4 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the

Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

3
Tari, Gabor Alvarez, Yves
Coterill, Katrina Nova Sud
Papers Molnar, Jim 25 rue Raveloary, Isoraka
Valasek, Dave
101 Antananarivo, Madagascar
Walters, Gary
Start
Vanco Energy Company
Three Greenway Plaza, 12th Floor
Author Houston, Texas 77046

Search
Abstract
The offshore Majunga basin of Madagascar
appears to be the largest salt basin in East Africa. It is
Help the previously very poorly known deep-water part of
the Majunga that hosts a variety of salt features, includ-
ing both autochthonous and allochthonous structures
which include toe-thrust anticlines, falling and rising
Print
8.5 x 11 diapirs, turtle structures, salt tongues/canopies and
withdrawal mini-basins beneath the slope. In the middle
of the salt basin, the salt edge displays a major basin-
ward salient where the Early Jurassic syn-rift salt
ramped up through the Jurassic and Cretaceous strata
forming a broad allochthonous salt nappe.
As only 2D seismic reflection data are available
over the Majunga salt basin, it provides only a sub-
regional scale example of the interaction between salt
and sediments. One of the regional-scale aspects of salt/
sediment interaction includes the relative importance of
updip sediment loading versus regional tilting of the
margin in the initiation of allochthonous salt tectonics.
The uplift in the hinterland of the Majunga basin occurs
during the mid-Cretaceous when the Seychelles/Indian
continent rifted away from the eastern side of Madagas-
car. It is suggested here that it was the regional
basinward tilt that triggered the salt tectonics. Thus, the
subsequent Late Cretaceous, accelerated sedimentary
influx only has enhanced the ongoing salt deformation.

