Petrographic and seismic evidence for the depositional setting of giant turbidite reservoirs and the paleogeographic evolution of Campos Basin,offshore Brazil

The paleogeographic evolution of Campos Basin, a major oil province of Brazil, during the deposition of its giant turbidite reservoirs, was reinterpreted based on the integration of quantitative sandstone petrography and structural analysis of regional 3D seismic data. The major detrital compositional trends indicate that the geodynamic evolution of the continental margin, rather than global eustatic sea-level fluctuations, has exerted the main control on sand supply to the deepwater systems. This control was imposed by the interaction of three geodynamic processes: (i) escarpment retreat of the coastal mountain ridges, (ii) mantle plume-related dynamic uplift and magmatic activity, and (iii) tectonic reactivation of major basement fault-zones. The pattern of distribution of compositional and textural parameters within the turbidite sequences indicated that the sand supply to deepwater was also constrained by high-frequency stratigraphic processes of the climate Milankovitch band. This new approach to the controls on the formation of the sand-rich, deepwater systems in Campos Basin has a key importance for the generation of realistic models for the exploration of new turbidite reservoirs and for the optimized development of producing turbidite oilfields in such a world-class hydrocarbon province. The proposed integrated methodology can help to unravel the controls on the deposition of deepwater sand-rich, deepwater reservoirs in other divergent margin settings.     

Superposed deformation straddling the continental-oceanic transition in deep-water Angola

The Angolan margin is the type area for raft tectonics. New seismic data reveal the contractional buffer for this thin-skinned extension. A 200-km-long composite section from the Lower Congo Basin and Kwanza Basin illustrates a complex history of superposed deformation caused by: (1) progradation of the margin; and (2) episodic Tertiary epeirogenic uplift. Late Cretaceous tectonics was driven by a gentle slope created by thermal subsidence; extensional rafting took place updip, contractional thrusting and buckling downdip; some distal folds were possibly unroofed to form massive salt walls. Oligocene deformation was triggered by gentle kinking of the Atlantic Hinge Zone as the shelf and coastal plain rose by 2 or 3 km; relative uplift stripped Paleogene cover off the shelf, provided space for Miocene progradation, and steepened the continental slope, triggering more extension and buckling. In the Neogene, a subsalt half graben was inverted or reactivated, creating keystone faults that may have controlled the Congo Canyon; a thrust duplex of seaward-displaced salt jacked up the former abyssal plain, creating a plateau of salt 3–4 km thick on the present lower slope. The Angola Escarpment may be the toe of the Angola thrust nappe, in which a largely Cretaceous roof of gently buckled strata, was transported seawards above the thickened salt by up to 20 km.     

Seismic stratigraphy and subsidence analysis of the southern Brazilian margin (Campos,Santos and Pelotas basins)

The Campos, Santos and Pelotas basins have been investigated in terms of 2D seismo-stratigraphy and subsidence. The processes controlling accommodation space (e.g. eustacy, subsidence, sediment input) and the evolution of the three basins are discussed. Depositional seismic sequences in the syn-rift Barremian to the drift Holocene basin fill have been identified. In addition, the subsidence/uplift history has been numerically modeled including (i) sediment flux, (ii) sedimentary basin framework, (iii) relation to plate-tectonic reconfigurations, and (iv) mechanism of crustal extension. Although the initial rift development of the three basins is very similar, basin architecture, sedimentary infill and distribution differ considerably during the syn-rift sag to the drift basin stages. After widespread late Aptian–early Albian salt and carbonate deposition, shelf retrogradation dominated in the Campos Basin, whereas shelf progradation occurred in the Santos Basin. In the Tertiary, these basin fill styles were reversed: since the Paleogene, shelf progradation in the Campos Basin contrasts with overall retrogradation in the Santos Basin. In contrast, long-term Cretaceous–Paleogene shelf retrogradation and intense Neogene progradation characterize the Pelotas Basin. Its specific basin fill and architecture mainly resulted from the absence of salt deposition and deformation. These temporally and spatially varying successions were controlled by specific long-term subsidence/uplift trends. Onshore and offshore tectonism in the Campos and Santos basins affected the sediment flux history, distribution of the main depocenters and occurrence of hydrocarbon stratigraphic–structural traps. This is highlighted by the exhumation and erosion of the Serra do Mar, Serra da Mantiqueira and Ponta Grossa Arch in the hinterland, as well as salt tectonics in the offshore domain. The Pelotas Basin was less affected by changes in structural regimes until the Eocene, when the Andean orogeny caused uplift of the source areas. Flexural loading largely controlled its development and potential hydrocarbon traps are mainly stratigraphic.     

