BASINWARD MIGRATION OF RIFT-BORDER FAULTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR FACIES DISTRIBUTIONS AND PRESERVATION POTENTIAL

Basinward migration of half-graben footwall margins occurs throughout the active Aegean extensional province and has significant implication s for facies distributions and preservation potential in synrift fills worldwide. Recognition of this phenomenon is particularly important f or predicting the preservation and distribution of hydrocarbon reservo irs in rift basins. Using an example from the Gediz graben of western Turkey, it is shown that basinward migration of footwall margins exhum es proximal facies of lateral sedimentary systems, severely limiting t heir preservation potential and providing a ready source of easily ero dible material. This in turn leads to the generation of extensive foot wall-derived depositional systems, which frequently displace axial dra inage systems toward the hanging-wall dip slope.