Salt-magma interactions influence intrusion distribution and salt tectonics in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil

Many sedimentary basins host thick evaporite (salt) deposits. Some of these basins also host extensive igneous intrusion networks. It thus seems inevitable that, in some locations, magma will interact with salt. Yet how interaction between these materials may influence salt tectonics or magma emplacement, particularly at the basin‐scale, remains poorly understood. We use 3D seismic reflection data from the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil to image 38 igneous intrusions spatially related to thick Aptian salt. Based on identified seismic–stratigraphic relationships, we suggest sill emplacement likely occurred during the late Albian‐to‐Santonian. We show intra‐salt sills are geometrically similar to but laterally offset from supra‐salt sills. We suggest ascending magma was arrested by the salt in some areas, but not others, perhaps due to differences in evaporite lithology. Our mapping also reveals most sills occur within and above the presalt Merluza Graben, an area characterized by Albian‐to‐Neogene, salt‐detached extension. In adjacent areas, where there are few intrusions, salt deformation was driven by post‐Santonian diapir rise. We suggest emplacement of hot magma within evaporites above the Merluza Graben enhanced Albian‐to‐Santonian salt movement, but that crystallization of the intrusion network restricted post‐Santonian diapirism. Our work indicates salt–magma interaction can influence salt tectonics, as well as the distribution of magma plumbing systems, and thus could impact basin evolution

Deformational history and thermochronology of Wrangel Island, East Siberian Shelf and coastal Chukotka, Arctic Russia

Sample localities, details of the analytical methods, data tables and the full discussion of the results of electron back-scatter diffraction studies of quartz lattice preferred orientations

Multi-scenario interpretations from sparse fault evidence using graph theory and geological rules

Preprint submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid EarthInternational audienceThe characterization of geological faults from geological and geophysical data is often subject to uncertainties, owing to data ambiguity and incomplete spatial coverage. We propose a stochastic sampling algorithm which generates fault network scenarios compatible with sparse fault evidence while honoring some geological concepts. This process proves useful for reducing interpretation bias, formalizing interpretation concepts, and assessing first-order structural uncertainties. Each scenario is represented by an undirected association graph, where a fault corresponds to an isolated clique, which associates pieces of fault evidence represented as graph nodes. The simulation algorithm samples this association graph from a possibility graph, whose edges represent the independent association of any two pieces of fault evidence. Each edge carries a likelihood that the endpoints belong to the same fault surface is computed, expressing general and regional geological interpretation concepts. The algorithm is illustrated on several incomplete data sets made of three to six two-dimensional seismic lines extracted from a three-dimensional seismic image located in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. In all cases, the simulation method generates a large number of plausible fault networks, even when using restrictive interpretation rules. The case study experimentally confirms that retrieving the reference association is tedious due to the problem combinatorics. Restrictive and consistent rules increase the likelihood to recover the reference interpretation and reduce the diversity of the obtained realizations. We discuss how the proposed method fits in the quest to rigorously (1)~address epistemic uncertainty during structural uncertainty studies and (2)~ quantify subsurface uncertainty while preserving structural consistency

Formation of Continental Microplates Through Rift Linkage: Numerical Modeling and Its Application to the Flemish Cap and Sao Paulo Plateau

Abstract Continental microplates are enigmatic plate boundary features, which can occur in extensional and compressional regimes. Here we focus on microplate formation and their temporal evolution in continental rift settings. To this aim, we employ the geodynamic finite element software ASPECT to conduct 3D lithospheric‐scale numerical models from rift inception to continental breakup. We find that depending on the strike‐perpendicular offset and crustal strength, rift segments connect or interact through one of four regimes: (1) an oblique rift, (2) a transform fault, (3) a rotating continental microplate or (4) a rift jump. We highlight that rotating microplates form at offsets >200 km in weak to moderately strong crustal setups. We describe the dynamics of microplate evolution from initial rift propagation, to segment overlap, vertical‐axis rotation, and eventually continental breakup. These models may explain microplate size and kinematics of the Flemish Cap, the Sao Paulo Plateau, and other continental microplates that formed during continental rifting worldwide