In response to a need for a concise presentation of new terms and concepts in salt tectonics, we have compiled a glossary that focuses on ideas developed during the 1980's. Unlike conventional glossaries, ours is conceptual rather than alphabetical; each term is defined in the context of preceding terms. When known, the first paper to define or develop a new term has been cited. The purpose of this glossary is to promote a common language for salt tectonics, so that terminology and concepts will be better understood and so that the discipline will continue to develop.
In mature sedimentary basins, where mechanical compaction is negligible, the hydrodynamics is typically described by steady-state flow driven by potential energy represented by the water table, which generally follows the topography.
Field studies and numerical modeling were used to evaluate hydraulic controls on unsaturated flow in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas. These studies were part of a program to characterize a site for a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The study area was instrumented with neutron-probe access tubes to monitor moisture content and with thermocouple psychrometers to monitor water potential. The absence of temporal variations in moisture content monitored in deep (41 m) profiles indicated that water pulses are not moving through the system.
The Lower Cretaceous Travis Peak Formation contains an estimated 6.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in place in East Texas and North Louisiana. Advanced technology will be needed to maximize recovery from this low-permeability ("tight") gas sandstone. This report focuses on the contribution of geology to understanding and efficiently developing the complex gas reservoirs in the Travis Peak Formation in East Texas.
The Hueco Bolson is a segment of the Rio Grande Rift that formed as a result of late Tertiary Basin and Range deformation. The upper Tertiary Fort Hancock Formation and the upper Tertiary-Quaternary Camp Rice Formation compose the basin fill except in the deepest (western) parts of the bolson. Five lithofacies form the Fort Hancock Formation: (I) gravel; (II) sand, sandy mud or sandy silt, and gravel; (III) sand, sandy mud, and sandy silt; (IV) clay and sandy clay; and (V) clay, mud, sandy mud, and gypsum.