Salt-Detached Thrusting near the Eratosthenes “Seamount”, Eastern Mediterranean – Seismic Interpretation and Physical Modeling

Presenter

Michael R. Hudec, Ph.D.
Research Professor
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences
The University of Texas at Austin

Description

We have identified four salt-detached fold-and-thrust belts near the southwest corner of the Eratosthenes carbonate bank. These belts are distinguished on the basis of the orientation and location. We interpret each fold belt to have a different genesis: a sheet-margin thrust belt, a step in the base of salt, the toe of slope, and a transpressional shear zone on the margin of the Eratosthenes bank. We tested our interpretations for fold belt origin using a physical model simulation of the region. This model reproduced all four types of fold belt in the appropriate locations.