User:Suhacker256/SaltDome

Article Draft
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt intrudes into overlying rocks, a process known as diapirism.

''This new section incorporates information from the section in the original article titled "Recognizing salt domes in seismic data". I intend to remove that section.''

Discovery mechanisms
Some salt domes can be seen from Earth's surface. They can also be located by finding unique surface structures and surrounding phenomena. For instance, salt domes can contain or be near sulfur springs and natural gas vents. Some salt domes have salt sheets that extrude from the top of the dome; these are referred to as salt plugs. These plugs can coalesce to form salt canopies, which can then be remobilized by roof sedimentation, with the most prominent example in the northern Gulf of Mexico basin. Another structure that can form from salt domes are salt welds. These occur when the growth of a dome is prevented by an exhausted supply of salt and the top and bottom contacts merge.

Salt domes have also been located using seismic refraction and seismic reflection. The latter was developed based on techniques from the former. and is more effective. Seismic reflection highlights the presence of a stark density contrast between the salt and surrounding sediment. Advances in seismic reflection and the expansion of offshore petroleum exploration efforts led to the discovery of numerous salt domes soon after World War II.

This section is a rewrite of the same section found in the original article.

Commercial uses
Salt domes are the site of many of the world's hydrocarbon provinces. The rock salt of the salt dome is mostly impermeable, so, as it moves up towards the surface, it penetrates and bends existing rock along with it. As strata of rock are penetrated, they are, generally, bent upwards where they meet the dome, forming pockets and reservoirs of petroleum and natural gas. In 1901, an exploratory oil well was drilled into Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas. This led to the discovery of the first salt dome, revealed the importance of salt to the formation of hydrocarbon accumulations, and produced enough oil for petroleum to become an economically feasible fuel for the United States.

The caprock above the salt domes can contain deposits of native sulfur (recovered by the Frasch process). They can also contain deposits of metals, sodium salts, nitrates, and other substances, which can be used in products such as table salt and chemical de-icers.