We present conceptual models for the tectono-sedimentary evolution of rift basins. Basin architecture depends upon a complex interaction between the three-dimensional evolution of basin linkage through fault propagation, the evolution of drainage and drainage catchments and the effects of changes in climate and sea/lake level. In particular, the processes of fault propagation, growth, linkage and death are major tectonic controls on basin architecture. Current theoretical and experimental models of fault linkage and the direction of fault growth can be tested using observational evidence from the earliest stages of rift development. Basin linkage by burial or breaching of crossover basement ridges is the dominant process whereby hydrologically closed rifts evolve into open ones. Nontectonic effects arising from climate, sea or lake level change are responsible for major changes in basin-scale sedimentation patterns. Major gaps in our understanding of rift basins remain because of current inadequacies in sediment, fault and landscape dating. studies, and due to current inadequacies in sediment,

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The quantitative model presented simulates the development of a twodimensional alluvial sedimentary succession beneath a floodplain traversed by a single major river. Several inter-related effects which inffuence the distribution of channel-belt sand and gravel bodies within overbank fines are accounted for. These are (a) laterally variable aggradation, (b) compaction of fine sediment, (c) tectonic movement at floodplain margins, and (d) channel avulsion. Selected experiments with the model show how the interconnectedness and areal density of channel-belt deposits decrease with increasing floodplain width/channel-belt size, mean avulsion period, and channel-belt aggradation rate. Separation of stream patterns based on interconnectedness and channel deposit density is difficult. Tectonic movements do not have a significant influence upon the successions unless a preferred direction of tilting is maintained (half-graben). Then channel-belt deposits showing offlap tendencies tend to cluster adjacent to the active floodplain margin, leaving dominantly fine-grained alluvium to accumulate on the inactive side. lndividual channel-belt deposits thicken during aggradation, although a self-regulating limit to such thickening is likely to operate. 'Multistorey' features resulting from aggradation may be difficult to tell apart from those arising through superposition of distinct channel-belt deposits of avulsive origin.

The Corinth Rift, central Greece, enables analysis of early rift development as it is young (<5 Ma) and highly active and its full history is recorded at high resolution by sedimentary systems. A complete compilation of marine geophysical data, complemented by onshore data, is used to develop a high-resolution chronostratigraphy and detailed fault history for the offshore Corinth Rift, integrating interpretations and reconciling previous discrepancies. Rift migration and localization of deformation have been significant within the rift since inception. Over the last circa 2 Myr the rift transitioned from a spatially complex rift to a uniform asymmetric rift, but this transition did not occur synchronously along strike. Isochore maps at circa 100 kyr intervals illustrate a change in fault polarity within the short interval circa 620-340 ka, characterized by progressive transfer of activity from major south dipping faults to north dipping faults and southward migration of discrete depocenters at~30 m/kyr. Since circa 340 ka there has been localization and linkage of the dominant north dipping border fault system along the southern rift margin, demonstrated by lateral growth of discrete depocenters at~40 m/kyr. A single central depocenter formed by circa 130 ka, indicating full fault linkage. These results indicate that rift localization is progressive (not instantaneous) and can be synchronous once a rift border fault system is established. This study illustrates that development processes within young rifts occur at 100 kyr timescales, including rapid changes in rift symmetry and growth and linkage of major rift faults.

The style of extension and strain distribution during the early stages of intra-continental rifting is important for understanding rift-margin development and can provide constraints for lithospheric deformation mechanisms.The Corinth rift in central Greece is one of the few rifts to have experienced a short extensional history without subsequent overprinting.We synthesise existing seismic re£ection data throughout the active o¡shore Gulf of Corinth Basin to investigate fault activity history and the spatio -temporal evolution of the basin, producing for the ¢rst time basement depth and syn-rift sediment isopachs throughout the o¡shore rift. A major basin-wide unconformity surface with an age estimated from sea-level cycles at ca. 0.4 Ma separates distinct seismic stratigraphic units. Assuming that sedimentation rates are on average consistent, the present rift formed at 1^2 Ma, with no clear evidence for along-strike propagation of the rift axis.The rift has undergone major changes in relative fault activity and basin geometry during its short history. The basement depth is greatest in the central rift (maximum $3 km) and decreases to the east and west. In detail however, two separated depocentres 20^50 km long were created controlled by N-and S-dipping faults before 0.4 Ma, while since ca. 0.4 Ma a single depocentre (80 km long) has been controlled by several connected N-dipping faults, with maximum subsidence focused between the two older depocentres.Thus isolated but nearby faults can persist for timescales ca. 1 Ma and form major basins before becoming linked.There is a general evolution towards a dominance of N-dipping faults; however, in the western Gulf strain is distributed across several active N-and S-dipping faults throughout rift history, producing a more complex basin geometry.

