The development of a broad, low-lying depression in the Earth's crust where subsidence outpaces sediment infill for a sustained period, allowing thick sequences of sediment to accumulate over time. Sedimentary basins form through mechanisms including crustal stretching, downwarping under a sediment or ice load, and subsidence at a passive continental margin, and are the primary sites where the geological record of past environments is preserved.
Facts
Timescale
Timescale (category) Timescale (category) Process Type Timescalesediment deposition fills the depression over millions to hundreds of millions of years 1 Basin Formation
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Source Lake Chad (Wikipedia)
Source Lake Sevan (Wikipedia)
Source Pannonian Basin (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Sedimentary basin - Wikipedia
Introduction section
Sedimentary basins are created by deformation of Earth's lithosphere in diverse geological settings, usually as a result of plate tectonic activity.
Introduction section, deposition timescale sentence
Over millions or tens or hundreds of millions of years the deposition of sediment, primarily gravity-driven transportation of water-borne eroded material, acts to fill the depression.
View the SourcePannonian Basin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Pannonian Basin, LeadQuote, Shaped: Pannonian Basin, Lead
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large, mainly lowland area in southeastern Central Europe, briefly described as a sedimentary basin.
Lake Sevan (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Lake Sevan, OriginQuote, Shaped: Lake Sevan, Origin
Sevan originated during the early Quaternary when tectonic formation created a Palaeo-Sevan, ten times larger than the present lake.
Lake Chad (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Lake Chad, Prehistory and historyQuote, Shaped: Lake Chad, Prehistory and history
The Chad Basin was formed by the depression of the African Shield.
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