The first thing that someone will notice is the absence of title, and the last will be the absence of conclusion. You will aggree that a report should have a title.The table of
The Table of Content is a bit rough. A detailed Table of Content helps the reader to see how information are organised and how different concept may link together.The section Active Vs Passive rifting directely refers to the causes of rifting, I guess it should be part of that section.
"This report studies...", a report does not study anything. A better sentence would be: This report focuss on the causes and effects of extensional tectonics.
Since the second phrase "Essentially, all ocean basins form..." is related to the third "The causes of this crustal... " I suggest to put them in the same paragraph.
Is Ridge Push a cause of crustal extension?
McKenzie not Mckenzie.
These zones have important consequences and geological features,...Do not write a statement like this one without telling the reader what the are these consequences and features and why they are important.
More details could have been provided: the scale of continental rift: how large, and how long, what are the main modern continental rifts on Earth, do they share the same characteristic or do they have contrasting features pointing toward contrasted rifting mechanism.
Two general comment to start with: !/ You list here a number of settings that may lead to extension. However I think what is missing here is the description of the forces that drive extension. I am not sure if the readers will understand how a plume moving upward can create an horizontal force that will pull of the lithosphere above the plume.
2/ What is really missing here is the concept of passive versus active rifting.
Mantle convection: You do not say clearly that it is the basal traction, mechanical friction due to the moving asthenosphere at the base of the lithosphere, that drives extension.
Plumes have two effects that may explain rifting. First they cause the uplift the whole lithosphere (dynamical effect) creating a pressure gradient along equipotential surfaces underneath the lithosphere. This pressure gradient drive extension from high pressure zone to low pressure zone. Second, they cause thermal erosion of the lithospheric mantle (thermal effect), again this results in a pressure gradient that may drive extension.
Slab Pull and Ridge Push. I do not see how ridge push can interne to create extension in an adjacent continental lithosphere.
Bending of the oceanic lithosphere as it enters a subduction zone do causes extensional deformation (mainly tensile fractures), but I do not think that this kind of extension is relevant to continental rifting as it affects the oceanic lithosphere only.
Gravitational Collapse: (check out the spelling). Collapse of a mountain belt can certainly leads to extensional tectonics, would it lead to rifting and opening of an ocean, this is less sure.
Rift basins:
Earthquakes: As the lithosphere is not ductile... A more accurate sentence would be: As the lithosphere comprises brittle layers (the upper crust, and if it is cold the upper mantle)...
Petroleum reservoir: ok but the detailed explanation of the formation of oil is a bit irrelevant.
Don't forget who will read this report do not expect that everyone will understand what gravitational potential energy is or how this concept is application to lithospheric deformation.
Trench Pull! do you mean slab pull?
I suggest instead: Extensional structures in the upper crust.
An introduction would have been welcome here. It would have forced you to think more clearly how to present extensional structures, indeed there is lot to say.
There is indeed a lot to say about extensional structure. This section should cover normal faults descriptors (planar, listric, rotational, detachment, decollement, blind, drag syncline, roll-over anticline, fault ramp syncline, fault-bend anticline, growth faults...), how normal faults extend laterally in map view (fault linkage, transfert faults), how they organise themselves in normal fault systems (domino, synthetic and antithetic faults, horst and graben, half graben, conjugate faults, imbricate faults, extensional duplex ...). Half a dozen of figures would help to understand all this.
You should have defined the term Listric the first time it appeared on the report.
Figure 6 does not illustrate the cantilever model of Kuznir. It show a domino extensional system above a decollement fault located at the base of the sand layers.
Gravity driven extensional faults: a picture is really necessary here. I have trouble to understand what you describe as gravity-driven normal fault.
There are largely two main models when considering extensional tectonics...Two end-members kinematic models have been proposed to explain listhospheric scale extension. Kinematic model means a model that describe the distribution of displacement without refering to force driving them. Kinematic models are opposed to dynamic models that focuss explaining the link between the structures and the driving forces.
Your definition of the beta factor is a bit difficult to follow. The stretching factor beta is the ratio of the thickness of the lithosphere after stretching to that of the underformed lithosphere (beta<1).
Once the thermal anomaly beneath the stretched lithosphere begins cooling, it is this increase in density weighing down the lithosphere from below causing another episode of subsidence, called thermal subsidence. Is this supposed to be a clear sentence?
This second subsidence occurs exponentially ...Not exactly, this subsidence follows an exponential decay through time.
The cantilever model certainly present aspects from both McKenzie and the Wernicke model. But I don't thing it can be seen has an a sort of intermediate model