--> Abstract: Evolution of the Oman Salt Basins During Late Proterozoic-Cambrian Transpressional Tectonics, by Martine M.E. Van den Berg, Anton Koopman, Karen Romine, and Jon Teasdale; #90077 (2008)

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Evolution of the Oman Salt Basins During Late Proterozoic-Cambrian Transpressional Tectonics

Martine M.E. Van den Berg1*, Anton Koopman2, Karen Romine3, and Jon Teasdale2
1PDO
2Shell, Netherlands
3FrOG Tech, Australia
*[email protected]

Prior work on the nature and evolution of Oman’s infra-Cambrian salt basins has suggested that the western margin of the South Oman Salt Basin was a focus for deformation, characterised by chaotic stratal patterns and significant reversal/inversion of structures. This style of deformation, however, was not observed within the salt basins themselves. Attempts to reconcile the variability in both seismic data quality and apparent structural style resulted in numerous models for the evolution of the salt basins and the nearby Western Deformation Front. Early compressional models eventually gave way to a rift model to explain the genesis of the salt basins, leaving a number of observations not integrated and issues unresolved. The objective of this study was to re-evaluate the prevailing structural model (rift) in the context of recent observations. With the help of a regional framework provided by the interpretation and integration of gravity, magnetic, seismic and well data, a consistent regional structural interpretation has been made within the context of global plate tectonic models. This work strongly indicates that the salt basins formed (and later deformed) during transtensional and transpressional local tectonics within a supra-regional compressional plate setting (i.e. Pan African amalgamation of Gondwana).

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90077©2008 GEO 2008 Middle East Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain