GEOL 440/540: Sedimentary Basin Analysis: Spring, 2007
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Instructor: |
Dr. Rebecca Dorsey |
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Office Hours: |
M T Th 4:00-5:00 (or by appt) |
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Class Meetings: |
10:00-11:20 Mon., Wed. |
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Place: |
Rm 202 Cascade Hall |
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Prerequisites: |
GEOL 334, 350 |
This course is designed to familiarize students with the major mechanisms involved
in formation, subsidence, and filling of sedimentary basins. We will examine
the dynamics of basin evolution in tectonically active settings, including convergent,
divergent, and strike-slip plate margins and interiors. Our goal is to develop
a solid understanding of the major structural, tectonic, and geophysical processes
that produce sedimentary basins, and develop some skills in basin analysis that
allow us to interpret those processes from the stratigraphic record. We will
emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates concepts in structure,
tectonics, geodynamics, sediment transport, and process stratigraphy to help
us understand the behavior of sedimentary basins in active settings. Quantitative
methods to be introduced include simple isostatic, thermal, and flexural modeling
of crustal subsidence, and application of diffusion-based basin-filling models
that govern the stratigraphic architecture of most basins.
There will be 5 homework assignments, one midterm exam, and a term paper, and
each student will give a class presentation of their term-paper topic during
final exams week. There will be no final exam. We will take a 3-day field trip,
June 1-3, to look at Mesozoic forearc basin deposits in eastern
Oregon. The term paper will be an independent research project on a topic of
your choice; this can be a 10- to 15-page review to summarize an area of basin
research, or it can be a 15-page NSF-style proposal that designs a new research
project in the field of basin analysis or related topics. Term paper topics
will be proposed by students and reviewed by me in the second homework assignment.
Student presentations at the end of the term will provide valuable experience
in verbal communication of research results in a friendly public setting.
Required Text: Angevine, C.L., P.L. Heller, and C. Paola, 1990, Quantitative Sedimentary Basin Modelling. A.A.P.G. Continuing Education Course Note Series No. 32., 133 pp. Can be downloaded at Paul Heller's web site.
Optional Text: Busby, C.J., and Ingersoll, R.V. (eds.), 1995, Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins. Blackwell Science, 579 pp. This book is out of print; I will make chapter readings available in class..
Other readings will be from the following texts and papers, which I will provide free of charge:
Allen, P.A. and J.R. Allen, 1990, Basin Analysis: Principles and Applications. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Cambridge, 451 pp.
Einsele, G., 1992, Sedimentary Basins. Springer-Verlag, New York, 628 pp.
Journal Articles: list will be provided in class.
| Week |
Month |
Date |
Topic |
Readings (please read before class) |
Homeworks (w/ due dates) |
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| 1 |
April |
2 |
Course Introduction, Overview |
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4 |
Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins |
Ingersoll (1988) |
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| 2 |
9 |
Isostasy and continental rifting |
Ang 1-4; Ein 313-317 |
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11 |
Thermal Subsidence, Passive Margins |
Ang 5-6, 20-24; A&A 27-31 |
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| 3 |
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16 |
Flexural Subsidence |
Ang 36-42; A&A 93-104; Ein 317-320 |
1. Isostasy
Problems (4/16) |
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18 |
Foreland Basins |
B&I 331-347; DeCelles and Giles (1996) |
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| 4 |
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23 |
Forearc Basins: 1. Modern Systems |
B&I 221-252 |
2. Term
Project Outline (4/23) |
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25 |
Forearc Basins: 2. Ancient Systems |
B&I
252-261; other TBA |
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| 5 |
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30 |
Sediment Continuity, Mass Balance |
Ang 90-113 |
3. Flexural Modeling (4/30) |
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May |
2 |
Basin-Filling Models |
Heller
and Paola (1992) |
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| 6 |
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7 |
No Class: Becky at GSA meeting |
Work on term project |
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| 9 |
Case Study, and Midterm Review |
Flemings and Jordan (1990) |
4. Exponential Decay (5/9) |
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| 14 |
Midterm Exam |
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16 |
Intro to Rift Basins |
B&I p. 9-24; 131-148 |
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| 8 |
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21 |
Sequence Stratigraphy of Rift Basins |
Gawthorpe et al. (1994; 1997) |
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23 |
Tectonic Controls on Alluvial Fans |
Whipple and Trayler (1996) |
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| 9 |
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28 |
No Class (Memorial Day) |
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30 |
Blue Mountains: Mesozoic tectonics, sedimentary
basins, and prep for field trip |
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June |
1-3 |
3-day Field Trip to Blue Mts. |
Reading: tba |
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| 10 |
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4 |
Strike-Slip and Transtensional Basins |
B&I
425-456 |
5. Field Trip notes (6/4) |
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6 |
Salton Trough: Cz tectonics and sed basins |
Dorsey
(2006) book chapter |
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11 |
Term Papers Due June 11 |
No Extensions |
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Finals
Week (June 11-15): No Final Exam, will schedule term project presentations
this week |
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Ang = Angevine et al. (1990);
B&I = Course Text Busby and Ingersoll (1995); A&A = Allen
and Allen (1990); Ein = Einsele (1992)
| Midterm Exam |
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| Term Paper |
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| Homeworks |
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| Presentation and Participation |
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Required Text: Angevine, C.L., Heller, P.L., and Paola, C., 1990, Quantitative
Sedimentary Basin Modeling: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Shortcourse
Note Series #32, 247 pp.
