Publication Date:
2016-04-21
Description:
The aim of this study is to reevaluate the character and evolution of the large-scale subsidence of intracontinental basins using 3D thermo-mechanical numerical simulations accounting for the coupling between sedimentation, rheology-dependent lithospheric flexure and thermal contraction by lithospheric cooling. The flexural rigidity of the lithospheric plate is controlled by elastic-brittle-plastic rheology, enabling the computation of thermal and mechanical feedback processes occurring during basin subsidence. Numerical results show that, depending on the sediment loading history, a rheological stratified lithosphere can subside over geological time scales without imposition of ad hoc geometric and kinematic initial conditions. 3D feedback effects of sedimentation on the thermo-mechanical structure of the plate result in a weakened lower crust mechanically decoupled from the underlying mantle and therefore easily reactivated even under low background stresses. Our results explain the first order characteristics of the subsidence in intracontinental basins and reconcile basic observations of their deformation history.
Print ISSN:
0148-0227
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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