Salt Tectonics Topics

Salt Deposition
Salt Movement
Diapir Structures
Imaging
Link to faulting

Composition of Salt Domes Salt Deposition

Restricted marine basins
Mostly halite
Minor traces of gypsum or anhydrite
Often the two are interbedded and folded

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Gypsum, Ca(SO4).2H20 Halite, NaCl

Salt moves driven by buoyancy Sequential Stages

of a Salt Diapir
Salt density= 2 g/ cm3
Salt undergoes no compaction
Mechanically weak - viscous
Shale Density is initially 40% water
Initial Density = 1.8 g/ cm3
Water expelled during compaction
Final Density = 2.4 g/ cm3
 Salt at the Surface Salt Structures -Iran

Salt Glacier - Iran

Gulf of
Gulf of Mexico Mexico
Salt

Variety of Salt Structures

Internal flow of salt

Jackson et al. 1990

 Detection of Salt Domes
Gravity
Gravity surveys
Find gravity lows
Low density
Seismic Imaging

GM-SYS Profile model of salt structure

integrating seismic reflection, FTG gravity, and
magnetic data (EarthExplorer, 2009).

Seismic Image of a Salt Dome

Geosoft GmsYs-3D model of a salt body embedded in a 3D

density volume (Earth Explorer, 2009)_

3D Seismic Interpretation of Salt Sandbox Experiment

Relationship between salt dome and normal faulting
Structures http://www.beg.utexas.edu/indassoc/agl/animations/AGL95-MM-001/index.html

GUGLIELMO, G., Jr., , B. C. VENDEVILLE, D. D. SCHULTZ-ELA, and M. P. A. JACKSON

Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin,
 Extension Above Salt Diapir Salt Structures vs. Tectonic
Structures
Caused by movement of salt, not by plate boundary
stresses
Often linked to sedimentation
Often localized by tectonic structures
Both upwards movement of salt and salt withdrawal
cause deformation

Salt movement affects sediment thickness

Salt in the North Sea

Salt Traps Salt is the best seal

Examples of Petroleum Salt Provinces
Gulf of Mexico
North Sea
Middle East

Zagros Mts., Iran La Popa Basin, Mexico

 Ekofisk Field Ekofisk Formation
E
analog W
Late Cretaceous
Shallow Sea
Continued regional
subsidence
Rising sea level
Active phytoplankton
growth

Van der Bark & Thomas, 1980

Late Cretaceous: Ekofisk Formation

Danish North Sea
Time
Salt Domes Pierce the Strata

CI = 30ms
8km

Crestal Deformation Fractures around Salt Domes

Ant-Tracking
displaying radial
fracture pattern
around salt domes

8km
Fossen, 2010
 Salt in Compressional Province Salt in Extensional province

Gulf of Mexico

Salt is an excellent detachment surface