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.     

Salt tectonics and tear faulting in the central part of the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt,Iran

The central part of the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt is characterized by a series of right-lateral and left-lateral transverse tear fault systems, some of them being ornamented by salt diapirs of the Late Precambrian–Early Cambrian Hormuz evaporitic series. Many deep-seated extensional faults, mainly along N–S and few along NW–SE and NE–SW, were formed or reactivated during the Late Precambrian–Early Cambrian and generated horsts and grabens. The extensional faults controlled deposition, distribution and thickness of the Hormuz series. Salt walls and diapirs initiated by the Early Paleozoic especially along the extensional faults. Long-term halokinesis gave rise to thin sedimentary cover above the salt diapirs and aggregated considerable volume of salt into the salt stocks. They created weak zones in the sedimentary cover, located approximately above the former and inactive deep-seated extensional faults. The N–S to NNE–SSW direction of tectonic shortening during the Neogene Zagros folding was sub-parallel with the strikes of the salt walls and rows of diapirs. Variations in thickness of the Hormuz series prepared differences in the basal friction on both sides of the Precambrian–Cambrian extensional faults, which facilitated the Zagros deformation front to advance faster wherever the salt layer was thicker. Consequently, a series of tear fault systems developed along the rows of salt diapirs approximately above the Precambrian–Cambrian extensional faults. Therefore, the present surface expressions of the tear fault systems developed within the sedimentary cover during the Zagros orogeny. Although the direction of the Zagros shortening could also potentially reactivate the basement faults as strike-slip structures, subsurface data and majority of the moderate-large earthquakes do not support basement involvement. This suggests that the tear fault systems are detached on top of the Hormuz series from the deep-seated Precambrian–Cambrian extensional faults in the basement.     

The structural styles and formation mechanism of salt structures in the Southern Precaspian Basin: Insights from seismic data and analog modeling

Using the seismic profiles and analog modeling, this paper addresses the salt structures in the M and B blocks in the Southern Precaspian Basin. The salt structural features, the formation mechanism and the controlling factors of structural deformation are investigated and discussed systematically. The interpretation of the seismic profiles shows that typical salt-related structures include salt wall, (flip-flop) salt diapir, salt roller, salt pillow (dome), salt weld, salt withdrawal minibasin and drag structure (or drape fold). In addition, model results demonstrate that the gravity spreading driven by progradation and aggradation is probably the primary factor in controlling the formation of the salt structures in the research area. Due to the differential loading driven by progradation, passive salt diapir developed near the progradational front followed by the formation of intrasalt withdrawal minibasin bounded by two salt diapirs, and secondary reactive triangle salt diapir or salt pillow might form within the intrasalt withdrawal minibasin. Model results also indicate that the pattern of the subsalt basement has important influence on the formation and evolution of salt structures. Salt diapirs primarily developed along the margin of the subsalt uplift basement, where high shear deformation was induced by differential sedimentary loading between the uplift area and the slope area.     

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.     

西非被动大陆边缘盐构造样式与成因机制

基于三维地震资料,对西非陆缘盐构造样式及分布特征进行了刻画,剖析了其形成演化机制与控制因素。西非陆缘盐上地层滑脱形成典型的薄皮构造,前缘发育挤压变形,后缘发育拉张变形,两者之间为过渡变形。拉张区发育白垩系盐筏、前盐筏、新近系盐筏等盐构造;过渡变形区以发育各种底辟构造为特征;挤压变形区主要发育侵位盐席构造。重力滑脱作用是被动陆缘盐构造发育过程中始终存在的驱动机制,重力扩展作用在大陆边缘成熟阶段作用明显,在陆缘演化早期并不突出。陆缘构造活动控制盐构造的形成,差异沉积负载作用影响着盐上地层滑移特征,而盐下底形对盐岩流动、盐上地层滑移速率及相关断裂体系的产生与沉积响应具有重要影响。     

Extensional rise and fall of a salt diapir in the Sørvestsnaget Basin,SW Barents Sea

