| Compared with the restoration of balanced cross-sections in ordinary structural settings,the balancing of salt structural sections faces more difficulties because of the viscous flowage of salt bodies. It is addressed that the balanced cross-sections of salt structures,which are restored on the basis of the original thickness of salt layers and growth strata and triangles in the Kuqa foreland thrust belt in the northern part of Tarim Basin.The results reveal that the Paleogene Ku
mugeliemu Formation commenced depositing without spatial variations in original thickness of about 1,130m. The growth strata and triangles show that the strongest structural distortion of salt structures occurred during later Himalayan orogeny from the Kuqa period to Quaternary. Under the influence of SN-trending compressional stresses, the SN-trending shorten ing strains are 20～35 km and the shortening rates are 20%～35% in the Kuqa foreland thrust belt. On the whole, the differ ential structural distortion in varying structural belts,sectors and layers are obvious.The intense structural distortion in the supra-salt and subsalt strata happened in the Qiulitage and Kelasu structural belts,respectively. The salt layers acted as important detachment and harmonizer in the differential structural distortion. |
