Articles | Volume 14, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-709-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
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the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
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https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-709-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
12 Jul 2023
Research article |
| 12 Jul 2023
| 12 Jul 2023
Inversion of accommodation zones in salt-bearing extensional systems: insights from analog modeling
Elizabeth Parker Wilson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institut de Recera Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
Pablo Granado
Institut de Recera Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
Pablo Santolaria
Institut de Recera Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
Oriol Ferrer
Institut de Recera Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Anton Muñoz
Institut de Recera Geomodels, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
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This study explores how rock salt reacts to hydrogen, aiming to support safe underground storage of renewable energy. Lab tests on samples from a potential salt cavern-type site in Spain showed that hydrogen caused no major changes to the rock. Minor effects were limited and did not impact overall stability. These findings help confirm that storing hydrogen in salt formations is a safe and reliable option for future energy systems.
Pablo Santolaria, Roi Silva-Casal, Núria Carrera, Josep A. Muñoz, Pau Arbués, and Pablo Granado
Solid Earth, 16, 899–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-899-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-899-2025, 2025
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Among sedimentary rocks, evaporites (as salt) have a particular behavior when deformed under geological forces: they flow while the others break. Such behavior controls the evolution of mountain building events. By mapping the distribution of rocks and interpreting the subsurface architecture of geological structures we were able to reconstruct the mountain building processes of an area in the Southern Pyrenees and how those evaporites flowed and accumulated.
Oriol Ferrer, Eloi Carola, and Ken McClay
Solid Earth, 14, 571–589, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-571-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-571-2023, 2023
Short summary
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Using an experimental approach based on scaled sandbox models, this work aims to understand how salt above different rotational fault blocks influences the cover geometry and evolution, first during extension and then during inversion. The results show that inherited salt structures constrain contractional deformation. We show for the first time how welds and fault welds are reopened during contractional deformation, having direct implications for the subsurface exploration of natural resources.
Jordi Miró, Oriol Ferrer, Josep Anton Muñoz, and Gianreto Manastchal
Solid Earth, 14, 425–445, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-425-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-425-2023, 2023
Short summary
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Using the Asturian–Basque–Cantabrian system and analogue (sandbox) models, this work focuses on the linkage between basement-controlled and salt-decoupled domains and how deformation is accommodated between the two during extension and subsequent inversion. Analogue models show significant structural variability in the transitional domain, with oblique structures that can be strongly modified by syn-contractional sedimentation. Experimental results are consistent with the case study.
Frank Zwaan, Guido Schreurs, Susanne J. H. Buiter, Oriol Ferrer, Riccardo Reitano, Michael Rudolf, and Ernst Willingshofer
Solid Earth, 13, 1859–1905, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1859-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1859-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
When a sedimentary basin is subjected to compressional tectonic forces after its formation, it may be inverted. A thorough understanding of such
basin inversionis of great importance for scientific, societal, and economic reasons, and analogue tectonic models form a key part of our efforts to study these processes. We review the advances in the field of basin inversion modelling, showing how the modelling results can be applied, and we identify promising venues for future research.
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Short summary
This work focuses on the control of accommodation zones on extensional and subsequent inversion in salt-detached domains using sandbox analogue models. During extension, the transfer zone acts as a pathway for the movement of salt, changing the expected geometries. When inverted, the salt layer and syn-inversion sedimentation control the deformation style in the salt-detached cover system. Three natural cases are compared to the model results and show similar inversion geometries.
This work focuses on the control of accommodation zones on extensional and subsequent inversion...
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