SS02

Pre-Messinian Evaporites Sedimentary Basins in

the Mediterranean
L.S. Montadert* (Beicip-Franlab)

SUMMARY
The Messinian (Latest Miocene) salinity crisis in the Mediterranean, only 700 000 years long, resulted in
the widespread deposition of 1000-2500 m thick evaporites comprising mobile salt layers. Due to a
1500m sea level drop, these evaporites covered all the deepest areas at that time in the western and eastern
Mediterranean whatever the local sedimentary and tectonic setting and pinch-out on the margins.
Below the Messinian Evaporites, very thick (about 12km) Mesozoic sedimentary basins exist in the
eastern Mediterranean: the Levant, Herodotus and Ionian basins. On the contrary, in the Western
Mediterranean, the sedimentary basins are much younger: Lower Miocene like the Liguro-Provenal
Basin.

EAGE/SPE Workshop on Subsalt Imaging

The Challenges of Subsalt Exploration and Imaging in Deep Water of the Middle East and North Africa
16-19 February 2014, Limassol, Cyprus

Contrary to many evaporitic deposits linked to restricted environments during the early stage (rifting)
of the tectonic evolution of passive margin, the Messinian (Latest Miocene) Evaporites of the
Mediterranean correspond to a unique salinity crisis in a Mediterranean Sea which was already deep.
This crisis only 700 000 years long, resulted from a rapid closure of tectonic origin of the links
between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean at the level of the Gibraltar straights. The results
were:
1- A sea level drop of about 1500m with large erosion of the aerially exposed margins of the
Mediterranean with canyons cutting and production of clastics.
2- A widespread deposition of 1000-2500 m thick evaporites comprising several mobile salt
layers. It is now possible in tectonically quiet areas, from the seismic data, to establish a
stratigraphy of the Evaporites in 5 megasequences and to make comparisons between the
Eastern and the Western Mediterranean.
3- A very rapid sea water reflooding of the Mediterranean in the Early Pliocene with marine
erosion.
These evaporites covered all the deepest areas of the Western and Eastern Mediterranean at the end of
the Miocene whatever the local sedimentary and tectonic setting. The figure displays the repartition of
the Messinian Evaporites and shows that the thickest evaporites correspond to a deep basin setting.
They pinch-out on the margins where they are replaced upward by the Messinian Erosional Surface
known all around the Mediterranean.
The nature and age of the sedimentary basins below the Messinian Evaporites vary considerably.
In the eastern Mediterranean, very thick (12km) basins of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age exist with
oceanic crust: the Levant Basin, the Herodotus Basin and the Ionian Basin which are infilled by deep
water deposits; north of the Cyprus Arc, basins are younger (Cenozoic) like the Antalya Basin but still
with thick evaporites
In the western Mediterranean, the picture is quite different. The basins are essentially back-arc basins
of Oligocene-to-Present age with oceanic crust and with much less thick deep water deposited
sediments. The Liguro-Provenal Basin and the North Algerian Basin where shaped in the OligoMiocene time, while the Tyrrhenian basin was shaped from the Late Miocene to Present time.
These Messinian Evaporites constitute an almost continuous regional seal for these basins restraining
upward migration of fluids, generating overpressures and under-compaction of sediments like in the
Levant Basin.
They can be a challenge for imaging the sedimentary basins below but it is not always the case. It
depends essentially of the deformations of the evaporites from different origins: slidings especially on
the margins, compressional tectonics like in the Herodotus Basin or normal to strike slip faulting like
in the Liguro-Provenal Basin. It appears that internal deformations of the evaporites without
disruption of base and top of the Formation have no important effect on imaging.
The different patterns of Messinian Evaporites deformation will be illustrated.
1- Weak deformation or only internal deformations. The best case is the Levant basin where the
type section of the evaporitic Formation has been established. Even intense internal
deformations do not complicate imaging. Only when the base of the Formation is faulted or
EAGE/SPE Workshop on Subsalt Imaging
The Challenges of Subsalt Exploration and Imaging in Deep Water of the Middle East and North Africa
16-19 February 2014, Limassol, Cyprus

when there are high frequency deformations implying the sediments above, they are some
consequences on the quality of images;.
2- Strong deformations by sliding on the margins. This is quite common around the
Mediterranean with slidings along listric faults. It creates thickness variations of the
Formation which complicate the image in time below and make necessary PSDM.
3- Strong deformations in the Herodotus basin in connections with the deep Nile Delta
4- Strong deformations due to thrusting in the Herodotus Basin and Ionian Basin linked to the
subduction of Africa below Eurasia and formation of an accretionary prism: the
Mediterranean Ridge.
5- Strong deformations in the Eastern part of the Liguro-Provenal Basin due to intense recent
faulting.
In cases3, 4 and 5, the imaging below the evaporites is seriously disturbed and it is necessary to use
Pre Stack Depth Migration techniques.

EAGE/SPE Workshop on Subsalt Imaging

The Challenges of Subsalt Exploration and Imaging in Deep Water of the Middle East and North Africa
16-19 February 2014, Limassol, Cyprus