Salt-Sediment Interactions and Hydrocarbon Prospectivity: Concepts, Applications, and Case Studies for the 21st Century 614 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 Introduction
Compared to our general geological and geo-
physical knowledge of various segments of Africa,
3 what is known about Madagascar to the non-French-
speaking world is generally less than ideal (Boast and
Nairn, 1982). An additional difficulty arises from the
7 fact that some of the most definitive works on Mada-
gascan geology are published in papers that are difficult
to access (e.g., Besairie, 1964, 1972).
Papers The island of Madagascar is a micro-plate that
has a very complex geological history (for a recent
review see De Wit, 2003). Some two-thirds of the
Start island surface rocks are Precambrian (e.g., Collins and
Windley, 2002). For the purpose of this paper, we clas-
sified all these units as basement in the two major
Author sedimentary basins of Madagascar: the Morondava
basin in the southwest and the Majunga (or Mahajanga)
basin in the northwest (Fig. 1).
Search
Regional setting and structural evolution
Help In terms of finding the conjugate margin of Mada-
gascar on the East African mainland it is important to
realize that even in the early eighties are were several
very different propositions in the literature (Boast and
Nairn, 1982). Whereas some (Smith and Hallam, 1970;
McElhinny and Embleton, 1976) reconstruct Madagas-
car adjacent to the Tanzanian coast prior to breakup,
Flores (1970) and Green (1972) suggest the Mozam-
bique-Natal coast as the conjugate margin. Some others
The deep-water portion of the offshore Majunga
basin of northwest Madagascar is perhaps the most
poorly understood salt basin (e.g., Coffin and Rabinow-
itz, 1988) in Africa prior to the recent acquisition of the
first systematic and regional seismic data set. About
4,500 km of 2D reflection seismic data, collected in two
separate surveys in 2001 and 2002, has allowed the defi-
nition of several salt tectonic domains within the salt
basin.
The aim of this contribution is two-fold. It will
first document, in basic terms for the first time, the
Majunga salt basin, as one of the last unexplored salt
basins of the world, in basic terms for the first time. Sec-
ond, this paper proposes some preliminary models for
its origin and evolution, especially in the context of salt-
sediment interactions and how it may impact hydrocar-
bon prospectivity in this frontier deep-water basin.
(Kent, 1974; Nairn, 1978) view Madagascar in a fixed
stationary position with respect to East Africa.
However, by the late eighties it became widely
accepted that Madagascar rifted away from the Soma-
lia/Kenya/Tanzania segment of East Africa during the
Middle Jurassic (e.g., Reeves et al., 1987; Coffin and
Rabinowitz, 1988; Bosellini, 1989). Only refinements
of this basic tectonic model were proposed recently
(Reeves et al., 2002; St. John, 2003; Reeves, 2003).
615 
 Tari et al.
4 The conjugate margin of the Majunga basin is the
Mogadishu basin of Somalia. The pronounced overall
concave to the northwest shape of the onshore Majunga
3 basin (i.e., the overall coastline) the bathymetric con-
tours and the overall contours of the outcropping
Mesozoic and Cenozoic succession, now documented
in the deep-water offshore area as well, appears to find
7 its exact counterpart in the convex to the southeast Bur
Ambar-Bur Acaba-Oddur basement high in Somalia
(Tari et al., 2002). This particular geometry suggests
Papers
Stratigraphy and basin-scale structure
Start The Majunga basin is located in the northwestern
quadrant of Madagascar (Fig. 3). Herein the Majunga
basin is defined as extending between the crystalline
Author basement outcrops at the eastern margin of the basin,
the Bekodoka basement high in the Cap St. Andre area
in the southwest to similar basement exposures along
Search the Ampasindava Peninsula to the northeast. The 3,000
m isobath is arbitrarily taken to be the seaward limit of
the basin.
Help
The stratigraphy appears to be significant differ-
ent between the onshore and shelf as it is known from
well and outcrop data, and the deep-water domain,
where it is inferred from the new seismic data. The fol-
lowing brief description of the stratigraphic column
(Fig. 4) is therefore highly generalized and it reflects
geology seen in the onshore part of the Majunga Basin
(Jeans and van Meerbeke, 1995).
that the Majunga basin has developed in a lower plate
position as part of the Madagascan plate as opposed to
its upper plate counterpart in Somalia/Kenya on the
African plate. Based on these observations and building
on the work of Reeves et al. (1987, 2002), a minimum
closure (i.e., Early Jurassic pre-rift stage, the earlier
Permian-Triassic Karroo rifting being unaccounted for)
reconstruction is suggested between Madagascar and
Somalia/Kenya (Fig. 2).
With the onset of rifting in the Permian, thick
sequences of continental clastics and occasional coals
began to accumulate in the graben areas. The Sakoa,
Sakamena, and Lower Isalo (Isalo I) formations repre-
sent the initial flux of clastics into Karroo rift basins
and are best known from the Morondava basin to the
south. Unconformably overlying these sediments is the
Upper Isalo (Isalo II). The upper part of the Isalo (Isalo
III) succession also contains some gypsum, probably
age equivalent with the massive salt that is seismically
imaged in the deep-water offshore.
Salt has not been found in the onshore Majunga
basin, neither in outcrops nor in boreholes. Its presence
under the shelf was inferred from the existence of
detached fault blocks at the coastline (Lalaharisaina and
Ferrand, 1994). These Katsepe fault blocks appear to
sole into a detachment that would place the salt on top
of a Middle Jurassic carbonate platform sequence.
616 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 However, examples of salt basins from the East African
mainland such as the Mandawa basin of Tanzania (e.g.,
Veeken and Titov, 1996) show that the salt is Early
3 Jurassic age (Pliensbachian-Toarcian). Therefore we
assume a Late Lias age for the salt in the deep-water
Majunga Basin.
7 The breakup unconformity separates the Isalo
syn-rift sequence and the overlying post-rift or "sag
basin" sequence. In Madagascar, this unconformity is
Papers placed at the base of the Dogger Bajocian/Bathonian
carbonates; i.e., lower Dogger. It should be noted that
the top syn-rift unconformity in Kenya and Tanzania is
Start of the same age, though a Lias age is interpreted from
onshore Somalia (Bosellini, 1989). The sediments of
the Dogger sequence consist of shallow-water carbon-
ates and updip, lateral, clastic facies equivalents. This
Author
nearshore sequence becomes more argillaceous and
