In this work, it is investigated which mechanism(s) is/are of primary importance in causing along-strike variations in foreland basin architecture and a diachronous underfilled to overfilled transition. In specific, the role of slab breakoff- and lateral tearing and their signals in the synorogenic foreland fill are analysed. For this investigation, tectonostratigraphic analyses and stratigraphic forward modelling of an orogen-foreland system shaped by slab breakoff/tearing are combined.