Regional extension which initiates and promotes the rise of salt diapirs can also make diapirs fall once the supply of salt from its source is restricted. New observations on the 3D seismic data from a salt diapir in the Sørvestsnaget Basin suggest that salt moves until the end of the Eocene and is subtle to minor readjustments afterwards, revealing a more complex kinematics that previously described. Observations such as salt horns and sags and an antithetic fault linked to the western flank of the diapir suggest that salt syn-kinematics during Middle-Late Eocene included passive rising of the salt, followed by a fall. The salt horns are remnants of a taller salt diapir that, together with the indentation of the Middle-Late Eocene syn-kinematic sediment overburden above the salt, indicate diapiric fall due to restriction of salt supply by extension. Post-kinematic readjustments did not include diapiric reactivation by tectonic compression as previously thought, but minor salt rise by shortening due to gravity gliding after the tilting of the margin during Plio-Pleistocene glacial sediment loading and differential compaction of surrounding sediments. The salt diapir appears to be presently inactive and salt supply may have been restricted from its source already since Late Eocene.     

Cold seeps at the salt front in the Lower Congo Basin II: The impact of spatial and temporal evolution of salt-tectonics on hydrocarbon seepage

This study investigates the distribution and evolution of seafloor seepage in the vicinity of the salt front, i.e., the seaward boundary of salt-induced deformation in the Lower Congo Basin (LCB). Seafloor topography, backscatter data and TV-sled observations indicate active fluid seepage from the seafloor directly at the salt front, whereas suspected seepage sites appear to be inactive at a distance of >10 km landward of the deformation front. High resolution multichannel seismic data give detailed information on the structural development of the area and its influence on the activity of individual seeps during the geologic evolution of the salt front region. The unimpeded migration of gas from fan deposits along sedimentary strata towards the base of the gas hydrate stability zone within topographic ridges associated with relatively young salt-tectonic deformation facilitates seafloor seepage at the salt front. Bright and flat spots within sedimentary successions suggest geological trapping of gas on the flanks of mature salt structures in the eastern part of the study area. Onlap structures associated with fan deposits which were formed after the onset of salt-tectonic deformation represent potential traps for gas, which may hinder gas migration towards seafloor seeps. Faults related to the thrusting of salt bodies seawards also disrupt along-strata gas migration pathways. Additionally, the development of an effective gas hydrate seal after the cessation of active salt-induced uplift and the near-surface location of salt bodies may hamper or prohibit seafloor seepage in areas of advanced salt-tectonic deformation. This process of seaward shifting active seafloor seepage may propagate as seaward migrating deformation affects Congo Fan deposits on the abyssal plain. These observations of the influence of the geologic evolution of the salt front area on seafloor seepage allows for a characterization of the large variety of hydrocarbon seepage activity throughout this compressional tectonic setting.     

Evolution of the western Barents Sea

Information from multichannel seismic reflection data complemented by seismic refraction, gravity and magnetics forms the basis for a regional structural and evolutionary model of the western Barents Sea during post-Caledonian times. The western Barents Sea contains a thick succession, locally > 10 km, of Upper Paleozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary rocks covering a basement of probably Caledonian origin. The area is divided into three regional geological provinces: (1) an east-west trending basinal province between 74°N and the coast of Norway; (2) an elevated platform area to the north towards Svalbard; and (3) the western continental margin. Several structural elements of different origin and age have been mapped within each of these provinces. The main stratigraphic sequence boundaries have been tentatively dated from available well information, correlation with the geology of adjacent areas, and correlation with the interregional unconformities caused by relative changes of sea level. The main structural elements were developed during three major post-Caledonian tectonic phases: the Svalbardian phase in Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous times, the Mid and Late Kimmerian phase in Mid Jurassic to Early Cretaceous times and Cenozoic tectonism related to the progressive northward opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The sediments are predicted to be of mainly clastic origin except for a thick sequence of Middle Carboniferous — Lower Permian carbonates and evaporites. Salt diapirs have developed in several sub-basins, especially in the Nordkapp Basin where they form continuous salt walls that have pierced through > 7 km of sediments.     

