Structural control of inherited salt structures during inversion of a domino basement-fault system from an analogue modelling approach

Abstract

Abstract. Inversion of an extensional domino-like basement faults system with a pre-extension decoupling layer is presented as a set of analogue models to understand the role of pre-existing structural features during inversion. The present study expands the experimental program by Ferrer et al. (2022a) in which, models were carried out with different salt and overburden thicknesses to investigate the role played by the salt and by the overburden during extension but also, how extensional structures and salt distribution condition the evolution during inversion. The results show that after total inversion of the models, the resultant structural style of deformation is highly influenced by the inherited extensional configuration and by the thickness of salt which they both condition the degree of coupling/decupling between the pre- and syn-kinematic successions. While models with thick salt can partially or totally preserve the extensional ramp-syncline basin geometry independently of the overburden thickness, models with thin salt result in a total inversion of the ramp-syncline basins with the development of crestal collapse grabens and extensional faults affecting the overburden. Compression triggered the development or reactivation of salt-related structures such as primary weld reactivations (i.e., reopening and/or obliteration), diapir rejuvenation, salt thickening, thrust emplacement, etc. The development of these elements is conditioned by the salt thickness distribution at the end of the extension and therefore, a precise understanding of inherited salt-related structures in needed so to understand the inversion of the basin as well as characterise the structural style.

Inversion of accommodation zones in salt-bearing extensional systems: insights from analog modeling

“…It is also remarkable that both models show significant differences in the geometries of basement thrusting and the associated distribution of structural relief and thrust sequence. These differences evidence the role imposed by syn-contractional sedimentation in controlling the largescale kinematics of thrust wedges (i.e., cover and basement; e.g., Storti and McClay, 1995;Fillon et al, 2013;McClay, 2015;Lacombe et al, 2019;Pla et al, 2019) since the presence of early salt structures and syn-rift minibasins is broadly equal on both models. In our models, the location and geometry of the syn-rift salt structures reflect the inherited extensional basement fault array, which due to the model setup runs broadly perpendicular to the direction of extension and shortening.…”

“…There is a substantial number of scaled physical analog modeling studies dealing with extension and inversion of rift basins (Koopman et al, 1987;Brun and Nalpas, 1996;McClay, 1991, 1992;McClay, 1989;Gartrell et al, 2005;Panien et al, 2005;Schreurs et al, 2006;Konstantinovskaya et al, 2007;Ferrer et al, 2016;Granado et al, 2017;Zwaan et al, 2022). Some programs modeled grabens and half-grabens over rigid basement blocks, which significantly force the basin inversion style (e.g., Dooley et al, 2005;Burliga et al, 2012;Ferrer et al, 2016Ferrer et al, , 2022bMoragas et al, 2017;Roma et al, 2018a). Other experimental programs provide key insights into the styles of salt diapirs that develop along the margins of syn-extensional depocenters, the role of extensional salt structures in absorbing deformation early in shortening and the reactivation of welds as thrusts (i.e., thrust welds) during shortening of individual half-grabens (i.e., Dooley et al, 2003Dooley et al, , 2005Moragas et al, 2017;Stewart, 2014;Roma et al, 2018a;Hansen et al, 2021;Ferrer et al, 2022b;Miró et al, 2023).…”

Analogue modelling of basin inversion: a review and future perspectives

“…This basin can subsequently be inverted by simply moving the hanging wall block upward again (Koopman et al, 1987;Mitra, 1993;Mitra and Islam, 1994;Burliga et al, 2012b;Moragas et al, 2017). Koopman et al (1987) also simulated half-graben development above a tilting basement block, and a more complex version of this set-up, used by Buchanan and McClay (1992), McClay (1995), Jagger andFerrer et al (2022a), involves a series of basement blocks that can be tilted simultaneously (domino faulting) to form a broad extensional basin rather than a single half-graben (Fig. 5c).…”

“…Such horizontal sections were also made by Deng et al (2019) and can be used to create isopach maps (Yamada and McClay, 2004). Further advanced model analysis through sectioning is presented by McClay (1996), Ferrer et al (2016), Granado et al (2017), Roma et al (2018a, b), Hudec (2020), andFerrer et al (2022a), who used fine-spaced cross-sections of constant thickness made with slicing machines to construct 3D voxel images and pseudo-seismic volumes (Fig. 7e).…”

Role of inheritance during tectonic inversion of a rift system in basement-involved to salt-decoupled transition: analogue modelling and application to the Pyrenean–Biscay system

“…Acocella et al, 1999;Wu et al, 2009), the inversion of normal faults with evaporites (e.g. Del Ventisette et al, 2006;Sani et al, 2007;Bonini et al, 2012;Ferrer et al, 2016Ferrer et al, , 2022Roma et al, 2018a, b;Dooley and Hudec, 2020;Wilson et al, 2023) and without evaporites (e.g. McClay, 1989;McClay and Buchanan, 1992;Pinto et al, 2010;Ferrer et al, 2016;Granado et al, 2017), the distribution and impact of salt in thin-skinned extensional settings (e.g.…”