AAPG Bulletin, V. 84, No. 3 (March 2000), P. 376-398.
Seismic Evaluation of Differential Tectonic Subsidence,
Compaction, and Loading in an Interior Basin1
Thomas H. Wilson2
©Copyright, 2000. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights
reserved.
1Manuscript received June 16, 1998; revised manuscript received June 22, 1999;
final acceptance September 3, 1999.
2Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown,
West Virginia 26506-6300; e-mail: wilson@geo.wvu.edu
This study was funded in part through U.S. Department of Energy contract
DE-AC22-90BC14657. Comments on earlier portions of this work by Robert Milici, Robert
Shumaker, Byron Kulander, Lee Avary, Kevin Biddle, and Jory Pacht were greatly
appreciated. The paper also benefited from discussions with Robert Shumaker, Richard
Beardsley, Joe Lemon, and Jovita Dominic. Appreciation is extended to Debbie Benson for
her assistance in figure preparation. GTS Corporation provided some of the seismic data
used in this study.
ABSTRACT
Quantitative analysis of depth-converted reflection times defines long-term
differential motion across individual structures in a central Appalachian interior basin
known as the Rome trough. Differential motion decreases exponentially with time. Rotation
about a hinge defining the trough's west margin reached approximately 37% of total
displacement in about 63-78 million years (m.y.). Displacement across the trough's faulted
east margin occurred more rapidly and reached 37% of the total in 13-51 m.y. A major fault
in the interior of the trough developed rapidly with 37% of total displacement reached in
from 16 to 23 m.y. Longer term rotation across the west margin may be due to its
participation in the overall subsidence of the craton during the Paleozoic. The time
spanned by the formation of the East-Margin and Interior faults was restricted to the
Cambrian in the northern part of the area, but to the south, movement along the
East-Margin fault continued through the Middle Ordovician.
