Reservoir deliverability is a critical risk for deepwater Paleogene reservoirs in the Gulf of Mex... more Reservoir deliverability is a critical risk for deepwater Paleogene reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. Permeability can vary two orders of magnitude (1s to 100s of md) for a given porosity within a single lithofacies. The objective of this paper is to frame reservoir quality within the architectural elements of submarine gravity flows in a deepwater Paleogene field. Approximately 380 m (1246 ft) of core was described from a lower and upper reservoir, and core descriptions were integrated with routine core analysis, petrography, and laser grain size analysis data. We distinguished specific rock property suites, textural, and compositional characteristics for channel, lobe, and lobe margin depositional environments. Channel architectural elements have the best reservoir quality because they are generally relatively coarser-grained and have a relatively low abundance of silt-sized particles (average 24%) and ductile grains (average 17%) dispersed as framework grains. Lobe architectural ...
... This region contains the Mad Dog, Atlantis, Neptune, and K2/Timon discoveries, plus several u... more ... This region contains the Mad Dog, Atlantis, Neptune, and K2/Timon discoveries, plus several undrilled structures (Fig. ... Cole, GA, R. Requejo, A. Yu, J. DeVay, C. Taylor, P. Dougherty, F. Peel, C. Thomas, D. Ormerod, J. Zumberge, S. Brown, J. Brooks, B. Hoff, and T. White, 1999 ...
In this short talk, we briefly review the fill-and-spill model for topographically complex, deep-... more In this short talk, we briefly review the fill-and-spill model for topographically complex, deep-water slopes, focusing on: (i) the various tectono-stratigraphic settings in which the model has been applied; and (ii) variations in the number, thickness, and duration of fill-and-spill cycles interpreted within the various depositional settings. This talk was presented on 7th November 2019 at the Applied Geodynamic Laboratory (AGL) Annual Meeting at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), University of Texas at Austin. Note that a talk commentary is provided for *most* slides. Please feel free to remix, reuse and recycle.
Many passive margins have deep-water, contractional fold belts that formed above salt or shale. M... more Many passive margins have deep-water, contractional fold belts that formed above salt or shale. Margin failure, accommodated by proximal extension and distal shortening, is caused by some combination of gravity gliding above a basinward-dipping detachment and gravity spreading of a sedimentary wedge with a seaward-dipping bathymetric surface. Gravitational failure is inherently self-limiting, and sedimentation patterns provide fundamental control of deformation. Continued shortening is driven primarily by shelf and upper-slope deposition, which maintains the bathymetric slope and the gravity potential, and by increased basinward tilting. Deformation is retarded or halted by distal thickening of the overburden caused by the folding itself or by lower-slope and abyssal sedimentation. Net shortening amounts and deformation rates are lower than in collisional/accretionary fold belts, because the driving forces are weaker than those induced by lithospheric plate motions. Structural style...
The relative timing between crustal extension and salt deposition can vary spatially along passiv... more The relative timing between crustal extension and salt deposition can vary spatially along passive margin salt basins as continents unzip or the locus of extension shifts through time towards the embryonic spreading centre. Determining the relative timing of salt deposition, rifting and seafloor spreading is often problematic due to the diachronous nature of rifting, the ability of salt fill pre-existing topography and to the post-rift gravity-driven salt tectonics. We use 2D PSDM seismic data and structural restorations to investigate the Merluza Graben, a large rift-related depocentre located at the proximal and southernmost portion of the Santos Basin, Brazil and at the continuation of a failed spreading centre, the Abimael Ridge. The graben presents up to 3.5 km of base-salt relief at its basinward-bounding fault and internal base-salt horsts up to 1 km high. This compartmentalises deformation, producing extensional and contraction salt structures, ramp-syncline basins and expulsion rollovers within the graben, resulting in a remarkably different and variable style of salt tectonics than in the adjacent areas. We also conduct structural restorations to analyse the spatial and temporal evolution of this complex style of deformation and potential prolonged crustal extension in the Merluza Graben by using discrepancies in the present and restored salt area. This approach affords further constraints on local variations in the relative timing of rifting and salt deposition and its impact on salt tectonics along the margin, which can be applied to other hyper-extended rifted margins worldwide.
