Indications of Deep Marine Fans in the Early Miocene Foredeep of Lower Austria: A Potential New Play

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Hinsch
Keyword(s):  
Early Miocene ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Vienna Basin ◽  
Thrust Sheet ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
Seismic Amplitude ◽  
Upper Austria ◽  
Basin Floor ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract The petroleum province in Lower Austria resulted from the Alpine collision and the subsequent formation of the Vienna Basin. OMV is active in this area since its foundation in 1956. Several plays have been successfully tested and produced in this complex geological region. The main exploration focus is currently on the deep plays. However, this paper proposes a so far unrecognized and therefore undrilled play in a shallower level to broaden OMV's portfolio in Austria. Seismic re-interpretations of reprocessed 3D seismic data and structural reconstructions were used to review some of the existing plays and get novel ideas from improved understanding of processes. In the frontal accretion zone of the Alpine wedge, the Waschberg-Ždánice zone discoveries are limited to the frontal thrust unit and associated structures. The more internal parts of the thrust belt have only sparsely been drilled and are perceived not to have high-quality reservoir rocks. The detailed structural interpretations indicated that the foredeep axis during the Early Miocene was positioned in the thrust sheet located directly in front of the advancing Alpine wedge (comprising the eroding Rhenodanubian Flysch in its frontal part). Seismic amplitude anomalies can be interpreted to represent Lower Miocene basin floor and slope fans. Nearby wells did not penetrate these fans but drilled instead shale-dominated lithologies. Thus, the presence of potential sand-rich fans in front of the advancing alpine wedge is considered a potential new play in Lower Austria. Analogues are found in Upper Austria some 250 km to the West, where several large gas fields in Lower Miocene deposits located in front of the advancing Alpine wedge have been discovered by another operator. In that area the fans are only partly involved in the fold-thrust belt. In Lower Austria, these fans are located within the rear thrust sheet(s), providing a structural component to a mixed structural-stratigraphic trap. Two potential charge mechanism can be considered: a) biogenic gas charge from the organic matter of surrounding shales (like the Upper Austria analogues) or b) oil charge via the thrust fault planes from the Jurassic Mikulov Formation (the proven main source rock in the broader area). Our results add to the understanding of the Miocene structural-stratigraphic evolution of the Alpine collision zone. The definition of a potential new play may add significant value to OMV's upstream efforts in a very mature hydrocarbon province.

scholarly journals Role of the Early Miocene Jinhe-Qinghe Thrust Belt in the building of the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau topography

2021 ◽  
Vol 811 ◽  
pp. 228871
Author(s):  
Chengyu Zhu ◽  
Guocan Wang ◽  
Philippe Hervé Leloup ◽  
Kai Cao ◽  
Gweltaz Mahéo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Information on elastic parameters obtained from the amplitudes of reflected waves

Geophysics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1426-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Dȩbski ◽  
Albert Tarantola
Keyword(s):  
Mass Density ◽  
Seismic Velocities ◽  
Elastic Parameters ◽  
Amplitude Variation ◽  
Amplitude Variation With Offset ◽  
Reflected Waves ◽  
Seismic Amplitude ◽  
Earth Models ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Proper Analysis

Seismic amplitude variation with offset data contain information on the elastic parameters of geological layers. As the general solution of the inverse problem consists of a probability over the space of all possible earth models, we look at the probabilities obtained using amplitude variation with offset (AVO) data for different choices of elastic parameters. A proper analysis of the information in the data requires a nontrivial definition of the probability defining the state of total ignorance on different elastic parameters (seismic velocities, Lamé’s parameters, etc.). We conclude that mass density, seismic impedance, and Poisson’s ratio constitute the best resolved parameter set when inverting seismic amplitude variation with offset data.

scholarly journals Examining the tectono-stratigraphic architecture, structural geometry, and kinematic evolution of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt, Kumaun, northwest India

Lithosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhadip Mandal ◽  
Delores M. Robinson ◽  
Matthew J. Kohn ◽  
Subodha Khanal ◽  
Oindrila Das
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Kinematic Model ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Main Central Thrust ◽  
Thrust Sheet ◽  
Balanced Cross Section ◽  
Kinematic Evolution ◽  
Thrust Sheets ◽  
Northwest India

