1887
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Basin Research
  4. Volume 22, Issue 5
  5. Article
Volume 22, Issue 5
  • E-ISSN: 1365-2117

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In the Nile deep‐sea fan, thin‐skinned deformation detaching on a layer of Messinian salt has generated an upslope to downslope progression from growth faults, to polygonal minibasins bounded by salt ridges, to buckle folds. Such progression is common in salt‐bearing passive margins, where gravity spreading of the salt–sediment system causes proximal thin‐skinned extension on the shelf and upper slope, and distal contraction along and in front of the lower slope. In the Eastern Nile deep‐sea fan, this structural progression seems to be restricted to a corridor bounded by NW–SE‐trending lineaments more than 200 km in length. These are associated with salt ridges and record strike–slip movements. In the absence of a large grid of deep‐penetrating seismic data accurately imaging the basement, different likely hypotheses have been advanced about the origin of this corridor: (1) it may result from possible deep‐seated tectonics related to the Rift of Suez, combined with salt‐related deformation or, (2) by complex interaction between the overburden's gravity spreading and pre‐existing pre‐Messinian paleo‐topographic features, particularly the possible buttressing effect of a seamount located North of the eastern Nile deep‐sea fan. In order to understand how this corridor could have been generated, we used a series of physical experiments to test the effect on three‐dimensional spreading of a sediment lobe of the following parameters: (1) active, crustal, oblique extension, (2) a dormant subsalt graben, (3) a passive buttress, such as a seamount and (4) complex paleo‐topographic features along the Egyptian margin affecting initial salt distribution. These experiments show that the presence of a distal buttress, combined with a complex Messinian topography best explain the complex deformational pattern observed in the eastern Nile deep‐sea fan.

© 2009 The Authors. Journal Compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd, European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers and International Association of Sedimentologists
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
2010-09-03
2024-04-18