considerably thinner, indicating starved basin condi-
tions, in a seaward direction.
Search
Clastics replaced the carbonates by the Late
Jurassic, and most of the post-rift sequence in the
Help Majunga Basin was dominated by the steady influx of
siliciclastics from the basement hinterland.
A regional unconformity separates the Upper and
Lower Cretaceous units. The typical Upper Cretaceous
sequence consists of widespread marine shales flanked
on the landward side by a band of fluvial and shelfal
sandstones (Papini and Benvenuti, 1998). In the Turo-
nian, eruption of large volumes of flood basalts occurs
over parts of the Majunga basin (Storey et al., 1995).
Based on the new seismic data set, these basalts also are
present offshore but seem to follow canyons on the
paleo-slope.
Another regional unconformity separates the
Upper Cretaceous from Lower Paleogene to Recent
sediments. Onshore, the Tertiary sediments consist of
marine shales and shelfal carbonates. Offshore, and
especially in deep water, this section is anticipated to
consist of shales and hemipelagic sediments.
The basin-scale structure, the basin architecture,
is best illustrated by two regional transects across the
entire Majunga basin, merging onshore and offshore
seismic lines (Figs. 5A and 5B). The onshore part of the
basin shows a thick, fault-controlled Karroo succession,
as the result of several rifting periods throughout the
Permian to Early Jurassic. The deep graben just north-
west of the basement outcrop edge is the Ankara sub-
basin (e.g., Razafindrazaka et al., 1999) that represents
a failed Karroo rift (Clark and Ramanampisoa, 2002).
The Dogger carbonate platform clearly postdates the
deformation in the Karroo succession. Syn-rift faulting
can be observed under the present-day shelf and slope
westward from what appears to be a basement hinge
zone of Early Jurassic age.
The Lower Cretaceous has a very pronounced set
of clinoforms in the onshore, as clastics superceded the
Dogger carbonate platform. The detached Katsepe fault
blocks near the coastline sole not into a salt horizon, but
instead into an intra-Cretaceous shale detachment level
(cf. Lalaharisaina and Ferrand, 1994). The updip exten-
617 
 Tari et al.
4 sional deformation is entirely compensated by downdip
compression in several imbricates under the slope.
There is no sign of salt tectonics in the southern transect
3 (Fig. 5B), only shale tectonics are evident.
In contrast, the northern transect (Fig. 5A) shows
salt tectonics that are restricted to the deep-water
Majunga Basin. The salt is interpreted as mostly alloch-
7 thonous, ramping up from an intra-Jurassic
autochthonous salt basin below the present-day shelf.
Unfortunately, the currently available vintage seismic
Papers
data cannot be used to identify this primary basin
within which salt was deposited. This basin should be at
Start
Brief hydrocarbon exploration history
Hydrocarbon exploration efforts in Madagascar
Author have not resulted in commercial discoveries to-date
(e.g., Hiller, 2000). A total of eight exploration wells
have been drilled within the Majunga basin; six onshore
Search and two wells on the shallow shelf (Fig. 3). Minor oil
and gas shows have been reported from a number of the
landward tests, and DST's have been run in the shelf
Help wells. Rates and fluid recoveries are ambiguous, though
Salt tectonics
We have produced the first salt tectonic map of
the Majunga Basin. It is based on the interpretation of
the newly acquired seismic data (Fig. 6). The overall
dimensions of the salt basin are about 200x100 km in
strike and dip directions, respectively. By West African
depth of about 7-8 km. The allochthonous salt sheet
extends some 50 km towards the deep basin, ramping
up into the Lower Cretaceous strata. There are several
toe-thrust anticlines at the basinward edge of the salt
sheet and diapirs under the slope. The salt apparently
created a variety of structures in the deep water as dis-
cussed in detail below.
Within the limit of the currently available data
the seismic sections show continental crust in the deep-
water Majunga Basin (Fig. 3). The presence of rotated
syn-rift fault blocks at 3,000 m water depth shows that
the salt basin does not extend onto the oceanic crust.
apparently a gas accumulation is indicated in the Mari-
arano-1 well. Near the southern basin margin, oil seeps
have been reported from the post-Karroo Jurassic sec-
tion at Cap St. Andre and in the Ankara region. Possible
reasons for the failures of hydrocarbon exploration
efforts to-date are given by Clark and Ramanampisoa
(2002). Note, not a single exploration well has been
drilled in the deepwater portion of the basin (Fig. 3).
standards this is a relatively small salt basin (Tari et al.,
2003b and 2003c); however, in East Africa the
Majunga salt basin appears to be the largest delineated
to date.
618 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 Some researchers and explorationists have ques-
tioned the existence of salt in the Majunga and the
conjugate Somali and Kenya basins and argue that the
3 structures are produced by shale tectonics. Based on the
new 2D data set, there is no doubt that there is salt in
the deep-water Majunga basin. Among other argu-
7 ments, one very important piece of evidence for salt
rather than shale as the structuring agent is the presence
Papers
Toe-thrust anticlines
In the middle of the salt basin, the salt edge dis-
Start
plays a major basinward salient representing the toe-
thrust zone. There are several well-developed toe-thrust
Author anticlines in this salt domain trending generally north-
east-southwest. These structures are fairly simple, large
features. The seismic dip line shown in Figure 7 illus-
Search trates the first anticline out of the deep basin, at the
leading edge of the salt deformational front. Whereas
the base of the salt is fairly well defined, the top salt
Help pick is somewhat ambiguous. The thinning/thickening
relationships on the flanks of the anticline show a long
history of fold development. In fact, a close inspection
of the anticline reveals an early deformation period
with three smaller folds, which are overprinted by a
longer-wavelength fold approximately 10 km across.
This is fairly typical in deep-water, salt-cored, fold
belts where episodic shortening is accompanied by con-
of velocity pull-ups beneath the salt features due to the
4,300-4,500 m/s migration velocity associated with the
interpreted salt bodies.
There are several different salt tectonic domains
within the salt basin based on the particular deforma-
tional styles of the salt features. In order to illustrate all
of these salt tectonic domains, representative seismic
sections are shown below.
