Impact of a pre‐existing transverse drainage system on active rift stratigraphy: An example from the Corinth Rift, Greece

Abstract

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Deep-Water Syn-rift Stratigraphy as Archives of Early-Mid Pleistocene Palaeoenvironmental Signals and Controls on Sediment Delivery

“…We observe retrogradation of the Ilias fan delta during WX4 (Cullen et al, 2020), which the magnetostratigraphy of this study suggests developed synchronously with a substantial eustatic global sea-level rise outside Lake Corinth to the MIS25 interglacial highstand (Figure 11; Discussion). The closed western end of Lake Corinth during the Early-Mid Pleistocene by the Rodini fluvial and deltaic systems means any marine incursions, if present, would have to come from the east of the study area (Ford et al, 2016;Gawthorpe et al, 2017Gawthorpe et al, , 2018Somerville et al, 2020). However, any Early-Mid Pleistocene succession on the Corinth Isthmus that might record this interval has yet to be documented (Collier, 1990).…”

Late Quaternary mud‐dominated, basin‐floor sedimentation of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece: Implications for deep‐water depositional processes and controls on syn‐rift sedimentation

“…Previous work in the western part of the Corinth Rift suggests that a large fluvial system, sourced from the Mornos drainage catchment (Figure 1) on the northern side of the gulf, and recorded by the Rodini Formation, extended southward across the western end of the Gulf of Corinth and onto the northernmost Peloponnesos before 400 ka (Ford et al, 2016;Gawthorpe et al, 2018;Somerville et al, 2019). The marine connection through the Rion Strait only began to develop when the south dipping Marathias and north dipping Psathopyrgos faults (Figure 1) became active around 400 ka and subsidence rates in their hanging walls outpaced sediment supply from the Mornos catchment causing drowning and northward retreat of the Rodini fluvial system.…”

Axial and transverse depositional systems of a syn-rift basin fill (Bohai Bay Basin, China)

“…Transverse systems are usually footwall-derived alluvial fans or fan deltas sourced from limited catchments developed along the rift-margin faults, or gravity-flowdominated deposits developed over the hangingwall of fault-controlled intra-rift footwall highs (Schwarz and Wood, 2016;Gawthorpe et al, 2018). They often have limited spatial extent and may comprise of relatively poorly sorted sediments with comparatively poor reservoir potential (Schwarz and Wood, 2016;McArthur et al, 2016), even though in some cases they can act as productive reservoir units (e.g., Somerville et al, 2020). Axial syn-rift fluvio-deltaic systems tend to be sourced from relatively larger catchments with longer transport distances, and thus tend to generate larger accumulations, generally characterized by cleaner, finer-grained, better-sorted, and more mature sediments, hence having relatively greater reservoir potential (Schwarz and Wood, 2016;McArthur et al, 2016;Sihombing et al, 2019).…”

“…Transverse syn-rift depositional systems are typically footwall-derived alluvial fans or fan deltas developed at the base of steep faulted scarps, sourced from catchments of limited size (e.g., Gawthorpe et al, 2018;Surlyk, 1978Surlyk, , 1984Leppard and Gawthorpe, 2006;. Although occasionally acting as productive reservoir units (Gawthorpe and Leeder, 2000), the deposits of these fan systems tend to be of restricted spatial extent, and typically comprise coarsegrained but poorly sorted deposits, which may have relatively poor reservoir potential (Schwarz and Wood, 2016;Gawthorpe et al, 2018;Somerville et al, 2020). Axial syn-rift fluvio-deltaic depositional systems are typically sourced from relatively larger catchments with longer transport distances.…”