Sedimentary basins formed and carried piggyback

on active th rust sheets

G. G. Ori
lstituto di Geologia e Paleontologia, Universita di Bologna, Via Zamboni 67, 40127 Bologna, Italy

P. F. Friend
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, England

ABSTRACT
Small sedimentary basins that formed on the Apennine (southern) margin of the Po
basin complex, northern Italy, have been studied using borehole and seismic-reflection
information, and their evolution can be dated using the largely marine biostratigraphy of the
Miocene to Quaternary sediments. These studies show that the basins formed and were filled
while being carried on moving thrust sheets , and they are therefore named piggyback basins.
Each of these basins corresponds to the active phase of a different thrust-front ramp. On the
Pyrenean (northern) margin of the Ebro basin complex, northern Spain, similar piggyback
basins formed between Eocene and mid-Miocene time. They have since been uplifted and
eroded and may therefore be studied in outcrop. In northern Spain, much of the basin-fill
sediment was deposited in nonmarine environments.

INTRODUCTION
Folding, faulting, and sedimentation have
occurred together in many places in the margi-
nal parts of sedimentary basins (Miall, 1978)
and provide evidence of tectonic movement of
the basins with respect to their surrounding s.
Evidence of the transport of entire active sedi-
mentary basins as a direct result of movements
in the upper crust is much less common . We
direct attention to two areas where complexes
of basins (the Po in Italy and the Ebro in
Spain) had one major compressional margin
in which thrust sheets formed and transported
actively filling sub-basins.
In both the Po and Ebro complexes, there is
evidence that the thrust sheets formed by "pig-
gyback thrust propagation" (Dahlstrom, 1970;
Butler, 1982). This occurs when the high-angle
frontal ramp of a thrust sheet becomes inactive
and a new active ramp forms in front of the old
one. Continuing movement of the thrust sheet
carries the old ramp, piggyback, incorporated
in the thrust sheet. We propose that the term
"piggyback basin" be used to describe all sedi-
mentary basins that formed on active thrust
sheets.
The type of evidence available from the two
areas differs. The Po complex is still subsiding,
and information about the structure of the Mi-
ocene to Quaternary deposits that lie below the
Po plain comes largely from borehole and
seismic work. In contrast, the Ebro complex
was filled mainly in Eocene, Oli gocene, and
Miocene time and was subsequently uplifted, so
that extensive outcrops are locally available.
PO BASIN COMPLEX
The Miocene to Quaternary Po basin com-
plex can be regarded as the youngest foredeep
of the Apennine orogenic belt. During this pe-
riod the Apennines have become a source area
for the sediment of the complex, and various
depositional cycles have been distinguished
(Cremonini and Ricci Lucchi, 1982).
A program of subsurface analysis, carried out
by the AGIP (Azienda Generale Italiana Pe-
troli) oil company, has shown three major areas
of thrust sheets extending into the Po basin
from the Apennines. The AGIP structural map
of the Po basin (Pieri and Groppi, 1981), re-
drawn in this paper (Fig. IA), shows that the
'--+-- Anticline
..-., Thrusl
depocenters (areas of greatest thickness) of the
Pliocene-Quaternary sequence occur either
within the thrust arcs (Figs. l, 2) or just in front
of them. The depocenters within the arc areas
are interpreted as pig gyback basins, filled by
sediment poured from the Apennine chain and
dammed by the thrust-sheet ramps.
The thrust sheets are arc-shaped in plan (Fig.
2). Their leading edges, the tips of the frontal
ramps, are higher than the edges of the lateral
ramps. This is a direct result of the form and
movement of the thrust sheet. A strike-slip
Figure 1. Comparisons
(on same scale) of Po (A)
and Ebro (B) foredeep
basin complexes. Depo-
centers correspond to
both main basins and
piggyback basins. Sec-
tion lines show location of
Figures 3, 4, and 5. Modi-
fied from (A) Pieri and
Groppi (1981); (B) Mapa
Tectonico de la Peninsula
lberica y Baleares, lnsli-
tuto Geologico y Minero
B
de Espana, Madrid .

