Sedimentary Basins Analysis

School  Natural Sciences
Academic Unit
 Geology Department
Level of Studies
 Undergraduate
Course Code
 GEO_603E
Εξάμηνο σπουδών  5ο
Course Title
 Sedimentary Basins Analysis
Independent Teaching Activities
 Lectures,  laboratory work, two days field work
Weekly Teaching Hours
 2 (lect.) 1 (lab), 2 days field
Credits  3
Course Type
 Scientific area and the development of skills in understanding the evolution of a sedimentary basin in space and time
Prerequisite Courses
 Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Structural Geology
Language of Instruction & Examinations
Greek. Teaching may be however performed in English in case foreign students attend the course.
Is the Course offered to Erasmus Students
 If necessary Yes
Course Web-Page (URL)  https://eclass.upatras.gr/courses/GEO335/
Learning Outcomes

This course requires knowledge of courses of sedimentology, tectonic and Stratigraphy-Palaeontology. The combination of knowledge of the above, who were taught in previous courses, will help him on the particularities of this course.  

At the end of this course the student will be able to understand the way of the evolution of a sedimentary basin, in space and time. Student could monitor the progress of sedimentation environments, coupled with the knowledge of the tectonic regime and the age of the sediments.

In particular, the collection of information related to the sedimentation environments, their evolution, the particularities of sub-environments within a basin, combined with the time that these changes are taking place, but also of the tectonic regime, which affects the above changes, would give the ability to synthesize the geological model of the evolution of a sedimentation basin.
General Competences

By the end of this course the student will, furthermore, have developed the following skills (general abilities):

  • Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information, using and necessary technologies
  • Teamwork
  • Production technologies of new research ideas

Design and project management at the end of this course the student will have further developed the following skills:

  1. Ability to process sedimentological information.
  2. Ability to process structural information.
  3. Ability to process paleontological-stratigraphic information.
Ability to synthesize and propose the geological evolutionary model for a sedimentary basin
Syllabus
  1. Six basins are studied with different sedimentary environments, different tectonic regimes and time of evolution.
  2. Mesohellenic Piggy-back basin in Central Greece.
  3. Pindos Foreland in western Greece.
  4. Patras-Corinth extensional basin.
  5. The Complex (foreland and piggy-back) Zakynthos basin - Ionian Foreland Basin.
  6. Kalamata extensional Basin.
  7. Extensional basins in NW Crete Island (Platanos-Kasteli-Maleme sub-basins) - Mediterranean Ridge.
 B. Methods of constructing three-dimensional visualizations of a basin using underground and outcropped information (e.g. Geological sections, lithostratigraphic columns from wells).
Delivery
  1. Teaching using power point presentations, workshops with exemplary construction solving three-dimensional visualizations and models of evolution.
  2. 2. Field-trip exercises in areas of Zakynthos island, around Patras, Egion -  Corinth, Messologgi (in three of the above described basins) while valued and information from field-trip exercises within other courses in previous years ( Kalamata basin, Corinth basin).
Use of Information & Communication Technology
 Students are informed of all new developments in the application of methodologies for sedimentary basin analysis, in the interpretation and evaluation of seismic data, and have the ability to search through electronic sources into equivalent basins around the world aimed to compare the evolutionary models of sedimentation with what they are taught. Through the platform of e-class where it is posted all the presentations of courses is done and communicating with students to resolve on a daily basis problem.
Teaching Methods
 
Activity Semester workload
Lectures - seminars  2 Χ 13 = 26 
Reference study and analysis 1 Χ 13 = 13  
Field trip  2 days X 8 = 16 
Writing work 1 Χ 13 = 13
Workshop-Laboratory Exercise 1 Χ 13 = 13
 Total number of hours for the Course  81
 Student Performance Evaluation
  1. The students are divided into groups of 2-3 people and undertake the drafting work on one of these basins. They present their work to their colleagues with power point, is examining with questions and answers from both the instructor and between groups.
  2. Written examination on general knowledge, tasks that were given for the six basins, and the content of all written and presented tasks for the six basins. Right to participate in the written exam are those who have authored and presented the work assigned.
  3. Minimum pass grade: 5.
    The language of assessment is in Greek
Attached Bibliography

