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2015 GSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (1-4 November 2015)

Paper No. 46-22
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-5:30 PM

VARIABLE STRESS ORIENTATIONS IN THE OFFSHORE NILE DELTA: THE ROLE OF SALT AS A MECHANICAL DETACHMENT HORIZON


ZHANG, Weicheng, Geosciences & Geological & Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 101 E 3rd Street, Apt A-8, Rolla, MO 65401 and ECKERT, Andreas, Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, wz9qd@mst.edu

The offshore Nile Delta is characterized by variations of the maximum horizontal stress orientation in subsalt and suprasalt sequences. Margin-parallel SHmax, typical for tertiary deltas, is observed for regions that are below or do not contain evaporites. In sequences underlain by evaporates pre-dominantly margin-normal SHmax is observed. This observation yielded the first conclusive in situ evidence that salt acts as a mechanical detachment layer. In this study, 3 dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) is used to simulate the total stress distribution in the offshore Nile Delta featuring evaporate sequences. Several parameters such as model boundary conditions, salt viscosity and different salt sequence geometries are considered. The numerical modeling results are used to evaluate if possible basal drag forces induced by gravitational gliding result in varying stress orientations and if the observed non-Andersonian style of faulting in the Nile Delta can be validated and explained from the numerical modeling results.

Session No. 46--Booth# 400

Structural Geology (Posters)
Sunday, 1 November 2015: 9:00 AM-5:30 PM
Exhibit Hall (Baltimore Convention Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 7, p.149
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