Style and timing of salt tectonics in the Dniepr-Donets Basin (Ukraine): implications for triggering and driving mechanisms of salt movement in sedimentary basins

The Ukrainian Dniepr-Donets Basin (DDB) is a Late Palaeozoic intracratonic rift basin, with sedimentary thicknesses up to 19 km, displaying the effects of salt tectonics during its entire history of formation, from Late Devonian rifting to the Tertiary. Hundreds of concordant and discordant salt structures formed during this time. It is demonstrated in this paper that the variety of styles of salt structure formation in the DDB provide important constraints on understanding the triggering and driving mechanisms of salt kinematics in sedimentary basins in general. Salt movement in the DDB began during the Devonian syn-rift phase of basin development and exerted controls on the later distribution of salt structures though the geometry of basement faults is not directly responsible for the regular spacing of salt structures. Post-rift salt movements in the DDB occurred episodically. Episodes of salt movement were triggered by tectonic events, specifically two extensional events during the Carboniferous, an extensional reactivation at the end of Carboniferous–earliest Permian, and a compressional event at the end of the Cretaceous. Extensional events that induced salt movement were ‘thick-skinned’ (i.e. basement involved in deformation) rather than ‘thin-skinned’. Most overburden deformation related to salt movements is ductile regardless of sedimentary bulk lithology and degree of diagenesis, while the deformation of sedimentary cover in areas where salt is absent is mainly brittle. This implies that the presence of salt changes the predominant mode of deformation of overlying sedimentary rocks. Episodes of salt movement lasted longer than the periods of active tectonics that initiated them. Buoyancy, erosion, and differential loading all played a role in driving halokinesis once tectonic forces had pushed the salt-overburden system into disequilibrium; among these factors, erosion of overburden above growing salt structures acted as a key self-renewing force for development of salt diapirs. Very high sedimentation rates (related to high post-rift tectonic subsidence rates), particularly during the Carboniferous, were able to bury diapirs and to load salt bodies such that buoyancy, erosion, and differential loading forces eventually became insufficient to continue driving diapirism—until the system was perturbed by an ensuing tectonic event. In contrast, some salt anticlines and diapirs developed continuously during the entire Mesozoic because of much-reduced tectonic subsidence rates (and sedimentation supply) during this time. However, a Lower Permian salt series and overhangs of buried diapirs played an important role in preventing overburden piercing (and fracturing) during the Mesozoic and, specifically, during the Late Cretaceous salt diapirism phase.     

Basin geometry and salt diapirs in the Flinders Ranges,South Australia: Insights gained from geologically-constrained modelling of potential field data

The Adelaide Basin in Australia is a complex of late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian rift and sag basins which was inverted during the Cambro–Ordovician Delamerian Orogeny. The deposition of evaporitic sediments during the earliest stage of basin development in the late Neoproterozoic (Willouran age) played a major role in the subsequent tectonic evolution of the basin. Previous studies have shown that early mobilization, vertical transport and withdrawal of the evaporites influenced the sedimentation during the late Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian. The evaporites also influenced deformation during the inversion of the basin and the development of the Delamerian fold and thrust belt. However, the control exerted by basement structures in the deposition of the evaporitic beds and the role of these tectonic structures in the later inversion of the basin have been poorly constrained.     

