Integrating analogue experiments and seismic interpretation for improved understanding of sedimentation and salt dynamics in Mesozoic sub-basins and their deepwater extensions, offshore Nova Scotia

Salt-deformation features beneath the shelf and slope of the Scotian Margin manifest complex tectono-stratigraphic relationships with high rates of sedimentation and prograda-tion during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Exploration and seismic interpretation concepts developed in other salt basins (e.g., Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic basins) are not directly transferable to the Scotian Margin due to differences in palaeographic setting, sediment supply, and primary salt-basin geometry. We have begun an integrated geoscience study with innovative 4D physical simulations using scaled analogue models and 2D/3D seismic interpretation. Our objective is to investigate the complex interplay between sedimentation and salt deformation in different sub-basins and their deepwater extensions that are characterized by contrasting salt deformation styles ranging from major extension and roho-style detachment to minor extension and vertical salt movement. Public domain seismic data provide the boundary conditions for the experiments including tectonic setting, geometry of salt basins, and sedimentation pattern and rates. The evolution of the sedimentary basins and the dynamic salt system is simulated in physical experiments that consist of scaled granular-viscous models with syntectonic sedimentation. Model deformation is analysed by time-series of images and 3D displacement data obtained with high-resolution optical image correlation techniques (2D/3D PIV - Particle Imaging Velocimetry).