Late Pleistocene Bryant Canyon turbidite system: Implications for Gulf of Mexico minibasin petroleum systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. SD89-SD114
Author(s):  
C. Hans Nelson ◽  
John E. Damuth ◽  
Hilary Clement Olson
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Seismic Facies ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Depositional Facies ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Mississippi Canyon ◽  
Turbidite System ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Channel Deposits ◽  
Shelf Margin

The western ancestral Mississippi shelf-margin delta fed the Bryant Canyon turbidite system in the intraslope basin province of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during the penultimate glacial lowstand of sea level (130–160 year BP). The Bryant Canyon links a chain of 15 fill-and-spill minibasins on the continental slope. On the upper and lower continental slopes, minibasins are narrow (1–3 km), elongate (3–6 km), and follow salt ridges. On the middle slope, minibasins are larger (8–15 km) semicircular basins. Three main depositional facies are recognized based on seismic-facies interpretation: (1) ponded turbidites (T), (2) mass-transport deposits (MTDs), and (3) bypass channelized turbidites (C). Thick, intrabasinal, muddy MTD wedges sourced from high-relief internal walls of the minibasins alternate with and frequently cap externally derived deposits. Tabular extrabasinal MTD deposits originated from shelf-margin delta or canyon-wall failures upslope. The T and MTD facies deposits each make up approximately 40% of basin fill, and the C facies deposits comprise approximately 20%. The T facies deposits form perched lobes at canyon inlets into basins and ponded units on distal sides of basins. Channels in the C facies are similar in width (500–2000 m) and relief (20–100 ms) to channels in productive GOM subsurface minibasins. Syntectonic activity of salt diapirs typically began midway through filling of Bryant Canyon minibasins and then preferentially uplifted northern portions of basin deposits. Local salt-tectonic activity caused greater basin relief and thicker capping MTDs than in subsurface minibasins to the west (e.g., Brazos-Trinity Basin IV) or east (e.g., Mississippi Canyon). Bryant Canyon minibasins provide excellent modern analogs for subsurface Miocene to Pleistocene GOM chains of minibasins because of similar scales and depositional facies. The youngest Bryant T facies deposits and their overlying incised, thick, channel deposits contain the most sand-prone facies and suggest the best potential for petroleum reservoirs in subsurface minibasins.

A basin-scale perspective on Cenomanian-Turonian (Cretaceous) depositional systems, greater Gulf of Mexico (USA)

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. SC1-SC22 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Snedden ◽  
Jon Virdell ◽  
Timothy L. Whiteaker ◽  
Patty Ganey-Curry
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Data Mapping ◽  
Deep Basin ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Reservoir Volume ◽  
Mississippi Canyon ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Shelf Margin

Recent exploration discoveries have extended the play fairway for Ceno-Turonian age sandstones from traditional onshore fields into the ultradeep water of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), necessitating a reevaluation of the basin-scale depositional paleogeography. The Eagle Ford-Tuscaloosa (EFT) supersequence is a long-duration (10 my) aggregate of sand-prone depositional sequences, organic-rich shales, and shallow to deepwater carbonates. Tectonic drivers may help to explain how the Tuscaloosa depositional transport systems were able to surmount the prominent shelf-margin reef barrier that previously trapped so much sand in updip shoreline systems in underlying Lower Cretaceous supersequences. The EFT and underlying Paluxy-Washita supersequences were mapped across the Gulf Basin, from onshore to deep water, using a database of released wells, biostratigraphy, and proprietary 2D seismic data. Mapping reveals a carbonate- and shale-dominated, shallow to deep basin bisected by a sand-prone central corridor with two prominent depositional axes extending toward the Keathley Canyon and Mississippi Canyon protraction areas. Our paleogeographic reconstruction pointed to a large extrabasinal fluvial system with a catchment draining the Appalachians, confirmed by recently published detrital zircon provenance results. An older but underappreciated model for a brief but significant phase of uplift of the Mississippi embayment may explain how the basal sandstone units of the Tuscaloosa prograded and supported a large submarine fan extending more than 500 km (310 mi) from the previous Albian shelf margin. The estimated volumes of sediment generated by the local uplift are at least an order of magnitude too small to explain the deepwater grain volume suggesting related regional extension of drainage catchments during the tectonic event. Our work reveals the extent of a large sand fairway with an areal size, fan run-out length, and reservoir volume comparable in some respects with the hydrocarbon-rich Paleogene (Wilcox) in the central GOM.

scholarly journals Tectonic and Stratigraphic Evolution Based on Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy: Central Rift Section of the Campos Basin, Offshore Brazil

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Renata dos Santos Alvarenga ◽  
Juliano Kuchle ◽  
David Iacopini ◽  
Karin Goldberg ◽  
Claiton Marlon dos Santos Scherer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Stratigraphy ◽  
Seismic Facies ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Seismic Sequence ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Practical Procedure ◽  
Geometric Patterns ◽  
Campos Basin ◽  
Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy

