Implications of salt-sediment interactions on the architecture of the Gulf of Lions deep-water sedimentary systems-western Mediterranean Sea

We integrated structural analysis of multichannel seismic data and isopach maps of the Quaternary sedimentary cover to evaluate how salt tectonics has influenced the stratigraphic evolution offshore the Gulf of Lions. The interplay between salt tectonics and sedimentation occurs at two scales. At local scale, listric normal faults create bathymetric relief able to deviate sediment transport axes, with implications on depocenters configuration. At depocenter scale, overburden vertical movements due to salt evacuation or salt diapiric rise create sub-basins, providing accommodation space for clastic deposition. These mechanisms have significant implications on the architecture and the internal organization of turbidite systems offshore the Gulf of Lions.