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aal, A., El Barkooky, A., Gerrits, M., Meyer, H., Schwander, M. & Zaki, H. (2000) Tectonic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean basin and its significance for hydrocarbon prospectivity in the ultradeepwater of the Nile delta: The leading Edge: 1086–1102.
  2. Badawy, A. (2001) Status of the crustal stress in Egypt as inferred from earthquake focal mechanisms and borehole breakouts. Tectonophysics, 343, 49–61.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bellaiche, G., Loncke, L., Gaullier, V., Mascle, J., Courp, T., Moreau, A., Radan, S. & Sardou, O. (2001) Le cône sous‐marin du Nil et son réseau de chenaux profonds: nouveaux résultats (campagne Fanil); The Nile Cone and its channel system: new results after the Fanil cruise. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, 333, 399–404.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Cartwright, J.A. & Jackson, M.P.A. (2008) Initiation of gravitational collapse of an evaporate basin margin: the Messinian saline giant, Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean. GSA Bull., 120 (3/4), 399–413.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Cohen, H.A. & McClay, K.R. (1996) Niger delta shale tectonics. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 13, 313–328.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Courtillot, V., Armijo, R. & Tapponnier, P. (1987) Kinematics of the Sinai triple junction and a two phase model of Arabia–Africa rifting. In: Continental Extensional Tectonics (Ed. by M.P.Coward , J.F.Dewey & P.L.Hancock ), G. S. L. S. Publ. , 28, 559–573.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Diegel, F.A., Karlo, J.F., Schuster, D.C., Shoup, R.C. & Tauvers, P.R. (1995) Cenozoic structural evolution and tectono‐stratigraphic framework of the northern gulf coast continental margin. In: Salt Tectonics: A Global Perspective (Ed. by M.P.A.Jackson , D.G.Roberts & S.Snelson ), AAPG Mem., 65, 109–151.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Duval, B., Cramez, C. & Jackson, M.P.A. (1992) Raft tectonics in the Kwanza Basin, Angola. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 9, 389–404.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Gaullier, V., Mart, Y., Bellaiche, G., Mascle, J., Vendeville, B. & Zitter, T.the second leg “PRISMED II” scientific party (2000) Salt Tectonics in and around the Nile Deep‐Sea Fan: insights from the “ PRISMED II ” cruise. “From the arctic to the Mediterranean: salt, shale and igneous diapirs in and around Europe”. Geol Soc. Spéc. Publ., 174, 111–129.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Gaullier, V. & Vendeville, B.C. (2005) Salt tectonics driven by sediment progradation: part II – Radial spreading of sedimentary lobes prograding above salt. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geologists Bull., 89, 1081–1089.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Hsü, K., Cita, M.B. & Ryan, W.B.F. (1973) The Origin of the Mediterranean Evaporites, Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (pp. 1203–1231. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Koyi, H. (1996) Salt flow by aggrading and prograding overburdens. In: Salt Tectonics (Ed. by G.I.Alsop , D.J.Blundell & I.Davison ), Spec.Publ. Geol. Soc. Lond. , 100, 243–258.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Krantz, R.W. (1991) Measurements of friction coefficients and cohesion for faulting and fault reactivation in laboratory models using sand and sand mixtures. Tectonophysics, 188, 203–207.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Le Pichon, X. & Francheteau, J.F. (1978) A plate tectonic analysis of the Red Sea‐Gulf of Aden area. Tectonophysics, 46, 369–406.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Loncke, L. (2002) Le delta profond du Nil: structure et évolution depuis le messinien (Miocène terminal). Thèse de doctorat, Université Paris 6, p. 184.
  16. Loncke, L., Gaullier, V., Mascle, J., Vendeville, B.C. & Camera, L.2006Nile deep‐sea fan: an example of interacting sedimentation, salt tectonics, and inherited subsalt paleotopographic features. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 23, 297–315.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Loncke, L. & Mascle, J.the Fanil Scientific Party (2004) Mud volcanoes, gas chimneys, pockmarks and mounds in the Nile deep‐sea fan (eastern Mediterranean): geophysical evidences. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 21, 669–689.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Mart, Y. & Robertson, A.H.F. (1998) Eratosthenes seamount: an oceanographic yardstick recording the late Mesozoic‐tertiary geological history of the eastern Mediterranean sea. In ODP, Scientific Results, vol. 160 (Ed. by A.H.F.Roberston , C.Richter & A.Camerlenghi ), pp. 701–708. Ocean Drilling Program, College station, TX.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Mascle, J., Benkhelil, J., Bellaiche, G., Zitter, T., Woodside, J. & Loncke, L. (2000) Marine geologic evidence for a Levantine‐Sinai plate, a missing piece of the Mediterranean puzzle. Geology, 228, 779–782.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Mascle, J., Zitter, T., Bellaiche, G., Droz, L., Gaullier, V. & Loncke, L.the Prismed II scientific party (2001) The Nile deep‐sea fan: preliminary results from a swath bathymetry survey. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 18, 471–477.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Mohriak, W. & Talwani, M. (2000) Atlantic Rifts and Continental Margins. Geophysical Monograph 115. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 354pp.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Robertson, A., Kidd, R.B., Ivanov, M.K., Limonov, A.F., Woodside, J.M., Galindo‐Zaldivar, J. & Nieto, L.O.T scientific party (1995) Eratosthenes seamount collisional processes in the easternmost Mediterranean in relation to the Plio‐Quaternary uplift of southern Cyprus. Terra Res., 7, 254–564.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Robertson, A.H.F. (1998) Tectonic significance of Eratosthenes seamount: a continental fragment in the process of collision with a subduction zone in the eastern Mediterranean (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 160). Tectonophysics, 298, 63–82.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Rouchy, J.M. & Caruso, A. (2006) The Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean basin: a reassessment of the data and an integrated scenario. Sediment. Geol., 188–189, 35–67.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Sage, L. & Letouzey, J. (1990) Convergence of the African and Eurasian plate in the eastern Mediterranean. In: Petroleum and Tectonics in Mobile Belts (Ed. by J.Letouzey ), pp. 49–68. TECHNIP, Paris.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Salamon, A., Hofsetter, A., Garfunkel, Z. & Ron, H. (1996) Seismicity of the eastern Mediterranean region: perspective from the Sinai subplate. Tectonophysics, 263, 293–305.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Schellart, W.P. (2000) Shear test results for cohesion and friction coefficients for different granular materials: scaling implications for their usage in analogue modeling. Tectonophysics, 324, 1–16.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Spiers, C.J., Urai, J.L., Lister, G.S., Boland, J.N. & Zwart, H.J. (1986) The influence of fluid‐rock interaction on the rheology of salt rock. Final report, Nucl. Sci. Technol. 131pp.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Trudgill, B.D., Rowan, M.G., Fiduk, J.C., Weimer, P., Gale, P.E., Korn, B.E., Phair, R.L., Gafford, W.T., Roberts, G.R. & Dobbs, S.W. (1999) The Perdido fold belt, northwestern Gulf of Mexico, part 1: structural geometry, evolution and regional implications. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geologists Bull., 83, 88–113.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Van Keken, P.E., Spiers, C.J., Van Den Berg, A.P. & Muyzert, E.J. (1993) The effective viscosity of rocksalt: implementation on steady state creep laws in numerical models of salt diapirism. Tectonophysics, 225, 457–475.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Vendeville, B.C. (2005) Salt tectonics driven by sediment progradation: part I – Mechanics and kinematics. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., 89, 1071–1079.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Vendeville, B.C. & Jackson, M.P.A. (1992a) The rise of diapirs during thin‐skinned extension. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 9, 331–354.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Vendeville, B.C. & Jackson, M.P.A. (1992b) The fall of diapirs during thin‐skinned extension. Mar. Petrol. Geol., 9, 354–371.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Weijermars, R. (1986) Flow behavior and physical chemistry of Boucing Putties and related polymers in view of tectonic laboratory applications. Tectonophysics, 124, 325–328.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Weijermars, R., Jackson, M.P.A. & Vendeville, B.C. (1993) Rheological and tectonic modelling of salt provinces. Tectonophysics, 217, 143–174.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Worall, D.M. & Snelson, S. (1989) Evolution of the northern gulf of Mexico, with emphasis on Cenozoic growth faulting and the role of salt. In: The Geology of North America – An Overview (Ed. by A.R.Palmer ), Geol. Soc. Am. , 97–138.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Wu, S. (1993). Salt and Slope Tectonics offshore Louisiana. PhD Dissertation, Rice University, Houston, 251pp.
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
Loading
Respective contributions of tectonic and gravity‐driven processes on the structural pattern in the Eastern Nile deep‐sea fan: insights from physical experiments
Basin Research 22, 765 (2010); https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
/content/journals/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
/content/journals/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00436.x
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error