Abstract Existing structural models of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt in Kumaun, northwest India, are based on a tectono-stratigraphy that assigns different stratigraphy to the Ramgarh, Berinag, Askot, and Munsiari thrusts and treats the thrusts as separate structures. We reassess the tectono-stratigraphy of Kumaun, based on new and existing U-Pb zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic values, and present a new structural model and deformation history through kinematic analysis using a balanced cross section. This study reveals that the rocks that currently crop out as the Ramgarh, Berinag, Askot, and Munsiari thrust sheets were part of the same, once laterally continuous stratigraphic unit, consisting of Lesser Himalayan Paleoproterozoic granitoids (ca. 1850 Ma) and metasedimentary rocks. These Paleoproterozoic rocks were shortened and duplexed into the Ramgarh-Munsiari thrust sheet and other Paleoproterozoic thrust sheets during Himalayan orogenesis. Our structural model contains a hinterland-dipping duplex that accommodates ∼541–575 km or 79%–80% of minimum shortening between the Main Frontal thrust and South Tibetan Detachment system. By adding in minimum shortening from the Tethyan Himalaya, we estimate a total minimum shortening of ∼674–751 km in the Himalayan fold-thrust belt. The Ramgarh-Munsiari thrust sheet and the Lesser Himalayan duplex are breached by erosion, separating the Paleoproterozoic Lesser Himalayan rocks of the Ramgarh-Munsiari thrust into the isolated, synclinal Almora, Askot, and Chiplakot klippen, where folding of the Ramgarh-Munsiari thrust sheet by the Lesser Himalayan duplex controls preservation of these klippen. The Ramgarh-Munsiari thrust carries the Paleoproterozoic Lesser Himalayan rocks ∼120 km southward from the footwall of the Main Central thrust and exposed them in the hanging wall of the Main Boundary thrust. Our kinematic model demonstrates that propagation of the thrust belt occurred from north to south with minor out-of-sequence thrusting and is consistent with a critical taper model for growth of the Himalayan thrust belt, following emplacement of midcrustal Greater Himalayan rocks. Our revised stratigraphy-based balanced cross section contains ∼120–200 km greater shortening than previously estimated through the Greater, Lesser, and Subhimalayan rocks.

Taconian mélanges in the parautochthonous zone of the Quebec Appalachians revisited: implications for foreland basin and thrust belt evolution

2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 1473-1490 ◽  
Author(s):  
F -A Comeau ◽  
D Kirkwood ◽  
M Malo ◽  
E Asselin ◽  
R Bertrand
Keyword(s):  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Thrust Faults ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Thrust Sheet ◽  
Utica Shale ◽  
Thermal Maturation ◽  
Early Late

In the Quebec Appalachians, disruption, imbrication, and thrusting of the Taconian foreland basin sequence are responsible for the development of chaotic units within the turbiditic sequence of the Caradocian Sainte-Rosalie Group, the main lithologic assemblage of the parautochthonous zone. These chaotic units have been termed olistostromes or tectonosomes on the basis of field criteria and following Pini's (1999) classification. Olistostromal units containing blocks of the middle mudstone (Utica Shale) and upper turbidite units (Ste-Rosalie Group) of the foreland basin and spanning the Caradocian N. gracilis, C. americanus, O. ruedemanni, and C. spiniferus graptolite zones were deposited and incorporated into the Sainte-Rosalie Group. Disruption of more competent beds of the flyschic sequence and fault stacking and slicing of older rock units occurred along major thrust faults and now form structurally aligned corridors or tectonosomes. Graptolites and new chitinozoan data from both olistostromes and tectonosomes indicate older ages (early Late Ordovician) than the flysch units of Sainte-Rosalie Group (mid Late Ordovocian). Lithological, stratigraphic, and structural criteria indicate that tectonosome slices are imbricated foreland basin rocks that are correlative to the Black River, Trenton, Utica, Sainte-Rosalie, and Lorraine groups of the Laurentian platform. Thermal maturation data indicates that disruption of the autochthonous sequence, and folding and thrusting of the entire foreland basin sequence, must have occurred shortly after their deposition. Contrary to what had been suggested, blocks in the olistostromes and tectonosomes were not derived from the allochthonous Chaudière thrust sheet, even though it presently marks the southern contact with the parautochthonous zone. Imbrication of the foreland basin sequence must have occurred before emplacement of the Chaudière thrust sheet.

scholarly journals A late Burdigalian bathyal mollusc fauna from the Vienna Basin (Slovakia)

