian (Devonian) basin formation, western Norway—signs of strike-slip tectonics during infilling. In Ballance, P. F. & Reading, H. G. (eds) Sedimentation in oblique-slip mobile zones, 79–104. SPEC PUBL INT ASSOC SEDIMENT 4.Google Scholar
Trümpy, R. 1980. Geology of Switzerland, a guide book (Schweizerische Geologische Kommission). Basel: Weef.Google Scholar
Turner, P., Hirst, J. P. P. & Friend, P. F. 1984. A palaeomagnetic analysis of Miocene Fluvial sediments at Pertusa, near Huesca, Ebro Basin, Spain. GEOL MAG 121, 279–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van, Houten F. B. 1973. Meaning of Molasse. BULL GEOL SOC AM 84, 1973–6.Google Scholar
Van, Houten F. B. 1974. Northern Alpine molasse and similar Cenozoic sequences of southern Europe. In Dott, R. H. & Shaver, R. H. (eds) Modern and ancient geosynclinal sedimentation, 1260–73, SOC ECON PALEONTOL MINERAL SPEC PUBL 19.Google Scholar
Van, Houten F. B. 1981. The Odyssey of Molasse. In Miall, A. D. (ed.) Sedimentation and Tectonics in Alluvial Basins, 35–48. GEOL ASSOC CAN SPEC PAP 23.Google Scholar
Wood, R. & Barton, P. 1983. Crustal thinning and subsidence in the North Sea. NATURE 302, 134–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, P. A. 1982. Geological Atlas of Western and Central Europe. Shell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij B.V.Google Scholar
Zwart, H. J. 1967. The duality of orogenic belts. GEOL MIJNBOUW 46, 283–309.Google Scholar
Zwart, H. J. & Dornsiepen, U. F. 1980. The Variscan and pre-Variscan tectonic evolution of Central and Western Europe, a tentative model. In Cogné, J. & Slansky, M. (eds) Geology of Europe from Precambrian to post-Hercynian sedimentary basins, 226–32. COLLOQ 26TH INT GEOL CONGR. C6.Google Scholar