GEOLOGY , v. 12, p. 475- 478, August 1984 475

 component of movement of the lateral ramps is infill is clear, as shown in Figure 2: the iso- nary deposits define an example of a piggyback
an inevitable local result of the advance of pachs of the Quaternary sediment show a pro- basin that is particularly clear because it is un-
these arc-shaped thrust sheets (Butler, 1982). nounced decrease in thickness against the deformed and displays a simple relationship of
The different influence of the frontal and lat- frontal ramps of the thrust sheets, but no strong the fill to the deformation. This is not the case
eral ramps of the thrust sheets on the sediment variation across the lateral ramps. The Quater- for the older basins (depocenters of Fig. l) be-
cause their thicknesi,es have been further modi-
fied by postdepositional deformation.
Figures 3 and 4 show cross sections of young
piggyback basins (Pieri and Groppi, 1981). In
Figure 3, the main piggyback basin of Quater-
nary age extends as far south as the margin of
the Apennine hills, where (Ori, 1982, Fig. 2)
there is no evidence: of the synsedimentary
thrusting that is typical of compressional faulted
margins (Riba, 1976; Miall, 1978). The north-
ern edge of the basin, and of the basins shown
in Figure 4, shows onlap (overlap) of the sedi-
ments against the major "outer" thrust sheets,
which must have been emergent mountain
ridges during most of the deposition.
Whereas the youngest deposits of these pig-
gyback basins appear to have accumulated
while the basins w1:re relatively static, the older
sediments record the history of thrust-sheet
movement. In the Ferrara area (Fig. 3), the
outer thrust arc wa.s emergent in latest Miocene
time, as shown by conglomerates (Dondi et al.,
1982). Pliocene deposits were cut by thrusting,
and yet, by the end of Pliocene time, deposition
Subsurface : Thrust influencini Quaternary \ Quaternary isopod,
had largely mantled the thrusts. In the Emilia
-......._ Thrust not influencing Quaternary contour interval 500m
area (Fig. 4), Miocene and Pliocene strata were
increasingly tilted, presumably on the backs of
Outcrops:
the moving thrust sheets. No similar major tilt-
External Pliocene-Pleistocene r-:::::1 Pliocene-Pleistocene internal
deposits basin ing occurred in th1: main basin to the north.
Oligocene-Miocene internal
basins (allochthonous) tJ "Marnosa-Arenacea," Miocene The general environment of sedimentation in
the piggyback basins (AGIP, 1982) varied from
Allochthonous sheet D Holocene alluvium relatively deep-se.i, to alluvial, higher in the suc-
cessions. Detailed study of outcrops in the
Figure 2. Larger scale map of Ferrara thrust area and adjacent Apennines. Quaternary centers foothills of the Apennines has shown that the
li,e on backs of major thrust faults. Internal basin sediments of outcropping area could be re- marginal deposits, of Pliocene and early Qua-
garded as older piggyback basins, external deposits (Oligocene-Miocene ones are negligible
ternary age, formed in fan deltas (Ricci Lucchi
at this scale and thus are not shown) repres1 nt foredeep sediments. lsopachs have been
drawn from seismic sections and well data o,f AGIP. Subsurface structures are modified from et al., 1981; Farabegoli, 1983), in deep-sea
Pieri and Groppi (1981). See Figure 1 for location. fans, and on submarine slopes. Holocene depos-
its extend across the whole basin immediately
below the surface. The sediment supply to the
Inner thrust belt Outer thrust arc piggyback basins came predominantly from
P'--'iggyback bo,.,._,,s in, _ the Apennine cha.in; the outer thrust sheets do
N not seem to have played an important role as
l<m - producers of detritus.
-2 -

EBRO BASIN
The sedimentary fill in the Ebro basin com-
plex is largely continental (nonmarine), al-
though the earliest episodes were marine. The
EJl QUATERNARY EARLY PLIOCENE D MELANGE-LIKE TERRANES
northern (Pyrenean) margin consists of a series
of arcuate thrusts separating several distinct
i .:!MIDDLE-LATE PLIOCENE I<<,:j PALEOGENE-MIOCENE MESOZOIC
piggyback basim, (e.g., Jaca, Graus, etc.,
Fig. I). The non marine nature of the basin fills
IOKm
means that their ages cannot be determined as
precisely as those of the Po basin complex.
Figure 3. Section of southern Po basin complex from AGIP seismic profile (after Pieri and
Groppi, 1981). Piggyback basin consists of middle Pliocene to Quaternary deposits. Older However, the fills of both the piggyback basins
pre-Mesozoic deposits can be regarded as ancient main-basin sediments afterward involved and the main (Ebro) basin can be regarded as
in thrusting. They form basement of piggyback basin. See Figure 1 for location. belonging to broadly the same elastic complex

