Fold growth in the South Caspian Sea Basin: Mechanisms and interaction with deep-water lacustrine sediments

The South Caspian Sea Basin contains one of the thickest sedimentary successions of any basin on the planet. It has accumulated up to 10 km of sedimentary infill in the last 6 Million years alone, overlying a thick, organic-rich, over-pressured shale. The location of the Caspian Sea at the site of a major zone of plate convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian Plates, has led to the formation of numerous shale-cored anticlines, with associated mud volcanoes. Since c. 3 Ma it has been isolated from marine waters and sedimentary fill has been dominated by fluvial and deltaic deposits passing laterally into shallow and deep-water lacustrine sediments in the south of the basin. The aims of this project are firstly to investigate the mode of formation of the shale-cored Caspian Sea Basin folds and in particular address the role of sediment loading as well as tectonic shortening in their genesis; and secondly to understand how the deep-water lacustrine environments are affected by the growth of the folds.