Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Panien, M.
Right arrow Articles by Pfiffner, O. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2006; v. 253; p. 253-270;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.13
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Models of Sedimentary Basins

Inversion of a symmetric basin: insights from a comparison between analogue and numerical experiments

M. Panien1, S. J. H. Buiter2, G. Schreurs1 & O. A. Pfiffner1

1 Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1–3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
2 Centre for Geodynamics, Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway susanne.buiter{at}ngu.no

We use both analogue and numerical experiments to study the inversion by shortening of a symmetric sedimentary basin. The combination of the two modelling techniques uses the strengths of each method to provide insight into basin-inversion processes. The experiments start with a pre-existing basin filled, in part, with weak layers simulating weak sedimentary rocks. Both footwall and hanging wall can deform freely. The physical properties of the materials used in the analogue experiments (sand and microbeads) and the numerical experiments are appropriately scaled to represent upper crustal rocks. We present a systematic study of the effects of basin infill, basin width and basin location and a sensitivity analysis to understand the effects of the boundary conditions. The results of both methods show that the graben fill accommodates most shortening. Weak layers play an important role in localising shortening with limited reactivation of pre-existing (but weakened) faults. In general, forward thrusts and back thrusts nucleate at the lateral contrast of strong and weak materials and cut across the graben-bounding faults. Weak basal detachments are required to transfer shortening to the basin region. The overall evolution of the analogue and numerical models is encouragingly similar.





This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
G. Schreurs, S. J. H. Buiter, D. Boutelier, G. Corti, E. Costa, A. R. Cruden, J.-M. Daniel, S. Hoth, H. A. Koyi, N. Kukowski, et al.
Analogue benchmarks of shortening and extension experiments
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2006; 253: 1 - 27.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
S. J. H. Buiter, A. Yu. Babeyko, S. Ellis, T. V. Gerya, B. J. P. Kaus, A. Kellner, G. Schreurs, and Y. Yamada
The numerical sandbox: comparison of model results for a shortening and an extension experiment
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2006; 253: 29 - 64.
[Abstract] [PDF]