Basin Development

and Petroleum Potential In

Active Continental Margin
1. Title
2. Basin Development Summary
3. Definition and Description
4. Plate Tectonic Relation
5. Sedimentation/Stratigraphy
6. Tectonic Development
- Continent-Continent
- Ocean-Continent
7. Petroleum Sistem in
Active Margin
 2. Basin Development Summary

Stages in basin history are:

Embryonic - rift valley forms
as continent begins to split.

Juvenile - sea floor basalts

begin forming as continental
sections diverge.

Mature - broad ocean basin

widens, trenches develop and
subduction begins.

Declining - subduction
eliminates much of sea floor
and oceanic ridge.

Terminal - last of the sea floor

is eliminated and continents
collide forming a continental
mountain chain.
 3. Definition and Description

Active Continental Margin

a continental margin that is characterized

by tectonic activity, which results from the
collision of two tectonic plates, for
example, the subduction of an oceanic
plate under a continental plate.

passive continental margin

A continental margin that is located at Website maintained by
the "trailing edge" of a continent and as Office Of Marine Programs
a result shows little geological activity. University of Rhode Island
-Disclaimer-
 DESCRIPTIONS
• Passive margins
– Not plate boundaries
– Broad margin formed by large sediment
wedges derived from nearby landmass
– Examples - areas around Atlantic Ocean

• Active margins
– Convergent plate boundary
– Narrow margin, highly deformed sediments
– Examples - Pacific Rim

Continental Margins and Ocean Basins

 Passive versus Active Continental Margins
Seafloor Topographic Profiles
…note mid-oceanic ridge…

trench—areas deeper than 6000m. They are highly

pressurized and often hot due to volcanic venting and they
are important in seafloor spreading and plate tectonics

Plate boundary: Convergent Plate boundary:

Shelf
Transform
Slope (steep)
Trench
Continental
4. Plate Tectonic Relation Plate Margins
- Where Stuff Happens…..

Divergent Convergent Transform

Relative Movements of Plates

a) Divergent,
(b) Convergent-continent/ocean
basin,
(c) transform,
(d) convergent-
continent/continent
Active continental margin: plate boundary exists at edge of continent
TRENCH STRATIGRAPHY
Continental Shelf and Slope

slope
angle is
only 4-5°

topographic profile is shown with 25x vertical exaggeration

(vertical and horizontal scales are not the same)
 5. SEDIMENTATION and STRATIGRAPHY
Major features of the continental margin, ocean basin
floor, and mid-ocean ridges:
Continental margins may be active or passive
Active—located around the Pacific Ocean, where the leading edge of a continent is overrunning
oceanic lithosphere. Sediment scraped from the descending oceanic plate is plastered against the
continent to form a collection of sediments called an accretionary wedge. An active continental margin
generally has a narrow continental shelf which grades into a deep ocean trench.

Passive continental margin—divided into

the continental shelf, a gently sloping
submerged zone, a flooded extension of the
continent, made of thick accumulations of
sediments, extending from the shoreline
toward the deep-ocean basin;
the continental slope, the true edge of a
continent (the seaward edge), which has a
steep slope that leads from the continental
shelf into deep water, and
the continental rise (in regions where there
are no trenches)-- a gradual incline made of
thick layers of sediments (where turbidity
currents have formed deep-sea fan shapes)
that have moved downslope from the
continental shelf to the deep-ocean floor.
Deep-sea sedimentation processes
Sedimentation at The Margin Active (Pacific) Type.

ACCRETIONARY PRISMS
 Submarine canyons and deep-sea fans

• Turbidity currents
carve submarine
canyons into the
slope and shelf
• Debris from
turbidity currents
creates graded
bedding deposits
and deep-sea fans
 Abyssal plains
• Deep flat areas formed by
suspension settling
• Volcanic peaks poke
through the sediment
– Abyssal hills (seaknolls)
– Seamounts
– Tablemounts (guyots)