192-1 Baby Steps into and out of the Diapir: What keeps you up at night?

Session: Twenty-Seven Years of Advances in Understanding Salt-Sediment Interaction: A Legacy of Katherine A. Giles (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 150

Presenting Author:

Benjamin Brunner

Authors:

Brunner, Benjamin¹, Fiduk, J. Carl², Fischer, Mark P.³, Gannaway Dalton, Cora Evelyn⁴, Giles, Katherine A.⁵, Giles, Sarah⁶, Langford, Richard P.⁷, Lankford-Bravo, David F.⁸, Rowan, Mark G.⁹

(1) University of Texas at El Paso; Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences, El Paso, TX, USA, (2) Fiduk Consulting, LLC, Houston, Texas, USA, (3) Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA, (4) Utah State University, Price, UT, USA, (5) University of Texas El Paso, DEERS/ITS, El Paso, TX, USA, (6) ExxonMobil, Houston, TX, USA, (7) Univ Texas - El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA, (8) bp, Houston, Texas, USA, (9) Rowan Consulting, Inc., Boulder, CO, USA,

Abstract:

The last three decades of research on salt-sediment interaction have greatly improved the understanding of unconformity-bound successions of upturned and thinned strata within less than 1 km from the diapir margin (halokinetic sequences), steep stratal panels that extend far up the sides of diapirs (megaflaps), geographically limited wedge-shaped stratal panels of diapiric roof (burial wedges), and larger, minibasin-scale sedimentation patterns and stratal geometries (minibasin tectonostratigraphic successions). While many fundamental questions remain in the understanding of near-diapir salt-sediment interplay (Mark Rowan – this session), researchers engaged in their study inevitably stumble over nagging questions that go beyond this topic – i.e., into and out of the diapir, away from interpretations of near-diapir geometries. Some of these questions may already have been addressed by researchers working in related fields, others may be of critical importance but remain untackled because they are outside of everyone’s core expertise. Our aim is to instigate a discussion on what those critical questions are and to facilitate information exchange and building of networks between interested parties. Examples of broad themes include:

1) How three-dimensional depositional patterns relate to and control the flow field of salt, which in turn influences the spatio-temporal variability of sedimentation rate and salt supply rate. For example, what drives along-strike flow of salt that may coincide with “inward-stepping” or “stopped” diapir rise in one area while continuing or accelerating in another?

2) How salt-related fluid systems (within the layered evaporite sequence, in the diapir, at the diapir margin, and in the minibasin) are controlled by salt-sediment interaction and if they themselves can become a controlling factor in diapir and fluid system development. For example, are there feedback mechanisms between salt dissolution and cementation that influence caprock formation, sediment compaction, and even salt rise?

3) How geomechanics within the salt (ductile flow, fluids, stress, and strain) impact lithologies other than halite, from the layered evaporite sequence to passive diapirs to allochthonous sheets/canopies. For example, how do these processes influence the deformation and distribution of lithologies other than halite in a salt diapir and its caprock, and how can we use insights from outcrops for the interpretation of intrasalt deformation, since outcrops commonly preserve caprock and thus include the history of superimposed salt dissolution.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9702

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