tinuing deposition on top of the growing fold (Peel,
2003). A prominent package of Upper Cretaceous
reflectors laps on the frontal limb of the anticline, dat-
ing the formation of the allochthonous salt sheet/nappe
as mid-Cretaceous. The geometry of the reflectors close
to the seafloor suggests that this particular anticline is
practically dormant at present.
Typical dip lines across the frontal part of the toe-
thrust domain do not image the base salt geometry well
enough to show its inferred ramp/flat geometry. How-
ever, some of the strike lines on the northeastern flank
of the toe-thrust salt domain do reveal the allochtho-
nous nature of the salt (Fig. 8). This example strike
section shows the lateral ramp of the salt nappe clearly
climbing through the Jurassic and Cretaceous age
strata. The ramps may actually suggest several pulses of
basinward salt flow.
619 
 Tari et al.
4 Diapirs
Inboard from the toe-thrust salt domain there are
some still rising and already falling diapirs sensu
3 Vendeville and Jackson (1992a, b). These structures are
7 Salt tongues and canopies
Toe-thrust anticlines are missing in the southern
part of the Majunga salt basin (Fig. 6). In this part of the
Papers
basin, the salt forms allochthonous structures emplaced
high up in the section, very close to the seafloor
(Fig. 9). The salt tongues that are at the stage of coa-
Start lescing to form large canopies are responsible for the
pronounced Majunga escarpment on the seafloor. This
Author
Turtle(?) structure
Search A large turtle structure is found below the alloch-
thonous salt sheet, between the toe-thrust structures and
the falling diapirs. Its position is clearly subsalt and the
geometry of the reflectors on both flanks is consistent
Help
with salt withdrawal. The base of the turtle structure is
considered as a good approximation for the original
Interaction between salt tectonics and sedimentation
The basin-scale evolution is best illustrated by
sequential sketches of the main stages leading to the
present-day structure of the Majunga salt basin
related to the extension above the allochthonous salt
sheet and they indicate an intra-Tertiary age for the fall
of pre-existing diapirs.
escarpment has previously been attributed to ongoing
salt deformation by Coffin and Rabinowitz (1987, their
Figure 8). The bathymetric step is very similar to that of
the Sigsbee and the Angolan escarpments of the Gulf of
Mexico and the Lower Congo Basin, respectively (e.g.,
Diegel et al., 1995; Marton et al., 2000).
stratigraphic level of the Early Jurassic autochthonous
salt. The turtle structure is fairly large and at present it
seems to be the only example of this particular salt tec-
tonic style in the Majunga Basin. As its extent appears to
coincide with that of the toe-thrust domain there might
be a causal relationship, which will be discussed later.
(Fig. 10). Note that certain simplifications are made in
order to capture the most important elements of salt tec-
tonics in the regional context of basin evolution.
620 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 Permo-Triassic (Karroo)
Continental and lacustrine sediments were depos-
ited in half-grabens in a wide rift. This unsuccessful rift
3 setting resulted in the Sakamena, Isalo I, and Isalo II
formations being up to 5 km thick in local areas. The
7 Early Jurassic
The Karroo rift system was eventually localized
Papers into a narrow rift where salt deposition commenced
during the Liassic. The resulting depositional salt basin
was about 50 km wide, bounded by a basement hinge
zone to the southeast. The continental Isalo III Forma-
Start
Middle Jurassic
Author After the opening of the oceanic basin, deep-
water environments were created due to rapid differen-
tial subsidence. Siliciclastic sedimentation was replaced
Search by a carbonate platform on the shelf whereas deep-
Middle Cretaceous
Help
Due to the departure of the Seychelles/Indian
subcontinent from the eastern side of the Madagascar
microplate a very pronounced basinward tilt occurred
in the Majunga Basin during mid-Cretaceous (i.e.,
Albian/Cenomanian/Turonian) times. The rapid influx
of siliciclastics in several feeder systems across the
shelf (Fig. 10) drowned the carbonate platform and
formed an extensive delta system. It was the sudden
onshore Majunga basin has one important graben asso-
ciated with this stage: the Ankara graben is one of the
failed Karroo rift basins (Clark and Ramanampisoa,
2002).
tion was interpreted to be deposited partly coevally
with the salt. Magmatism, manifested by volcanoes(?)
and sills towards the northwest, heralded the successful
opening between the East African mainland and the still
intact Madagascar/India plate.
water shales were deposited in the deep basin. As the
post-salt sedimentary cover was relatively thin during
this time (i.e., <1km) the salt had not started to move.
thickening of the post-salt sedimentary cover that trig-
gered the dramatic response of the salt, forming a very
extensive salt sheet as salt evacuated its depositional
basin. At the leading edge of the allochthonous nappe,
toe-thrust anticlines formed, whereas deep withdrawal
mini-basins formed above the evacuating autochonous
salt. Isopaching of the Upper Cretaceous sediments
shows the location of these locally very thick (up to 6-7
621 
 Tari et al.
4 km) depocenters that are the expression of withdrawal
of the underlying salt.
3 Middle Tertiary
The rate of sediment supply decreased somewhat,
and the early folds within the salt nappe were enhanced
7 and tightened. Some of the diapirs above the salt sheet
began to fall as the result of supra-salt extension. Note
that shale tectonics became operational when exten-
Papers sional roll-overs under the shelf were detached on an
Present day
Start
Siliciclastics still prograde over the shelf-edge
onto an active slope. There is little expression of the
Author underlying structure on the modern seafloor above the
leading edge of the salt deformational front. However,
the salt is still actively deforming under the slope;
Search
Implications for hydrocarbon exploration
Help There are several salt-related play types in the
offshore Majunga basin (Fig. 11). The most obvious of
these is the simple four-way structural traps within the
fold train of the toe-thrust zone at the outboard margin
of the salt basin. Inboard of the toe-thrust anticlines, the
falling diapirs have a variety of fault traps. The still-ris-
ing diapirs provide the classic salt-flank traps; whereas,
the large salt-withdrawal mini-basins may have strati-
graphic traps associated with the dish onlap geometry.
intra-Cretaceous shale horizon (Fig. 5). To accommo-
date this gravity-driven movement, the updip extension
was compensated by several imbricates underneath the