Structure and evolution of the Northeastern German Basin and its transition onto the Baltic Shield

The post-Permian sequence stratigraphical and structural evolution of the Northeastern German Basin and its transition onto the Baltic Shield has been studied in the Bay of Mecklenburg (SW Baltic Sea) by means of seismic interpretation. Five major sequences have been identified: Middle Triassic, Upper Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Time–isochore maps allowed the identification of several phases of salt pillow growth. The contemporaneity of active salt tectonics and the well studied tectonic evolution of the Northeastern German Basin suggest a causative correlation. The E–W directed extension during the Triassic-Early Jurassic marking the beginning break-up of Pangaea is seen as the trigger process for the first period of salt movement. A fault system outside the limit of the Zechstein evaporates is understood as the consequence of thin-skinned faulting and brittle thick-skinned deformation that accompanied this extension. The observed pronounced erosion of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata is considered to result from the uplift due to the Mid North Sea Doming event in Middle Jurassic times. The seismic data show an undisturbed Late Cretaceous succession which reflects a period of rising sea level, tectonic quiescence and no salt movement. In contrast to the salt pillows which emerged above Triassic fault systems in the westernmost Baltic and western North German Basin, the Cenozoic salt movement activity is the most pronounced. This period of reactivated salt pillow growth started coevally with the onset of the Alpine orogeny at the Cretaceous/Cenozoic transition when the Africa-Arabian plate collided with Eurasia. Generally, no significant faults were identified in the overburden of the salt floored southern Bay of Mecklenburg where ductile Zechstein salt decouples deep rooted faulting from supra-salt deformation.     

试论东海陆架盆地的基底构造演化和盆地形成机制

本文主要根据东海陆架盆地和周边的地质、地球物理资料,分析盆地的基底岩性特征、结构特征。认为东海陆架盆地的基底除元古界片麻岩外,还分布有一定范围的中生界及古生界。基底构造特征是纵向上多层次,横向上不均一,南北有别,东西分带。构造演化上经历了张、合、压、扭等复杂过程。     

Rift–shear architecture and tectonic development of the Ghana margin deduced from multichannel seismic reflection and potential field data

The Ghana margin displays one of the best-known transform margins. Studies of the margin have provided the framework for a number of conceptual models aimed at understanding transform margin development worldwide. However, the deep structure of the margin is poorly known as knowledge is based only on wide-angle refraction measurements obtained from two separate localities on the margin. Consequently, complexities in the rift–shear margin architecture have been overlooked by current interpretations of margin development. Based on combined analysis of a detailed grid of ∼2710 km multichannel (MCS) lines and potential field data, we provide new insights into the structural architecture and tectonic development of the Ghana margin. In particular, we outline the deep structure of the entire margin using a series of 2D gravity modelled transects constrained by MCS and published wide-angle data. Our study reveals more complex rift–shear margin architecture than previously envisaged. We demonstrate that the main transform boundary representing the continental extension of the Romanche Fracture Zone, is actually composed of two distinct margin segments, i.e., the ENE–WSW trending sheared margin segment of the Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana Ridge and the NE–SW trending rift-influenced sheared margin segment of the Ghana Platform. These segments evolved under varying stress regimes, and during different time intervals. West of the transform margin, divergent rifting during the Early Cretaceous initiated the development of the Deep Ivorian Basin, essentially, as a single major pull-apart structure. However, east of the shear zone, oblique rifting resulted in the development of the Eastern Ghana Slope Basin as a composite of at least two coalescing pull-apart basins displaced along strike-slip faults. Our structural interpretation of the transform boundary geometry shows that the ridge and platform margin segments were each subjected to separate thermal influences from two different migrating spreading centres. Tectonic uplift of the ridge began through transpression during mid-Albian time following a change in relative direction of plate motion from NE–SW to ENE–WSW. However, the ridge uplift was amplified by thermal heating from a previously undocumented spreading centre whose progressive westward migration along the ridge followed closely after the Albian transpressional phase. The structural architecture of the Ghana margin resulted from a combination of factors, notably, pre-existing basement structure, plate boundary geometry, the relative direction of plate motion and thermal heating.     

