Gravity data as a tool for delineating subsurface geology of Ariana region (Diapirs zone, Tunisia)

Detailed gravity data were used to investigate and characterize subsurface geology in the Ariana region. The integration of geological data and computed gravity fields (Bouguer anomaly, upward continuation and Enhanced Horizontal Derivative) help recognizing the subsurface heterogeneities beneath the masking homogeneous quaternary interval. The substratum is made of aligned heavy anomalies which consist of two orthogonal structures. The first one corresponds to northwest directed elevated zone, limited by N140 bearing buried fault system. The second one is directed northeast and well expressed in surface geology. This structural architecture is inscribed in a compressive regime associated to important strike-slip fault displacements in Northeast Tunisia. The overall stress-strain pair is integrated in the regional as well as the global tectonic regime induced by the combined African and European plate movements.