upper slope. Obviously, the salt and shale tectonics
formed very different structures.
therefore, faults are extending close to or emerging at
the seafloor. In addition, there is evidence for the for-
mation of extensive channel/overbank submarine fan
systems on the present-day slope.
Even though the salt is actively deforming under the
upper part of the slope there is room for subsalt traps
sensu Hart and Albertin (2001). The turtle feature under
the allochthonous salt sheet has a simple, large, four-
way structural closure.
There are several analogs for the toe-thrust play
in African salt basins (e.g., Dailly, 2000; Tari et al.,
2001; 2003b, c). Also, classic examples of the salt-
flank, withdrawal minibasin and subsalt traps of the
622 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 northern Gulf of Mexico (e.g., Montgomery and
Moore, 1997) are considered as useful analogs for the
anticipated trap types in the Majunga salt basin.
3 Discussion
Whereas the new 2D reflection seismic data
7 reveals the major aspects of salt tectonics in the
Majunga basin, there are several questions that remain
open-ended. One of the important questions to investi-
Papers gate further is the relative importance of updip
sediment loading compared to regional tilting of the
margin in the initiation of allochthonous salt tectonics
Start (Fig. 10). The uplift in the hinterland of the Majunga
Basin occurs during the mid-Cretaceous when the Sey-
chelles/Indian continent rifts away from the eastern side
Author of Madagascar. The associated basinward tilt can be
quantified and compared to expectations based on
dynamic modelling (e.g., Gemmer et al., 2002; Ings et
Search al., 2003). At this stage, we speculate that it is the
regional basinward tilt that triggers the salt tectonics
and the subsequent Late Cretaceous accelerated sedi-
Help mentary influx only enhances the ongoing salt
deformation.
An additional important factor in the regional-
scale interaction of salt and sediment is the concave to
the northwest overall shape of the Majunga basin
(Figs. 1 and 3). This particular shape, the direct result
of the lower plate position of the Majunga margin (Tari
et al., 2002; 2003a), clearly focuses the sediment influx
into the center of the offshore salt basin. Therefore, it is
not surprising that the large allochthonous salt nappe
has formed in the same area (Fig. 3) where most of the
sediment feeder systems converged.
Another question concerns the formation of the
large-scale allochthonous salt nappe depicted in
Figure 6. Based on the current 2D seismic understand-
ing of its geometry, the nappe is interpreted to have
been sourced from a single primary depositional salt
basin from which salt has been extruded into an alloch-
thonous nappe position approximately 50 km
basinward.
Essentially the same scenario was largely
accepted about a decade ago in the case of the northern
Gulf of Mexico (e.g., Diegel et al., 1995). However,
better seismic imaging and recent sub-regional to
regional 3D data sets indicated the presence of numer-
ous local feeders beneath the extensive salt canopies
close to the Sigsbee escarpment. The 2D seismic data
sets in the Majunga basin did not show any indication
of such local feeders yet, and their presence was only
inferred based on the coincidence of the large turtle fea-
ture beneath the allochthonous salt nappe (Fig. 11). If
the large salt nappe was a salt-stock canopy system,
instead of a single, large, salt nappe; then it would have
623 
 Tari et al.
4 important impact on both the subsalt and supra-salt pro-
spectivity of the basin.
Only the regional to sub-regional aspects of the
3 salt and sediment interaction have been highlighted in
this paper. The Majunga salt basin is a frontier basin.
Therefore it cannot offer at present the fine details of
7 salt/sediment interaction documented by numerous
Conclusions
Papers
Whereas there is no evidence for salt in the
onshore Majunga basin, its deep-water region contains
Start the largest salt basin in East Africa, excluding the Red
Sea. To-date, salt has not been penetrated in any of the
Author offshore wells. However, it is interpreted to be an Early
Jurassic syn-rift salt, very similar to salt penetrated on
the East African mainland. The Majunga salt basin
Search shows very advanced salt structures on the currently
available 2D seismic reflection data. Autochthonous
and allochthonous salt features exist under the slope;
Help
these include salt-cored toe-thrust anticlines, diapirs,
tongues, canopies, and a large-scale salt nappe.
There is evidence for the presence of shale tec-
tonics just below the present-day shelf and the upper
slope. The shale tectonics are confined to the Creta-
ceous and Tertiary succession due to an intra-
Cretaceous shale detachment level. Thus, the shale and
papers from other, much better understood salt basins
(Travis et al., 1995; other papers this volume). A closer
look at the prospect-scale interaction between salt and
sediments is expected in the near future once a 3D data
set is acquired over the most promising salt-related
structures in the deep-water Majunga Basin.
salt tectonics coexist in the Majunga Basin with the
Early Jurassic salt being responsible for the largest
share of the deformation.
At present, prior to the availability of 3D seismic
data, the Majunga salt basin provides an example of the
interaction of salt and sediments only on a regional to
sub-regional scale. Even though the exact timing is to
be determined, the formation of the large-scale alloch-
thonous salt nappe appears to coincide with a Late
Cretaceous episode of basinward tilt. This regional tilt
of the entire lower-plate margin of the Majunga Basin
also has triggered a dramatic influx of siliciclastics
from the hinterland directly into the deep-water basin
further enhancing the initial salt deformation. The dra-
matic basinward mobilization of salt has led to the
formation of a major withdrawal basin above what is
assumed to be a syn-rift primary depositional salt basin.
624 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar
4 Acknowledgments
Thanks to the entire technical staff of OMNIS in
Antananarivo, but in particular to Joëli Lalaharisaina,
3 Ignace Randrianasolo, Lalaoharijaona Rasoambolanoro
and Euphrem Rasolonjatovo for helping us better
understand the geology of the Majunga Basin. Discus-
7 sions about regional Madagascan geology and the
References
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Besairie, H., 1972, Geologie de Madagascar, I. Les terrains
sedimentarires: Annual Geologique Madagascar, v.
Search 35, 436 p.
Boast, J., and A.E.N. Nairn, 1982, An outline of the geology
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3
7
Papers