Tectonic unit divisions based on block tectonics theory in the South China Sea and its adjacent areas

Identifying distinct tectonic units is key to understanding the geotectonic framework and distribution law of oil and gas resources. The South China Sea and its adjacent areas have undergone complex tectonic evolution processes, and the division of tectonic units is controversial. Guided by block tectonics theory, this study divide the South China Sea and its adjacent areas into several distinguished tectonic units relying on known boundary markers such as sutures(ophiolite belts), subduction-collision zones, orogenic belts, and deep faults. This work suggests that the study area is occupied by nine stable blocks(West Burma Block, Sibumasu Block, LanpingSimao Block, Indochina Block, Yangtze Block, Cathaysian Block, Qiongnan Block, Nansha Block, and Northwest Sulu Block), two suture zones(Majiang suture zone and Southeast Yangtze suture zone), two accretionary zones(Sarawak-Sulu accretionary zone and East Sulawesi accretionary zone), one subduction-collision zone(RakhineJava-Timor subduction-collision zone), one ramp zone(Philippine islands ramp zone), and six small oceanic marginal sea basins(South China Sea Basin, Sulu Sea Basin, Sulawesi Sea Basin, Banda Sea Basin, Makassar Basin, and Andaman Sea Basin). This division reflects the tectonic activities, crustal structural properties, and evolutionary records of each evaluated tectonic unit. It is of great theoretical and practical importance to understand the tectonic framework to support the exploration of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea and its adjacent areas.     

The structural evolution of the Messinian evaporites in the Levantine Basin

The Levantine Basin in the South-eastern Mediterranean Sea is a world class site for studying the initial stages of salt tectonics driven by differential sediment load, because the Messinian evaporites are comparatively young, the sediment load varies along the basin margin, they are hardly tectonically overprinted, and the geometry of the basin and the overburden is well-defined. In this study we analyse depositional phases of the evaporites and their structural evolution by means of high-resolution multi-channel seismic data. The basinal evaporites have a maximum thickness of about 2 km, precipitated during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, 5.3–5.9 Ma ago. The evaporite body is characterized by 5 transparent layers sequenced by four internal reflections. We suggest that each of the internal reflection bands indicate a change of evaporite facies, possibly interbedded clastic sediments, which were deposited during temporal sea level rises. All of these internal reflections are differently folded and distorted, proving that the deformation was syn-depositional. Thrust angles up to 14° are observed. Backstripping of the Pliocene–Quaternary reveals that salt tectonic is mainly driven by the sediment load of the Nile Cone. The direction of lateral salt displacement is mainly SSW–NNE and parallel to the bathymetric trend. Apparent rollback anticlines off Israel result rather from differential subsidence than from lateral salt displacement. In the south-eastern basin margin the deposition of the Isreali Slump Complex (ISC) is coeval with the onset of salt tectonic faulting, suggesting a causal link between slumping processes and salt tectonics.

The superposition of ‘thin-skinned’ tectonics and ‘thick-skinned’ tectonics becomes apparent in several locations: The fold belt off the Israeli Mediterranean slope mainly results from active strike-slip tectonics, which becomes evident in faults which reach from the seafloor well below the base of the evaporites. Owing to the wrenching of the crustal segments which are bounded by deep-rooted fault lines like the Damietta–Latakia, Pelusium and Shelf Edge Hinge line the setting is transpressional south of 32°N, where the fault lines bend further towards the west. This adds a component of ‘thick-skinned’ transpression to the generally ‘thin-skinned’ compressional regime in the basin. Above 1.5 km of evaporites, a mud volcano is observed with the mud source seemingly within the evaporite layer. At the eastern Cyprus Arc, the convergence zone of the African and the Anatolian plates, deep-rooted compression heavily deformed the base of the evaporites, whereas at the Eratosthenes Seamount mainly superficial compression affecting the Post-Messinian sediments and the top of the evaporites is observed.     

