Summary

This book is devoted to the field of basin analysis, and in particular to the one- and two-dimensional modeling of the burial, thermal and maturation histories of sedimentary basins, in the context of evaluating their hydrocarbon potential. A new modeling system is elaborated in this work and applied to continental basins. Particular attention is paid to specific features of basin evolution, including the compaction of sediments deposited at a variable rate, erosion of the sedimentary strata and basement, intrusive and hydrothermal activity, thermal activation and reactivation of the basement, lateral heat exchange of multiple-aged blocks of the oceanic and continental lithospheres, the jumping of spreading axes, etc. Alternative methods are applied for the control of tectonic subsidence, isostasy and rheology, lithosphere stretching and thinning.