In this paper, a literature‐based compilation of the timing and history of salt tectonics in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) is presented. The tectono‐stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Permian Basin is influenced by salt movement and the structural development of various types of salt structures. The compilation presented here was used to characterize the following syndepositional growth stages of the salt structures: (a) “phase of initiation”; (b) phase of fastest growth (“main activity”); and (c) phase of burial’. We have also mapped the spatial pattern of potential mechanisms that triggered the initiation of salt structures over the area studied and summarized them for distinct regions (sub‐basins, platforms, etc.). The data base compiled and the set of maps produced from it provide a detailed overview of the spatial and temporal distribution of salt tectonic activity enabling the correlation of tectonic phases between specific regions of the entire Southern Permian Basin. Accordingly, salt movements were initiated in deeply subsided graben structures and fault zones during the Early and Middle Triassic. In these areas, salt structures reached their phase of main activity already during the Late Triassic or the Jurassic and were mostly buried during the Early Cretaceous. Salt structures in less subsided sub‐basins and platform regions of the Southern Permian Basin mostly started to grow during the Late Triassic. The subsequent phase of main activity of these salt structures took place from the Late Cretaceous to the Cenozoic. The analysis of the trigger mechanisms revealed that most salt structures were initiated by large‐offset normal faults in the sub‐salt basement in the large graben structures and minor normal faulting associated with thin‐skinned extension in the less subsided basin parts.

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Abstract. Salt flow in sedimentary basins is mainly driven by differential loading and can be described by the concept of hydraulic head. A hydraulic head in the salt layer can be imposed by vertically displacing the salt layer (elevation head) or the weight of overburden sediments (pressure head). Basement faulting in salt-bearing extensional basins is widely acknowledged as a potential trigger for hydraulic heads and the growth of salt structures. In this study, scaled analogue experiments were designed to examine the kinematics of salt flow during the early evolution of a salt structure triggered by basement extension. In order to distinguish flow patterns driven by elevation head or by pressure head, we applied a short pulse of basement extension, which was followed by a long-lasting phase of sedimentation. During the experiments viscous silicone putty simulated ductile rock salt, and a PVC-beads/quartz-sand mixture was used to simulate a brittle supra-salt layer. In order to derive 2-D incremental displacement and strain patterns, the analogue experiments were monitored using an optical image correlation system (particle imaging velocimetry). By varying layer thicknesses and extension rates, the influence of these parameters on the kinematics of salt flow were tested. Model results reveal that significant flow can be triggered in the viscous layer by small-offset basement faulting. During basement extension downward flow occurs in the viscous layer above the basement fault tip. In contrast, upward flow takes place during post-extensional sediment accumulation. Flow patterns in the viscous material are characterized by channelized Poiseuille-type flow, which is associated with subsidence in regions of "salt" expulsion and surface uplift in regions of inflation of the viscous material. Inflation of the viscous material eventually leads to the formation of pillow structures adjacent to the basement faults (primary pillows). The subsidence of peripheral sinks adjacent to the primary pillow causes the formation of additional pillow structures at large distance from the basement fault (secondary pillows). The experimentally obtained structures resemble those of some natural extensional basins, e.g. the North German Basin or the Mid-Polish Trough, and can aid understanding of the kinematics and structural evolution of sedimentary basins characterized by the presence of salt structures.

Abstract. Basement faulting is widely acknowledged as a potential trigger for salt flow and the growth of salt structures in salt-bearing extensional basins. In this study, dynamically scaled analogue experiments were designed to examine the evolution of salt pillows and the kinematics of salt flow due to a short pulse of basement faulting and a long-lasting phase of successive sedimentation. Experiments performed in the framework of this study consist of viscous silicone putty to simulate ductile rock salt, and a PVC-beads-quartz sand mixture representing a brittle supra-salt layer. In order to derive 2-D incremental displacement and strain patterns, the analogue experiments were monitored by an optical image correlation system (Particle Imaging Velocimetry). By varying layer thicknesses and extension rates, the influence of these parameters on the kinematics of salt flow were tested. Model results reveal that significant strain is triggered in the viscous layer by minor basement faulting. During basement extension downward flow occurs in the viscous layer above the basement fault tip. In contrast, upward flow takes place during post-extensional sedimentation. Lateral redistribution of the viscous material during post-extensional sedimentation is associated with subsidence above the footwall block and uplift adjacent to the basement faults leading to the formation of pillow structures (primary pillows). Decoupled cover faulting and the subsidence of peripheral sinks adjacent to the primary pillow causes the formation of additional pillow structures at large distance from the basement fault (secondary pillows). Experimental results demonstrate that the development of salt pillows can be triggered by basement extension, but requires a phase of tectonic quiescence. The potential for pillow growth and the displacement rate in the viscous layer increase with increasing thickness of the viscous layer and increasing extension rate, but decrease with increasing thickness of the overburden. The experimentally obtained structures resemble those of some natural extensional basins, e.g. the North German Basin or the Mid-Polish Trough, and can help to understand the kinematics during the structural evolution.

