Listric Normal Faults

The importance of listric normal faults in the formation of sedimentary basins is becoming increasingly more obvious. Based on reflection seismic sections and surface observations, the following genetic types may be differentiated: - listric normal faults involving the basement that are associated with some crustal attenuation. Such faults occur during the formation of rifts that often precede the formation of passive continental margins (e.g., Gulf of Biscay, Galicia Bank); - superficial soft-sediment listric normal faulting related to deltaic systems and/or to drifting sequences associated with the subsidence of passive continental margins (e.g., Gulf of Mexico); - listric normal faulting associated with the genesis of accretionary wedges of active continental margins (e.g., Colombia); - syn- and post-orogenic faulting associated with the stretching and shearing of orogenic systems and parts of their foreland (e.g., Great Basin). The role of normal faulting in the evolution of "geosynclines" and folded belts (e.g., the Alps) is better understood in the light of observations on continental margins and late orogenic basins.