Sequence stratigraphic interpretations and modeling in Lacustrine Rift Basins: Southern Dead Sea Basin, Israel and Pannonian Basin, Hungary

Sequence stratigraphic interpretations of subsurface data and stratigraphic modeling using SEDPAK program have generated insight into specific stratigraphic patterns of lacustrine rift basins, the southern Dead Sea and the Pannonian Basin in Hungary.; In the Dead Sea, nine third-order sequence boundaries have been recognized. Stratigraphic modeling has revealed that either: the lake-level falls were delayed by about 0.2-0.4 Ma when compared to eustatic falls; or, the lake-level events matched those of eustasy, but the subsidence rate had increasing and decreasing periods. Fan-delta sediments accumulated at the two ends of the graben and lacustrine clastics filled the basin. In the northern part of the basin, interfingering of southern and northern sourced sediments has been recognized. The position of the interfingering was related to lake-level changes. Lake-level falls induced increased transportation from the northern source, whereas lake-level highstands favored the advancement of sediments from the south.; In the Pannonian Basin, a complex event has been recognized which occurred in the latest Miocene (Messinian). The subsidence in the northeastern portion of the basin ceased, while adjacent blocks continued to subside at high rates. The resulting differential subsidence played an important role in formation of stratigraphic patterns. Coeval with this transpressive tectonic event, a significant lake-level fall occurred that produced a basinwide unconformity. Two major deltaic systems filled the northern Pannonian Basin during the Upper Miocene, coming from the northwest and the northeast. Following the Messinian events, the northwestern system remained dominant and filled the rest of the lacustrine setting.; Stratigraphic modeling of hypothetical sections suggests that various stratal geometries may develop simultaneously along a margin, depending on local subsidence rates; however, unconformities are always formed by lake-level falls. Changes in the amount of sediment supply can produce either backstepping and progradational patterns. Encroaching deltas can form various architectural patterns. Lowstand balanced/overwhelming and highstand balanced/overwhelming systems tracts have been proposed as end-members of a classification of interfingering configurations. These terms describe the base-level position and the relative rate (balanced or overwhelming) of sediment supply derived from individual sources.