Contractional salt deformation in a recently inverted basin: Miocene to current salt deformation within the central Algerian basin

Field analogues illustrating the early stage of deformation of shortening structures in salt-bearing orogenic fold-and-thrust belts are not yet well illustrated in literature. The relatively young Messinian salt of the Algerian basin could represent a good case example of such systems. The Algerian Basin is a deep-water Miocene back-arc basin including a layer of mobile Messinian evaporites up to 2 km thick. The Messinian salt was deposited in an already inverted basin, after its extensive stage. Its inversion initiated in the Tortonian, with a N-NW shortening induced by the north-westward motion of the African plate. In this study, we use new 2D multichannel seismic data to identify, classify and map salt structures throughout the central Algerian Basin and re-assess its structural style. We interpret contractional salt tectonic structures, such as buckle folds, squeezed diapirs and related salt sheets as evidence of regional thick-skinned shortening episodes. We conclude that horizon...