Jinyu Zhang*
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, USA
Lorena Moscardelli#
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, USA
Tim P. Dooley
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, USA
Nur Schuba
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, USA
Abstract
Allogenic controls are frequently cited as key factors influencing basin evolution; however, fewer studies
perform paleo-topographic reconstructions to examine the impact of topography in the development of
stratigraphic sequences. Disentangling how allogenic versus autogenic controls affect the stratigraphic
succession within a basin affected by salt tectonics is particularly challenging because decoupling the
stratigraphic signature of lithospheric induced uplift and subsidence from salt tectonics is not a trivial
exercise. We tackle this problem by integrating physical modeling results with a landscape numerical model
and compare results with a case scenario from the subsurface. The physical model provides surface
displacement data that are then used as inputs into the landscape numerical model to simulate the surface
and stratigraphic evolution of a salt tectonic basin during a 25-m.y. timespan and within the context of a
continental-scale source-to-sink (S2S) system. Results show that the evolution of salt structures impact the
development and diversion of sedimentary routing systems within salt basins, thus influencing the character
of the stratigraphic record independently of allogenic factors such as lithospheric induced uplift. Modeling
results highlight the importance of reconstructing the paleo-topography of ancient depositional systems
affected by salt tectonics to truly understand the nature of the final stratigraphic record.
*Now at Microsoft
#Corresponding author: lorena.moscardelli@beg.utexas.edu
Manuscript received 3 Jan. 2023. Revised manuscript received 29 Mar. 2023.
Manuscript accepted 29 Mar. 2023. Posted 13 Apr. 2023.
© The Geological Society of America, 2023. CC-BY-NC.
https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG561A.1