Mesohellenic Piggy-back basin in Central Greece:

  1. Zelilidis, A., Piper, D.J.W. & Kontopoulos, N. 2002: Sedimentation and basin evolution of the Oligocene - Miocene Mesohellenic basin, Greece. – American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 86 (1), 161-182.
  2. Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 1996: Significance of fan deltas without toe-sets within rift and piggy-back basins: examples from the Corinth graben and the Mesohellenic trough, Central Greece. - Sedimentology, 43, 253-262.
  3. Doutsos, T., Koukouvelas, I., Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 1994: Intracontinental wedging and post-orogenic collapse in Mesohellenic Trough. - Geol.Rundsch., 83, 257-275.

Pindos Foreland in western Greece:

  1. Maravelis, A., Makrodimitras, G. & Zelilidis, A. 2014: Stratigraphic evolution and source rock potential of a Late Oligocene-Early/Middle Miocene continental slope system, Diapondia Islands, Ionian Sea, NW Greece. Geological Magazine, 151(3):394-413.
  2. Konstantopoulos, P. & Zelilidis, A., 2013: Sedimentation of submarine fan deposits in the Pindos foreland basin, from late Eocene to early Oligocene, west Peloponnesus peninsula, SW Greece. Geological journal, 48(4), 335-362.
  3. Konstantopoulos, P. & Zelilidis, A., 2013: Provenance analysis of Eocene-Oligocene turbidite deposits in Pindos foreland basin, fold and thrust belt of SW Greece: Constraints from framework petrography and bulk-rock geochemistry. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 6(12), 4671-4700.
  4. Konstantopoulos, P., Maravelis, A. & Zelilidis, A., 2013: The implication of transfer faults in foreland basin evolution: Application on Pindos Foreland Basin, West Peloponnesus, Greece. Terra Nova
  5. Konstantopoulos, P. & Zelilidis, A. 2012: The geodynamic setting of Pindos foreland basin in SW Greece: Tectonic and sedimentary evolution. Episodes, v.35, no4, 501-512
  6. Avramidis, P., Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 2000: Thrust dissection control of deep-water clastic dispersal patterns in the Klematia-Paramythia foreland basin, Western Greece. -Geol.Mag., 137, 667-685.
  7. Zelilidis, A. 2003: The geometry of fan-deltas and related turbidites in narrow linear basins. Geological Journal, 38, 31-46.
  8. Kokinou, Ε., Kamberis, Ε., Vafidis, Α., Monopolis, D., Ananiadis, G. & Zelilidis, Α. 2005: Deep seismic reflection data from offshore western Greece: a new crustal model for the Ionian Sea. – Journal of Petroleum Geology, 28, 81-98.
  9. Avramidis, P., Zelilidis, A. 2001: The nature of deep-marine sedimentation and palaeocurrent trends as an evidence of Pindos foreland basin fill conditions. Episodes, 24, No4, 252-256.
  10. Avramidis, P., Zelilidis, A., Vakalas, I. & Kontopoulos, N. 2002: “Interaction between tectonic activity and eustatic sea-level changes in the Pindos and Mesohellenic Basins, NW Greece: basin evolution and hydrocarbon potential. -Journal of Petroleum Geology, 25 (1), 53-82.