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Harzhauser ◽  
Oleg Mandic ◽  
Jan Schlögl
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
First Record ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Vienna Basin ◽  
Poor Knowledge ◽  
Central Paratethys ◽  
Aquitaine Basin

A late Burdigalian bathyal mollusc fauna from the Vienna Basin (Slovakia)This is the first record of a bathyal mollusc fauna from the late Early Miocene of the Central Paratethys. The assemblage shows clear affinities to coeval faunas of the Turin Hills in the Mediterranean area and the Aquitaine Basin in France. The overall biostratigraphic value of the assemblage is hard to estimate due to the general very poor knowledge of Miocene bathyal faunas. Several species, however, are known from deep water deposits of the Middle Miocene Badenian stage as well. This implies Early Miocene roots of parts of the Middle Miocene deep water fauna and suggests a low turnover for bathyal mollusc communities at the Early-Middle Miocene boundary. The nassariid gastropodNassarius janschloegliHarzhauser nov. sp. and the naticid gastropodPolinices cerovaensisHarzhauser nov. sp. are introduced as new species.

scholarly journals Early Miocene Thrust Tectonics on Raukumara Peninsula, Northeastern New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Geoffrey Jonathan Rait
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Continental Margin ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Thrust Sheets ◽  
Northern Zone

<p>Raukumara Peninsula lies at the northeastern end of the East Coast Deformed Belt, a province of deformed Late Mesozoic-Late Cenozoic rocks on the eastern edges of the North Island and northern South Island of New Zealand. Late Cenozoic deformation in this province is associated with westward subduction of the Pacific Plate, which started at about the beginning of the Miocene. Early Miocene tectonism on Raukumara Peninsula took place in a hitherto little-known thrust belt, the East Coast Allochthon. The configuration, evolution and origin of this thrust belt are the subjects of this thesis. The thrust belt extends 110 km from the thrust front in the southwest to the northeastern tip of Raukumara Peninsula. Internal structures strike northwest, perpendicular to the present trend of the continental margin but parallel to the Early Miocene trend suggested by plate reconstructions and paleomagnetic studies. The structure and kinematic evolution of the thrust belt were investigated by detailed mapping of three key areas in its central part and by analysis of previous work throughout the region. Gross differences in structure lead to the division of the belt into three zones: southern, central and northern. Deformation in the southern and central zones (the southwestern two-thirds of the system) was thin-skinned, involving southwestward transport of thrust sheets above a decollement horizon at the top of the Maastrichtian-Paleocene Whangai Formation. The decollement is exposed in the northwest due to southeastward tilting accompanying post-Miocene uplift of the Raukumara Range. Deformation in the northern zone involved reactivations of northeast-directed Cretaceous thrusts as well as southwestward emplacement of allochthonous sheets. Stratigraphic relationships show that thrusting took place during = 6 m.y. in the earliest Miocene. The 18 km wide southern zone is an emergent imbricate fan of rocks detached from above the Whangai Formation in a piggy-back sequence and transported less than about 18 km at rates of 2.6-3.6 mm/yr (plus-minus 20%-100%). The central and northern zones include rocks older than Whangai Formation. The sheets of the central zone and the southwest-directed sheets of the northern zone make up three major allochthonous units: the Waitahaia allochthon, consisting predominantly of mid-Cretaceous flysch above the Waitahaia Fault and equivalent structures, at the bottom of the thrust pile; the Te Rata allochthon, of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary continental margin sediments above the Te Rata Thrust, in the middle; and the Matakaoa sheet, an ophiolite body of mid-Cretaceous-Eocene basaltic and pelagic sedimentary rocks, at the top and back of the thrust belt. The Waitahaia allochthon was emplaced first and was subsequently breached by the Te Rata Thrust. The mid-Cretaceous rocks of the Waitahaia allochthon are mostly overturned, a result of the southwest-directed Early Miocene thrusting overprinting a Cretaceous structure of predominantly southwestward dips. The Te Rata allochthon comprises a complex pile of thrust sheets and slices with a general older-on-younger stacking order but with common reversals. Synorogenic sedimentary rocks occur within it. The complexity of internal structure of these two allochthons suggests they have undergone more than the 50% shortening estimated for the southern zone. The minimum southwestward displacement of the Te Rata allochthon is 60 km. The minimum displacements of the Waitahaia and Matakaoa allochthons are 55-195 km and 115-530 km respectively, depending on whether the Te Rata allochthon originally lay in front of the original position of the Waitahaia allochthon or was originally the upper part of the Waitahaia allochthon, and on the amounts of internal shortening of the allochthons. Over the = 6 m.y. period of thrusting, these estimates imply displacement rates for the Matakaoa sheet of 19-88 mm/yr. The average plate convergence rate at East Cape for the period 36-20 Ma is estimated at 25-30 mm/yr; the rate for the Early Miocene-- when subduction was active--may have been faster. Reasonable displacement rates for the Matakaoa sheet would result if the Te Rata allochthon was originally the upper part of the Waitahaia allochthon and if both allochthons have been shortened somewhat less than 50%. The emplacement mechanism of the Matakaoa ophiolite is elucidated by comparison with Northland, northwest along strike from Raukumara Peninsula, onto which correlative rocks were emplaced at the same time. The thinness of the Northland ophiolite bodies, their composition of rocks typical of the uppermost levels of oceanic crust, and the start of andesitic volcanism accompanying their obduction show that they were emplaced as a thin flake of oceanic crust which peeled off the downgoing slab during the inception of southwestward subduction. The reason the ophiolites were initially peeled from the slab is probably that their upper levels prograded southwestward over sediments of the Northland-Raukumara continental margin. In such a situation, initial compression would have led to formation of a northeast-dipping thrust at the volcanic/sediment interface; this thrust would then have propagated back into the downgoing plate with continued convergence, allowing the ophiolites to climb up the continental slope pushing the allochthonous sedimentary sheets ahead of them.</p>

