Publications
401 results found
Osagiede EE, Rosenau M, Rotevatn A, et al., 2021, Influence of Zones of Pre-Existing Crustal Weakness on Strain Localization and Partitioning During Rifting: Insights From Analog Modeling Using High-Resolution 3D Digital Image Correlation, TECTONICS, Vol: 40, ISSN: 0278-7407
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- Citations: 11
Pichel L, Ferrer O, Jackson C, et al., 2021, Analogue modelling of the interplay between gravity gliding and spreading across complex rift topography in the Santos Basin
<jats:p>The Santos Basin presents a complex and controversial evolution and distribution of salt tectonics domains. The controversies revolve mainly around the kinematically- linked Albian Gap and São Paulo Plateau. The Albian Gap is a ~450 km long and 60 km wide feature characterized by a post-Albian counter-regional rollover overlying depleted Aptian salt and in which the Albian is absent. The São Paulo Plateau is defined by a pre-salt structural high with significant base-salt topography and overlain by ~2.5 km thick salt. Another prominent feature is the Merluza Graben, a rift depocentre that underlies the southern portion of the Albian Gap and displays significant (3-4 km) of base-salt relief. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin and kinematics of these provinces. One invokes post- Albian extension within the Albian Gap and contraction in the Sao Paulo Plateau. The other invokes post-Albian salt expulsion in the Albian Gap and salt inflation in the São Paulo Plateau without significant lateral deformation. A recent study shows these processes contribute equally to the evolution of these domains, also demonstrating the importance of the previously neglected base-salt relief. We apply 3D physical modelling to test these new concepts and understand the interplay between laterally- variable base-salt relief, gliding and spreading on salt tectonics. Our results show a remarkably-similar salt and post-salt evolution and architecture to the Santos Basin as proposed in recent studies. They improve the understanding on the distribution and interaction of salt-related structural styles and gravity-driven processes, being also applicable to other salt-bearing margins.</jats:p>
Pan S, Bell RE, Jackson CA-L, et al., 2021, Evolution of normal fault displacement and length as continental lithosphere stretches, Basin Research, Vol: 34, Pages: 121-140, ISSN: 0950-091X
Continental rifting is accommodated by the development of normal fault networks. Fault growth patterns control their related seismic hazards, and the tectonostratigraphic evolution and resource and CO2 storage potential of rifts. Our understanding of fault evolution is largely derived by observing the final geometry and displacement (D)-length (L) characteristics of active and inactive fault arrays, and by subsequently inferring their kinematics. We can rarely determine how these geometric properties change through time, and how the growth of individual fault arrays relate to the temporal evolution of their host networks. Here we use 3D seismic reflection and borehole data from the Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, Australia to determine the growth of rift-related, crustal-scale fault arrays and networks over geological timescales (>106 Ma). The excellent-quality seismic data allows us to reconstruct the entire Jurassic-to-Early Cretaceous fault network over a relatively large area (ca. 1,200 km2). We find that fault trace lengths were established early, within the first ca. 7.2 Myr of rifting, and that along-strike migration of throw maxima towards the centre of individual fault arrays occurred after ca. 28.5 Myr of rifting. Faults located in stress shadows become inactive and appear under-displaced relative to adjacent larger faults, onto which strain localises as rifting proceeds. This implies that the scatter frequently observed in D-L plots can simply reflect fault growth and network maturity. We show that by studying complete rift-related normal networks, rather than just individual fault arrays, we can better understand how faults grow and more generally how continental lithosphere deforms as it stretches.
