DENUDATION, VERTICAL CRUSTAL MOVEMENTS AND SEDIMENTARY BASIN INFILL

Denudation and vertical crustal movements are linked through the isostatic equation for conservation of lithospheric mass. Recent empirical results from a wide range of sources are presented on the rates of these processes. Denudation alone can cause non-tectonic (isostatic) surface uplift of the right magnitude predicted by theory. A case is made, following Ahnert, for a single linear relationship (although with much scatter) between denudation rate and mean drainage basin relief for large basins. Some recent determinations of denudational time constants have neglected to include tectonic and isostatic terms which oppose the reduction of relief by denudation. Application of diffusional transport models to determine the rate of sediment deposition are severely limited by inherent one-dimensionality and neglect of suspended and washload contributions. Basin infill sequences may be used to determine past sediment transfer coefficients from a hinterland, but problems arise in the apportionment of the various hinterland fluxes that occur in >>real-world<< three dimensional basins. Sediment yields in smaller half-graben and growth fold basins must reflect the magnitude of drainage basins and the complex local controls upon sediment yields. Examples are given from extensional basins in the Western USA and Greece. The >>length<< of tectonic relief produced in tilt blocks and growth folds will control the area of drainage basin developed (through the fractal form of Hack's Law) and hence the magnitude of deposition in sedimentary basins adjoining tectonic uplands.