Composition and Characteristics of Salt-Mud Bed in Dongying Depression

Saline sequences exist in the lower fourth number of the Shahejie Formation and the first number of the Kongdian Formation in the Dongying depression. The typical feature of primary sediments of the saline sequence is the rhythmic succession characterized by interbeds of evaporite and overpressured mudstone, which is prevalent in continental fault basins in China. As a whole, a salt-mud bed is different from a cure salt bed or mud bed and its plastic forming structures are also different. So the concepts of "salt-mud bed" and "salt-mud tectonics" are proposed in this paper. "salt-mud bed" refers to sedimentary sequence consisting of the interbeds of evaporite and overpressured mudstone, which has ductile or fluid properties. "salt-mud tectonics" is a kind of tectonics resulting from the distortion of a salt-mud bed flow. The concept of salt-mud bed will assist research into the genetic mechanism and structural style of salt-mud tectonics.