The rift section of the Brazilian basins represent the sedimentary record associated with the first stages of Gondwana break-up in the Early Cretaceous phase (Berriasian to Aptian). The rift succession of the Campos Basin constitutes one of the main petroleum systems of Brazil’s marginal basins. This interval contains the main source rock and important reservoirs in the Lagoa Feia Group deposits. The Lagoa Feia Group is characterized by siliciclastic, carbonate and evaporite sediments deposited during the rift and post-rift phases. Despite the economic relevance, little is known in stratigraphic terms regarding this rift interval. To date, most studies of the Lagoa Feia Group have adopted a lithostratigraphic approach, while this study proposes a tectonostratigraphic framework for the deep-rift succession of the Campos Basin (Lagoa Feia Group), using the fundamentals of seismic sequence stratigraphy. This work also aims to establish a methodological and practical procedure for the stratigraphic analysis of rift basins, using seismic data and seismofacies, and focusing on tectonicstratigraphic analysis. The dataset comprised 2D seismic lines, core and lithological logs from exploration wells. Three seismic facies were identified based on reflector patterns and lithologic data from well cores, providing an improved subdivision of the pre-, syn- and post-rift stages. The syn-rift stage was further subdivided based on the geometric patterns of the reflectors. Tectonics was the main controlling factor in the sedimentary succession, and the pattern and geometry of the seismic reflectors of the syn-rift interval in the Campos Basin allowed the identification of three tectonic systems tracts: (i) a Rift Initiation Systems Tract; (ii) a High Tectonic Activity Systems Tract and (iii) a Low Tectonic Activity Systems Tract.

scholarly journals High resolution stratigraphy of initial stages of rifting, Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrel Kifumbi ◽  
Claiton Marlon dos Santos Scherer ◽  
Fábio Herbert Jones ◽  
Juliano Kuchle
Keyword(s):  
Radical Change ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Accommodation Space ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Lateral Connection ◽  
Depositional Units ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
Channel Deposits

ABSTRACT: The present work aims to characterize the Neo-Jurassic to Neocomian succession of the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, located in northeast region of Brazil, in order to discover the influence of tectonics on sedimentation in detailed scale and thus separating this sedimentary succession in tectono-stratigraphic units. Fieldwork observations and stratigraphic sections analysis allowed subdividing this rift succession into three depositional units that indicate different paleogeographic contexts. Unit I, equivalent to the top of Serraria Formation, is characterized by braided fluvial channel deposits, with paleocurrent direction to SE; unit II, corresponding to the base of Feliz Deserto Formation, is composed of anastomosed fluvial channel and floodplain facies associations; and unit III, equivalent to the major part of Feliz Deserto Formation, is characterized by delta deposits with polymodal paleocurrent pattern. The changes of depositional system, as well as paleocurrent direction, suggest that the previously described units were deposited in different evolutionary stages of rifting. Units I and II represent the record of a wide and shallow basin associated with the first stage of rifting. Unit I is characterized by incipient extensional stress generating a wide synclinal depression, associated to the low rate of accommodation and low tectonic activity. These two parameters progressively increase in unit II. The paleocurrent direction of unit I indicates that the depocenter of this wide basin was located at SE of the studied area. No conclusion could be done on paleocurrent from unit II because of the low amount of measurements. Unit III suggests a second stage marked by a deeper basin context, with a high rate of accommodation space associated with the lateral connection of faults and individualization of the half-graben. The scattering in the paleocurrent direction in this unit indicates sedimentary influx coming from several sectors of the half-graben. The boundary between these two stages is marked by a flooding surface that indicates an extremely fast transition and suggests a radical change in geometric characteristics of the basin due to the increase of tectonic activity.

A petroleum systems study of the northern Gulf of Mexico

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Matava
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Northern Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Petroleum Systems

Modeling gas hydrate petroleum systems of the Pleistocene turbiditic sedimentary sequences of the Daini-Atsumi area, eastern Nankai Trough, Japan

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. SA95-SA111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsuya Fujii ◽  
Than Tin Aung ◽  
Naoya Wada ◽  
Yuhei Komatsu ◽  
Kiyofumi Suzuki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
3D Modeling ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Nankai Trough ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Seismic Facies ◽  
Systems Modeling ◽  
Methane Generation ◽  
Biogenic Methane ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences

We have performed 2D and 3D gas hydrate (GH) petroleum systems modeling for the Pleistocene turbiditic sedimentary sequences distributed in the Daini-Atsumi area in the eastern Nankai Trough to understand the accumulation mechanisms and their spatial distribution related to geologic and geochemical processes. High-resolution seismic facies analysis and interpretations were used to define facies distributions in the models. We have created a new biogenic methane generation model based on the biomarker analysis using core samples and incorporated it into our model. Our 2D models were built and simulated to confirm the parameters to be used for 3D modeling. Global sea level changes and paleogeometry estimated from 3D structural restoration results were taken into account to determine the paleowater depth of the deposited sedimentary sequences. Pressure and temperature distributions were modeled because they are the basic factors that control the GH stability zone. Our 2D modeling results suggested that the setting of biogenic methane generation depth is one of the most important controlling factors for GH accumulation in the Nankai Trough, which may be related to the timing of methane upward migration (expulsion) and methane solution process in pore water. Our 3D modeling results suggested that the distribution of sandy sediments and the formation dip direction are important controlling factors in the accumulation of GHs. We also found that the simulated amount of GH accumulation from the petroleum systems modeling compares well with independent estimations using 3D seismic and well data. This suggests that the model constructed in this study is valid for this GH system evaluation and that this type of evaluation can be useful as a supplemental approach to resource assessment.

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