Chapter A2
Stratigraphic and sedimentological models of
rift basins
D.
ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews models for the stratigraphic and
sedimentological evolution of rift basins at the basin
scale and at the half-graben or facies model scale.
Different models have been presented for the geotec-
tonic evolution of rifts (pure shear, simple shear,
heterogeneous stretching and volcanic- or plume-related
rifts) and these are reviewed. The different stratigraphic
signatures of each of these geotectonic models are
discussed in terms of the nature and the occurrence of
pre-rift strata, syn-rift unconformity, syn-rift strata,
post-rift unconformity and post-rift strata. This simple
stratigraphic analysis reveals that each geotectonic
model should have a unique stratigraphic signature that
has not been previously documented. The stratigraphic
signatures of the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea and Gulf of
Aden are reviewed and compared with the geotectonic
models previously proposed for these basins. It is
concluded that the pure shear model is applicable to
all basins and that the southern Red Sea is modified by
plume-related volcanism.
Rift basins are reviewed at the half-graben or facies
model scale where recent advances in structural and
sedimentary geology have revealed a complex and
evolving three-dimensional template for erosion, sedi-
ment production, sediment transport and deposition.
New facies models for the tectono-sedimentological
evolution of rift basins are proposed in the light of the
three-dimensional structural models. Recent work ap-
plying sequence stratigraphic concepts to rift basins is
reviewed which illustrates that the recognition and
nature of depositional sequences at a variety of scales
gives important information on the tectono-sedimentary
Sedimentation and Tectonics of Rift Basins: Red Sea-Gulf of Aden. Edited by B.H. Purser and D.W.J. Bosencc. Published in 1998 by Chapman &
Hall, London. ISBN 0412 73490 7.
B. H. Purser et al. (eds.), Sedimentation and Tectonics in Rift Basins Red Sea:- Gulf of Aden
© Chapman & Hall 1998
w. J. Bosence
evolution of rift basins. These include the timing and
style of fault movement, the complexity of relative sea-
level changes on rotating fault blocks and transfer zones,
and the temporal and spatial isolation of clastic and
carbonate facies associations in depositional sequences.
INTRODUCTION
The stratigraphy of rift basins is controlled by a variety
of tectonic, climatic, magmatic and sedimentary pro-
cesses which all leave distinctive signatures in the
sedimentary record. A number of different geotectonic
models of extensional basin formation have been pro-
posed and applied to different rift basins. The strati-
graphic signatures of these different rift process models
have not been investigated in such detail and this is
addressed in this chapter. The basin-scale stratigraphic
history of the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is
also reviewed in the light of new data presented in this
volume and compared with the various geotectonic
models that have been proposed for these basins.
At the sub-basin scale the evolving three-dimensional
history of half-graben and transfer or accommodation
zones is crucial to the understanding of the development
of facies and depositional sequences. Previously, largely
two-dimensional facies models have been presented for
half-graben basin evolution and these are reviewed and
revised as three-dimensional models of facies evolution
through time to illustrate the different stages of rift basin
evolution.
Finally, the application of sequence stratigraphic
concepts to extensional basins is discussed. Important
characteristics of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of
10 Stratigraphic and sedimentological models of rift basins

half-graben that affect depositional sequences are the

rotation of fault blocks which leads to synchronous
A. PURE SHEAR
relative sea-level rise and fall in hangingwall and
footwall locations respectively, the temporal and spatial
isolation of carbonate and clastic facies associations in crust
depositional sequences, and the rates of fault-slip in mantle
----moho

relation to rates of sediment supply and regional or

global sea-level change. B. SIMPLE SHEAR

breakaway proximal region dislal region

ran~

RIFT BASIN MODELS .. ~~

crust

During the 1970s and 1980s a number of geotectonic mantle

models of rift basins were proposed and applied to
basins such as the North Sea, Gulf of Suez and the early
stages of evolution of the Atlantic Ocean margins. These
models have been broadly classified by Sengor and
Burke (1978) into passive rift models (pure shear, simple
shear and heterogeneous stretching models, below), in
which the extension is generated by plate movements
external to the rift basin and the input of asthenospheric
material is a passive response to lithospheric thinning.
Alternatively, active rifting occurs where extension
relates to the involvement of hot asthenosphere through
decompression melting and volcanic plumes.
In the pure shear model (McKenzie 1978) the crust is
uniformly and instantaneously extended by homoge-
neous, pure shear by faulting and rotation of strata in
the brittle upper crust and ductile deformation in the
lower crust and the formation of a symmetric rift basin
(Figure A2.1(a)). Such symmetric rift basins are defined
by two rift border faults dipping towards each other as
was proposed by early works on the Rhine graben
(reviewed in Einsele, 1992) and the Red Sea (Lowell and
Genik, 1972). A two-stage history of basin evolution is
proposed based on an isostatic response to the initial
stretching and thinning of the brittle crust leading to
subsidence followed by the longer period of thermal
cooling of the lithosphere and subsidence.
An asymmetric graben structure was subsequently
proposed by Wernicke and Burchfiel (1982) and Wer-
nicke (1985) and illustrated in deep seismic reflection
profiles (e.g. Beach, 1986; Blundell et at., 1991). These
studies indicate that extension may take place by simple
shear along an intracrustal detachment surface (Figure
A2.1(b)). The low-angle detachment results in a prox-
imal or footwall margin with thinning and associated
subsidence of rotated fault blocks in the brittle upper
crust, but with little or no thinning of the mantle
lithosphere. The distal or hangingwall margin of the
basin in this model is affected mainly by thinning of the
lithospheric mantle which will undergo thermal expan-
sion (McKenzie, 1978), resulting in uplift and erosion
which is then followed by thermal subsidence. Therefore
the proximal mechanically rifted area is laterally sepa-
C. HETEROGENEOUS STRETCHING
Inner zone
crust
I----------------'~""-'-''-- moho
mantle
D. PLUME-RELATED
plume synchronous rifting II plume before rifting
~ .;':-. :<
. . . . I! .?>;,/~
'<.;'~ ..
..:.:.:.: : :·:·It: :.: : :-:':-:':'.
crust
manUe ~ mantle I IIII ( - -~
plume
moho -
Gl Syn·rift strata ~ Post·rift strata c::::J Volcanics .'. ' Ductile stretching
Figure A2.1 Models of the formation rift basins. (a) Pure shear model
(after McKenzie, 1978). (b) Simple shear model (after Wernicke and
Burchfie1, 1982). (c) Heterogeneous stretching model (after Coward,
1986). (d) Plume-related model (after White and McKenzie, 1989).
rated from the distal thermally subsiding basin (Figure
A2.1(b)).
The heterogeneous stretching model of Coward
(1986) involves an upper crustal zone of rotated fault
blocks which propagate laterally away from the rift on a
low-angle lithospheric detachment (Figure A2.1(c)).
This is accompanied by extension and thinning of the
underlying lower ductile crust and lithospheric mantle.
In this case a period of uplift and erosion of fault blocks
will occur over the thinned ductile zone from thermal
expansion prior to thermal cooling and subsidence.
Many rift basins may be affected by small amounts of
magmatic activity throughout their history and in
response to lithospheric stretching (Storey et at., 1992).
However some rift margins may be locally or temporally
associated with mantle plumes and the eruption of large
igneous provinces such as the Deccan Plateau of India,
the Parana of Brazil and the Yemen- Ethiopia- Eritrea
volcanic province in the southern Red Sea (White and