Editorial: Continental margins unleashed - From their early inception to continental breakup

Abstract It is clear from new state-of-the-art data that the processes responsible for ‘unleashing’ tectonic plates are distinct when moving across, and along, continental margins. There is simply no evolutionary sequence that applies to all continental margins, and even adjacent sedimentary basins on the same continental margins are known to record distinct geological processes during their formation. Of key importance to characterise their economic potential, the last tectonic pulses that fully separate, or rift, distinct continents have the potential to affect the thermal and structural evolutions of the areas where continental margins will soon form. This Special Issue presents new data from economically significant areas of continental margins where exploration work is ongoing, or just started, not only in terms of their hydrocarbon potential, but also as hosts of water, geothermal and mineral resources. Contributions to the Special Issue vary from tackling local, but important, sources of fluid in new frontier areas, to broad plate-scale geophysical modelling explaining continental breakup, and regional tectono-stratigraphic analyses of new frontier areas.