Abstract The Triassic Fundy rift basin in Nova Scotia is a large (>70 km wide) half-graben filled with alluvial, lacustrine and aeolian deposits. A major lithospheric lineament, the Cobequid–Chedabucto Fault Zone (CCFZ), which forms the tip of the Newfoundland–Gibraltar Fault Zone, occurs within the Fundy Basin. The timing of early movement on this important fault zone is poorly constrained. We present data from the alluvial and aeolian units that crop out adjacent to the CCFZ in the Minas sub-basin to determine the initiation of fault movement. We use the onset of alluvial fan deposition to infer when the fault became sufficiently active to create the intrabasinal topography and document the influence of fault activity on the intrabasinal drainage. The occurrence and preservation of aeolian deposits immediately adjacent to the CCFZ and concomitant with alluvial fan development suggests a wind shadow effect associated with the fault-generated topography. The onset of alluvial fan deposition associated directly with the fault occurred during Norian times, following an earlier phase of sedimentation in the Fundy Basin, and records a potentially important phase of plate reorganization during early Atlantic rifting.

Abstract The Laptev Sea in the Siberian Arctic represents a unique tectonic junction of an active spreading ridge, the Gakkel Ridge in the Eurasian oceanic basin, with the Siberian Arctic continental margin. New long-offset seismic profiles acquired in recent years provide a reliable basis for deciphering the structural and seismic stratigraphic characteristics of the Laptev Rift System. The tectonic development of the Laptev Shelf represents a sequence of four phases controlled by relative plate movements: (1) intense brittle normal faulting (an initial rifting or stretching phase) affected the entire shelf in the Late Cretaceous(?)–Paleocene(?); (2) a thinning/exhumation phase resulted in exhumation of the lower continental crust and probably upper mantle in the western part of the rift system – this phase is inferred to have occurred during the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene, preceding and accompanying continental break-up in the Eurasia Basin; (3) a stalled rift phase characterized by either a dramatically reduced rate of extension, or a non-extension/compression regime controlled by major reorganization of the plate movements – the onset of this fourth phase is inferred to coincide with the initiation of seafloor spreading in the southern Eurasia Basin at around 53–50 Ma; and (4) reactivation of the rifting in the mid-Miocene (a second rift phase).

Abstract Recent drilling activity in the Levant Margin offshore Israel has resulted in the discovery of up to 25 TCF of gas. As exploration efforts continue, the previously under-explored Levant Margin is revealed as one of the most prolific petroleum provinces of the Mediterranean region. Study of regional seismic data show that this margin evolved in three main tectonic phases: Permian to Early Jurassic riffing, middle Jurassic to middle Cretaceous passive margin and late Cretaceous to Tertiary inversion and partial subsidence. Well results indicate the existence of both biogenic and thermogenic petroleum systems. Dry-gas found in Mari-B, Tamar, Leviathan, and several smaller fields suggests basin-wide charge of reservoirs containing bacterial gas, likely originated in Late Tertiary, organic-rich deep-marine shale. Two play types are associated with the biogenic gas system: (A) the Tamar play includes lower Miocene, deep-water turbidite sands in upper Miocene compressional structures; and (B) the Yafo play includes lower Pliocene turbidites in basin-floor fans and mobilized sand mounds. The existence of thermogenic petroleum systems in the Levant Margin is indicated by significant, highgrade oil shows found in several wells, although commercial production of these oils has not yet been established. Potential source rocks are organic-rich carbonates of mid-Triassic, mid-Jurassic, late Cretaceous, and early Tertiary age. Two types of plays are considered: (A) Jurassic, fractured shallow-marine carbonates in compressional structures located near the basin margin; and (B) Cretaceous, deep-water turbidite sands found in the deep, central part of the basin. Both play types are planned to be soon tested by drilling.