Start

Author

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 Tari et al.

4 42° 3000
300
0 48°
00
30
2500

0
250

12°

3
00
35

Figure 3

7
Papers IN
16° BAS
N GA
JU
MA

Start
16°

Author
IN

Search
A BAS
1500

1000
2000

500
NDAV

20°

Help
MORO

200 KM
0
50

00
20

LEGEND
QUATERNARY
20°
42°
TERTIARY
U. CRETACEOUS
TURONIAN BASALT
L. CRETACEOUS
JURASSIC
24°
PERMOTRIASSIC
BASEMENT
54°

500
1000
1500
24°
00
20

48° 54°

Figure 1. Simplified geologic map of Madagascar, modified from Besairie (1964). Note that the various Precambrian
units were simplified into one single basement unit for clarity.
k

629 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 35° 40° 45°

300 KM N
3
7
5°N
m
00
10

Papers BUR ACABA

AN

MOGADISHU
ZA
TR
O

Start
UG

CAP
St. 15°
H

0° ANDRE
Lake
Victoria NAIROBI
Author
TANANARIVE N
Search
m
00
10

5°S 20°S
Help

QUATERNARY
COVER
POST-RIFT
SEDIMENTS
45° VOLCANICS OF THE
10°S EAST AFRICAN RIFT
25°S
50°
KARROO
INDIAN
OCEAN
PRECAMBRIAN

Modified from Reeves et al. (1987)

Figure 2. Minimum closure reconstruction of Madagascar and East Africa, modified from Reeves et al. (1987, 2002).
Note the significant overlap between the present-day coastlines of Somalia and Kenya and that of Madagascar. The
conjugate margin of the Majunga basin is the Somali Coastal (or Mogadishu) basin. The large-scale basement outcrop
of Bur Acaba in Somalia fits into the embayment of the Majunga basin prior to the Jurassic breakup. This geometry is
interpreted in terms of lower and upper plates (Majunga and Somali Coastal Basins, respectively).
k

630 
 Tari et al.

4
SIMPLIFIED GEOLOGY AMPASINDAVA
PENINSULA
AND SEISMIC INDEX MAP
3 MAJUNGA BASIN,
MADAGASCAR
7 MAJUNGA SALT BASIN

QUATERNARY
TERTIARY Figure 5A
Papers
UPPER CRETACEOUS
TURONIAN BASALT
LOWER CRETACEOUS
Start
JURASSIC
Figure 5B
PERMOTRIASSIC (KARROO)
BASEMENT
Author
Mahajamba-1

