Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.18, No.4, pp. 365-396, 1995

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

QUANTITATIVE MODELLING OF SALT AND SEDIMENT INTERACTIONS: EVOLUTION OF A NORTH LOUISIANA SALT DIAPIR

K. Petersen* and I. Lerche*

*Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.

Abstract

The restoration of sections involving salt structures is camplicated because it is often difficult to understand fully the dynamics of the system. The occurrence of hydrocarbons is often associated with traps in the vicinity of or directly adjacent to, salt structures; different methods to delineate the combined evolution of salt and sediments have therefore been developed. Because dynamical parameters are rarely known more accurately than within an order of magnitude, intrinsic uncertainties are introduced in any model based on assumptions concerning the dynamical behaviour of salt and sediments.