Basin inversion: A worldwide Late Cenozoic phenomenon

The occurrence of endorheic basins on the Tibetan Plateau, both in its Pleistocene history and (fewer in number) at the present day, has been attributed to the ‘basin-and-range’ character of the orogen; the understanding of their conversion to exorheic drainage is key to interpreting the evolution of the Yellow River and other river systems of the plateau. However, such basins also occur in areas of lower altitude and relief and can be observed to have been considerably more common in pre-Quaternary times. In many areas, for example the Mediterranean region, such basins, previously having accumulated stacked sedimentary sequences, typically ‘inverted’ in the late Pliocene or at around the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition, possibly as part of a response to the cooling of global climate and its effect on surface processes. Some basins have inverted later, at around the time of the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution, coinciding with the increased severity of climate resulting from the 100 ka Milankovich cycles that followed that change. The progressive incision into the fills of these inverted sedimentary basins has also been linked to this climatic influence, perhaps taking effect as a result of erosional isostatic uplift, which would have replaced the accumulation-induced subsidence (also isostatic) of the basins. NW Europe, including Britain, had sediment-accumulating basins in the Early Cenozoic; the timing of their inversion is poorly known as a result of the paucity of preserved evidence from the Late Cenozoic in such areas. Endorheic basins that survive at the present day are mainly in regions of relative aridity and are often controlled by active tectonic structures, such as the pull-apart basins of the Dead Sea Fault Zone and similar examples. This review discusses the evidence from different climatic regions, tectonic settings and areas of different crustal type, with a view to elucidating meaningful patterns that might throw light on this phenomenon. •Late Cenozoic sedimentary basins are compared with reference to type and evolution.•Patterns have been determined in relation to crustal type and climate.•Internally (endorheic) draining basins show a post-Neogene decline in number.•Change to external drainage may be linked to increased climatic severity.•Yellow River basins may be atypical because of association with India–Asia collision.