The role of basement tectonic reactivation on the structural evolution of Campos Basin,offshore Brazil: Evidence from 3D seismic analysis and section restoration

The structural analysis of regional 3D seismic data shows evidence of long-term tectonic inheritance in Campos Basin, offshore Brazil. Main Lower Cretaceous rift structures controlled themselves by strike-slip deformation belts related to Proterozoic orogenic events, have been episodically reactivated during the divergent margin phase of Campos Basin, from the Albian to the Miocene. Balanced cross-sections of major salt structures indicate that such tectonic reactivations have been controlling thin-skinned salt tectonics, triggering pulses of gravitational gliding above the Aptian salt detachment. Additionally, major basin features like the Neogene progradation front and the salt tectonic domains are constrained by the main Proterozoic orogenic trends of the Ribeira Belt (NE–SW) and the Vitória-Colatina Belt (NNW–SSE). As the basement involved structures observed in Campos Basin can be attributed to general geodynamic processes, it is suggested that basement tectonic reactivation can be as relevant as isostatic adjustment and detached thin-skinned tectonics on the structural evolution of divergent margin settings.     

Modeling stress evolution around a rising salt diapir

We model the evolution of a salt diapir during sedimentation and study how deposition and salt movement affect stresses close to the diapir. We model the salt as a solid visco-plastic material and the sediments as a poro-elastoplastic material, using a generalized Modified Cam Clay model. The salt flows because ongoing sedimentation increases the average density within the overburden sediments, pressurizing the salt. Stresses rotate near a salt diapir, such that the maximum principal stress is perpendicular to the contact with the salt. The minimum principal stress is in the circumferential direction, and drops near the salt. The mean stress increases near the upper parts of the diapir, leading to a porosity that is lower than predicted for uniaxial burial at the same depth. We built this axisymmetric model within the large-strain finite-element program Elfen. Our results highlight the fact that forward modeling can provide a detailed understanding of the stress history of mudrocks close to salt diapirs; such an understanding is critical for predicting stress, porosity, and pore pressure in salt systems.     

Structural evolution of the Feda Graben area – A new model

The pre-Cretaceous basin evolution of the Feda Graben area in the vicinity of the Norwegian-Danish basin has been reconstructed utilizing geological and structural interpretation. The analysis reveals that the basin was faulted at its borders prior to the salt deposition in the Late Permian. Salt movement was initiated in Late Triassic and thick Triassic and Lower Jurassic pods were deposited in the graben area due to this movement. Salt pillows were developing along the Feda Graben bordering faults until Middle Jurassic when the pillows were collapsed. Salt diapirs within the study area preferentially occupy the crest of the Feda Graben and their occurrence is controlled by the underlying faulted topography. The diapirs were fed by salt from the central and southern parts of the basin and were developed by different processes i.e. upbuilding, downbuilding. Various raft structures were developed in the graben area hanging wall while some uplift occurred in the footwall during Mesozoic rifting. The Feda Graben area experienced rifting from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. The most pronounced subsidence episode related with this rifting in the Feda Graben area took place along the eastern bounding Gert Fault. The Mesozoic rifting event is marked by a major unconformity on the seismic sections throughout the study area. Furthermore, the region experienced basin inversion in Late Cretaceous. The effects of inversion are more pronounced in the western part and along the Gert Fault. The inversion phenomenon can be properly understood only when considered together with the geometry of the Late Jurassic half-graben. Due to some inconsistencies in the previously proposed models for the development of the Feda Graben, a new conceptual model has been constructed.     

