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Cooling in rifting sequences during increasing burial depth due to heat flow decrease
Author(s) -
Ceriani Andrea,
Di Giulio Andrea,
Fantoni Roberto,
Scotti Paolo
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2006.00700.x
Subject(s) - geology , rift , cretaceous , heat flow , paleontology , trough (economics) , structural basin , mesozoic , sedimentary rock , extensional definition , sedimentary basin , geomorphology , thermal , tectonics , physics , meteorology , economics , macroeconomics
Two case histories are presented to give evidences for sediment cooling during increasing burial depth due to heat flow decrease at the end of crustal stretching in extensional settings. The first refers to the Lower Cretaceous succession accumulated in a strongly subsiding trough within the Sirt Basin (Libya); the second relates to the Mesozoic succession of the Lombardian Basin (NW Italy) formed during Late Triassic–Early Jurassic rifting of the northern margin of the Adriatic microplate. In both cases, heat flow decreasing at the end of crustal stretching overbalanced the thermal effect of increasing burial depth causing a net cooling of rocks. These examples provide an alternative to exhumation for explaining cooling events recorded by rifting sedimentary sequences.