Orenburg state university

Discussing salt domes with colleagues from the USA

A group of scientists from Orenburg State University returned from the scientific expedition to the United States of America.

The expedition was one of the requirements of Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant "Landscape-geomorphological phenomena of salt tectonics: morphology, dynamics and problems of rational nature management". Since the beginning of August, a team of scientists led by the head of OSU Department of Urban Cadastre, Vadim Petrischev, have studied salt domes in Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and Utah. In total, they studied over 30 domes of the largest basins of the USA — the Gulf of Mexico basin, the East Texas basin, the North Louisiana and the Paradox basin.

Scientists found out that the brightness degree of the landscape manifestation of the salt domes depends not only on regional tectonic activity, but also on the most important planetary geographical pattern — climatic zonation. The scientists discovered that the majority of the "phenomena" of salt tectonics in the USA fully confirm the concept of salt-domed landscape genesis, which proves the evolutionary development of landscape complexes of salt-dome origin through nucleation, maturity and dying stages.