Contraction induced by block rotation above salt (Angolan margin)

Gravity spreading above salt at passive margins is the major mode of deformation of post-salt sediments. Whereas this process generally creates a structural zoning, extensional upslope and contractional downslope, discrepancies can however arise. For example, evidence of contractional deformation occurs in the extensional domain of the Angolan margin, to the south of the Congo delta fan. Slope-parallel seismic lines show grabens, rollover and extensional diapirs. Conversely, strike-parallel seismic lines present inversion of early grabens, apparently related to a regional-scale decrease in sedimentary thickness away from the Congo delta. As the spreading rate and the characteristic spacing of structures are direct functions of sedimentary loading, one can expect structural changes along strike due to sedimentary thickness variations. This hypothesis was tested using spreading-type experiments of brittle-ductile models lying on top of an inclined rigid substratum. The experiments simulate the progradation of a synkinematic sedimentary cover above salt, with a lateral variation of sedimentation rate. The models show that the spreading rate was higher in the thicker part. Early grabens initiated perpendicular to the slope direction. Where sedimentation rate was high, they kept their orientation during spreading and formed purely extensional synsedimentary structures: Grabens, rollovers and diapirs. Where sedimentation rate was low, blocks separated by grabens rotated in a domino-type fashion but this domain continued to extend in a slope-parallel direction. Strike slip between blocks was entirely localised within the early grabens, which inverted and formed anticlines. Structures obtained in experiments are directly comparable to those in seismic lines of the Angolan margin. In both the Angolan margin examples and the laboratory experiments, block rotation is interpreted as slope-parallel strike-slip shear zones due to lateral variations in spreading rate.     

Foldbelts with early salt withdrawal and diapirism: Physical model and examples from the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Flinders Ranges, Australia

A physical experiment shows that shortening applied to existing diapirs and minibasins produces anomalous structural styles that are unlike those of more typical foldbelts. Strong minibasins remain largely undeformed while weak diapirs localize contractional strain. Short diapirs form the cores to folds and thrusted folds, whereas tall diapirs are squeezed and often welded, commonly leading to the extrusion of allochthonous material. Key features of the model are observed in real examples. In the northern Gulf of Mexico passive margin, minibasins were originally separated by a polygonal pattern of deep salt ridges, with diapirs located at ridge intersections. Gravity spreading resulted in squeezed diapirs (and associated allochthonous salt) connected by variably oriented contractional, extensional, and strike-slip structures. In the Flinders Ranges convergent-margin foldbelt of South Australia, preexisting diapirs were squeezed, welded, and thrusted, with anticlines plunging away in multiple directions, so that minibasins are surrounded by highly variable structures. A different geometry is observed in La Popa Basin, Mexico, where squeezing of a linear salt wall produced a vertical weld with diapirs at the terminations, rather than the culmination. In all areas, foldbelt geometries are strongly influenced by the preestablished salt-minibasin architecture.     

Isochores and 3-D visualization of rising and falling slat diapirs

Diapir fall, which was predicted by physical models, has been identified in salt provinces, such as the South Atlantic margins, the North Sea, and the Paradox Basin (Colorado–Utah). However the 3-D geometry of falling diapirs and their country rock is still poorly understood. 3-D visualization and isochore patterns from a physical model help elucidate this geometry.The model initially comprised a unit of viscous silicone overlain by a prekinematic sand unit. Sand units representing brittle sediments were deposited episodically during gravity gliding and spreading. Regional extension triggered and eventually widened salt walls, causing them to sag. The 3-D visualization shows that regional hydrocarbon migration, which tends to be seaward during diapir rise and landward during diapir fall, can potentially be orthogonal to local migration along grabens at soft-linked zones of relay ramps. Furthermore, anticlinal culminations may form (1) in horsts that bend along strike and (2) adjoining the fork of Y-shaped salt walls.Sequential isochore maps of the overburden show how patterns of sedimentation, deformation, and underlying salt thickness changed through time. Isochores of prekinematic units record only strain: thinned belts record early extension. In contrast, isochores of synkinematic units record mostly thickness variations due to deposition on actively deforming topography. Isochores above sagging diapirs identify the thickest part of crestal depocenters, where the most rapid sagging occurred in regions of maximum extension near the unbuttressed downdip part of the gravity-spreading system. Additionally, asymmetric isochore patterns may reveal underlying half-grabens or tilted symmetric grabens. In relay systems, overlying isochores may indicate which part of a salt wall rose to compensate for sagging elsewhere in the relay.     

