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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 107, No. 1 (January 2023), P. 23-47.

Copyright ©2023. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

DOI: 10.1306/08072221188

Analogue modeling of domino-style extensional basement fault systems with prekinematic salt

O. Ferrer,1 E. Carola,2 K. McClay,3 and N. Bufaliza4

1Institut de Recerca Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de ĺOceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; [email protected]
2Institut de Recerca Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de ĺOceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; [email protected]
3Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Earth Sciences Department, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom; [email protected]
4Center for Rock and Fluid Multiphysics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A systematic analogue modeling program of domino-like basement extensional faults with a prekinematic decoupling layer is presented. Extension, acting at the basement level, is decoupled from the overburden by salt causing the development of monocline folds above basement faults, salt-detached syncline basins, and grabens or diapirs at the upper monocline hinges. We investigate how different factors such as the thickness of prekinematic salt and sediments, the presence of a single or multiple layers of salt, and the sedimentation rate during extension control the evolution of salt-influenced sedimentary basins. The results show how by interpreting both the sedimentary geometries and the location and migration of the depocenters, it is possible to understand the location of the main basement faults within the area as well as to constrain the processes and evolution of the basin (e.g., welding, active faulting, timing). Finally, comparison of analogue models with natural examples provides insights on how structures reported by several authors relate to the kinematic evolution of extensional faults with a decoupling layer and how interpretation of the structures and geometries within the basin helps to constrain the different stages of basin development.

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