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. We use two-dimensional thermomechanical models to investigate the potentialrole of rapid filling of foreland basins in the development of orogenicforeland fold-and-thrust belts. We focus on the extensively studied exampleof the Western European Alps, where a sudden increase in forelandsedimentation rate during the mid-Oligocene is well documented. Our modelresults indicate that such an increase in sedimentation rate will temporarilydisrupt the formation of an otherwise regular, outward-propagating basementthrust-sheet sequence. The frontal basement thrust active at the time of asudden increase in sedimentation rate remains active for a longer time andaccommodates more shortening than the previous thrusts. As the propagation ofdeformation into the foreland fold-and-thrust belt is strongly connected tobasement deformation, this transient phase appears as a period of slowmigration of the distal edge of foreland deformation. The predicted patternof foreland-basin and basement thrust-front propagation is strikingly similarto that observed in the North Alpine Foreland Basin and provides anexplanation for the coeval mid-Oligocene filling of the Swiss Molasse Basin,due to increased sediment input from the Alpine orogen, and a marked decreasein thrust-front propagation rate. We also compare our results to predictionsfrom critical-taper theory, and we conclude that they are broadly consistenteven though critical-taper theory cannot be used to predict the timing andlocation of the formation of new basement thrusts when sedimentation isincluded. The evolution scenario explored here is common in orogenic forelandbasins; hence, our results have broad implications for orogenic belts otherthan the Western Alps.

Control of increased sedimentation on orogenic fold-and-thrust belt structure – insights into the evolution of the Western Alps