Impact of salt-related palaeotopography on the distribution of turbidite reservoirs: Evidence from well-seismic analyses and structural restorations in the Brazilian offshore

The dynamic of gravity-driven turbidity currents is strongly influenced by the morphology of the seafloor, formed by topographic highs and lows on the margin along the depositional profile. This paper focuses on the methodology and the main results of a study on the palaeotopographic controls in a turbidite succession, with an application in an oilfield of the Brazilian offshore Campos Basin. This basin is located in the Brazilian passive margin, on which tectonics is partly controlled by halokinesis; the selected reservoirs are confined Turonian to Campanian siliciclastic turbidite systems.Six seismic-lithologic horizons of regional extension were mapped, from the Aptian salt to the Miocene as well as related faults. Four main reservoir-scale units were identified, stratigraphically comprised between two of the regional horizons, and their related surfaces were mapped. The complete ensemble of horizons and faults was used to build a multi-2D geological model. Individual surface restorations performed in every horizon allowed the structural coherence and the unfolding-unfaulting quality to be evaluated. Multi-surface restorations were then carried out in order to determine the related horizon palaeotopography of each reference depositional time.The results of the geological modeling and of the structural restorations indicate that the halokinesis-related listric faults regulated the distribution of the basal reservoirs. Additionally, at the top of the Albian carbonates, a canyon was identified, which, in association with the tectonic structures form the palaeotopographic constraints for the upper reservoir geometry.This work sheds light on the importance of structural restoration in understanding the tectonic-sedimentation interactions and the palaeotopography to the distribution of the studied turbidite reservoirs.     

Inversion tectonics in Central Africa Rift System: Evidence from the Heglig Field

The Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic history of the Muglad Basin, is dominated by extension and inversion tectonics, but evidence of the inversion tectonics has not been well documented yet. In some other rift basins of CARS and WARS the phase of the inversion tectonics is well documented by several authors.This paper presents a structural study of the Heglig field area located on the eastern flank of the Muglad Basin. Detailed 3D seismic interpretation allows a better understanding of the structural style of the Heglig field. The new structural analysis has shown that the Heglig field has a complex structural framework reflected in the presence of a combination of two structural styles. The extensional structure is influenced by inversion tectonics during the Santonian time that creates four-way dip anticline structure, overprinted by the subsequent extensional movement that creates tilted fault block. The presence of inversion tectonics has supported by different means including seismic reflection, velocity, and source rock maturity data. The authors attributed the trapping of oil in the Lower Bentiu reservoir, that requires a horizontal seal, to the presence of the four-way dip anticline structure created by the inversion tectonics.The current interpretation of the Heglig field 3D seismic data sheds new light on the development and evolution of a key structure in the Muglad Basin. The results help to resolve long-standing discussion concerning hydrocarbon accumulation of the lower part of Bentiu Formation that lacks horizontal sealing.     

Salt tectonics in the Cap Boujdour Area,Aaiun Basin,NW Africa

Seismic reflection data indicate the Moroccan salt basin extends to the Cap Boujdour area in the Aaiun Basin. Two salt diapir structures have been identified and several areas of collapsed strata indicate probable salt removal at the shelf edge. The presence of salt in this area correlates to the conjugate southern George's Bank Basin and the Baltimore Canyon area, and it is suggested that the salt extends southward from the known salt diapir province in the George's Bank Basin southward to the Great Stone Dome. The paucity of salt diapirs is attributed to the thick carbonate and anhydrite sequence, which was deposited soon after salt deposition that inhibited halokinesis. The presence of salt along this large segment of the Atlantic margin should increase its hydrocarbon potential with traps created around salt diapirs and provision of migration pathways from deep potential source rocks in the early Cretaceous and Jurassic strata to shallower levels.     

