The upper part of the sedimentary succession in the Tertiary Central Trough on Spitsbergen, comprising the Hollendardalen, Gilsonryggen, Battfjellet, and Aspelintoppen formations, has been studied with respect to basin formation and basin filling. Thickness data from the lower marine part of this succession indicate an asymmetric, thickening-to-the-west distribution. Of the several theories on how space was generated to accommodate the sequence, tectonic subsidence driven by lithospheric loading from the flanking fold and thrust belt appears to be the most probable. The position of the basin between the front of the West Spitsbergen fold belt and the adjacent craton suggests a foreland basin setting. Most of the basin fill constitutes a major regressive sequence (Gilsonry gen, Battfjellet, and Aspelintoppen formations) deposited by the eastward progradation of a deltaic system. Evidence of eastward displacement of the depocenter through time, together with the incorporation of the orogenic flank of the basin fill into the deformation, suggests cratonward migration of the fold and thrust belt/foreland basin couplet. The present Tertiary Central Trough represents the uplifted remnants of the latest (Oligocene?) foreland basin.