The onshore central Corinth rift contains a syn-rift succession >3 km thick deposited in 5-15 kmwide tilt blocks, all now inactive, uplifted and deeply incised. This part of the rift records upward deepening from fluviatile to lake-margin conditions and finally to sub-lacustrine turbidite channel and lobe complexes, and deep-water lacustrine conditions (Lake Corinth) were established over most of the rift by 3.6 Ma. This succession represents the first of two phases of rift development -Rift 1 from 5.0-3.6 to 2.2-1.8 Ma and Rift 2 from 2.2-1.8 Ma to present. Rift 1 developed as a 30 kmwide zone of distributed normal faulting. The lake was fed by four major N-to NE-flowing antecedent drainages along the southern rift flank. These sourced an axial fluvial system, Gilbert fan deltas and deep lacustrine turbidite channel and lobe complexes. The onset of Rift 2 and abandonment of Rift 1 involved a 30 km northward shift in the locus of rifting. In the west, giant Gilbert deltas built into a deepening lake depocentre in the hanging wall of the newly developing southern border fault system. Footwall and regional uplift progressively destroyed Lake Corinth in the central and eastern parts of the rift, producing a staircase of deltaic and, following drainage reversal, shallow marine terraces descending from >1000 m to present-day sea level. The growth, linkage and death of normal faults during the two phases of rifting are interpreted to reflect self-organization and strain localization along co-linear border faults. In the west, interaction with the Patras rift occurred along the major Patras dextral strike-slip fault. This led to enhanced migration of fault activity, uplift and incision of some early Rift 2 fan deltas, and opening of the Rion Straits at ca. 400-600 ka. The landscape and stratigraphic evolution of the rift was strongly influenced by regional palaeotopographic variations and local antecedent drainage, both inherited from the Hellenide fold and thrust belt.

Faulting exerts an important control upon drainage development in active extensional basins and thus helps determine the architecture of the sedimentary infill to a synrift basin. Examples of the interaction between faulting and drainage from the western United States and central Greece may be grouped into a relatively small number of classes based upon the structural position of a drainage catchment: footwall, hangingwall, fault offset and axial. Our examples illustrate the diversity of erosional effects that might arise because of variations in the spacing, orientation and segmentation of faults and their interactions. Where basement lithology is similar, footwall catchments are generally smaller, shorter and steeper than those of the hangingwall. Footwall‐sourced alluvial fans and fan deltas are: generally smaller in area than those sourced from similar lithologies in the hangingwall. Wide fault offsets often give rise to large drainage catchments in the footwall. The development of axial drainage depends upon the breaching of transverse bedrock ridges by headward stream erosion or by lake overflow. Once breaching has occurred the direction of axial stream flow is controlled by the potential developed between basins of contrasting widths. Fault migration and propagation leads to the uplift, erosion and resedimentation of the sedimentary infill to formerly active basins, leading to the cutting of footwall unconformities. The outward sediment flux from structurally controlled catchments is modulated in an important way by lithology and runoff. The greatest contrasts in basement lithology arise when fault migration and propagation have occurred, such that the sedimentary fill to previously active basins is uplifted, incised and eroded by the establishment of large new drainage systems in the footwalls of younger faults. Drainage patterns in areas where faults interact can shed light on the relative timing of activity and therefore the occurrence of fault migration and propagation. Facies and palaeocurrent trends in ancient grabens may only be correctly interpreted when observations are made on a length scale of 10–20 km, comparable to that of the largest fault segments.

The rate of sediment supply from erosional catchment to depositional basin depends primarily upon climate, relief, catchment slope and lithology. It varies in both time and space. Spatial changes in erosion rates due to variations in lithology are illustrated by contrasting rates of drainage divide migration away from faults of known ages. Time variations in relative sediment supply are extremely complex and vary widely according to the direction and magnitude of climate change. In many parts of the Great Basin and south-western USA, glacial maximum climates were characterized by higher effective moisture and the altitudinal downward spread of woods and forests. Sparse data from alluvial fans indicate reduced sediment supply, despite the increased runoff evident from higher lake levels. The situation in Mediterranean areas is less clear, with rival climatic scenarios for vegetation ecotypes predicting contrasting runoff. In order to test these latter we run Cumulative Seasonal Erosion Potential [CSEP] experiments for present-day and a variety of full-glacial Mediterranean candidate climates. The results indicate the likelihood of enhanced sediment supply and runoff compared to the present day during full-glacial times for a cool wet winter climate and a reduction in sediment supply and runoff for a full-glacial cool dry winter climate. We then explore the consequences of such phase differences in sediment supply, and sea and lake levels for the stratigraphy of sedimentary basins. Highstands and lowstands of sea or lake may be accompanied by greater or lesser sediment and water supply, as determined by the regional climate and the direction of climatic change. Thus marine lowstands are not necessarily periods of great transfer of coarse clastic sediments to shelves and deep water basinal environments. Unsteady sediment supply has greatest implications for alluvial systems, in particular the effect that changing relative supplies of water and sediment have upon river and fan channel incision. basin-bordering catchments, minus any sediment stored