Controls on turbidite sand deposition during gravity-driven extension of a passive margin: examples from Miocene sediments in Block 4, Angola

In recent years, exploration of the Lower Congo Basin in Angola has focused on the Neogene turbidite sand play of the Malembo Formation. Gravity tectonics has played an important role during deposition of the Malembo Formation and has imparted a well-documented structural style to the post-rift sediments. An oceanward transition from thin-skinned extension through mobile salt and eventually to thin-skinned compressional structures characterises the post-rift sediments. There has been little discussion, however, regarding the influence of these structures on the deposition of the Malembo Formation turbidite sands. Block 4 lies at the southern margin of the Lower Congo Basin and is dominated by the thin-skinned extensional structural style. Using a multidisciplinary approach we trace the post-rift structural and stratigraphic evolution of this block to study the structural controls on Neogene turbidite sand deposition.In the Lower Congo Basin the transition from terrestrial rift basin to fully marine passive margin is recorded by late Aptian evaporites of the Loeme Formation. Extension of the overlying post-rift sequences has occurred where the Loeme Formation has been utilised as a detachment surface for extensional faults. Since the late Cretaceous, the passive margin sediments have moved down-slope on the Loeme detachment. This history of gravity-driven extension is recorded in the post-rift sediments of Block 4. Extension commenced in the Albian in the east of the block and migrated westwards with time. In the west, the extension occurred mainly in the Miocene and generated allochthonous fault blocks or “rafts”, separated by deep grabens. The Miocene extension occurred in two main phases with contrasting slip vectors; in the early Miocene the extension vector was to the west, switching to southwest-directed extension in the late Miocene. Early Miocene faults and half-grabens trend north–south whereas late Miocene structures trend northwest–southeast. The contrast in slip vectors between these two phases emphasises the differences in driving mechanisms: the early Miocene faulting was driven by basinward tilting of the passive margin, but gravity loading due to sedimentary progradation is considered the main driver for the late Miocene extension. The geological evolution of the late Miocene grabens is consistent with southwest-directed extension due to southwest progradation of the Congo fan.High-resolution biostratigraphic data identifies the turbidite sands in Block 4 as early Miocene (17.5–15.5 Ma) and late Miocene (10.5–5.5 Ma) in age. Deposition of these sands occurred during the two main phases of gravity-driven extension. Conditions of low sedimentation rates relative to high fault displacement rates were prevalent in the early Miocene. Seafloor depressions were generated in the hangingwalls of the main extensional faults, ultimately leading to capture of the turbidity currents. Lower Miocene turbidite sand bodies therefore trend north–south, parallel to the active faults. Cross-faults and relay ramps created local topographic highs capable of deflecting turbidite flows within the half grabens. Flow-stripping of turbidity currents across these features caused preferential deposition of sands across, and adjacent to, the highs. Turbidite sands deposited in the early part of the late Miocene were influenced by both the old north–south fault trends and by the new northwest–southeast fault trends. By latest Miocene times turbidite channels crosscut the active northwest–southeast-trending faults. These latest Miocene faults had limited potential to capture turbidity currents because the associated hangingwall grabens were rapidly filled as pro-delta sediments of the Congo fan prograded across the area from the northeast.     

Structural styles of Albian rafts in the Espírito Santo Basin (SE Brazil): Evidence for late raft compartmentalisation on a ‘passive’ continental margin

In recent years, hydrocarbon exploration offshore SE Brazil has been focusing on Lower Cretaceous strata deformed by gravity gliding above Aptian salt. A three-dimensional (3D) seismic volume from the Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil is here used to: a) test the parameters considered to control raft tectonics on a margin tectonically reactivated in the Cenozoic, and b) investigate the impact of prolonged halokinesis on raft deformation. Offshore Espírito Santo, the combined effects of halokinesis and multiple (Andean) tectonic phases are expressed by local collapse, fault reactivation and late segmentation of Albian rafts. As a result of this deformation we observe four main raft geometries: a) rolled-over rafts, b) tabular rafts, c) collapsed rafts, and d) folded and tilted rafts on the flanks of salt rollers. This work shows that salt rollers formed buttresses to moving Albian-Cenomanian rafts, with withdrawal of salt from underneath some of the rafts leading to their collapse and welding onto pre-salt strata. This process occurred in the studied part of the Espírito Santo Basin with minimum control of post-raft overburden thickness on raft compartmentalisation. Salt withdrawal from underneath the rafts is an important phenomenon as it enhanced connectivity between pre-salt and post-salt units, potentially promoting the migration of hydrocarbons from syn-rift source units into post-salt reservoirs.     

