Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member types access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Submit
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Petroleum Geoscience
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Petroleum Geoscience

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member types access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Submit

Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods

Maria A. Nikolinakou, Rajesh Goteti and Mahdi Heidari
Petroleum Geoscience, 25, 249-250, 23 July 2019, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2019-086
Maria A. Nikolinakou
1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Building PRC-130, Austin, TX 78758, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: mariakat@mail.utexas.edu
Rajesh Goteti
2Aramco Services Company: Aramco Research Center - Houston, 16300 Park Row, Houston, TX 77084, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
Mahdi Heidari
1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Building PRC-130, Austin, TX 78758, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

This special, two-part, thematic presents studies that employ numerical methods to understand the mechanics associated with salt systems. The thematic captures some of the latest developments in modelling micro- and macro-structural salt behaviour, as well as the interaction between salt and basin sediments. The presented studies provide insights into halokinesis, deformation, pore pressure, and stress in wall rocks, and their implications for trap integrity and the viability of underground storage systems.

Over the past few decades a key component of understanding the evolution of salt structures was achieved through physical experiments (Vendeville & Jackson 1992; Letouzey et al. 1995; Ge et al. 1997; Dooley et al. 2015). Kinematic restoration has also been a fundamental tool to study the evolution of salt geological systems (e.g. Rowan & Kligfield 1989; Rowan & Ratliff 2012; López-Mir et al. 2016). The significant contribution of numerical methods is the ability to use representative material constitutive laws to accurately simulate the behaviour of both salt and wall rocks. In addition, scaling of numerical models to natural analogues is relatively straightforward compared to physical experiments. Numerical methods also offer the flexibility to examine the role of a variety of geological parameters, including depositional history, tectonic loading, and initial basin geometry.

Numerical models have been used in various forms to study different aspects of geologic systems. Large-strain numerical models have long been used to understand the mechanics associated with the evolution of regional and crustal systems (Willett et al. 1993). Historically, these models have coupled large-strain deformations with sedimentation and tectonic loading (Beaumont et al. 2000). In salt systems, these large-strain numerical models have advanced our understanding of the fundamental interaction between sedimentation, tectonic processes, and salt diapirism (Schultz-Ela 2003; Chemia et al. 2009; Gradmann et al. 2009; Albertz & Beaumont 2010; Fuchs et al. 2011; Allen & Beaumont 2012; Goteti et al. 2012; Fernandez & Kaus 2015; Baumann et al. 2017; Pichel et al. 2017). Earlier models simulated basin sediments as non-porous materials. However, in the last 15 years, an increasing number of numerical studies have been using poromechanical principles to better understand the interrelationship of stress and pore pressure in basins. Most poromechanical models have been static, simulating stress and pressure around existing salt bodies, based on their present-day geometry (e.g. Fredrich et al. 2003; Koupriantchik et al. 2004; van-der-Zee et al. 2011). More recently, evolutionary poromechanical models are offering a powerful tool to couple large strains, depositional processes, and fluid flow to better understand stress and pore pressure in evolving salt systems (Goteti et al. 2017; Luo et al. 2017; Obradors-Prats et al. 2017; Nikolinakou et al. 2018).

In this two-part volume, we have collected examples of the most recent numerical studies of salt systems, in an effort to demonstrate current capabilities and limitations and to inspire future developments. The first part of the thematic published in this issue includes:

  1. A study of CO2 storage in salt rock (Shen & Arson). The study employs a micro–macro healing mechanics model to understand the time-dependent behaviour of halite during the storage phase and evaluate the healing potential of salt in cavities used for CO2 storage.

  2. A study of salt movement in extensional settings (Hamilton-Wright et al.). The paper develops evolutionary poromechanical models to examine the influence of geological parameters on field-scale salt structures and their corresponding deformation pattern.

  3. A study on the impacts of stress perturbation around salt on seismic imaging (Li et al.). The study uses a static geomechanical model to estimate stress perturbation around a salt sphere and incorporates the estimated values into a seismic imaging process to forecast the image of the salt sphere.

  4. A study on the impacts of a laterally continuous permeable bed on the evolution of a salt diapir and the pore pressure and stresses around it (Heidari et al.). The study uses a 2D evolutionary finite-element model to simulate the rise of a salt diapir in a basin with and without a permeable bed. The two models are compared to demonstrate various impacts of the permeable bed.

