Timing and mechanisms controlling evaporite diapirism on Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Permo-Carboniferous to Eocene Sverdrup Basin in Canada's Arctic Archipelago is strongly influenced by evaporite diapirism. However, salt structures within the basin have not been extensively investigated recently due to their remote location. This study includes the interpretation of legacy seismic reflection and borehole data to characterize the geometry of selected evaporite domes, and 1D backstripping of wells to investigate tectonic and sedimentary influences on diapirism. Extensional rift-structures appear to have played a significant role in the formation of evaporite domes by triggering and directing salt movement. Diapirism was initiated by at least the Middle Triassic and continued to develop during the Mesozoic. Differential loading of salt on opposing east-west dome margins led to their present day asymmetric geometries. Diapir growth rates in the Mesozoic were closely linked to the rate of sedimentation and influenced by regional tectonism.