Thrust tectonics in the Andean retro-foreland basin of northern Peru: Permian inheritances and petroleum implications

In northern Peru, the Huallaga-Moyabamba-Marañon Subandean foreland basin system results from the interaction between thin and thick-skinned tectonics. Geophysical data and the construction of two balanced cross-sections show that this structural configuration has been controlled by Permian inheritances. A fossilized west-verging Middle Permian fold and thrust belt, which developed during the Gondwanide orogeny, has been partly reactivated by the Andean compression and controlled thick-skinned tectonics propagation. This west-verging thrust system is still active and causes the crustal and damaging seismicity of the Moyabamba region. Late Permian salt, which has sealed the Middle Permian fold and thrust belt, controlled thin-skinned tectonics propagation and the development of the must large overthrust of the Peruvian Subandean zone. The fossilized and partly reactivated Middle Permian fold and thrust belt constitutes a new petroleum play for the exploration in the northern Peruvian Subandean basins. Sub-thrust traps of the Moyabamba and Huallaga wedge-top basins are particularly attractive but stay unexplored.     

Salt tectonics at passive margins: Geology versus models

Salt tectonics at passive margins is currently interpreted as a gravity-driven process but according to two different types of models: i) pure spreading only driven by differential sedimentary loading and ii) dominant gliding primarily due to margin tilt (slope instability). A comparative analysis of pure spreading and pure spreading is made using simple mechanics as well as available laboratory experiments and numerical models that consider salt tectonic processes at the whole basin scale. To be effective, pure spreading driven by sedimentary loading requires large differential overburden thicknesses and therefore significant water depths, high sediment density, low frictional angles of the sediments (high fluid pore pressure) and a seaward free boundary of the salt basin (salt not covered by sediments). Dominant gliding does not require any specific condition to be effective apart from the dip on the upper surface of the salt. It can occur for margin tilt angles lower than 1° for basin widths in the range of 200-600 km and initial sedimentary cover thickness up to 1 km, even in the absence of abnormal fluid pressure. In pure spreading, salt resists and sediments drive whereas in dominant gliding both salt and sediments drive. In pure spreading, extension is located inside the prograding sedimentary wedge and contraction at the tip. Both extension and contraction migrate seaward with the sedimentary progradation. Migration of the deformation can create an extensional inversion of previously contractional structures. In pure spreading, extension is located updip and contraction downdip. Extension migrates downdip and contraction updip. Migration of the deformation leads to a contractional inversion of previously extensional structures (e.g. squeezed diapirs). Mechanical analysis and modelling, either analogue or numerical, and comparison with margin-scale examples, such as the south Atlantic margins or northern Gulf of Mexico, indicate that salt tectonics at passive margins is dominated by dominant gliding down the margin dip. On the contrary, salt tectonics driven only by differential sedimentary loading is a process difficult to reconcile with geological evidence.     

Structural patterns of the Lake Erçek Basin,eastern Anatolia (Turkey): evidence from single-channel seismic interpretation

