Sedimentary basin

prefLabel
  • sedimentary basin
definition
  • A geomorphic feature of the earth in which the surface has subsided for a prolonged time, including deep ocean floors, intercontinental rifts and elevated and interior drainage basins.
inScheme
broader
Abstract from DBPedia
    Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence creates a regional depression that provides accommodation space for accumulation of sediments. Over millions or tens or hundreds of millions of years the deposition of sediment, primarily gravity-driven transportation of water-borne eroded material, acts to fill the depression. As the sediments are buried, they are subject to increasing pressure and begin the processes of compaction and lithification that transform them into sedimentary rock. Sedimentary basins are created by deformation of Earth's lithosphere in diverse geological settings, usually as a result of plate tectonic activity. Mechanisms of crustal deformation that lead to subsidence and sedimentary basin formation include the thinning of underlying crust; depression of the crust by sedimentary, tectonic or volcanic loading; or changes in the thickness or density of underlying or adjacent lithosphere. Once the process of basin formation has begun, the weight of the sediments being deposited in the basin adds a further load on the underlying crust that accentuates subsidence and thus amplifies basin development as a result of isostasy. The long-term preserved geologic record of a sedimentary basin is a large scale contiguous three-dimensional package of sedimentary rocks created during a particular period of geologic time, a 'stratigraphic succession', that geologists continue to refer to as a sedimentary basin even if it is no longer a bathymetric or topographic depression. The Williston Basin, Molasse basin and Magallanes Basin are examples of sedimentary basins that are no longer depressions. Basins formed in different tectonic regimes vary in their preservation potential. Intracratonic basins, which form on highly-stable continental interiors, have a high probability of preservation. In contrast, sedimentary basins formed on oceanic crust are likely to be destroyed by subduction. Continental margins formed when new ocean basins like the Atlantic are created as continents rift apart are likely to have lifespans of hundreds of millions of years, but may be only partially preserved when those ocean basins close as continents collide. Sedimentary basins are of great economic importance. Almost all the world's natural gas and petroleum and all of its coal are found in sedimentary rock. Many metal ores are found in sedimentary rocks formed in particular sedimentary environments. Sedimentary basins are also important from a purely scientific perspective because their sedimentary fill provides a record of Earth's history during the time in which the basin was actively receiving sediment. More than six hundred sedimentary basins have been identified worldwide. They range in areal size from tens of square kilometers to well over a million, and their sedimentary fills range from one to almost twenty kilometers in thickness.

    堆積盆地(たいせきぼんち、英: Sedimentary basin)とは、地殻変動によってある期間継続的に沈降し、そこに堆積物が分厚く堆積し、堆積岩による一連の地層が形成された地球表面の凹地のこと。沈降地形に後から堆積物が溜まって形成される。構造盆地が長い時間をかけて堆積物によって埋められて形成される場合もある。通常は、プレートテクトニクス活動に関係する多様な地質環境で発生するが、海洋底に多く見られる。外孤盆地、内孤盆地、前縁盆地、リフト型盆地などに分類される。ここの岩石が地殻変動で褶曲し、馬の背のような形のように盛り上がった地質構造 (背斜構造) の上部にガス、油、水が軽い順に移動、濃集したものを油田と呼ぶ。

    (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Sedimentary_basin)