Thin- and thick-skinned salt tectonics in the Netherlands

Thin- and thick-skinned salt tectonics in the Netherlands: a quantitative approach

ten Veen, J.H.
van Gessel, S.F.
den Dulk, M.

2012

The Zechstein salt in the Dutch part of the North Sea Basin played a key role in the generation of successful petroleum plays. This is not only because of its sealing capacity, but also because the salt occurs in structures that provide lateral and vertical traps. The structural styles of areas with thick salt and those with none- or thin salt are completely different during phases of extensional or compressional tectonics. This indicates that, indirectly, the depositional thickness of the main Zechstein salt is essential in regulating the loci of the Dutch petroleum systems. In this paper we aim at quantifying current ideas on the relationship between 1) depositional salt thicknesses; 2) structural style of the main structural elements identified in the Dutch subsurface; 3) timing of deformation; and 4) thickness of the overburden. By finalisation of TNO’s subsurface mapping program (see Kombrink et al., this issue), several data products are available that allow evaluation of these relationships. The depositional thickness of the salt was estimated using iterative smoothing of the present day thickness, the results of which account both for regional thickness variations and volume preservation (99%). Fault-distribution analysis shows that faults are only able to penetrate salt with a depositional thickness of

Zechstein
North Sea Basin
Halokinesis
Structural evolution
Burial history analysis
Geological Survey Netherlands
Energy / Geological Survey Netherlands
Earth & Environment
PG - Petroleum Geosciences AGEA - Advisory Group for Economic Affairs GM - Geomodelling
EELS - Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9612d195-8867-4a56-acc6-9abe682bd270

469178

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences — Geologie en Mijnbouw, 91 (91), 447-464

Commemorative volume on the centenary of KNGMG

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