476 GEOLOGY, August 1984

 South
North
0-

"'
4>
E
- 2
>-
0

I
0

4 Km Courtesy AG IP
Figure 4. Seismic-reflection profile across Emilia thrust area (Fig. 1) (reproduced by permission of AGIP oil company; Pieri and Groppi, 1981).
Stratigraphic surfaces distinguished are tops or late and middle Pliocene (LMP), early Pliocene (EP), late Miocene (LM), middle Miocene (MM),
and early Miocene (EM). Positions of wells serve to locate crests of two thrust-sheet ramps. Both ramps form northern margins of local piggy-
back basins, and Pliocene sediments onlap against ramp ridges, which must have been emergent and moving during Pliocene time. Pliocene
sediment in main basin, to north, is relatively undeformed.

s Outer thrust arc

Inner
belt N
Km
Figure 5. Section through -I
Graus basin and marginal _-2
area of Ebro basin. Onlap
and bypassing have been -3
observed in field; section _-4
is modified from Seguret
(1972). See Figure 1 for
location. 10 Km

F
f B OLIGOCENE - ITITffil EOCENE (EVAPORITES) LJ MESOZOIC-EOCENE
MIOCENE
: CARBONIFEROUS-TRIASSIC [/ (:/ /.j HERCYNIAN BASEMENT
( WITH EVAPORITES)

because they rest on the same basement and NORTH SOUTH

have comparable sedimentary facies. The age PIGGYBACK BASIN+ OUTER ARC + EBRO BASIN
range of the sediments extends from latest Eo-
cene (on the basis of the age of the lower ma-
rine formations) to Miocene (on the basis of the
scattered occurrence of mammalian faunas).
The emergence of the outer arc defining the
Graus basin (Figs. I, 5, 6) is shown by the
coarse sedimentary breccias to the north and BASEMENT
south of its present out crop. Sedimentation Terrigenous Calcareous
later overtopped the outer arc, (Fig. 5), and the
Graus basin was united with the main Ebro
basin, at least in the west of the outcrop. As in ,:5 t CALCAREOUS BRECCIA . :: :. : : ; FANGLO MERATE
the piggyback basins of the Po plain, the north-
ern margin of the Graus basin shows no evi-
l it.. FANGLOMERATE WITH LIMESTONE CLASTS
ALLUVIAL PLAIN DEPOSITS
dence of the compressive deformation that
occurs in the margins of adjacent piggyback Figure 6. Section from field observation showing sedimentary infill of western tip of Graus
basins (Riba, 1976). The Graus basin may have basin. Arrows show paleocurrents. See text for explanation. See Figure 1 for location.

