Analogue models of salt diapirs and seismic interpretation in the Nordkapp Basin, Norway

Dynamically scaled analogue models with an overburden of cohesive sand and a viscous "salt' layer were deformed in a centrifuge to mimic real salt structures in the Nordkapp Basin. Like their natural prototypes, model diapirs were aligned in rows parallel to the basin margins. In profile, model diapirs were asymmetric, suggesting that the real diapirs will possess asymmetric geometries. Model diapirs pierced without developing a pillow stage because they rose along basin margin faults which propagated up through the overburden from the basement during thick-skinned extension. Once their overburden was weakened by faulting, differential loading forced model diapirs to rise as long as buoyant material was supplied. -from Authors