Petrology and depositional evolution of the Paleozoic rocks of Iraq

The study integrates petrographical and lithological data from deep exploration wells and outcrops in northern Iraq to better understand the sedimentary environments present in the basin and to evaluate the depositional evolution of the Paleozoic rocks in Iraq. The studied Paleozoic successions are represented by five sedimentary cycles of intracratonic sequences. These are dominated mainly by siliciclastic and mixed sedimentary packages, and are separated by major and minor unconformity surfaces. These cycles are as follow: the Ordovician cycle, represented by the Khabour Formation; the Silurian cycle, represented by the Akkas Formation; the Middle-Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous cycle, represented by the Chalki, Pirispiki, Kaista, Ora and Harur formations; the Permian–Carboniferous cycle, represented by the Ga’ara Formation and late Permian cycle, represented by the Chia Zairi Formation. Generally, the cycles are characterized by siliciclastic and mixed carbonate–clastic facies with abrupt changes during Late Paleozoic reflecting the environmental and tectonic events during this period. The Ordovician Khabour Formation is suggested to be of shallow marine environment of deposition with stacked transgressive and regressive cycles that are eustatically controlled. The shale of Silurian Akkas Formation was deposited in open-marine environment. Depositional regimes in the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous are considered as a continuation of deposition in the subsiding basin with a wide geographic distribution that reflect the epicontinental or epeiric seas in a homoclinic ramp setting. The Permo-Carboniferous Ga’ara Formation was deposited in continental to paralic environment while the Late Permian Chia Zairi Formation represents the carbonate platform deposition. The study revealed that potential source rocks may include some shale beds of the Khabour Formation, hot shales of Akkas Formation and the shales of Ora Formation. The sandstones of the Khabour, Akkas and Kaista formations have good reservoir potential. The Late Permian carbonates of Chia Zairi Formation may be self-sourcing and contain multiple reservoirs. The occurrence of shale as source rocks and limestone as reservoir rocks and some evaporates as sealing horizons make the formation as a reservoir in its own right.     

Impact of basin structure and evaporite distribution on salt tectonics in the Algarve Basin,Southwest Iberian margin

The SW Iberian margin developed as a passive margin during Mesozoic times and was later inverted during the mainly Cenozoic Alpine orogeny. The initial syn-rift deposits include a Lower Jurassic evaporite unit of variable thickness. In the onshore, this unit is observed to thicken basinward (i.e., southward), in fault-controlled depocenters, and salt-related structures are only present in areas of thick initial evaporites. In the offshore, multiple salt-structures cored by the Lower Jurassic evaporites are interpreted on seismic reflection data and from exploratory drilling. Offshore salt structures include the allochthonous Esperança Salt Nappe, which extends over an area roughly 40 × 60 km. The abundance of salt-related structures and their geometry is observed to be controlled by the distribution of evaporite facies, which is in turn controlled by the structure of rift-related faulting. This paper presents a comprehensive study of salt tectonics over the entire onshore and offshore SW Iberian passive margin (southern Portugal and Gulf of Cadiz), covering all aspects from initial evaporite composition and thickness to the evolution of salt-related structures through Mesozoic extension and Cenozoic basin inversion.     

Oil/gas–source rock correlations in the Dniepr-Donets Basin (Ukraine): New insights into the petroleum system

The Dniepr-Donets Basin (DDB) hosts a multi-source petroleum system with more than 200 oil and gas fields, mainly in Carboniferous clastic rocks. Main aim of the present study was to correlate accumulated hydrocarbons with the most important source rocks and to verify their potential to generate oil and gas. Therefore, molecular and isotopic composition as well as biomarker data obtained from 12 oil and condensate samples and 48 source rock extracts was used together with USGS data for a geological interpretation of hydrocarbon charging history.Within the central DDB, results point to a significant contribution from (Upper) Visean black shales, highly oil-prone as well as mixed oil- and gas-prone Serpukhovian rocks and minor contribution from an additional Tournaisian source. Devonian rocks, an important hydrocarbon source within the Pripyat Trough, have not been identified as a major source within the central DDB. Additional input from Bashkirian to Moscovian (?) (Shebelinka Field) as well as Tournaisian to Lower Visean rocks (e.g. Dovgal Field) with higher contents of terrestrial organic matter is indicated in the SE and NW part, respectively.Whereas oil–source correlation contradicts major hydrocarbon migration in many cases for Tournaisian to Middle Carboniferous reservoir horizons, accumulations within Upper Carboniferous to Permian reservoirs require vertical migration up to 4000 m along faults related to Devonian salt domes.1-D thermal models indicate hydrocarbon generation during Permo-Carboniferous time. However, generation in coal-bearing Middle Carboniferous horizons in the SE part of the basin may have occurred during the Mesozoic.     