Optional Text: Busby, C.J., and Ingersoll, R.V. (eds.), 1995, Tectonics
of Sedimentary Basins. Blackwell Science, 579 pp. This book is out of print;
I will make chapter readings available in class.
Other readings will be selected from the following texts and papers,
which I will provide in class:
Allen, P.A. and J.R. Allen, 1990, Basin Analysis: Principles and Applications.
Blackwell Scientific Publications, Cambridge, 451 pp.
Einsele, G., 1992, Sedimentary Basins. Springer-Verlag, New York, 628 pp.
Here is a list of journal articles, some of which we will read for class (see
schedule for details):
Allen, P.A., and Hovius, N., 1998, Sediment supply from landslide-dominated
catchments: implications for basin-margin fans. Basin Research v. 10, p. 19-35.
Allen, P.A., and Densmore, A.L., 2000, Sediment flux from an uplifting fault
block. Basin Research, v. 12, p. 367-380.
Ben-Avraham, Z., and Zoback, M.D., 1992. Transform-normal extension and asymmetric
basins; an alternative to pull-apart models. Geology, 20: 423-426.
DeCelles, P.G., and Giles, K.A., 1996, Foreland basin systems. Basin Research,
vol. 8, p. 105-123.
Flemings, P.B. and T.E. Jordan, 1989, A synthetic stratigraphic model of foreland
basin development. Jour. Geoph. Res., vol. 94, No. B4, p. 3851-3866.
Flemings, P.B. and T.E. Jordan, 1990, Stratigraphic modeling of foreland basins:
Interpreting thrust deformation and lithosphere rheology. Geology, vol. 18,
p. 430-434.
Friedmann, S.J., and Burbank, D.W., 1995, Rift basins and supradetachment basins:
Intracontinental extensional end-members. Basin Research, v. 7, p. 109-127.
Gawthorpe, R.L., Fraser, A.J., and Collier, R.E., 1994, Sequence stratigraphy
in active extensional basins: implications for the interpretation of ancient
basin-fills: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 11, p. 642-658.
Gawthorpe, R. L., Sharp, I., Underhill, J. R., Gupta, S., 1997, Linked sequence
stratigraphic and structural evolution of propagating normal faults. Geology,
vol. 25, n. 9, p. 795-798.
Heller, P.L., and Paola, C., 1992, The large-scale dynamics of grain-size variation
in alluvial basins, 2: Application to syntectonic conglomerate: Basin Research,
v. 4, p. 91-102.
Ingersoll, 1988, Tectonics of sedimentary basins. GSA Bulletin, v. 100, p. 1704-1719.
Paola, C., 2000, Quantitatie models of sedimentary basin filling: Sedimentology,
v. 47, p. 121-178.
Paola, C., Heller, P.L., and Angevine, C.L., 1992, The large-scale dynamics
of grain-size variation in alluvial basins, 1: Theory: Basin Research, v. 4,
p. 73–90.
Whipple, K.X., and Trayler, C.R., 1996, Tectonic control of fan size: the importance
of spatially variable subsidence rates. Basin Research, v. 8, p. 351-366.
Cross, T. (1989) Quantitative Dynamic Stratigraphy, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Dickinson, W.R., ed. (1974) Tectonics and Sedimentation, S.E.P.M. Spec. Publ. No. 22, p.1-27.
Franseen, E.K., et al, eds., 1991, Sedimentary Modeling: Computer Simulations and Methods for Improved Parameter Definition. Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 233.
Frostick, L. and Steel, R. (eds.), 1994, Tectonic Controls and Signatures in Sedimentary Successions. Int. Assoc. Sedim. Special Publ. 20, 528 pp.
Kleinspehn, K.L. and C. Paola, 1988, New Perspectives in Basin Analysis, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 453 pp.
Miall, A.D., 1984, Principles of Sedimentary Basin Analysis, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., p.367-455.
Turcotte, D.L. and Schubert, G., 1982, Geodynamics: Applications of Continuum Mechanics to Geological Problems. Wiley, New York, 450 pp.
Note: This page may not be updated during the term. It is provided mainly
for reference and introduction.