Half-graben

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Ho
b en orst
G ra H

The Newark Basin, an early Mesozoic half-graben

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H ab
gr
Footwa

A half-graben is a geological structure bounded by a

fault along one side of its boundaries, unlike a full graben
Hangin
wall

where a depressed block of land is bordered by parallel

ll

faults.
g

1 Rift and fault structure

Rift extension. Top: Full graben between two faults, each sloping
A rift is a region where the lithosphere extends as two towards center of rift. Bottom: half graben, more common
parts of the Earths crust pull apart. Often a rift will form
in an area of the crust that is already weakened by earlier
geological activity.[1] Extensional faults form parallel to Intracontinental and marine rift basins such as the Gulf
the axis of the rift.[2] An extensional fault may be seen of Suez, East African Rift, Rio Grande rift system and
as a crack in the crust that extends down at an angle to the North Sea often contain a series of half-graben sub-
the vertical. As the two sides pull apart, the hanging wall basins, with the polarity of the dominant fault system
(hanging over the sloping fault) will move downward changing along the axis of the rift. Often the extensional
relative to the footwall.[3] The crust thins and sinks, form- fault systems are segmented in these rifts. Rift border
ing a rift basin. Warm mantle material wells up, melting faults with lengths over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) are sepa-
the crust and often causing volcanoes to emerge in the rift rated by relay ramp structures. The relay ramps may pro-
basin.[1] vide pathways for sediment to be carried into the basin.
Typically the rift is broken along its axis into segments
Extensional basins may appear to be caused by a graben, about 50 to 150 kilometres (31 to 93 mi) long. [5]
or depressed block of land, sinking between parallel nor-
mal faults that dip towards the center of the graben from
both sides. In fact, they are usually made of linked asym-
metrical half-grabens. Faults with antithetic slope direc- 2 Sedimentation
tions linked in to a controlling fault, or periodic changes
of dip in the controlling faults, give the impression of full Four zones of sedimentation can be dened in a half-
graben symmetry.[2] graben. The rst is escarpment margin sedimentation,
As the rift expands, the rift anks lift up due to isostatic found along the major border faults bounding the half
compensation of the lithosphere. This creates the asym- graben, where the deepest part of the basin meets the
metric topographic prole that is typical of half grabens. highest rift-shoulder mountains.[6] Comparatively little
The half grabens may have alternating polarities along the sediment enters the half-graben across the major bound-
rift axis, dividing the rift valley into segments.[4] ing fault, since uplift of the footwall causes the land on the

1
2 4 REFERENCES

the shoaling margin or the exural margin. In this

part of the basin, slopes are usually gentle and large river
systems may carry sediment into the basin, which may be
stored in deltas where they enter a rift valley lake. Littoral
and sub-littoral carbonate deposits may well be accumu-
lated in these conditions. The axial margins at the ends
of basins often include low-gradient ramps where major
rivers enter the basin, building deltas and creating cur-
rents within a rift lake that can carry sediment from one
end to the other. Between adjacent half grabens there will
be accommodation zones that may include local exten-
sion, compression or strike-slip faulting. These can cre-
ate complex morphologies within which dierent mech-
anisms aect sedimentation. The types of sedimentation
in half grabens also depends on lake levels in the rift, the
climate (e.g. tropical versus temperate) in which the sed-
iments form and the water chemistry.[6]
Lake Baikal is an unusually large and deep example of
half-graben evolution. The lake is 630 by 80 kilometres
(391 by 50 mi), with a maximum depth of 1,700 metres
(5,600 ft). Sediment in the depression may be up to 6,000
Block view of a rift formed of three segments, showing the lo-
metres (20,000 ft) in depth. The system also includes
cation of the accommodation zones between them at changes in
some small Quaternary volcanoes.[9] In this lake, at rst
fault location or polarity (dip direction)
a series of half-grabens were linked in a linear chain. As
the rift valley aged, extensive deformation developed on
both sides of the lake, converting them into asymmetric
full grabens.[8]

