Temporal and spatial changes of the submarine Cretaceous paleoslope in Northern Tunisia, inferred from slump folds analysis

This paper presents the first comprehensive, non-exhaustive, study of the genetic relationship between slump folds and the synsedimentary paleoslope during Cretaceous time in northern Tunisia. Slump folds occur mainly in the Cretaceous marl-dominated lithofacies, which exposes numerous slump folds structures. In addition, fault kinematic analysis is conducted to define the paleostress fields and the stress states characterizing the Cretaceous extension that triggers soft-sediment deformation and slumping. The MAM and the APM methods are used to deduce the paleoslope in several localities. The calculated values of paleoslope trend derived from MAM and APM methods precise the variation of the paleoslope trend during Cretaceous times in northern Tunisia. This paleoslope is ∼NW-dipping during Berriasian, ∼SSW-dipping during Valanginian, ∼NW-dipping during the Barremian and ∼N- to ∼NNE or ∼S- to ∼SSW-dipping during Aptian-Albian period. The results of the back-tilted fault diagram show a ∼North to ∼Northeast-trending tectonics extension. The back-tilting of Cenomanian slump axis and poles of axial planes (MAM and APM methods) give close results with ∼Southward or ∼Northward-dipping paleoslope. The restored fault diagrams show ∼North to ∼Northeast-trending extension during Cenomanian times. Coniacian-Santonian marls deposits seal all the gravity-driven deformation structures. North Tunisian area exposes evidences for abundant soft-sediment deformation and slumping atop a northward facing submarine slope, which was probably dominant from the Early Cretaceous to Santonian with ∼North-South tectonic extension related to the Southern Tethyan rifted continental margin evolution.