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A tectonic model of the evolution of the northern half of the South Fiji Basin, including the Minerva Triple Junction and Cook Fracture Zone, is developed from regional gravity, multibeam bathymetry, and a new interpretation of magnetic anomalies pinned to radiometric dates of oceanic crust in the basin. The geometry and age of a portion of the Minerva Triple Junction and the Cook‐Minerva spreading center (the connection from the triple junction to the Cook Fracture Zone, which accommodated coeval opening of the Norfolk Basin), are resolved with multibeam bathymetry and magnetics. The South Fiji Basin opened from about 34 to 15 Ma in an anticlockwise sweep about an Euler pole located at the northern end of the present Lau Ridge. This rotation and a rigidly straight southeastward motion of the Three Kings Ridge were accommodated by the configuration of the triple junction changing from ridge‐fault‐fault to ridge‐ridge‐fault to ridge‐ridge‐ridge. During this evolution the southeastern arm of the system, the Julia Fracture Zone, underwent several transformations and the Cook‐Minerva spreading center experienced repeated ridge jumps. The kinematics of the northern South Fiji Basin dictate, to a large extent, the evolution of the southern South Fiji Basin and the Norfolk Basin. This in turn leads to the interpretation of a complex trench‐trench‐double transform fault framework at the northern New Zealand margin, which explains most aspects of the geology, structure, and arc volcanic history of the margin and provides a radical new setting for the origin of the Northland Allochthon.

The formation of the Taranaki Basin, an active volcanic back‐arc rift situated in the continental Australian Plate, is related to subduction of the Pacific Plate along the Hikurangi margin. The Taranaki Basin contains an almost complete Miocene‐Recent sedimentary record of the evolution of faulting and submarine andesitic volcanoes in the back‐arc. Detailed study of extensive regional seismic reflection and coastal outcrop data sets yields valuable information about the extent to which back‐arc rifting and reverse faulting have been controlled by the evolution of the Hikurangi margin subduction. Normal faulting and andesitic volcanism commenced in the northern part of the basin at ∼12 and ∼16 Ma, respectively, and were synchronous with contraction in the southern part of the basin. The rift, contractional faults and folds, and volcanism migrated southward during the last 12 Ma. Southward migration of faulting was episodic and geologically instantaneous with 100–150 km increases in the length of the rift at ∼12–8 and ∼4 Ma. From ∼4 Ma, displacement rates in the northern basin slowed and ceased at ∼2 Ma. The death of normal faults in the northern Taranaki Basin together with sympathetic variations in the timing of faulting and the overlapping rift geometries between the Taranaki Basin and the Central Volcanic Region are attributed to displacement transfer between the two rift systems. Southward migration of andesitic volcanism, rifting, and contractional deformation are consistent with clockwise rotation of the subduction margin associated with slab rollback coupled with southward motion of the southern termination of subduction and mantle corner flow.

The Vienna Basin is a tectonically complex Neogene basin situated at the Alpine–Carpathian transition. This study analyzes a detailed quantification of subsidence in the northern and central parts of the Vienna Basin to understand its tectonic subsidence evolution. About 200 wells were used to arrange stratigraphic setting, and wells reaching the pre-Neogene basement were analyzed for subsidence. To enhance the understanding of the regional subsidences, the wells were sorted into ten groups based on their position on major fault blocks. In the Early Miocene, subsidence was slow and along E–W to NE–SW trending axis, indicating the development of thrust-controlled piggyback basins. During the late Early Miocene data show abruptly increasing subsidence, making the initiation of the Vienna pull-apart basin system. From the Middle Miocene, the tectonic subsidence curves show regionally different patterns. The tectonic subsidence during the Middle Miocene varies laterally across the Vienna Basin, and the differential subsidence can be related to the changing tensional regime of weakening transtension and strengthening extension toward the late Middle Miocene. From the late Middle Miocene to the Late Miocene, the tectonic subsidence occurred dominantly along the regional active faults, and corresponds to the axis of E–W trending extension of the western parts of the Pannonian Basin system. In the Quaternary the Vienna Basin has been reactivated, and resulted in subsidence along the NE–SW trending Vienna Basin transfer fault system.

