Rift-basin development: lessons from the Triassic–Jurassic Newark Basin of eastern North America

Abstract

We use seismic, field, core, borehole and vitrinite-reflectance data to constrain the development of the Newark Rift Basin, one of the largest and most thoroughly studied basins of the eastern North American rift system that formed during the break-up of Pangaea. These data provide critical information about the geometry of the preserved synrift section and the magnitude of post-rift erosion. We incorporate this information into a new structural restoration of the basin. Our work shows that the Newark Basin was initially narrow (,25 km) and markedly asymmetric; synrift strata show significant thickening towards the basin-bounding faults. Subsequently, the basin became wider (perhaps .100 km wide), deeper (up to 10 km) and less asymmetric; synrift strata exhibit subtle thickening towards the basin-bounding fault system. Several intrabasin faults dissected the Newark Basin after synrift deposition, and the basin fill was tilted (c. 108NW) and folded. Erosion (up to 6 km) accompanied the intrabasin faulting, NW tilting and folding, significantly reducing the basin size. Our work suggests that the eastern North American rift system is characterized by a very broad zone of upper-crustal extension in which a few, wide, deep, longlived, fault-bounded basins (like the Newark Basin) accommodated much of the extension.

Triassic stretching directions in Iberia and North Africa inferred from magnetic fabrics

“…The Lusitanian, Algarve and Western Atlasic basins can be considered as the counterparts of the Triassic basins of North America (Figure ; e.g. Withjack, Schlische, Malinconico, & Olsen, ), because of the orientation of the main boundary faults; although their character as a continental margin only developed from the Late Triassic onwards. During the Late Triassic the extension directions found in the Lusitanian basin do not agree with a N–S rift (in present‐day coordinates) as could be expected from a well defined plate margin as defined by its subsequent basin evolution.…”

“…Palaeogeographic reconstruction for the Triassic prior to oceanic spreading modified from Ziegler () and Le Roy and Piqué (). Triassic normal faults of eastern North America (from Withjack et al, ), western North Africa (from Hafid, ), North Sea (from Roberts et al, ) and Norwegian Sea (from Fazlikhani, Fossen, Gawthorpe, Faleide, & Bell, ) are also drawn together with the Triassic extensional directions from Withjack and Schlische () and Mosar, Eide, Osmundsen, Sommaruga, and Torsvik (). (b) Interpretation in terms of rifting and transform major faults in present‐day coordinates…”

Geochronological and geochemical evidence for the nature of the Dongling Complex in South China

“…Typically, the clusters of roughly parallel rift valleys would form as a continental block begins to stretch prior to and during rifting (e.g., Lowe, 1985;Withjack et al, 2013). However, only one would eventually become a new seafloor spreading zone, just like the Red Sea.…”

New insights into lithology and hydrogeology of the northern Newark Rift Basin

“…The igneous rocks belong to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and are represented by both extrusive flows and intrusive bodies, most notably, the Palisade diabase Sill [ Marzoli et al ., ; Puffer et al ., ]. Extensive studies of the Newark basin's structure and lithology have significantly contributed to the understanding of development and evolution of the Mesozoic rift system and concurrent environmental conditions in eastern North America [e.g., Withjack et al ., ; Blackburn et al , ; Olsen and Kent , ; Schlische , ; Smoot , ]. Located in the densely populated and industrialized area of southeastern New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Figure a), the Newark Basin was also a focus of numerous studies on groundwater resources and pollution remediation in fractured aquifers [ Heisig , ; Lacombe and Burton , ; Morin et al ., ; Morin et al ., ; Houghton , ].…”

“…On the eastern North American margin they include the onshore Mesozoic Newark Rift Basin and offshore South Georgia Rift Basin, thought to be the largest on this margin but buried below the Cretaceous‐Cenozoic Coastal Plain sediments of South Caroline, Georgia, Alabama and Florida [ Akintunde et al ., ]. The advantages of Newark basin include its proximity to many CO 2 emitters [e.g., Goldberg et al ., ; Tymchak et al ., ], easy accessibility, and significant amount of information about the basin accumulated in prior studies, which included studies of field outcrops [e.g., Olsen , ; Cornet and Olsen , ], core holes [e.g., Kent et al ., ; Olsen et al ., ; Reynolds , ], and seismic‐reflection surveys [ Costain and Coruh , ; Reynolds , ; Withjack et al ., ]. Most of those projects, however, focused on the central part of the basin, characterized by the thickest and most complete sedimentary record.…”