A generalized cross section of the Albuquerque basin from east

to west. Note the half-graben geometry, paleozoic and mesozoic
sediments that existed pre-rift, and the large (up to 28%) amount
of extension.[10]

Lake-lled half-graben showing sedimentation dominantly from

the 'hinge' margin
3 Examples of half-grabens
footwall side to slope away from the fault. Rivers on that
side therefore carry sediment away from the rift valley.[7]
4 References
But as the lowest part of the basin with the greatest rate of
subsidence, the escarpment margin experiences the high- Citations
est rates of sedimentation, which may accumulate to sev-
eral kilometers in depth.[8] This sedimentation often in- [1] van Wijk 2005.
cludes very coarse debris such as huge blocks from rock
[2] Holdsworth & Turner 2002, p. 225.
falls, as well as fans of sediment from the basin wall.
Other material is transported across or along the basin to [3] Holdsworth & Turner 2002, p. 249.
the deep water parts of a rift lake along the escarpment
margin.[6] [4] Kearey, Klepeis & Vine 2009, p. 155.

Most of the sediment will enter the half-graben down [5] Davies 2004, p. 101.
the unfaulted hanging wall side.[7] On the side of the [6] Cohen 2003, p. 210.
basin opposite the main border fault, sedimentation oc-
curs along the hinged margin, which may also be called [7] Nelson et al. 1999.
 3

[8] Cohen 2003, p. 208.

[9] Ollier 2000, p. 60.

[10] Russell & Snelson 1994, pp. 83-112.

Sources

Cohen, Andrew S. (2003-05-29). Paleolimnology:

The History and Evolution of Lake Systems. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513353-0. Re-
trieved 2012-09-27.

Davies, Richard J. (2004). 3D Seismic Technol-

ogy: Application to the Exploration of Sedimentary
Basins. Geological Society. ISBN 978-1-86239-
151-2. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
Holdsworth, Robert E.; Turner, Johnathan P.
(2002). Extensional Tectonics: Regional-scale pro-
cesses. Geological Society of London. ISBN 978-
1-86239-114-7. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
Kearey, Philip; Klepeis, Keith A.; Vine, Frederick
J. (2009-01-27). Global Tectonics. John Wiley &
Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-0777-8. Retrieved 2012-
09-27.
Nelson, C.H.; Karabanov, E.B.; Colman,
S.; Escutia, C. (1999). Tectonic and
sediment supply control of deep rift lake
turbidite systems: Lake Baikal, Russia".
Geology. 27: 163166. doi:10.1130/0091-
7613(1999)027<0163:tassco>2.3.co;2.
Ollier, Cli (2000-10-18). The Origin of Moun-
tains. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-19890-5.
Retrieved 2012-09-27.

Russell, L.; Snelson, S. (1994). Structure and tec-

tonics of the Albuquerque basin segment of the Rio
Grande Rift: Insights from reection seismic data..
Geological Society of America Special Paper 291.
ISBN 0-8137-2291-8.
van Wijk, Jolante (29 March 2005).
Decompressional Melting During Extension
of Continental Lithosphere. Mantle Plumes.
Retrieved 2012-09-27.
4 5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1 Text
Half-graben Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-graben?oldid=743783620 Contributors: Vsmith, Rjwilmsi, Mikenorton, John-
packlambert, Aymatth2, Imveracious, Trappist the monk, RockMagnetist, Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 1

5.2 Images
File:Graben_and_half-graben.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Graben_and_half-graben.svg Li-
cense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Aymatth2
File:Half-graben_sedimentation.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Half-graben_sedimentation.png
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Mikenorton
File:Newark_Basin_Cross_Section.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Newark_Basin_Cross_
Section.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/mesozoic/newarkbasin.htm Original artist: usgs
File:Rift_segmentation.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Rift_segmentation.png License: CC BY-
SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Mikenorton
File:Riogranderift_albuquerquebasin.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Riogranderift_albuquerquebasin.
png License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

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