The Bengal Basin evolved as a rift-controlled extensional basin along the NNE–SSW trending Basin Margin Fault coevally with the 85° East Ridge in the Bay of Bengal during the short-lived hotspot activity south of Bhubaneswar. The basin opening post-dated the Kereguelen Plume magmatism (at ∼116 Ma), but predated the phase of continental collision that triggered the rise of the Himalaya in the north. Supply of sediments in the initial stages of basin opening was from the west, mainly through the denudation and erosion of the uplifted Precambrian Shield. Following virtually similar tectonic and depositional pattern in the entire basin, an abrupt change in depositional pattern was recorded during the Oligocene with the emergence of easterly source of sediments derived from the uplifting of Indo-Myanmarese Ranges. Between the Oligocene and Late Pleistocene different parts of the Sylhet Trough (the best-studied region in the deeper part of the Bengal Basin) received huge volumes of sediments, which resulted in deposition measuring between 10 km and over 17 km in thickness. This was followed by an equally sudden drop in the sediment supply from the east due to the basin inversion concurrently with the westward advance of the Indo-Burmese mountain front during early and midPleistocene. Followed by a short hiatus, the depositional scenario changed completely with the arrival of thick volumes of sediment during the late Pleistocene–Holocene, which covered the entire Bengal basin with the sediments brought by the Ganga and Brahmaputra from the Himalayan sources.

The NE Tibet experienced complex and distinct basin developments and uplifts in different areas. However, the reasons for such distinct surface deformation and their relationship to deep crustal geodynamic processes are not well understood. Here, we obtain a crust model of NE Tibet by jointly inverting Rayleigh wave ellipticity and phase velocity. Our results reveal that deep crustal strength contrasts across NE Tibet play an important role in controlling basin development. Extrusion of the significantly weak Qilian crust is obstructed by rigid Alxa block, resulting in deep foreland basin with dramatic topographic step. In contrast, the relatively weak crust of Longzhong absorbs outward extrusion of NE Tibet within a wide transition zone, leading to small intermontane basins. Furthermore, the systematic thinning of basins from north to south around the western Ordos Block demonstrates the tectonic transformation from extension to compression due to expansion of NE Tibet since the late Miocene. Plain Language Summary In this study, we obtain a high‐resolution model of NE Tibet by jointly inverting Rayleigh wave phase velocity and ellipticity (the radial‐to‐vertical amplitude ratio), which provides complementary constraints to the shallow structure. Our results show a clear correlation between velocity variations in the deep crust and basin structures at the surface. We infer that the extrusion of mechanically weak mid‐to‐lower crust of Qilian is obstructed by the strong Alxa block, leading to the steep topography and deep foreland Hexi Basin. To the east, in contrast, the outward extrusion of Songpan‐Ganzi is absorbed in a wide range by the relatively weak Longzhong region, developing gently sloping topography and small intermontane basins. Furthermore, the significant structural differences of rift basins from north to south around the western Ordos likely result from tectonic regime transformation induced by the continuous expansion of NE Tibet since the late Miocene. Our results improve the understanding of how deep crustal geodynamic processes influence surface uplift and basin developments in the expanding NE Tibet. Key Points A high‐resolution 3‐D crustal model of NE Tibet is obtained by joint inversion of Rayleigh wave ellipticity and phase dispersion We infer that deep crust extrusion and strength differences across plateau boundaries control distinct surface deformation in NE Tibet The systematic thinning of basins in west Ordos indicates tectonic regime transformation due to expansion of Tibet since Miocene

Several sag-type basins apparently developed from rift systems, but there is no consensus about how and if these grabens influenced the sedimentation of the post-rift thermal subsidence phase. The Ediacaran Jaibaras Rift Basin is one of the best-exposed sedimentary records among the NE Brazil late Precambrian – early Cambrian rift system, cropping out at the eastern margin of the intracratonic Parnaíba Basin and extending below it towards the west. Here we present detrital zircon U–Pb ages of rocks from the Jaibaras (Aprazível Formation) and Parnaíba (Ipu Formation) basins, in order to understand the provenance patterns, maximum depositional ages (MDA) and age relationship between these units. The MDA for the Aprazível Formation (c. 499 ± 5 Ma) indicates a Cambrian age for the upper part of the Jaibaras Basin. The bulk U–Pb data indicate that the Ipu Formation started to deposit during late Cambrian and/or Early Ordovician time, despite its MDA (c. 528 ± 11 Ma) being older than that of the Aprazível Formation. Detrital zircon provenance suggests that the primary source areas for the early deposits of the Parnaíba Basin were mountains related to the Brasiliano Orogeny to the south and SE (e.g. Rio Preto and Riacho do Pontal metamorphic belts). Finally, our data emphasize the key change in source areas from the rift to the initial deposition of the intracratonic phase, indicating major depositional style changes between both basins after the Gondwana assembly.

