Subsurface salt flow can deform overlying strata and influence contemporaneous sedimentary systems. Studying salt-sediment interactions is challenging in the subsurface due to poor imaging adjacent to salt, and in the field due to the dissolution of halite. Discrete Element Modelling provides an efficient and inexpensive tool to model stratigraphy and deformation around salt structures, which is advantageous over other modelling techniques as it realistically recreates brittle processes such as faulting. Six 2D experiments were run representing 4.6 Myr to determine the effect of salt growth on syn-kinematic stratigraphy. Halokinetic deformation of stratigraphic architecture was assessed by varying sediment input rates through time. Results show the realistic formation and evolution of salt-related faults which define a zone of halokinetic influence ca. 3 times the width of the initial diapir. Outside of this, early diapiric and syn-kinematic stratigraphy are undeformed. Within this zone, syn-kinematic strata are initially isolated into primary salt withdrawal basins, onlapping and thinning towards the salt-cored high. In most models, syn-kinematic strata eventually thin across and cover the diapir roof. Thinning rates are up to six times greater within 350 m of the diapir, compared to further afield, and typically decrease upwards (with time) and laterally (with distance) from the diapir. Outputs are compared to a subsurface example from the Pierce field, UK North Sea, which highlights the importance of considering local fluctuations in diapir rise rate. These can create stratigraphic architectures that may erroneously be interpreted to represent increases/decreases in sedimentation rate. Exposed examples, such as the Bakio diapir, northern Spain, can be used to make inferences of the expected depositional facies, below model resolution. Our models aid the prediction of sedimentary unit thickness and thinning rates and can be used to test interpretations arising from incomplete or low-resolution subsurface and outcrop data when building geological models for subsurface energy.

中文翻译：

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沉积厚度和结构的盐动力学调制：一种数值模拟方法

地下盐流可使上覆地层变形并影响同期沉积系统。由于盐附近的成像较差，在地表下研究盐-沉积物相互作用具有挑战性，而在野外由于岩盐的溶解，研究盐-沉积物相互作用具有挑战性。离散元建模提供了一种高效且廉价的工具来模拟盐结构周围的地层和变形，这比其他建模技术更有优势，因为它真实地再现了断层等脆性过程。进行了代表 4.6 Myr 的六个二维实验，以确定盐分生长对同向运动地层的影响。通过随时间变化的沉积物输入速率来评估地层结构的盐动力变形。结果显示了与盐有关的断层的真实形成和演化，这些断层定义了约 初始底辟宽度的 3 倍。除此之外，早期底辟地层和同运动地层没有变形。在该区域内，同运动地层最初被隔离到主要的盐提取盆地中，向盐芯高处上覆和变薄。在大多数模型中，同运动地层最终变薄并覆盖底辟顶。与更远的地方相比，底辟 350 m 内的变薄率高达六倍，并且通常从底辟向上（随时间）和横向（随距离）减小。输出与来自英国北海皮尔斯油田的地下例子进行了比较，这突出了考虑底辟上升率局部波动的重要性。这些可能会产生可能被错误解释为代表沉积速率增加/减少的地层结构。暴露的例子，例如西班牙北部的 Bakio 底辟，可用于推断低于模型分辨率的预期沉积相。我们的模型有助于预测沉积单元厚度和减薄率，并可用于在建立地下能量地质模型时测试由不完整或低分辨率地下和露头数据引起的解释。