KnowraSedimentary basinSedimentary basinA broad, long-lived depression in Earth’s crust where sediment accumulates and may become sedimentary rock.BriefConnectSubsidence: The downward movement of Earth’s surface relative to a reference level. Basin formation requires crustal sinking or other processes that create space for sediment.Sedimentary rock: Rock formed from deposited sediment, chemical precipitates, or biological material. Basin fills commonly become sedimentary rock through burial and lithification.Foreland basin: A sedimentary basin that forms beside a mountain belt as the lithosphere flexes under tectonic loading. It is a common basin type whose subsidence is driven by nearby mountain building.Petroleum geology: The study of how petroleum forms, migrates, and accumulates in rocks. Basin burial histories determine whether source rocks generate hydrocarbons and reservoirs retain them.Accommodation space: The space available for sediment to accumulate below a depositional level. Its creation and preservation govern how much sediment a basin can hold.Stratigraphy: The study and description of layered rocks and their relationships through time. Stratigraphic patterns reveal the order and continuity of basin deposits.Rift basin: A basin formed as continental crust stretches, thins, and breaks along normal faults. Its fault-bounded geometry develops during crustal extension.Source rock: An organic-rich rock capable of generating petroleum when heated during burial. Some basin strata become source rocks as burial raises their temperature.Sediment transport: The movement of sediment by water, wind, ice, or gravity. Transport systems deliver sediment from source regions into basin depocenters.Facies: A body of rock or sediment distinguished by characteristics that reflect its depositional conditions. Facies maps show how environments shifted across a basin.Show all 24Linked from 26 pagesTectonic subsidenceBroader topic: Many sedimentary basins form as tectonic subsidence creates space for sediment.Continental riftingRelated: Rift subsidence creates accommodation space for thick sedimentary sequences.Karoo SupergroupNarrower topic: Subsiding basins created accommodation space for the supergroup’s thick sedimentary sequences.Oceanic basinCompared with: It is defined by sediment accumulation, unlike an oceanic basin’s seafloor setting.Alluvial plainRelated: Subsiding basins provide space for thick sequences of plain-forming river deposits.Salt tectonicsNarrower topic: Salt tectonics commonly unfolds as basin sediments load, bury, and deform salt layers.Salt domeRelated: Basin burial supplies the pressure and overburden beneath which salt mobilizes.Paris BasinNarrower topic: The Paris Basin is a classic intracratonic example of this geological structure.Show all 26