Kolawole F, Phillips TB, Atekwana EA, et al., 2021, Structural Inheritance Controls Strain Distribution During Early Continental Rifting, Rukwa Rift, FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE, Vol: 9
Steventon MJ, Jackson CA-L, Johnson HD, et al., 2021, Evolution of a sand-rich submarine channel-lobe system, and the impact of mass-transport and transitional-flow deposits on reservoir heterogeneity: Magnus Field, Northern North Sea, PETROLEUM GEOSCIENCE, Vol: 27, ISSN: 1354-0793
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- Citations: 6
Rodriguez CR, Jackson CA-L, Bell RE, et al., 2021, Deep-water reservoir distribution on a salt-influenced slope, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, AAPG BULLETIN, Vol: 105, Pages: 1679-1720, ISSN: 0149-1423
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- Citations: 3
Evans SL, Jackson CAL, Oppo D, 2021, Taking the Pulse of Salt-Detached Gravity Gliding in the Eastern Mediterranean, TECTONICS, Vol: 40, ISSN: 0278-7407
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- Citations: 3
Wu N, Jackson CA-L, Johnson HD, et al., 2021, Lithological, petrophysical, and seal properties of mass-transport complexes, northern Gulf of Mexico, AAPG BULLETIN, Vol: 105, Pages: 1461-1489, ISSN: 0149-1423
Erdi A, Jackson CA, 2021, What controls salt‐detached contraction in the translational domain of the outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola?, Basin Research, Vol: 33, Pages: 1880-1905, ISSN: 0950-091X
It is now well‐established that base‐salt relief drives complex deformation patterns in the mid‐slope domain of salt‐bearing passive margins, in a location classically thought to be dominated by simple horizontal translation. However, due to a lack of detailed studies drawing on high‐quality, 3D seismic reflection data, our understanding of how base‐salt relief controls four‐dimensional patterns of salt‐related deformation in natural systems remains poor. We here use 3D seismic reflection data from, and structural restorations of the Outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola to examine the controls on the evolution of variably oriented salt anticlines, rollers, and walls, and related normal and reverse faults. We show that the complex geometries and kinematics of predominantly contractional salt structures reflect up to 22 km of seaward flow of salt and its overburden across prominent base‐salt relief. More specifically, this contractional deformation occurs where the seaward flow of salt is inhibited due to: (a) it flowing being forced to flow up, landward‐dipping ramps; (b) it encountering thicker, slower‐moving salt near the base of seaward‐dipping ramps; or (c) the formation of primary salt welds at the upper hinge of seaward‐dipping ramps. The rate at which salt and its overburden translates seaward varies along strike due to corresponding variations in the magnitude of base‐salt relief and, at a larger, more regional scale, primary salt thickness. As a result of these along‐strike changes in translation rate, overburden rotation accompanies bulk contraction. Our study improves our understanding of salt‐related deformation on passive margins, highlighting the key role of base‐salt relief, and showing contraction, extension and rotation are fundamental processes controlling the structural style of the mid‐slope translational domains of salt basins.
Magee C, Pichel LM, Madden-Nadeau AL, et al., 2021, Salt-magma interactions influence intrusion distribution and salt tectonics in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1820-1843, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 18
Wu N, Jackson CA-L, Johnson HD, et al., 2021, The formation and implications of giant blocks and fluid escape structures in submarine lateral spreads, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1711-1730, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 10
Tillmans F, Gawthorpe RL, Jackson CA-L, et al., 2021, Syn-rift sediment gravity flow deposition on a Late Jurassic fault-terraced slope, northern North Sea, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1844-1879, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 12
Oppo D, Evans S, Iacopini D, et al., 2021, Leaky salt: Pipe trails record the history of cross-evaporite fluid escape in the northern Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1798-1819, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 19
Duffy OB, Dooley TP, Hudec MR, et al., 2021, Principles of shortening in salt basins containing isolated minibasins, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 2089-2117, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 6
Kolawole F, Phillips T, Atekwana E, et al., 2021, Structural Inheritance Controls Strain Distribution During Early Continental Rifting, Rukwa Rift
Lathrop BA, Jackson CA-L, Bell RE, et al., 2021, Normal Fault Kinematics and the Role of Lateral Tip Retreat: An Example From Offshore NW Australia, TECTONICS, Vol: 40, ISSN: 0278-7407
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- Citations: 7
Dowey N, Barclay J, Fernando B, et al., 2021, A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North, NATURE GEOSCIENCE, Vol: 14, Pages: 256-259, ISSN: 1752-0894
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- Citations: 22
Reeve MT, Magee C, Bastow ID, et al., 2021, Nature of the cuvier abyssal plain crust, offshore NW Australia, Journal of the Geological Society, Vol: 178, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 0016-7649
Magnetic stripes have long been assumed to be indicative of oceanic crust. However, continental crust heavily intruded by magma can also record magnetic stripes. We re-evaluate the nature of the Cuvier Abyssal Plain (CAP), offshore NW Australia, which hosts magnetic stripes and has previously been defined as oceanic crust. We show that chemical data from a basalt within the CAP, previously described as an enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt, could equally be interpreted to contain evidence of contamination by continental material. We also recognize seaward-dipping reflector sequences in seismic reflection data across the CAP. Borehole data from overlying sedimentary rocks suggests that these seaward-dipping reflectors were emplaced in a shallow water (<200 m depth) or subaerial environment. Our results indicate that the CAP may not be unambiguous oceanic crust, but may instead consist of a spectrum of heavily intruded continental crust through to fully oceanic crust. If the CAP represents such a continent–ocean transition zone, then the adjacent unambiguous oceanic crust would be located >500 km further offshore NW Australia than currently thought. This would impact plate tectonic reconstructions, as well as heat flow and basin modelling studies. Our work also supports the growing consensus that magnetic stripes cannot, by themselves, be used to determine crustal affinity.
