TECTONICS AND SEDIMENTATION

• Knowledge of sedimentary basins in their plate tectonic environment; • Knowledge of the mechanisms of sedimentary basin formation; Ability to collect and analyze surface and subsurface geological data to understand the geometry of sediments within depositional basins and the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation; Understanding the evolution of sedimentary basins.

Plate tectonics. Makeup of the Earth: compositional division, rheological division. Basins in their plate tectonic environment. Classification schemes of sedimentary basins. The mechanics of sedimentary basin formation. Basins due to lithospheric stretching: pure shear, simple shear. Basins due to flexure. Isostasy. The dynamics of orogenic wedges. Foreland basins. Basins associated with strike-slip deformation. Tectonic control on sedimentation. Basin stratigraphy. Relative sea level change and accommodation. Driving mechanisms for stratigraphic patterns. Sequence stratigraphy and seismic stratigraphy. Seismic interpretation concepts. Basin analysis. Subsidence and thermal history. Application to petroleum play concepts.

1. Allen, P.A. & Allen J.R., 2005 2edition. Basin analysis, Principles and Applications. Publ., Blackwell Scientific Publications.

2. Bally, A.W., Catalano R., Oldow J., 1985. Elementi di tettonica regionale. Evoluzione dei Bacini sedimentari e delle Catene montuose. Pitagora Editrice