What is the important geologic information recorded in Thrust Belts and Foreland Basins (TBFB) on the evolution of orogens? How do they transcript the coupled influence of deep and surficial geological processes? Is it still worth looking for hydrocarbons in foothills areas? These and other questions are addressed in the volume edited by Lacombe, Lavé, Roure and Vergés, which constitutes the Proceedings of the first meeting of the new ILP task force on "Sedimentary Basins", held in December 2005 at the Institut Français du Pétrole, on behalf of the Société Géologique de France and the Sociedad Geologica de España. This volumes spans a timely bridge between recent advances in the understanding of surface processes, field investigations, high resolution imagery, analogue-numerical modelling, and hydrocarbon exploration in TBFB. With 25 thematic papers including well-documented regional case studies, it provides a milestone publication as a new in-depth examination of TBFB.

The outcome of a symposium held in Fribourg, Switzerland, this book fulfils two aims. Firstly, it represents a collection of case-studies covering a wide range of basin types and tectonic and stratigraphic settings. Secondly, it highlights a number of specific themes such as the history of subsidence and its relation to orogenesis, the stratigraphic architecture of the basin fill and the petrographic signature of foreland basin deposits. The text comprises five sections with a total of 26 contributions and it will be of special interest to teachers, researchers and petroleum geologists concerned with the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation. This is because it clearly demonstrates the many recent advances within the field of basin analysis by an integration of sedimentological, stratigraphical, structural and geophysical data.

Investigating the complex interplay between tectonics and sedimentation is a key endeavor in modern earth science. Many of the world's leading researchers in this field have been brought together in this volume to provide concise overviews of the current state of the subject. The plate tectonic revolution of the 1960's provided the framework for detailed models on the structure of orogens and basins, summarized in a 1995 textbook edited by Busby and Ingersoll. Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins: Recent Advances focuses on key topics or areas where the greatest strides forward have been made, while also providing on-line access to the comprehensive 1995 book. Breakthroughs in new techniques are described in Section 1, including detrital zircon geochronology, cosmogenic nuclide dating, magnetostratigraphy, 3-D seismic, and basin modelling. Section 2 presents the new models for rift, post-rift, transtensional and strike slip basin settings. Section 3 addresses the latest ideas in convergent margin tectonics, including the sedimentary record of subduction intiation and subduction, flat-slab subduction, and arc-continent collision; it then moves inboard to forearc basins and intra-arc basins, and ends with a series of papers formed under compessional strain regimes, as well as post-orogenic intramontane basins. Section 4 examines the origin of plate interior basins, and the sedimentary record of supercontinent formation. This book is required reading for any advanced student or professional interested in sedimentology, plate tectonics, or petroleum geoscience. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/busby/sedimentarybasins.