Transpressional salt tectonic system in western Qaidam Basin, western China

In this paper, high-resolution three-dimensional seismic data are used to interpret a transpressional salt tectonic structure in the Yingxiongling area, Qaidam Basin, China. The geometries of the salt structure and the Shizigou fault system that intersects it are precisely depicted. The Shizigou fault system is composed of suprasalt and subsalt components. The suprasalt component is a Y-shaped reverse fault, and the subsalt component is a complex flower structure. In previous studies, suprasalt and subsalt components were interpreted as two independent fault systems. This paper proposes instead that the suprasalt and subsalt faults are kinematically related and decoupled across the salt layer.