  • © 2019 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London for GSL and EAGE. All rights reserved

References

  1. ↵
    1. Albertz, M. &
    2. Beaumont, C.
    2010. An investigation of salt tectonic structural styles in the Scotian Basin, offshore Atlantic Canada: 2. Comparison of observations with geometrically complex numerical models. Tectonics, 29, TC4018, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009TC002540
  2. ↵
    1. Allen, J. &
    2. Beaumont, C.
    2012. Impact of inconsistent density scaling on physical analogue models of continental margin scale salt tectonics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 117, B08103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012jb009227.
    OpenUrl
  3. ↵
    1. Baumann, T.S.,
    2. Kaus, B.J.P. &
    3. Eichheimer, P.
    2017. 3D Numerical Modelling of Salt Tectonics. 79th EAGE Conference & Exhibition 2017, Paris, France.
  4. ↵
    1. Beaumont, C.,
    2. Kooi, H. &
    3. Willett, S.
    2000. Coupled tectonic-surface process models with applications to rifted margins and collisional orogens. In: Summerfield, M.A. (ed.) Geomorphology and Global Tectonics. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Hoboken, NJ, 29–55.
  5. ↵
    1. Chemia, Z.,
    2. Schmeling, H. &
    3. Koyi, H.
    2009. The effect of the salt viscosity on future evolution of the Gorleben salt diapir, Germany. Tectonophysics, 473, 446–456, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.03.027
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  6. ↵
    1. Dooley, T.P.,
    2. Jackson, M.P.A. &
    3. Hudec, M.R.
    2015. Breakout of squeezed stocks: dispersal of roof fragments, source of extrusive salt and interaction with regional thrust faults. Basin Research, 27, 3–25, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12056
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  7. ↵
    1. Fernandez, N. &
    2. Kaus, B.J.P.
    2015. Pattern formation in 3-D numerical models of down-built diapirs initiated by a Rayleigh–Taylor instability. Geophysical Journal International, 202, 1253–1270, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv219
    OpenUrl
  8. ↵
    1. Fredrich, J.T.,
    2. Coblentz, D.,
    3. Fossum, A.F. &
    4. Thorne, B.J.
    2003. Stress perturbations adjacent to salt bodies in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. 2003. Society of Petroleum Engineers, Denver, Colorado.
  9. ↵
    1. Fuchs, L.,
    2. Schmeling, H. &
    3. Koyi, H.
    2011. Numerical models of salt diapir formation by down-building: the role of sedimentation rate, viscosity contrast, initial amplitude and wavelength. Geophysical Journal International, 186, 390–400, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05058.x
    OpenUrl
  10. ↵
    1. Ge, H.,
    2. Jackson, M.P.A. &
    3. Vendeville, B.C.
    1997. Kinematics and dynamics of salt tectonics driven by progradation. AAPG Bulletin, 81, 398–423, https://doi.org/10.1306/522B4361-1727-11D7-8645000102C1865D
    OpenUrlAbstract
  11. ↵
    1. Goteti, R.,
    2. Ings, S.J. &
    3. Beaumont, C.
    2012. Development of salt minibasins initiated by sedimentary topographic relief. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 339/340, 103–116, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.045
    OpenUrl
  12. ↵
    1. Goteti, R.,
    2. Agar, S.M.,
    3. Brown, J.P.,
    4. Sibon, H.J. &
    5. Zuhlke, R.
    2017. Deformation of Siliciclastic Stringers in a Layered Evaporite Sequence (LES): Insights From Geomechanical Forward Modeling. 51st US Rock Mechanics & Geomechanics Symposium, San Francisco, CA. Paper 17-701.
  13. ↵
    1. Gradmann, S.,
    2. Beaumont, C. &
    3. Albertz, M.
    2009. Factors controlling the evolution of the Perdido Fold Belt, northwestern Gulf of Mexico, determined from numerical models. Tectonics, 28, TC2002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008TC002326
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  14. ↵
    1. Koupriantchik, D.,
    2. Meyers, A.G. &
    3. Hunt, S.
    2004. 3D geomechanical modelling towards understanding stress anomalies causing wellbore instability. In: Gulf Rocks 2004, 6th North America Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMA/NARMS). American Rock Mechanics Association, Houston, TX.
  15. ↵
    1. Letouzey, J.,
    2. Colletta, B.,
    3. Vially, R. &
    4. Chermette, J.C.
    1995. Evolution of salt-related structures in compressional settings. In: Jackson, M.P.A., Roberts, D.G. & Snelson, S. (eds) Salt tectonics: a global perspective, Vol. 65. AAPG Memoir, Tulsa, OK, 41–60.
    OpenUrlWeb of Science
  16. ↵
    1. López-Mir, B.,
    2. Muñoz, J.A. &
    3. García-Senz, J.
    2016. 3D geometric reconstruction of Upper Cretaceous passive diapirs and salt withdrawal basins in the Cotiella Basin (southern Pyrenees). Journal of the Geological Society, 173, 616–627, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2016-002
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  17. ↵
    1. Luo, G.,
    2. Hudec, M.R.,
    3. Flemings, P.B. &
    4. Nikolinakou, M.A.
    2017. Deformation, stress, and pore pressure in an evolving suprasalt basin. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122, 5663–5690, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013779
    OpenUrl
  18. ↵
    1. Nikolinakou, M.A.,
    2. Heidari, M.,
    3. Flemings, P.B. &
    4. Hudec, M.R.
    2018. Geomechanical modeling of pore pressure in evolving salt systems. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 93, 272–286, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.03.013
    OpenUrl
  19. ↵
    1. Obradors-Prats, J.,
    2. Rouainia, M.,
    3. Aplin, A.C. &
    4. Crook, A.J.L.
    2017. Assessing the implications of tectonic compaction on pore pressure using a coupled geomechanical approach. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 79, 31–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.10.017
    OpenUrl
  20. ↵
    1. Pichel, L.M.,
    2. Finch, E.,
    3. Huuse, M. &
    4. Redfern, J.
    2017. The influence of shortening and sedimentation on rejuvenation of salt diapirs: A new Discrete-Element Modelling approach. Journal of Structural Geology, 104, 61–79, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2017.09.016
    OpenUrl
  21. ↵
    1. Rowan, M.G. &
    2. Kligfield, R.
    1989. Cross section restoration and balancing as aid to seismic interpretation in extensional terranes. AAPG Bulletin, 73, 955–966.
    OpenUrlAbstract
  22. ↵
    1. Rowan, M.G. &
    2. Ratliff, R.A.
    2012. Cross-section restoration of salt-related deformation: Best practices and potential pitfalls. Journal of Structural Geology, 41, 24–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2011.12.012
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  23. ↵
    1. Schultz-Ela, D.D.
    2003. Origin of drag folds bordering salt diapirs. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 87, 757–780, https://doi.org/10.1306/12200201093
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  24. ↵
    1. van-der-Zee, W.,
    2. Ozan, C.,
    3. Brudy, M. &
    4. Holland, M.
    2011. 3D geomechanical modeling of complex salt structures. SIMULIA Customer Conference.
  25. ↵
    1. Vendeville, B.C. &
    2. Jackson, M.P.A.
    1992. The rise of diapirs during thin-skinned extension. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 9, 331–354, https://doi.org/10.1016/0264-8172(92)90047-I
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  26. ↵
    1. Willett, S.,
    2. Beaumont, C. &
    3. Fullsack, P.
    1993. Mechanical model for the tectonics of doubly vergent compressional orogens. Geology, 21, 371–374, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<0371:MMFTTO>2.3.CO;2
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Petroleum Geoscience: 25 (3)
Petroleum Geoscience
Volume 25, Issue 3
August 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods

