Editing Rift (section)

===Post-rift subsidence===
Once rifting ceases, the mantle beneath the rift cools and this is accompanied by a broad area of post-rift subsidence. The amount of subsidence is directly related to the amount of thinning during the rifting phase calculated as the beta factor (initial crustal thickness divided by final crustal thickness), but is also affected by the degree to which the rift basin is filled at each stage, due to the greater density of sediments in contrast to water. The simple 'McKenzie model' of rifting, which considers the rifting stage to be instantaneous, provides a good first order estimate of the amount of crustal thinning from observations of the amount of post-rift subsidence.<ref name="McKenzie">{{cite journal|last=McKenzie|first=D.|year=1978|title=Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|volume=40|issue=1|pages=25–32|url=http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~tony/watts/downloads/McKenzie_1978_Basins.pdf|access-date=25 October 2012|doi=10.1016/0012-821x(78)90071-7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301085415/http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~tony/watts/downloads/McKenzie_1978_Basins.pdf|archive-date=1 March 2014|citeseerx=10.1.1.459.4779|bibcode=1978E&PSL..40...25M}}</ref><ref name="Kusznir">{{cite book|last=Kusznir|first=N.J. |author2=Roberts A.M. |author3=Morley C.K.|title=Hydrocarbon habitat in rift basins|editor=Lambiase J.J.|publisher=[[Geological Society]]|location=London|year=1995|series=Special Publications|volume=80|pages=33–56|chapter=Forward and reverse modelling of rift basin formation|isbn=9781897799154|chapter-url=http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/80/1/33.abstract|access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref> This has generally been replaced by the 'flexural cantilever model', which takes into account the geometry of the rift faults and the [[Lithospheric flexure|flexural]] [[isostasy]] of the upper part of the crust.<ref name="Nøttvedt">{{cite journal|last=Nøttvedt|first=A. |author2=Gabrielsen R.H. |author3=Steel R.J.|year=1995|title=Tectonostratigraphy and sedimentary architecture of rift basins, with reference to the northern North Sea|journal=[[Marine and Petroleum Geology]]|volume=12|issue=8|pages=881–901|doi=10.1016/0264-8172(95)98853-W|bibcode=1995MarPG..12..881N }}</ref>