Elisional processes and salt tectonics: Communication 2. Formation mechanism of salt diapirs

The possible role of endogenic factors in the formation of salt deposits and salt diapirs is discussed with emphasis on the sedimentary origin of salts and elisional nature of epigenetic salt bodies. It is shown that dehydration and high solubility of chlorides, density inversion, and high coefficient of linear expansion under heating are the main factors responsible for the growth of salt domes. Elisional processes in clays of subsalt formations exert a considerable impact upon their growth in rock basins. Tectonic processes play an important, although secondary, role in these transformations.