Formation and inversion of salt-detached ramp-syncline basins. Results from analog modeling and application to the Columbrets Basin (Western Mediterranean)

To achieve this goal we carried out an experimental program consisting of eight different sandbox models. Our results show that the main structure formed at the end of the extension is a salt-detached ramp-syncline and that its geometry not only depends on the dip and length of the fault panels, but also on the fault displacement and salt thickness. The inversion of these salt-detached ramp-synclines resulted in a major thick-skinned fault-bend anticline with minor thin-skinned contractional structures.