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Module 7: Basin analysis

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do sedimentary basins form and fill, and how do we analyse them?

Basin analysis: the definition of a sedimentary basin and the mechanisms of subsidence (thermal subsidence after lithospheric stretching, flexural loading and sediment loading); the concept of accommodation space and its control by subsidence and sea-level change; the main basin types (rift, passive-margin and foreland); the use of vertical facies successions and burial-history curves to reconstruct basin evolution.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on basin analysis. Covers the definition of a sedimentary basin, mechanisms of subsidence (thermal, flexural and sediment loading), accommodation space and its control by subsidence and sea level, the rift, passive-margin and foreland basin types, and the use of facies successions and burial-history curves to reconstruct basin evolution.
13 min answer →

What is the Earth made of inside, and how do seismic waves reveal it?

Earth structure: the layered internal structure of the Earth (crust, mantle, outer core and inner core) and the contrasts between oceanic and continental crust; the seismic evidence for the layering (changes in wave velocity at boundaries such as the Moho); the P and S wave shadow zones as evidence for a liquid outer core; the link between the core and the Earth's magnetic field.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on Earth structure. Covers the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core, oceanic versus continental crust, the seismic evidence for the layering (velocity changes and the Moho), the P and S wave shadow zones as evidence for a liquid outer core, and the link between the core and the magnetic field.
12 min answer →

How do we reconstruct an ancient environment from sedimentary structures and facies?

Sedimentary environments: the concept of facies as a body of rock reflecting a particular depositional environment; sedimentary structures (bedding, cross-bedding, graded bedding, ripple marks and desiccation cracks) and their interpretation; the characteristics of the main environments (fluvial, deltaic, shallow marine, deep marine and desert); the construction and interpretation of sedimentary logs to reconstruct environmental change.
A focused answer to the OCR H414 dot point on sedimentary environments. Covers facies, sedimentary structures (bedding, cross-bedding, graded bedding, ripple marks, desiccation cracks) and their interpretation, the fluvial, deltaic, shallow-marine, deep-marine and desert environments, and how sedimentary logs reconstruct environmental change.
13 min answer →