Magee C, Jackson CA-L, 2021, Can we relate the surface expression of dike-induced normal faults to subsurface dike geometry?, GEOLOGY, Vol: 49, Pages: 366-371, ISSN: 0091-7613
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- Citations: 7
Howlett DM, Gawthorpe RL, Ge Z, et al., 2021, Turbidites, topography and tectonics: Evolution of submarine channel-lobe systems in the salt-influenced Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1076-1110, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 23
Barrett BJ, Hodgson DM, Jackson CA-L, et al., 2021, Quantitative analysis of a footwall-scarp degradation complex and syn-rift stratigraphic architecture, Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia, BASIN RESEARCH, Vol: 33, Pages: 1135-1169, ISSN: 0950-091X
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- Citations: 10
Zhang Y, Krevor S, Jackson C, 2021, Geologic carbon storage resource requirements of climate change mitigation targets in Europe
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;To limit global warming to well below&amp;#160;2&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C, integrated&amp;#160;assessment&amp;#160;models have projected&amp;#160;that&amp;#160;gigaton-per-year-scale carbon capture and storage is needed by c. 2050.&amp;#160;These scenarios&amp;#160;are unconstrained by limiting growth rates or historical data due to the limited existing deployment of the technology. A new approach using&amp;#160;logistic&amp;#160;growth models identifies a coupling between&amp;#160;storage resource base (pore space underground) and minimum growth rates necessary to meet global climate change mitigation targets (Zahasky &amp; Krevor, 2020).&amp;#160;However, viable growth trajectories consistent with carbon storage targets remain unexplored at&amp;#160;the&amp;#160;regional&amp;#160;level. Here, we show the application of&amp;#160;logistic&amp;#160;modelling constrained&amp;#160;by climate change targets and assessed storage resources for&amp;#160;the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), and&amp;#160;Norway. This allows us to identify plausible growth trajectories of CCS development and the associated discovered storage resource base requirement in these regions.&amp;#160;We find that the EU&amp;#160;storage resource base is sufficient to&amp;#160;meet storage&amp;#160;targets of 80 MtCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/year and 92 MtCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/year&amp;#160;suggested in the European Commission climate change mitigation strategy to 2050, &amp;#8216;A Clean Planet for All&amp;#8217;. However, the more ambitious goals of 298 MtCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/year and 330 MtCO&am
Evans S, Jackson C, Schueller S, et al., 2021, Salt thickness and heterogeneity control the degree of coupling between sub- and supra-salt structure during salt-detached translation: evidence from physical models
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;Salt flows like a fluid over geological timescales and introduces significant structural complexity to the basins in which it is deposited. Salt typically flows seaward due to tilting of the basin margins, and is therefore influenced by the geometry of the surface that it flows across (e.g. fault scarps or folds on the base-salt surface). This can lead to coupling of sub- and supra-salt structures, with the orientation and distribution of base-salt structures reflected in the structure of the overburden. However, precisely what controls the degree of strain coupling during salt-detached translation is still poorly understood, in particular the role played by salt thickness and lithological heterogeneity. This partly reflects the fact that it can be difficult to deconvolve the relative contributions of natural variables such as the magnitude of relief, sediment supply, and regional tectonic regime. In addition, seismic data provide only the present structural configuration of salt basins, from which their formative kinematics must be inferred. If we can develop a better understanding of how sub-salt structure controls the types and patterns of supra-salt deformation, we can produce better kinematic (structural) restorations of salt basins and, therefore, have a better understanding of the related mechanics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In order to isolate the influence of salt thickness and heterogeneity on sub- to supra-salt strain coupling during salt-detached horizontal translation, we present a series of physical analogue models with controlled boundary conditions. We use a simple base-salt geometry comprising three oblique base-salt steps, and vary the thickness and composition of the ductile salt analogue in each experiment. X-ray tomography allows us to image the internal structure during model evolution and therefore gain a 4D picture of its structural development.&lt;/p&gt;&l