Marianaro-1
3000
Search 2000
1500
2500

500 1000 Sofia 1

MAJUNGA
Help
Belobaka 1

Tuilerie-1

CAPE Maraway 1
ST. ANDRE

Ankara 1
BASEMENT
BEKODOKA

100 KM

Figure 3. Simplified geologic map of the onshore Majunga basin (Besairie, 1964) and the seismic data base available for
this work. Note the simplified outline of the offshore salt basin. The Bekodoka basement high and the Ampasindava
Peninsula that define the basin are shown. Some of the existing exploration wells are shown as blue well symbols.
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 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 AGE PRESENT DAY

COAST INTERIOR SR HC LOCATIONS TECTONICS
Ng
3 TT
Pg MARIARANO-1

7 KU
NW/W TILTING,
MAGMATISM

V V V V V V V V V V V V V
FLOOD BASALT
CRETACEOUS

MARAVOAY-1
Papers TUILERIE-1

?
W.MANAMBOLO-1
Start SOFIA-1
KL

? MADAGASCAR-
Author ? CONDENSED SEQUENCE ? SEYCHELLES
RIFTING

? ?
Search JU

Help JM
JURASSIC

DOGGER TUILERIE-1
IHOPY-1
ISALO
BERONONO III SOMALI BASIN
SHALE
RIFTING
CAP ST. ANDRE
JL ?

ISALO II
RU
TRIASSIC

LIGNITIC SH
TSIMORORO
KARROO

RM ISALO I BEMOLANGA

RL
U
?
SAKAMENA MANANDAZA-1
L
PU
PERMIAN

GONDWANA
? INTRA-CRATONIC
SAKOA RIFTING
PC
PL
CARB.

CU

Figure 4. Stratigraphy of the onshore Majunga basin, from Jeans and van Meerbeke (1995). Note that the deep-water
stratigraphic column is interpreted and expected to be quite different. Color guide; red = Precambrian basement, yel-
low = sandstone and coarse siliciclastics, orange = shale, blue = limestones, dark red = Turonian flood basalt. SR =
source rock intervals and HC = hydrocarbon shows.
k

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 Tari et al.

4 0
NW shoreline SE
0

1 A 1

3 2 no data 2
TWO-WAY TRAVEL TIME (S)

3 3

7 4 no data 4

5 5 ANTANANARIVO
TERTIARY
Primary
Papers 6 salt basin? UPPER CRETACEOUS
6
LOWER CRETACEOUS
JURASSIC
7 7
PERMOTRIASSIC AND SALT
Start 8 BASEMENT 8

9 100 KM 9

Author 10 10
NW shoreline SE 0
0

Search 1
B 1
poor data
2 2
TWO-WAY TRAVEL TIME (S)

Help 3
Karroo
3
breakaway
4 4
Jurassic
hinge zone
TERTIARY
5 5
UPPER CRETACEOUS
LOWER CRETACEOUS
6 6
POST-RIFT JURASSIC

7 PERMOTRIASSIC 7
BASEMENT

8 8
100 KM

9 9

Figure 5. Regional geoseismic transects across the Majunga basin; vertical exaggeration is about six-fold at 4 km/s
velocity. For location see Figure 3. (A) Geoseismic transect across the northern part of the Majunga basin. (B) Geoseis-
mic transect across the southern part of the Majunga Basin. Note that the present-day shelf area appears to be a poor
seismic data area, which is the reason that there are gaps in the line drawing interpretations. The most important dif-
ference between the regional transects is the presence of salt in the deep-water part of the northern section.
k

633 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 A 50 KM

TOE-THRUST ANTICLINES WITH

3 SALT-CORED FOLD TRENDS,

ALLOCHTHONOUS SALT NAPPE

Figure 8
Figure 7
7
Papers
Figure 9

Start
RAFTS(?) AND
ISOLATED DIAPIRS

Author

ALLOCHTHONOUS SALT
TONGUES, SHEETS AND
CANOPIES
Search

Help
RAFTS? ALLOCHTHONOUS SALT
B TOE-THRUST TONGUES AND CANOPIES
ANTICLINES

BASEMENT

TRANSFORM
ZONE?

INDEX
MAP

VIEW TOWARDS EAST

Figure 6. (A) Simplified salt tectonic map of the offshore Majunga basin. The location of seismic illustrations shown in
Figures 7-9 are highlighted in red. (B) Cartoon illustrating the geometry of the main salt tectonic domains in the
Majunga basin in relation to the underlying basement structure. The allochthonous salt nappe forming a major basin-
ward promontory is in sharp contrast with the salt tongue/canopy domain in the southwestern part of the salt basin.
One speculative explanation for the initiation of the exceptionally large allochthonous salt nappe is a gap in the base-
ment ridge bounding the primary salt basin basinward. This disruption might be attributed to a broad transform zone
trending north-northwest.
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 Tari et al.

