Development of salt minibasins initiated by sedimentary topographic relief

Goteti, Rajesh; Ings, Steven J.; Beaumont, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.045

Cited by 40 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…; Ings & Beaumont ; Goteti et al . ; Peel ) and cannot be thoroughly addressed in this study of canopy evolution. Nevertheless, a starting model with pre‐existing diapirs is needed in order to investigate mechanisms of canopy evolution.…”

Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Goteti et al . () showed that carbonate‐type sediments, because of their higher densities, very efficiently develop diapirs through the described mechanism and even small undulations may be sufficient (Gradmann ).…”

Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wavelength corresponds to commonly observed spacing of minibasins and diapirs and is close to the optimal wavelength (fastest minibasin evolution) discussed by Ings () and Goteti et al . (). This system does not have a strongly peaked resonance, so that a relatively wide range of length scales are nearly equally favoured.…”

Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here we invoke a recently proposed mechanism of diapir development based on uneven sedimentation (Goteti et al . ; Gradmann ), which can take place in a neutral regional stress system and thereby does not interfere with the subsequent canopy phase. The general model results of canopy evolution depend on the precursory structures but much less on the mechanism by which these developed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Numerical modelling study of mechanisms of mid‐basin salt canopy evolution and their potential applications to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Gradmann

Beaumont

2016

Basin Research

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Salt canopies are present in many of the worldwide large salt basins and are key players in the basins' structural evolution as well as in the development of associated hydrocarbon systems. This study employs 2D finite-element models which incorporate the dynamical interaction of viscous salt and frictional-plastic sediments in a gravity-spreading system. We investigate the general emplacement of salt canopies that form in the centre of a large, autochthonous salt basin. This is motivated by the potential application to a mid-basin canopy in the NW Gulf of Mexico (GoM) that developed in the late Eocene. Three different salt expulsion and canopy formation concepts that have been proposed in the salt-tectonic literature for the GoM are tested. Two of these mechanisms require pre-existing diapirs as precursory structures. We include their evolution in the models to assure a continuous, smooth evolution of the salt-sediment system. The most efficient canopy formation takes place under the squeezed diapir mechanism. Here, shortening of a region containing pre-existing diapirs is absorbed by the salt (the weakest part of the system), which is then expelled onto the seafloor. The expulsion rollover mechanism, which evacuates salt from beneath evolving rollover structures and expels it both laterally and to the surface, was not successfully captured by the numerical models. No rollover structures developed and only minor amounts of allochthonous salt emerged to the seafloor. The breached anticline mechanism requires substantial shortening of salt-cored, pre-weakened folds such that the salt breaches the anticlines and is expelled to the seafloor. The amount of shortening may be too large to occur in the central part of a salt basin, but may explain canopy evolution closer to the distal end of the allochthonous salt. When applying the different concepts to the northwestern GoM, none of the models adequately describes the entire system, yet the squeezed diapir mechanism captures most structural features of the Eocene paleocanopy. It is nevertheless possible that different mechanisms have acted in combination or sequentially in the northwestern GoM.

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Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diapir Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Numerical modelling study of mechanisms of mid‐basin salt canopy evolution and their potential applications to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Gradmann

Beaumont

2016

Basin Research

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“…Our knowledge of this domain is making some progress, because the internal layering of salt bodies can now be studied at high resolution using modern industrial 3-D seismic reflection data (Van Gent et al, 2011;Cartwright et al, 2012;Fiduk and Rowan, 2012;Jackson et al, 2014Jackson et al, , 2015. In addition, improvements in geomechanical modeling techniques has allowed major advances to be made (Chemia et al, 2008;Albertz et al, 2010;Albertz and Ings, 2012;Goteti et al, 2012;Li et al, 2012a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of rheologically heterogeneous salt structures: a case study from the NE Netherlands

Raith

Strozyk

Visser³

et al. 2016

Solid Earth

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Abstract. The growth of salt structures is controlled by the low flow strength of evaporites and by the tectonic boundary conditions. The potassium-magnesium salts (K-Mg salts) carnallite and bischofite are prime examples of layers with much lower effective viscosity than halite: their low viscosity presents serious drilling hazards but also allows squeeze solution mining. In contrast, intrasalt anhydrite and carbonate layers (stringers) are much stronger than halite. These rheological contrasts within an evaporite body have an important control on the evolution of the internal structure of salt, but how this mechanical layering affects salt deformation at different scales is not well known. In this study, we use high-resolution 3-D seismic and well data to study the evolution of the Veendam and Slochteren salt pillows at the southern boundary of the Groningen High, northern Netherlands. Here the rock salt layers contain both the mechanically stronger Zechstein III Anhydrite-Carbonate stringer and the weaker K-Mg salts, thus we are able to assess the role of extreme rheological heterogeneities on salt structure growth. The internal structure of the two salt pillows shows areas in which the K-Mg salt-rich ZIII 1b layer is much thicker than elsewhere, in combination with a complexly ruptured and folded ZIII Anhydrite-Carbonate stringer. Thickness maps of supra-salt sediments and well data are used to infer the initial depositional architecture of the K-Mg salts and their deformation history. Results suggest that faulting and the generation of depressions on the top Zechstein surface above a Rotliegend graben caused the local accumulation of bittern brines and precipitation of thick K-Mg salts. During the first phase of salt flow and withdrawal from the Veendam area, under the influence of differential loading by Buntsandstein sediments, the ZIII stringer was boudinaged while the lens of Mg salts remained relatively undeformed. This was followed by a convergence stage, when the K-Mg salt-rich layers were deformed within the inflating salt pillows. This deformation was strongly disharmonic and strongly influenced by folding of the underlying, ruptured ZIII stringer, leading to thickening and internal deformation of the K-Mg salt layers.

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Topographic controlled forcing of salt flow: Three‐dimensional models of an active salt system, Canyonlands, Utah

et al. 2017

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The grabens within Canyonlands, Utah, is an active salt system primarily driven by differential unloading due to incision of the Colorado River. However, many other conditions exist in the region that potentially influence regional deformation, including the gentle dip of the evaporite deposits, unconfined salt within the river canyon, weaknesses in the overburden, and topographic gradients on various scales. Three‐dimensional numerical models were built to test the scale at which salt responds to these parameters individually and as a whole. Topography has a large influence on salt flow on both a regional and local scales and predicts the formation of existing structures in the region on consistent spatial scales without the influence of overburden weakening or salt geometry. Topography also has a large influence on the direction of salt flow, which acts to divert salt away from the canyon at the edge of the grabens and enhance salt flow within the grabens. Unconfined salt within the canyon regionally alters displacement rates and patterns, indicating a clear shift in strain before and after incision of the river into the Paradox Formation. On a local scale, there is a strong coupling between overburden weakening and salt flow patterns, where salt responds to individual structures and less to regional drivers. All these driving forces create an ensemble of feedback that alters the strain field and structural development through time.

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Development of salt minibasins initiated by sedimentary topographic relief

Cited by 40 publications

References 25 publications

Numerical modelling study of mechanisms of mid‐basin salt canopy evolution and their potential applications to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Numerical modelling study of mechanisms of mid‐basin salt canopy evolution and their potential applications to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Evolution of rheologically heterogeneous salt structures: a case study from the NE Netherlands

Topographic controlled forcing of salt flow: Three‐dimensional models of an active salt system, Canyonlands, Utah

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