The stratigraphic development of foreland basins has mainly been related to surface loading in the adjacent orogens, whereas the control of slab loads on these basins has received much less attention. This has also been the case for interpreting the relationships between the Oligocene to Micoene evolution of the European Alps and the North Alpine foreland basin or Molasse basin. In this trough, periods of rapid subsidence have generally been considered as a response to the growth of the Alpine topography, and thus to the construction of larger surface loads. However, such views conflict with observations where the surface growth in the Alps has been partly decoupled from the subsidence history in the basin. In addition, surface loads alone are not capable of explaining the contrasts in the stratigraphic development particularly between its central and eastern portions. Here, we present an alternative view on the evolution of the Molasse basin. We focus on the time interval between c. 30 and 15 Ma and relate the basin-scale development of this trough to the subduction processes, and thus to the development of slab loads beneath the European Alps. At 30 Ma, the western and central portions of this basin experienced a change from deep marine underfilled (Flysch stage) to overfilled terrestrial conditions (Molasse stage). During this time, however, a deep marine Flysch-type environment prevailed in the eastern part of the basin. This was also the final sedimentary sink as sediment was routed along the topographic axis from the western/central to the eastern part of this trough. We interpret the change from basin underfill to overfill in the western and central basin as a response to oceanic lithosphere slab-breakoff beneath the Central and Western Alps. This is considered to have resulted in a growth of the Alpine topography in these portions of the Alps, an increase in surface erosion and an augmentation in sediment supply to the basin, and thus in the observed change from basin underfill to overfill. In the eastern part of the basin, however, underfilled Flysch-type conditions prevailed until 20 Ma, and subsidence rates were higher than in the western and central parts. We interpret that high subsidence rates in the eastern Molasse occurred in response to slab loads beneath the Eastern Alps, where the subducted oceanic slab remained attached to the European plate and downwarped the plate in the East. Accordingly, in the central and western parts, the growth of the Alpine topography, the increase in sediment flux and the change from basin underfill to overfill most likely reflect the response to slab delamination beneath the Central Alps. In contrast, in the eastern part, the possibly subdued topography in the Eastern Alps, the low sediment flux and the maintenance of a deep marine Flysch-type basin records a situation where the oceanic slab was still attached to the European plate. The situation changed at 20 Ma, when the eastern part of the basin chronicled a change from deep marine (underfilled) to shallow marine and then terrestrial (overfilled conditions). During the same time, subsidence rates in the eastern basin decreased, deformation at the Alpine front came to a halt and sediment supply to the basin increased possibly in response to a growth of the topography in the Eastern Alps. This was also the time when the sediment routing in the basin axis changed from an east-directed sediment dispersal prior to 20 Ma, to a west-oriented sediment transport thereafter and thus to the opposite direction. We relate these changes to the occurrence of oceanic slab breakoff beneath the Eastern Alps, which most likely resulted in a rebound of the plate, a growth of the topography in the Eastern Alps and a larger sediment flux to the eastern portion of the basin. Beneath the Central and Western Alps, however, the continental lithosphere slab remained attached to the European plate, thereby resulting in a continued downwarping of the plate in its central and western portions. This plate downwarping beneath the central and western Molasse together with the rebound of the foreland plate in the East possibly explains the inversion of the drainage direction. We thus propose that slab loads beneath the Alps were presumably the most important drivers for the development of the Molasse basin at the basin scale.

