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AN APPROACH TO “HALOKINEMATICS” AND INTERPLATE TECTONICS (NORTH‐CENTRAL ALGERIA)
Author(s) -
Assaad Fakhry A.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of petroleum geology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1747-5457
pISSN - 0141-6421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-5457.1983.tb00264.x
Subject(s) - geology , tectonics , flysch , plate tectonics , paleontology , cretaceous , facies , structural basin
Plate tectonics continues to dominate geological thinking; the main object of this paper is to explain salt movements due to halokinesis in terms of plate kinematics. A term “halokinematics” is proposed by the author to define disturbances ofsaltflo w caused by continuous indirect geologic events which might be a consequence of plate kinematics. Salt rocks constitute the caprock ofdetrital Upper Triassic reservoirs in the NCzone of Algeria whereas eruptive rocks, mainly basalts andspilites, constitute the cap‐rock of the lowermost series to the SE. The absence of Cretaceous formations to the SW of the Pre‐Atlas zone may be mainly attributed to the presence of salt domes. The study of paleotectonic events on the Epihercynian and African platforms, the wide distribution of spilites in the lowermost series of Triassic detritals and the discovery of flysch facies in the Tellian Atlas may support the existence of two interplates, the Saharan and Atlassic plates. However, detailed geological and geophysical studies would be necessary to confirm this theory.