4 NW SE

3 4- -4

7
TWO-WAY TRAVEL TIME (S)

Papers 5- -5

TOE-THRUST
Start ANTICLINE
NEAR TOP
CRETACEOUS

Author
6- -6
NEAR TOP
CENOMANIAN (?)
Search
ALTERNATIVE
TOP SALT

Help
7- -7

5 KM

Figure 7. Seismic example of the salt-cored toe-thrust anticline domain, dip line; for location see Figure 6. The interpreted salt is shown in semi-transparent
magenta color. Note that whereas the base of the salt is fairly well defined, the top salt pick is somewhat ambiguous.
k

635 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 SW NE

3
4- -2

7
NEAR TOP
CRETACEOUS
TWO-WAY TRAVEL TIME (S)

Papers
5- -4
TURONIAN (?)
FLOOD BASALT
Start
NEAR TOP
CENOMANIAN (?)
ALTERNATIVE
TOP SALT
Author
6- -6
Search

Help

7- TOP SYN-RIFT -7
JURASSIC

10 KM

Figure 8. Seismic example of the salt-cored toe-thrust anticline domain, strike line; for location see Figure 6. The interpreted salt is shown in semi-transparent
magenta color. Note that whereas the base of the salt is fairly well defined, the top salt pick is somewhat ambiguous.
k

636 
 Tari et al.

4 NW SE

3 2- -2

7 MAJUNGA
ESCARPMENT

Papers
4- -4
TWO-WAY TRAVEL TIME (S)

INFERRED
Start SALT FEEDER
CRETACEOUS
WITHDRAWAL
BASIN

TOP SYN-RIFT
Author 6- JURASSIC
-6
?
ALLOCHTHONOUS
SALT NAPPE PRIMARY SALT
LEVEL?
Search PRIMARY SALT
LEVEL? PRIMARY SALT
BASIN

NEAR TOP
Help 8- BASEMENT -8

10 KM

Figure 9. Seismic example of the allochthonous salt canopy domain, dip line; for location see Figure 6. The interpreted salt is shown in semi-transparent magenta
color. Note that whereas the top of the salt is fairly well defined, the base salt pick is somewhat ambiguous.
k

637 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 NW SE NW SE
MIDDLE JURASSIC PRESENT Coastline
Carbonate
Coastline
Platform

3 Upwelling ?

Source
Rocks

7
Thermal
Subsidence

Papers
NW SE
EARLY JURASSIC Narrow Rift
Rift Shoulder Hinterland NW SE
Start Volcano
Salt Playa Basin Isalo lll
MIDDLE TERTIARY Coastline

Aborted
Rift

Author

Search
NW SE
PERMO-TRIASSIC (KARROO) Rift
Continental
Clastics Shoulder
Help Isalo ll
Isalo l
Sakamena
NW SE
MIDDLE CRETACEOUS
Siliciclastic Coastline
Delta

Withdrawal
Slope Basins
JURASSIC UPPER TERTIARY Fans
Basin Salt Nappe
Floor
SALT LOWER TERTIARY Fans

SYN-RIFT JURASSIC UPPER CRETACEOUS

Basinward
Tilt
SYN-RIFT KARROO LOWER CRETACEOUS

BASEMENT

Figure 10. Sequential sketch of the evolution of the Majunga basin; for detailed explanation see text.
k

638 
 Salt Tectonics and Sedimentation in the Offshore Majunga Basin, Madagascar

4 PLAY TYPES
NW DEEP-WATER MAJUNGA BASIN, MADAGASCAR SE
3 MAJUNGA
ESCARPMENT

7 DORMANT
FALLING
DIAPIR
ANTICLINES

5
Papers
1
2
1
1
Start 1 2
2
1
3 4
WITHDRAWAL
1 BASIN
Author

3
6
Search
SALT FEEDER ? ?

? ?
PRIMARY
Help SALT
BASIN

TRANSITIONAL
CRUST
CONTINENTAL
NOT TO SCALE! CRUST

MIDDLE LOWER LOWER UPPER

KARROO JURASSIC CRETACEOUS TERTIARY TERTIARY
UPPER UPPER IGNEOUS
BASEMENT SALT
JURASSIC CRETACEOUS INTRUSION

TOE-THRUST FAULTED SALT DISH SUB- SUBSALT

1 ANTICLINE 2 3- AND 4-WAYS 3 FLANK 4 ONLAP 5 SALT 6 TURTLE

Figure 11. Salt-related play types in the offshore Majunga basin (Bally and Tari, 2004); for explanation see text.
k

639