Sand injections form by intrusion of overpressured, fluidized sand into surrounding low-permeable, fine-grained rocks. Modern 3-D seismic data revealed their abundant occurrence in many sedimentary basins and that their intrusion is typically associated with forced folding and tensile fractures of the sealing cover layer. In order to investigate the kinematic evolution of forced folds in relation to the associated propagation of fractures originating from an overpressured source layer, we performed idealized, quasi-2-D analog experiments. The models consist of noncohesive and cohesive granulates to mimic a sand reservoir and its overburden layer and injected air to produce fluid overpressure in the layered materials. Our results show that forced folding first induces tensile bending fractures at the base of the fold limbs at a certain critical fluid pressure. Due to further increase of the fluid pressure, the apex of these bending fractures serves as origin for branching, conical fractures characterized by shear and tensile failure. Fracture breakthrough is accompanied by a rapid uplift of the breached fold limb and a pressure drop in the reservoir layer followed by a continuous subsidence of the central forced fold. The morphology of the fracture pattern and the forced fold provides helpful implications for understanding formation processes of natural sand injections observed in seismic data and in outcrops.

Abstract. Current models of gravitational tectonics on the structural styles of salt-influenced passive margins typically depict domains of upslope extension and corresponding downslope contraction separated by a mid-slope domain of translation that is rather undeformed. However, an undeformed translational domain is rarely observed in natural systems as extensional and contractional structures tend to interfere in the mid-slope area. In this study, we use sandbox analogue modelling analysed by digital image correlation (DIC) to investigate some of the factors that control the structural evolution of translational domains. As in nature, experimental deformation is driven by slowly increasing gravitational forces associated with continuous basal tilting. The results show that a translational domain persists throughout the basin evolution when the pre-kinematic layer is evenly distributed. However, a thin (1 mm in the experiment, 100 m in nature) pre-kinematic layer can render the translational domain relatively narrow compared to settings with a thicker (5 mm) pre-kinematic layer. In contrast, early differential sedimentary loading in the mid-slope area creates minibasins separated by salt diapirs overprinting the translational domain. Similarly, very low sedimentation rate (1 mm per day in the experiment, < 17 m Ma−1 in nature) in the early stage of the experiment results in a translational domain quickly overprinted by downslope migration of the extensional domain and upslope migration of the contractional domain. Our study suggests that the architecture of passive margin salt basins is closely linked to the pre- and syn-kinematic cover thickness. The translational domain, as an undeformed region in the supra-salt cover, is a transient feature and overprinted in passive margins with either low sedimentation rate or a heterogeneous sedimentation pattern.

Knowledge of the formation mechanisms and geometries of fracture systems in sedimentary rocks is crucial for understanding local and basin-scale fluid migration. Complex fracture networks can be caused by, for instance, forced folding of a competent sediment layer in response to magmatic sill intrusion, remobilisation of fluidized sand or fluid overpressure in underlying porous reservoir formations. The opening modes and geometries of the fractures mainly determine the bulk permeability and sealing capacity of the folded layer. In this study, we carried out laboratory analog experiments to better comprehend patterns and evolution of the fracture network during forced folding as well as differences of the fracture patterns between a 2D and 3D modelling approach and between a homogenous and a multi-layered cover. The experimental layering consisted of a lower reservoir layer and an upper cover, which was either a single high-cohesive layer or an alternation of low- and high-cohesive layers. The two configurations were tested in an apparatus allowing quasi-2D and 3D experiments. Streaming air from the base of the model and air injected through a needle valve was used to produce a regional and a local field of fluid overpressure in the layers. The experimental outcomes reveal that the evolution of the fracture network undergoes an initial phase characterized by the formation of a forced fold associated with dominantly compactive and tensile fractures. The second phase of the evolution is dominated by fracture breakthrough and overpressure release mainly along shear fractures. Structures observed in 2D cross sections can be related to their expressions on the surface of the 3D respective experiments. Furthermore, the experiments showed that the intrusion network is more complex and laterally extended in the case of a multi-layered cover. Our results can be instructive for detecting and predicting fracture patterns around shallow magmatic and sand intrusions as well as above underground fluid storage sites.