**1. Introduction**

Sedimentary basins might seem dead and uninteresting. They are, after all, simply the places where the Earth deposits its debris. In fact, they are remarkably dynamic and host a wide diversity of processes that have broad implications. We know a lot about basins because the energy and mineral resources they host have inspired the collection of massive amounts of data and funded extensive research. This paper reviews the mantle, fluid, capillary, and gas-generating processes that observations indicate operate in basins. The review is brief and intended to convey the scale and diversity of the processes involved, indicate why they matter for resources, and sugges<sup>t</sup> how identification of the particular processes operating in a particular basin might be used in resource exploration.