Salt tectonics at passive margins: Geology versus models – Discussion

Brun and Fort (2011) use mechanical analysis, experimental models, and geologic data to suggest that deformation in passive-margin salt basins is dominantly a result of gravity gliding rather than gravity spreading. They claim that only seaward tilt of the salt layer is effective in driving basinward translation of the salt and overburden and that differential loading alone requires extreme conditions that do not occur in nature. In this Discussion, we refute many of their arguments and conclusions. We show that: i) a more thorough mechanical analysis indicates that gravity spreading is effective if the proximal overburden is at least three times thicker than the distal overburden, a common occurrence on passive margins; ii) more realistic analogue models also demonstrate that extreme thickness variations are not necessary for gravity spreading; iii) their analysis of structures or structure associations is sometimes misleading; and iv) there is abundant evidence that gravity spreading is dominant on some margins. In particular, modern data from the northern Gulf of Mexico confirm traditional interpretations that Cenozoic failure was mainly due to downslope movement driven by sedimentary loading, not SW-directed gliding driven by tilt of the deep salt as claimed by Brun and Fort (2011). We conclude that both gravity gliding and gravity spreading are common processes which may vary spatially and temporally in any one salt basin.     

The impact of syn- and post-extension prograding sedimentation on the development of salt-related rift basins and their inversion: Clues from analogue modelling

Various studies have demonstrated the intrinsic interrelationship between tectonics and sedimentation in salt-related rift basins during extension as well as during their inversion by compression. Here, we present seven brittle–ductile analogue models to show that the longitudinal or transverse progradation of sediment filling an elongate extensional basin has a substantial impact on the growth of diapirs and their lateral geometrical variations. We use five extensional models to reveal how these prograding systems triggered diapir growth variations, from proximal to distal areas, relative to the sedimentary source. In the models, continuous passive diapir walls developed, after a short period of reactive–active diapiric activity, during syn-extensional homogeneous deposition. In contrast, non-rectilinear diapir walls grew during longitudinal prograding sedimentation. Both longitudinal and transverse post-extensional progradation triggered well-developed passive diapirs in the proximal domains, whereas incipient reactive–active diapirs, incipient roller-like diapirs, or poorly developed diapirs were generated in the distal domains, depending on the modelled sedimentary pattern. Two models included final phases of 6% and 10% shortening associated with basin inversion by compression, respectively, to discriminate compressional from purely extensional geometries. With the applied shortening, the outward flanks of existing diapir walls steepened their dips from 8°–17° to 30°–50°. Likewise, 6% of shortening narrowed the diapir walls by 32%–72%, with their fully closing (salt welds) with 10% of shortening. We compare our results with the distribution of salt walls and minibasins of the Central High Atlas diapiric basin in Morocco, which was infilled with a longitudinally prograding mixed siliciclastic and carbonatic depositional sequence during the Early–Middle Jurassic with a minimum thicknesses of 2.5–4.0 km.     

Salt-controlled slumping on the Mediterranean slope of central Israel

The highly complex morphology of the continental slope of central Israel is the expression of deep-seated rotational block slumping. The overburden of 1.0–1.5 km thick Pliocene-Quaternary sediments that accumulated over 200 m thick evaporites deposited under the deeper portion of the present-day continental slope and in Late Miocene erosion channels, caused the evaporites to flow downslope. This flowage was presumably caused by excessive pore pressures generated by the Pliocene-Quaternary sedimentary overburden in confined layers of clastics embedded within the impervious evaporites.