scholarly journals The lower Miocene flint conglomerate, Jylland, Denmark: a result of the Savian tectonic phase

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Skovbjerg Rasmussen ◽  
Karen Dybkjær
Keyword(s):  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
North West ◽  
Grain Sizes ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Active Salt ◽  
The Common

The early Miocene was an important period for the development of the eastern North Sea. Tectonism in North-West Europe resulted in uplift of the Scandinavian mountains, reactivation of salt structures, inversion of old graben structures and deposition of the most coarse-grained deposits in the Danish pre-Quaternary succession. Some of these deposits were later cemented into conglomerates. The deposits are common in the fluvial parts of the Billund Formation (Aquitanian) and the basal transgressive lag of the late Aquitanian – Burdigalian Klintinghoved Formation capping the Billund Formation. Questions remained as to the age of these deposits and what they infer about tectonic events in the region. This study reviews the geology of the flint-dominated conglomerates and presents the first dates for a sample of these unique deposits. We observe grain sizes up to 5 cm diameter. Palynological analyses place the sample as early Miocene. Some samples from the area have suggested a local source near active salt structures, associated with the uplift of the pre-Neogene sedimentary successions. We suggest that the common occurrences of flint clasts in the lower Miocene succession reveal significant erosion of Upper Cretaceous and Danian chalk, likely associated with the uplift of the Scandinavian lowlands during the Savian tectonic phase, early Miocene.

scholarly journals Tracking the Detrital Zircon Provenance of Early Miocene Sediments in the Continental Shelf of the Northwestern South China Sea

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 752
Author(s):  
Ce Wang ◽  
Letian Zeng ◽  
Yaping Lei ◽  
Ming Su ◽  
Xinquan Liang
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
Additional Contribution ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
Paleogeographic Reconstruction ◽  
China Sea

Sediment provenance studies have become a major theme for source-to-sink systems and provide an important tool for assessing paleogeographic reconstruction, characterizing the depositional system, and predicting reservoir quality. The lower Miocene is an important stratigraphic unit for deciphering sediment evolution in the continental shelf of the northwestern South China Sea, but the provenance characteristics of this strata remain unclear. In this study, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopes from the lower Miocene Sanya Formation in the Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin were examined to study the provenance and its variation in the early Miocene. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons yielded ages ranging from Archean to Cenozoic (3313 to 39 Ma) and displayed age distributions with multiple peaks and a wide range of εHf(t) values (from −27.2 to +8.5). Multi-proxy sediment provenance analysis indicates that the Red River system was the major source for the sediments in the northern basin, with additional contribution from central Vietnam, and the Hainan played the most important role in contributing detritus to the eastern margin of the basin in the middle Miocene. This paper highlights the provenance of early Miocene sediments and contributes to paleogeographic reconstruction and reservoir evaluation.

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