Maria A. Nikolinakou, Rajesh Goteti and Mahdi Heidari
Petroleum Geoscience, 25, 249-250, 23 July 2019, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2019-086
Maria A. Nikolinakou
1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Building PRC-130, Austin, TX 78758, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: mariakat@mail.utexas.edu
Rajesh Goteti
2Aramco Services Company: Aramco Research Center - Houston, 16300 Park Row, Houston, TX 77084, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mahdi Heidari
1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Building PRC-130, Austin, TX 78758, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods

Maria A. Nikolinakou, Rajesh Goteti and Mahdi Heidari
Petroleum Geoscience, 25, 249-250, 23 July 2019, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2019-086
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Petroleum Geoscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Petroleum Geoscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Petroleum Geoscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Influence of a reservoir bed on diapirism and drilling hazards near a salt diapir: a geomechanical approach
  • How do stress perturbations near salt bodies induce difficulty in salt imaging? Insights from a geomechanical model and salt imaging
Show more: Thematic set: Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods
  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • Discussion on ‘Fault seal modelling – the influence of fluid properties on fault sealing capacity in hydrocarbon and CO2 systems’, Petroleum Geoscience, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2019-126
  • Two-step wireline log analysis of overpressure in the Bekapai Field, Lower Kutai Basin, Indonesia
  • Geoscience and decarbonization: current status and future directions
  • Mechanics of salt systems: state of the field in numerical methods
  • Structural evolution of the Breagh area: implications for carboniferous prospectivity of the Mid North Sea High, Southern North Sea
More...

Petroleum Geoscience

  • About the journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Submit a manuscript
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Alerts & RSS
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

 

EAGE logo

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
1354-0793
Online ISSN 
2041-496X

Copyright © 2021 EAGE/Geological Society of London