Davide Oppo , Christopher Aiden-Lee Jackson , Vittorio Maselli

The impact of seafloor deformation on sediment routing during the initial phases of extensional salt tectonics is largely unresolved despite influencing the volume of coarse-grained clastic material delivered to the deep sea. Using 3D seismic reflection data from the northern Levant Basin offshore Lebanon, we investigate the interplay between early extension-related salt deformation and deep-water sediment dispersal. Our results indicate that slope-parallel faults favor early sediment transfer to the abyssal plain. In contrast, slope-normal faults and ramp-syncline basins create significant accommodation, trapping deep-water channels at the base-of-slope and delaying coarse sediment transfer to the abyssal plain. These results help refine source-to-sink models of turbidite systems developing in young salt basins and highlight the crucial role of extensional tectonics in the early stages of basin development, emphasizing the impact of fault strike, ramp-syncline basin evolution, and salt welding on deep-water sediment routing. Our study increases the understanding of sediment transfer in young, evolving salt basins and has significant implications for predicting deep-water stratigraphy in mature, more structurally complex basins.