Oppo D, Evans S, Jackson CA-L, et al., 2021, Leaky salt: pipe trails record the history of cross-evaporite fluid escape in the northern Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;Hydrocarbon escape systems can be regionally active on multi-million-year timescales. However, reconstructing the timing and evolution of repeated escape events can be challenging because their expression may overlap in time and space. In the northern Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean, distinct fluid escape episodes from common leakage points formed discrete, cross-evaporite fluid escape pipes, which are preserved in the stratigraphic record due to the coeval Messinian salt tectonics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The pipes consistently originate at the crest of prominent sub-salt anticlines, where thinning and hydrofracturing of overlying salt permitted focused fluid flow. Sequential pipes are arranged in several kilometers-long trails that were progressively deformed due to basinward gravity-gliding of salt and its overburden. The correlation of the oldest pipes within 12 trails suggests that margin-wide fluid escape started in the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene, coincident with a major phase of uplift of the Levant margin. We interpret that the consequent transfer of overpressure from the deeper basin areas triggered seal failure and cross-evaporite fluid flow. We infer that other triggers, mainly associated with the Messinian Salinity Crisis and compressive tectonics, played a secondary role in the northern Levant Basin. Further phases of fluid escape are unique to each anticline and, despite a common initial cause, long-term fluid escape proceeded independently according to structure-specific characteristics, such as the local dynamics of fluid migration and anticline geometry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whereas cross-evaporite fluid escape in the southern Levant Basin is mainly attributed to the Messinian Salinity Crisis and compaction disequilibrium, we argue that these mechanisms do not apply to the northern Levant Basin; here, fluid escape was mainly driven by the tectonic
Erdi A, Jackson C, 2021, Three-dimensional geometry and growth of salt-detached strike-slip faults, Outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;Strike slip faults are a prominent tectonic feature in Earth to accommodate horizontal and/or oblique slip that trend parallel to fault strike. These faults are commonly formed on plate boundaries setting, where they are basement-involved and driven by elastic crustal loading at seismogenic depths. Still, we also observe the strike slip faults on salt-bearing slopes, where the faults are typically thin-skinned and accommodate spatial variability in the rate of seaward flow of salt and its overburden. In both cases, relatively little is still known of their three-dimensional geometry and growth in comparison to both normal and reverse fault, that have been extensively studied.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We use a high-quality, depth-migrated 3D seismic dataset to investigate salt-detached strike-slip faults in the mid-slope translational domain of the Outer Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola. We show that NE-SW-striking faults are presently located above elongate, margin-parallel, NE-trending ramps, more amorphous, dome-like structural highs, and areas of relatively subdued relief. The faults are broadly planar, display normal and/or reverse offsets, and may locally bound negative flower structures. These faults offset a range of salt and overburden structures, including salt walls and anticlines, and salt -detached thrusts and normal faults, defining six major structural compartments. Our displacement-distance (Tx) analysis of several faults reveal they are characterized by complex throw distributions that define 3-to-10, now hard-linked segments. In vertical profiles, these segments are characterized by symmetric-to-asymmetric throw distributions (Tz) that record throw maxima at the top of the Albian, Eocene and/or Early Miocene. Expansion indices (EI) and isopach maps demonstrate the presence of fault-related growth strata, with complex thickness patterns also reflecting the combined effect of vertical (i.e.