The Variscan orogeny occurred as a result of the Late Devonian to Late Carboniferous collision and accretion of Gondwana-derived microcontinents and continental masses with those of Laurussia. The irregular boundaries of the colliding continents caused isochronous transpressional and transtensional tectonics, accompanied by a complex pattern of intracontinental shear zones at the scale of the southern European Variscides. These shear zones and their configuration controlled the subsequent evolution of Permian to Middle Triassic paleogeography. The geographic distribution, from Morocco to the Eastern Alps, of the Late Carboniferous–Permian up to Triassic basins, most of which are considered as pull-apart basins, was related with the development of the Late Palaeozoic intracontinental shear network. Our analysis of the stratigraphic, tectonic and volcanic features of the Late Carboniferous/Permian continental basins across the Laurussia/Gondwana boundary reveals the role of the East Variscan Shear Zone during this time as a precursory lineament for the development of the Permian to Triassic rifting of Pangaea and the following opening of oceanic basins (e.g., the Neothetyan Ocean).

The western Gondwana margin underwent a complex geodynamic history during the early Paleozoic, and major uncertainties remain as to the role of tectonism in sedimentary dynamics. This study focuses on the lower part Santa Rosita Formation and the coeval Guayoc Chico Group (Cordillera Oriental; Northwest Argentina), ranging from the late Cambrian (Furongian; Age 10) to Early Ordovician (early Tremadocian; Tr1). This stratigraphic interval has been previously interpreted as deposited in an extensional basin to a retro-arc basin without major regional tectonic-induced deformation during its deposition, only recording long-term relative sea-level fluctuations. Four areas (Sierra de Cajas, Angosto del Moreno, Quebrada de Trancas, and Quebrada de Moya) were chosen because they host the most complete and temporally well-constrained stratigraphic sections of the Cordillera Oriental. Throughout the stratigraphic sections, four main facies zones are described and attributed to deposition in estuarine, foreshore-shoreface, delta-front, and offshore environments. Trilobite biozones are used as the biostratigraphic framework. By integrating sedimentary facies analysis, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy from the four selected sections, a new scenario showcasing the evolution of the basin is proposed. This scenario interprets a tectonically induced deformation during the deposition of the Santa Rosita Formation and the coeval Guayoc Chico Group. The newly acquired sedimentological data show that physiographical changes took place during the Cambrian-Ordovician transition and are expressed in various localities. This major change is recorded in the stratigraphic architecture, where extensive wave-ravinement surfaces and sedimentary hiatus are the result of local, syn-depositional basement uplifts. The initiation of the Puna-Famatinian volcanic arc during the Early Ordovician on the western margin was likely responsible for deformation in the retro-arc basin and the proposed scenario is consistent with the stratigraphic evolution in other areas of the Cordillera Oriental (e.g., Sierra de Mojotoro) and the Sierra de Famatina. Therefore, this study helps to constrain the evolution of the western Gondwana margin during the early Paleozoic, showing changes in the stratigraphic architecture and basin evolution from an extensional to a retro-arc style.

In the Inner Dinarides of southwestern Serbia, Tithonian polymictic carbonate turbidites, deposited in a deep-water foreland basin below overthrust ophiolites, contain Kimmeridgian–Tithonian shallow-water clasts, Triassic open-marine limestone and radiolarite clasts, and chrome spinels of a harzburgitic source (suprasubduction and MOR ophiolites). The results from the component analysis of these Tithonian polymictic carbonate turbidites constrain a Middle to Late Jurassic orogeny in the Western Tethys realm with following geodynamic evolution: (1) The closure of the western part of the Neo-Tethys Ocean caused west- to northwestward-directed ophiolite obduction onto the wider Adriatic shelf from Middle Jurassic times onwards. The former Triassic–Middle Jurassic outer passive continental margin of the Neo-Tethys imbricated and a nappe stack in lower plate (wider Adriatic) position was formed in front of the propagating obducting ophiolites. (2) During a period of relative tectonic quiescence, formation of a Late Jurassic carbonate platform started around the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary on top of the obducted ophiolites. This detection of a Late Jurassic carbonate platform formed above the obducted Dinaridic ophiolites close an important gap in knowledge about the geodynamic evolution of the Inner Dinarides. (3) From the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary onwards uplift of the imbricated rocks below the obducted ophiolites triggered unroofing. During Tithonian times the obducted ophiolites were transported west-directed along low-angle fault plains near to its present position in the Dinarides. Mountain uplift and unroofing caused the partly erosion of the Late Jurassic carbonate platform, the underlying ophiolites and the Triassic–Jurassic nappe stack consisting of outer shelf sedimentary rocks.