Patras-Corinth extensional basin:

  1. Vakalas, I., Zelilidis, A., Barkooky, A., Darwish, M. & Tewfik, N. 2015: Comparison between fan deltas in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, and in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 8:3603-3613.
  2. Zelilidis, A. 2003: The geometry of fan-deltas and related turbidites in narrow linear basins. Geological Journal, 38, 31-46.
  3. Kontopoulos, N. & Zelilidis, A. 1997: Depositional environments of the coarse-grained lower Pleistocene deposits in the Rio-Antirio basin, Greece. - In: Engineering Geology and the Environment (Eds. by Marinos,P.G., Koukis,G.C., Tsiambaos,G.C. and G.C.Stournaras). Proceedings of Intern. Symp.Engin.Geol.Envir., 199-204.
  4. Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 1996: Significance of fan deltas without toe-sets within rift and piggy-back basins: examples from the Corinth graben and the Mesohellenic trough, Central Greece. - Sedimentology, 43, 253-262.
  5. Poulimenos, G., Zelilidis, A., Kontopoulos, N. & Doutsos, T. 1993: Geometry of trapezoidal fan deltas and their relationship to extensional faulting along the south-western active margins of the Corinth rift. -Basin Research, 5, 179-192.
  6. Kontopoulos,N. & Zelilidis,A.1992: Upper Pliocene lacustrine environments in the intramontane Rio graben basin, NW Peloponnesus, Greece.  Jb. Palaont. Mh., 2, 102 114. 
  7. Zelilidis,A., Koukouvelas,I. & Doutsos,T.1988: Neogene paleostress changes behind the forearc fold belt in the Patraikos Gulf areas Western Greece.  Jb. Geol. Palaont. Mh., 5: 311 325

The Complex (foreland and piggy-back) Zakynthos basin - Ionian Foreland Basin:

  1. Zelilidis, A., Papatheodorou, G., Maravelis, A., Christodoulou, D., Tserolas, P., Fakiris, E., Dimas, X., Georgiou, N. & Ferentinos, G., 2016: Interplay of thrust, back-thrust, strike-slip and salt tectonics in a Fold and Thrust Belt system: an example from Zakynthos Island, Greece. Intr.J.Earth Sciences. 105: 2111-2132.
  2. Zelilidis, A., Kontopoulos, N., Piper, D.J.W. & Avramidis, P. 1998: Tectonic and sedimentological evolution of the Pliocene-Quaternary basins of Zakynthos island, Greece: Case study of the transition from compressional to extensional tectonics. - Basin Research, 10, 393-408.
  3. Κontopoulos, N., Zelilidis, A., Piper, D.J.W. & Mudie, P.J. 1997: Messinian evaporites in Zakynthos, Greece. -Palaeog., palaeocl., palaeoec, 129, 361-367.

Kalamata Extensional Basin:

  1. Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 1999: Plio-Pleistocene architecture in marginal extensional narrow sub-basins: examples from Southwest Geeece. - Geol.Mag., 136(3), 241-262.
  2. Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 1994: Pliocene-Pleistocene fluvial/wave dominated deltaic sedimentation: the Pamisos delta in SW Peloponnesus, GREECE. -Geol.Mag.,131,653-668.
  3. Zelilidis, A. & Kontopoulos, N. 2001: Post-Miocene sedimentary evolution of south Peloponnesus, Greece. –GAIA, No 16 (1-2), 1-12.

Extensional basins in NW Crete Island (Platanos-Kasteli-Maleme sub-basins) - Mediterranean Ridge:

  1. Maravelis, A., Panagopoulos, G., Piliotis, I., Pasadakis, N., Manutsoglou, E. & Zelilidis, A., 2016: Pre-Messinian (sub-Salt) Source-rock potential on Back-stop Basins of the Hellenic Trench system (Messara Basin, Central Crete, Greece). Oil and Gas Science and Technology-Rev.IFP Energies nouvelles 71, 6. (DOI: 10.2516/ogst/2013130).
  2. Kontopoulos, N. & Zelilidis, A. 1997: Depositional processes in outer arc marginal sub-basins during the Messinian. Examples from the western Crete Island, Greece. -Geologica Balcanica, 27, 1-2, 91-100.
  3. Kontopoulos, N., Zelilidis,A. & Frydas,D. 1996: Late Neogene sedimentary and tectonostratigraphic evolution of southwestern Crete island, Greece. - N. Jb. Geol.Palaont. Abh., 202, 287-311.