Salt basins present some of the most spectacular geological structures on Earth. They are remarkably important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, comprising the world’s largest and most prolific hydrocarbon provinces, as well as for nuclear waste and CO2 repositories. Due to salt’s unique ability to flow as a viscous fluid over typical geological strain-rates, it produces complex and variable deformational styles within sedimentary basins, which are critical for understanding basin evolution and prospectivity. The uniqueness and inherent complexity associated with salt tectonics make it one of the most interesting and challenging topics in basin studies, usually requiring an integrated multi-discipline approach. Recent advances in seismic imaging and modelling (numerical and physical), coupled with a growing database of outcrop analogues have, nonetheless, allowed the development of novel concepts in salt tectonics and more detailed analyses of its kinematics, dynamics, internal deformation and interaction with sedimentation. This session explores the new challenges and advances in salt basins worldwide, from salt deposition to deformation, to improve the current knowledge of salt tectonics and basin evolution. We invite abstracts from a variety of datasets, locations and geological settings, to cover academic and industrial topics including:
• Subsurface, outcrop and modelling studies of salt basins
• Salt tectonics in extensional, contractional and strike-slip settings
• Salt-bearing passive margins
• Evaporite deposition and the interaction between intra-salt lithological heterogeneities on salt deformation.
• Thin- and thick-skinned salt tectonics
• Advances in seismic imaging, processing and interpretation in salt basins globally
• The interaction between halokinesis and sediment routing, minibasin stratigraphy and implications for subsurface energy exploration potential.