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EUROPROBE PROJECTS
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GEORIFT:
Geodynamics of Intracratonic Rifting |
Precambrian cratons form the oldest and most stable parts
of the Earth’s lithosphere. Their sedimentary cover preserves a long and detailed
record of intraplate deformations, ranging from rifting, hot-spot magmatism and the uplift
of broad arches, to thermal subsidence of intracratonic basins, compressional reactivation
with basin inversion, and crustal and lithospheric buckling. These deformations reflect
changes in the intraplate stress regime and must be related to plate boundary and mantle
processes.
The East-European Craton (EEC) has been considered as one of the most
stable blocks of the Earth’s crust. However, the sedimentary record of the overlying
East-European Platform (EEP) shows that, after Palaeoproterozoic consolidation, the EEC
was repeatedly affected by rifting cycles, separated by periods of tectonic quiescence and
phases of intraplate compression. As such, the EEP is an excellent natural laboratory for
investigating the response of an ancient craton to changing stress regimes and for
studying the relationships between tectonic processes affecting its margins and interior.
GEORIFT addresses the mechanisms of rifting by means of regional studies
of the Late Proterozoic-Palaeozoic sedimentary basins of the EEP as well as by detailed
analysis of the exceptionally well documented Pripyat-Dniepr-Donets (PDD) Basin, the
largest and deepest Late Palaeozoic rift in Europe.
Highlights of GEORIFT include:
Availability of a vast geological and geophysical data base, permitting
development and quantitative testing of tectonic and tectono-sedimentary models and their
comparison with neotectonic analogues.
Analysis of the entire geodynamic record of the EEC from the Riphean to
the Present concentrating on the Late Palaeozoic, a period of exceptionally intense
rifting, causing the development of major sedimentary basins, some of which host important
hydrocarbon provinces.
Integrated geological-geophysical study of the PDD basin with its
exceptionally well documented structural and stratigraphic record, to better understand
the interplay of tectonic, magmatic, climatic, eustatic, and other processes during the
evolution of rifted intracratonic sedimentary basins.
Potential to resolve fundamental questions about the dynamics of rifting
and basin inversion and tectonic controls on post-rift subsidence and sedimentation.
Comparison of the evolution of the EEC, in a plate tectonic framework,
with that of the North American and other cratons in order to distinguish relative
sea-level changes induced by intraplate deformations from those related to eustatic
fluctuations.
Development of proposals for acquisition of new deep seismic near-vertical
and wide-angle reflection surveys across the PDD basin and other sedimentary basins of the
EEC.
Get the GEORIFT text and figures out of the EUROPROBE 1996
publication by clicking on the corresponding text.
Click on the figure and see the image enlarged
PDF-viewers can be obtained through
the net for different operating systems.
For more information please contact the project
leader:
Dr. Randell A. Stephenson
Inst. voor Aardwetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit
De Boelelaan 1085
NL-1081 HV AMSTERDAM
NETHERLANDS
Tel: +31-20/444 73 47
Fax: +31-20/646 24 57
E-mail: ster@geo.vu.nl
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