GEOLOGY, August 1984 477

 Figure 7. Depositional en-
11ironments in marine pig-
!Jyback basins similar to
those of Po basin
1:omplex.
,--:.-::= I FAN DELTA
communicated with the main basin by bypass-
ing local valleys, but there was a major connec-
tion through its western margin that probably
corresponded to a lower lateral ramp.
DEVELOPMENT AND ROLE
OF PIGGYBACK BASINS
Piggyback basins of the sort that have
formed in the Po and Ebro areas were initiated
when new thrust-sheet ridges formed in front of
the previously active thrust margins and within
the areas of the previous main basins.
The continued movement of the thrust sheets
is commonly marked by stratigraphic wedging
and unconformities within the new piggyback
basins and by deformation and unconformitics
in the margins of the main basins. In many
cases there was a later phase of passive fill of
the piggyback basins without further tectonic
activity, and during this phase, sediment on-
lapped (overlapped) against the thrust-sheet
ridge. Most of the sediment transport betwee:n
1:he piggyback basins and their main basins oc-
curred across the lateral ramps of the thrust
sheets, although minor conduits traversed the
outer ridges in some places.
There is also a distinct trend in the evolution
of sedimentary environments within the piggy-
back basins. In the Po basin complex where
marine environments predominated (Fig. 7)
warse-grained fan deltas built out from the
Apennines and fed deep basin fans and the
basin plains. The slopes of the ridges, in con-
trast, tended to be starved of sediment. Some of
the piggyback marine basins were filled with
sediment and became nonmarine. In most of
the Ebro basin complex, nonmarine environ-
ments were predominant, although marine sed-
imentation was dominant in the earlier stages.
Piggyback basin growth appears to have
been the dominant process in these mountain
systems, both of which belong to the continen-
478
PIGGYBACK BASIN
--'----011\0I'
- --'c,,.,..--lSequence contemporaneous
with thrusting
lI SLOPE SUBMARINE FAN g;;;; 1 BASIN PLAIN
tal collision type (Bally et al., 1966). Pieri and
Groppi (1981) noted that the Apennines are
composed throughout of similar thrust arc
structures, and the Spanish part of the Pyrenees
is also dominated by these structures (Sole-
Sugranes, 1978). In the Apennines, internal
basins of Pliocene and Pleistocene age, and
perhaps older (Fig. 2), contrast with marginal
remnants of main-basin sediments and have
some features of piggyback basins. They have
now been uplifted by the further growth of the
Apennines and occur as relicts in the more in-
ternal zone of the Apennines. The depocenter
of the main (foredeep) basin tends to have mi-
grated in front of the thrusts, whereas the pig-
gyback basins rest on the main basin and have
been uplifted and eroded. An abundant supply
of sediment from a rising internal zone seems to
be necessary to allow the preservation of pig-
gyback basins.
REFERENCES CITED
AGIP (Azienda Generale ltaliana Petroli), 1982, Les-
sico delle Formazioni <lei bacino padano orien-
tale, in Cremonini, G., and Ricci Lucchi, F.,
eds., Guida alla geologia de! margine
appenninico-padano: Societa Geologica Italiana,
Guida Geologica Regionale, p. 205-236.
Bally, A.W., Gordy, P.L., and Stewart, G.A., 1966,
Structure, seismic data, and orogenic evolution
of the Southern Canadian Rocky Mountains:
Canadian Petroleum Geology Bulletin, v. 14,
p. 337-381.
Butler, R.W.H., 1982, The terminology of structures
in thrust belts: Journal of Structural Geology,
v. 4, p. 239-245.
Cremonini, G., and Ricci Lucchi, F., eds., 1982,
Guida alla geologia de! margine appenninico-
padano: Societa Geologica ltaliana, Guida Geo-
logica Regionale, 247 p.
Dahlstrom, C.D.A., 1970, Structural geology in the
eastern margin of the Canadian Rocky Moun-
tains: Canadian Petroleum Geology Bulletin, v.
I8, p. 332-406.
Dondi, L., Mostardini, F., and Rizzini, A., 1982,
Evoluzione sedimentaria e paleogeografica nella
Printed in U.S.A.
MAIN
BASIN
not to scale
Pianura Padana, in Cremonini, G., and Ricci
Lucchi, F., eds., Guida alla geologia de! margine
appenninico-padano: Societa Geologica ltaliana,
Guida Geologica Regionale, p. 47-58.
Farabegoli, E., 1983, Note illustrative alla Carta Geo-
logica Regionale Cesena-Sagliano: Carta Geo-
logica Regionale, Regione Emilia-Romagna,
Tecnoprint.
Miall, A.D., 1978, Tectonic setting and syndeposi-
tional deformation of molasse and other non-
marine-paralic sedimentary basins: Canadian
Journal of Earth Sciences, v. I 5, p. 1613-I 632.
Ori, G.G., 1982, Braided to meandering channel
patterns in humid-region alluvial fan deposits,
River Reno, Po Plain (northern Italy): Sedimen-
tary Geology, v. 31, p. 231-248.
Pieri, M., and Groppi, G., 1981, Subsurface geologi-
cal structure of the Po Plain, Italy: Progetto Fi-
nalizzato Geodinamica, Consiglio Nazionale
delle Ricerch,:, no. 414, 23 p.
Riha, 0., 1976, S}ntectonic unconformities of the
Alto Cardener, Spanish Pyrenees: A genetic in-
terpretation: Sedimentary Geology, v. I 5,
p. 213-233.
Ricci Lucchi, F., Colella, A., Ori, G.G., Ogliani, F.,
and Colalongo, M.L., 1981, Pliocene fan deltas
of the Intra-Apenninic basin, Bologna: Interna-
tional Association of Sedimentologists, 2nd Eu-
ropean Regional Meeting, Excursion
Guidebook, p. 81-164.
Seguret, M., 1972, Etude tectonique des nappes et
series decollfos de la partie central du versant
sud des Pyrenees [Ph.D. thesis]: Montpellier,
France, Univ,:rsity of Montpellier.
Sole-Sugranes, L., 1978, Gravity and compressive
nappes in the central southern Pyrenees (Spain):
American JoJrnal of Science, v. 278,
p. 609-637.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank F. Ricci Lucchi, A. G. Smith, N. H.
Woodcock, and G. J. Nichols for commenting on
various drafts of this paper. The AGIP company con-
tributed fundamentally to this paper by allowing us
the use of their da1a. Cambridge Earth Sciences Con-
tribution No. 450.
Manuscript received November 22, 1983
Revised manuscript received April I3, 1984
Manuscript accepted April 26, 1984
GEOLOGY, August 1984