weight , ▁especially ▁in ▁sed iment ary ▁bas ins , ▁the ▁por os ity ▁profiles ▁often ▁show ▁an ▁exponential ▁decrease , ▁called ▁Ath y ' s ▁law ▁as ▁first ▁shown ▁by ▁Ath y ▁in ▁ 1 9 3 0 . ▁A ▁mathematical ▁analyt ical ▁solution ▁was ▁obtained ▁by ▁F ow ler ▁and ▁Yang ▁to ▁show ▁the ▁theoretical ▁basis ▁for ▁Ath y ' s ▁law . ▁This ▁process ▁can ▁be ▁easily ▁observed ▁in ▁experiments ▁and ▁used ▁as ▁a ▁good ▁approximation ▁to ▁many ▁real ▁data . ▁ ▁D iffer ential ▁comp action ▁If ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁variation ▁in ▁thick ness ▁and ▁compact ability ▁of ▁a ▁sequence , ▁loading ▁by ▁later ▁depos its ▁will ▁give ▁rise ▁to ▁spatial ly ▁varying ▁amounts ▁of ▁comp action . ▁This ▁form ▁of ▁comp action ▁is ▁a ▁function ▁of ▁the ▁l ith ology ▁of ▁the ▁base ▁sed iment . ▁Both ▁the ▁thick ness ▁and ▁structure ▁of ▁the ▁later ▁sequence ▁will ▁be ▁controlled ▁by ▁the ▁underlying ▁ge ology ▁in ▁the ▁absence ▁of ▁any ▁active ▁t ect on ics . ▁Bur ied ▁t ilt ed ▁fault ▁blocks ▁in ▁a ▁r ift ▁bas in ▁often ▁produce ▁large ▁ant ic l inal ▁clos ures ▁in ▁the ▁post - rift ▁section ▁that ▁may ▁form ▁tra ps ▁for ▁hydro car b ons ▁e . g . ▁the ▁Da q ing ▁Field , ▁the ▁largest ▁oil ▁field ▁in ▁the ▁People ' s ▁Republic ▁of ▁China , ▁in ▁the ▁Song lia o ▁Bas in . ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁Category : Ge ological ▁processes ▁Category : S ed iment ary