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1. The Deep Basin and Underlying Basement Structure of the Tanganyika Rift

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022TC007726  

   Shaban, Shaidu N; Kolawole, Folarin; Scholz, Christopher A (July 2023, Tectonics)

   Abstract The oldest structures in a rift basin define incipient rift architecture, and commonly modulate the patterns of landscape evolution, sedimentation, and associated hazards in subsequent phases of rift development. However, due to deep burial beneath younger, thick syn‐rift sequences, and limited resolution of seismic imaging, critical early‐rift processes remain poorly understood. In the Tanganyika Rift, East Africa, we augment existing 2‐dimensional (2‐D) seismic reflection data with newly acquired aeromagnetic and Full‐Tensor Gradiometry data to assess the deep basin and underlying basement structure. Aeromagnetic and gravity grids show a dominance of NW‐trending long‐wavelength (>5 km) structural fabrics corresponding to the deeper basement, and dominant NW‐trending with a secondary NNE‐trending shorter‐wavelength (<3 km) fabric representing shallower, intra‐basin structures. Seismically‐constrained 2‐D forward modeling of the aeromagnetic and gravity data reveals: (a) an anomalously high‐density (2.35–2.45 g/cc) deep‐seated, fault‐bounded wedge‐shaped sedimentary unit that directly overlies the pre‐rift basement, likely of Mesozoic (Karoo) origin; (b) ∼4 km‐wide sub‐vertical low‐density (2.71 g/cc) structures within the 3.2 g/cc basement, interpreted to be inherited basement shear zones, (c) early‐rift intra‐basin faults co‐located with the modeled shear zone margins, in some places defining a persistent structurally‐controlled intra‐basin “high,” and (d) a shallow intra‐sedimentary V‐shaped zone of comparatively dense material (∼2.2 g/cc), interpreted to be a younger axial channel complex confined between the intra‐basin “high” and border fault. These results provide new insight into the earliest basin architecture of the Tanganyika Rift, controlled by inherited basement structure, and provide evidence of their persistent influence on the subsequent basin evolution. 

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2. Monitoring the SNS basement neutron background with the MARS detector

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/17/03/P03021  

   Akimov, D.; An, P.; Awe, C.; Barbeau, P.S.; Becker, B.; Belov, V.; Bernardi, I.; Blackston, M.A.; Bock, C.; Bolozdynya, A.; et al (March 2022, Journal of Instrumentation)

   Abstract We present the analysis and results of the first datasetcollected with the MARS neutron detectordeployed at the Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) for the purpose ofmonitoring and characterizing the beam-related neutron (BRN) backgroundfor the COHERENT collaboration. MARS was positionednext to the COH-CsI coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering detectorin the SNS basement corridor. This is the basement location ofclosest proximity to the SNS target and thus, of highest neutrino flux,but it is also well shielded from the BRN flux by infill concreteand gravel. These data show the detector registered roughly one BRN per day.Using MARS' measured detection efficiency, the incomingBRN flux is estimated to be 1.20 ± 0.56 neutrons/m^2/MWhfor neutron energies above ∼3.5 MeV and up to a few tens of MeV.We compare our results with previous BRN measurements in the SNS basement corridorreported by other neutron detectors. 

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3. Basement Topography and Sediment Thickness Beneath Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097371  

   Tankersley, M. D.; Horgan, H. J.; Siddoway, C. S.; Caratori Tontini, F.; Tinto, K. J. (May 2022, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract New geophysical data from Antarctica's Ross Embayment reveal the structure and subglacial geology of extended continental crust beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. We use airborne magnetic data from the ROSETTA‐Ice Project to locate the contact between magnetic basement and overlying sediments. We delineate a broad, segmented basement high with thin (0–500m) non‐magnetic sedimentary cover which trends northward into the Ross Sea's Central High. Before subsiding in the Oligocene, this feature likely facilitated early glaciation in the region and subsequently acted as a pinning point and ice flow divide. Flanking the high are wide sedimentary basins, up to 3700m deep, which parallel the Ross Sea basins and likely formed during Cretaceous‐Neogene intracontinental extension. NW‐SE basins beneath the Siple Coast grounding zone, by contrast, are narrow, deep, and elongate. They suggest tectonic divergence upon active faults that may localize geothermal heat and/or groundwater flow, both important components of the subglacial system. 

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4. Basement membrane perforations guide anterior–posterior axis formation

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61441-6  

   Chen, Dong-Yuan; Claussen, Nikolas H; Titus, Shiny; Hu, Wenqi; Weatherbee, Bailey_A T; Mandelbaum, Rachel S; Scott_Jr, Richard T; Seli, Emre; Streichan, Sebastian J; Zernicka-Goetz, Magdalena (December 2025, Nature Communications)
5. Hydrologic windows into the crystalline basement and their controls on groundwater flow patterns across the Paradox Basin

   Person, M; Kim, J-H; McIntosh, JC; Noyes, C; Bailey, L; Lingrey, S; Krantz, R; Lucero, D; Reiners, PW; Ferguson, G (January 2024, Geological Society of America bulletin)