Tectonic-Landscape Evolution Model of the Anadarko Basin

The Anadarko basin in the south-central U.S. is one of the deepest continental basins on Earth with locally >10 km of sedimentary rocks. Stratigraphic packages record the interaction between tectonics and surface processes from Cambrian to Permian age. We have compiled the geological history of the Anadarko basin from literature, well data, and 2D and 3D seismic datasets. Isopach maps derived from the literature review and seismic reflection lines are used to constrain the timing and location of major fault zones in the Wichita and Arbuckle uplifts. Depocenters for major sedimentary groups are tracked showing that sedimentation and subsidence are ongoing in the Anadarko basin throughout the Cambrian to the end of the Pennsylvanian. However, the most intense sedimentation and subsidence is visible during Early Pennsylvanian. Subsequently, maximum sedimentation and subsidence shifts to the Ouachita foreland basin during Early-Mid Pennsylvanian and finally to the Ardmore-Marietta basin in the SE Oklahoma in the Late Pennsylvanian. The change in sedimentation and subsidence is connected to the activation of particular fault systems as shown in the isopach maps. The resulting timing of geological events and their spatial distribution and geometry are input into a tectonic-landscape evolution model which includes surface processes, sediment transport, sediment deposition, and tectonic deformation. By comparing model-predicted basin evolution and stratigraphy with our reconstructions we are able to constrain the roles of tectonic loading and strike-slip deformation involved in Anadarko basin formation.