This study presents an analysis of the single-channel high-resolution shallow seismic reflection data from Lake Erçek, eastern Anatolia, to provide key information on the deformational elements, on the fault patterns and on the overall tectonic structure of the Lake Erçek Basin. High-resolution seismic data reveal major structural and deformational features, including N–S trending normal faults and W–E trending reverse faults bounding the Lake Erçek Basin, basement highs and folded structures along the marginal sections of the lake. The N–S trending normal faults asymmetrically control the steep western margin and the gentle eastern deltaic section, while the W–E trending reverse faults appear at the northern and southern margins. The N–S trending normal faults, half-graben structure, and the gradual thickening of sediments in the Erçek Basin toward the fault scarps strongly suggest an extensional tectonic regime resulting from an N–S compression. The Erçek Basin is an extension-controlled depocenter; it is a relatively undeformed and flat-lying deep Basin, forming a typical example of the half-graben structure. The N–S trending normal faults appear to be currently active and control the lake center and the E-delta section, resulting in subsidence in the lake floor. In the N- and S-margins of the lake, there is evidence of folding, faulting and accompanying block uplifting, suggesting a significant N–S compressional regime that results in the reverse faulting and basement highs along the marginal sections. The folding and faulting caused strong uplift of the basement blocks in the N- and S- margins, subsequently exposing the shelf and slope areas. The exposed areas are evident in the erosional unconformity of the surface of the basement highs and thinned sediments. The tilted basement strata and subsequent erosion over the basement block highs suggest prominent structural inversion, probably long before the formation of the lake. New high-resolution seismic data reveal the fault patterns and structural lineaments of the Lake Erçek and provide strong evidence for an ongoing extension and subsidence. The present study provides new structural insights that will support future tectonic and sedimentary studies and the development of strategies related to active earthquake faults and major seismic events in the region of Lake Erçek.     

Bannu Basin,fold-and-thrust belt of northern Pakistan: Subsurface imaging and its implications for hydrocarbon exploration

The Trans Indus-Salt Range, located in northern Pakistan, is one of the most tectonically active fold-and-thrust belts and comprises three main regions: the Potwar-Salt Range, the Kohat-Surghar Range and the Bannu Basin-Khisor Range. Of these, the Bannu Basin is the least studied and only a handful of publically accessible datasets and publications are available. Recently made public 2D seismic profiles and well data from the Bannu Basin indicate the presence of salt as well as evidence for a main detachment surface which is Neoproterozoic in age. Our findings suggest that the Salt Range Formation could be the main detachment for the entire basin.Interpretation also shows a Miocene-Eocene basin-wide unconformity that marks the Himalayan orogenic event which separates the pre-Himalayan from the syn-Himalayan sedimentary units. On the basis of seismic reflection data, we conclude that the basin experienced three main tectonic settings. An early stage of pre-Himalayan passive tectonic environment is followed by the compressional Himalayan tectonics which resulted in uplifted areas sourcing the fluviatile fill of the subsided basin. During this time, sedimentation from the northern margin of the basin may have influenced the southward flow of salt. This is followed by a more recent stage of thrusting that produced folds and thrusts deforming all of the sedimentary units.Structural geometries suggest that prospective traps are developed mainly in the anticlines outlining the eastern and western boundaries of the Bannu Basin, as well as the southern zone of the basin. Furthermore, the presence of salt diapirism and transpression zones together with numerous oil seeps in and around the basin increase the probability of hydrocarbon accumulation and indicate great potential for future exploration.     

The Levant Slumps and the Phoenician Structures: collapse features along the continental margin of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Two distinct series of slumps deform the upper part of the sedimentary sequence along the continental margin of the Levant. One series is found along the base of the continental slope, where it overlies the disrupted eastern edge of the Messinian evaporites. The second series of slumps transects the continental margin from the shelf break to the Levant Basin. It seemed that the two series were triggered by two unrelated, though contemporaneous, processes. The shore-parallel slumps were initiated by basinwards flow of the Messinian salt, that carried along the overlying Plio-Quaternary sediments. Seawater that percolated along the detachment faults dissolved the underlying salt to form distinctly disrupted structures. The slope-normal slumps are located on top of large canyons that cut into the pre-Messinian sedimentary rocks. A layer of salt is found in the canyons, and the Plio-Quaternary sediments were deposited on that layer. The slumps are bounded by large, NW-trending faults where post-Messinian faulted offset was measured. We presume that the flow of the salt in the canyons also drives the slope-normal slumps. Thus thin-skinned halokynetic processes generated the composite post-Tortonian structural patterns of the Levant margin. The Phoenician Structures are a prime example of the collapse of a distal continental margin due to the dissolution of a massive salt layer.