Magee C, Jackson CA-L, Kling CL, et al., 2021, Imaging the subsurface structure of pit craters
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;Pit craters are enigmatic sub-circular depressions observed on rocky and icy planetary bodies across the Solar System. These craters do not primarily form during catastrophic impact or the forcible eruption of subsurface materials, but likely due to collapse of subsurface cavities following fluid (e.g., magma) movement and/or extensional tectonics. Pit craters thus provide important surficial records of otherwise inaccessible subsurface processes. However, unlocking these pit crater archives is difficult because we do not know how their surface expression relates to their subsurface structure or driving mechanisms. As such, there is a variety of hypotheses concerning pit crater formation, which variously relate cavity collapse to: (i) opening of dilatational jogs during faulting; (ii) tensile fracturing; (iii) karst development; (iv) permafrost melting; (v) lava tube evacuation; (vi) volatile release from dyke tip process zones; (vii) pressure waning behind a propagating dike tip; (viii) migration of magma away from a reservoir; and/or (ix) hydrothermal fluid movement inducing host rock porosity collapse. Validating whether these proposed mechanisms can drive pit crater formation and, if so, identifying how the physical characteristics of pits can be used to infer their driving mechanisms, is critical to probing subsurface processes on Earth and other planetary bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we use seismic reflection data from the North Carnarvon Basin offshore NW Australia, which provides ultra-sound like images of Earth&amp;#8217;s subsurface, to characterize the subsurface structure of natural pit craters. We extracted geometrical data for 61 pits, and find that they are broadly cylindrical, with some displaying an inverted conical (trumpet-like) morphology at their tops. Fifty-six pit craters, which are sub-circular and have widths of ~150&amp;#8211;740 m, extend down ~500 m t
B Amarante F, A-L Jackson C, M Pichel L, et al., 2021, Pre-salt rift morphology controls salt tectonics in the Campos Basin, offshore SE Brazil
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;Salt-bearing passive margin basins offshore SE Brazil have been and remain attractive for hydrocarbon exploration and production. In the Campos Basin, major reservoir types include post-salt turbidites, which are located in structural traps related to thin-skinned faulting above salt anticlines and rollers. Classic models of gravity-driven salt tectonics commonly depict kinematically linked zones of deformation, characterised by updip extension and downdip contraction, separated by a weakly deformed zone associated with downdip translation above a relatively smooth base-salt surface. We use 2D and 3D seismic reflection and borehole data from the south-central Campos Basin to show that this does not adequately capture the styles of salt-detached gravity-driven deformation above relict, rift-related relief. The base-salt surface is composed of elongated, broadly seaward-dipping ramps with structural relief reaching c. 2 km. These ramps define the boundary between the External High and the External Low, basement structures related to the rift tectonics. Local deformation associated with the base-salt ramps can overprint and/or influence regional, margin-scale patterns of deformation producing kinematically-variable and multiphase salt deformation. We define three domains of thin-skinned deformation: an updip extensional domain, subdivided into subdomains E1 and E2, an intermediate multiphase domain and a downdip contractional domain. The multiphase domain is composed of three types of salt structures with a hybrid extensional-contractional origin and evolution. These are: (i) contractional anticlines that were subjected to later extension and normal faulting; (ii) diapirs with passive and active growth later subjected to regional extension, developing landward-dipping normal faults on the landward flank; and, lastly, (iii) an extensional diapir that was subsequently squeezed. We argue that this multiphase style of deformation occu
Newton A, Dowey N, Barclay J, et al., 2021, Recommendation for combatting the diversity crisis in Geography, Earth and Environmental Science research; perspectives from the UK
<jats:p>&lt;p&gt;The roots of modern geoscience lie in early colonial principles that land could belong to those willing to use its products, regardless of indigenous territories and practices. The production of geoscience knowledge has therefore been historically tied to a desire to explain the distribution and extractability of resources, largely for the benefit of the colonising force. This knowledge now has an essential role to play in equitable and sustainable development, but it cannot be successfully applied without diverse representation amongst geoscientists. However, Geoscience in the Global North is disproportionately white. Following on from the work of Bernard and Cooperdock in the USA, we highlight dismal representation data from Geography, Earth and Environmental Science (GEES) disciplines in UK HE and make recommendations for positive action based on evidenced effective practice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences are the three worst Physical Science subjects for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student undergraduate participation in UK HE, and are very poor for retention of these students into postgraduate research (PGR). Physical Geography had just 5.2% PGR students who identified as Black, Asian, Mixed or Other (HESA data categories) in 2018/19. On average, over the past 5 years just 1.4% of postgraduate Geology PGR students were Black (HESA, 2020). By comparison, in the 2011 Census, 18.5% of UK 18-24 year olds were from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and 3.8% were Black. In two years out of the last five, no Black women have started PGR study in Geology or Physical Geography. Retention of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Physical Geography and Environmental Science students into PGR was worse in 2018/2019 than over the five years from 2014 to 2019; the situation is not improving with time (HESA, 2020)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We
Abu C, Jackson C, Francis M, 2021, Strike-slip overprinting of initial co-axial shortening within the toe region of a submarine landslide: a case study from the Angoche Basin, offshore Mozambique.
Pichel L, Jackson C, Peel F, et al., 2021, The Merluza Graben: how a failed spreading centre influenced margin structure, salt deposition and tectonics in the Santos Basin, Brazil
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