In salt-detached gravity-gliding/spreading systems the detachment geometry is a key control on th... more In salt-detached gravity-gliding/spreading systems the detachment geometry is a key control on the downslope mobility of the supra-salt sequence. Here we used regional 3D seismic data to examine a salt-stock canopy in the northern Gulf of Mexico slope, in an area where supra-canopy minibasins subsided vertically and translated downslope above a complex base-of-salt. If thick enough, minibasins can interact with, and weld to, the base-of-salt and be obstructed from translating downslope. Based on the regional maps of the base of allochthonous salt and the base of the supra-canopy sequence, the key controls on minibasin obstruction, we distinguished two structural domains in the study area: a highly obstructed domain and a highly mobile domain. Large-scale translation of the supra-canopy sequence is recorded in the mobile domain by a far-travelled minibasin and a ramp syncline basin. These two structures suggest downslope translation on the order of 40 km from Plio-Pleistocene to Pres...
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Passive-margin salt basins tend to be much more deformed than their nonsalt equivalents, but they... more Passive-margin salt basins tend to be much more deformed than their nonsalt equivalents, but they are by no means all the same. We used seismic data to study the Salina del Bravo region, northeast Mexico, to investigate the ways in which margin configuration and postsalt uplift history can influence passive-margin salt tectonics. The Salina del Bravo area contains four main structural systems, all of which trend NNE across the entire region. These structures are the Bravo trough, Sigsbee salt canopy, Perdido fold-and-thrust belt, and BAHA high. Gravity-driven deformation did not begin until more than 130 m.y. after salt deposition, because of buttressing against the BAHA high. We suggest that deformation was ultimately triggered in the Cenozoic by Cordilleran uplift that tilted the margin seaward and created a major sediment source terrane. Sediments shed from the uplift expelled salt seaward to form the Sigsbee canopy. At the same time, tilted and loaded sediments were translated s...
Base-salt relief influences salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strains and multipha... more Base-salt relief influences salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strains and multiphase deformation within the salt and its overburden. Understanding how base-salt relief influences salt-related deformation is important to correctly interpret salt basin kinematics and distribution of structural domains, which have important implications to understand the development of key petroleum system elements. The São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin, Brazil is characterized by a >2 km thick, mechanically layered Aptian salt layer deposited above prominent base-salt relief. We use 3D seismic reflection data, and physical and conceptual kinematic models to investigate how gravity-driven translation above thick salt, underlain by complex base-salt relief, generated a complex framework of salt structures and minibasins. We show that ramp-syncline basins developed above and downdip of the main presalt highs record c. 30 km of Late Cretaceous-Paleocene basinward translation. As salt and overburden translated downdip, salt flux variations caused by the base-salt relief resulted in non-uniform motion of the cover, and the simultaneous development of extensional and contractional structures. Contraction preferentially occurred where salt flow locally decelerated, above landward-dipping base-salt ramps and downdip of basinward-dipping ramps. Extension occurred at the top of basinward-dipping ramps and base-salt plateaus, where salt flow locally accelerated. Where the base of the salt layer was broadly flat, structures evolved primarily by load-driven passive diapirism. At the edge of or around smaller base-salt highs, salt structures were affected by plan-view rotation, shearing and divergent flow. The magnitude of translation (c. 30 km) and the style of salt-related deformation observed on the São Paulo Plateau afford an improved kinematic model for the enigmatic Albian Gap, suggesting this structure formed by a combination of basinward salt expulsion and 4 regional extension. These observations contribute to the long-lived debate regarding the mechanisms of salt tectonics on the São Paulo Plateau, ultimately improving our general understanding of the effects of base-salt relief on salt tectonics in other basins.
Pre-salt relief has been recently shown to significantly influence salt flow, producing three-dim... more Pre-salt relief has been recently shown to significantly influence salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strain distribution and multiphase deformation within the evaporite sequence and overburden. The São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin, Brazil is a prolific hydrocarbon province situated downdip of the Albian Gap, characterized by > 2 km thick, mechanically layered Aptian salt, prominent basal relief and a complex framework of supra-salt structures. This study uses 3D seismic data combined with physical and kinematic models to demonstrate how gravity-driven translation above thick salt with complex basal relief generated this framework. A series of ramp-syncline basins occur above and downdip of the main pre-salt highs indicating c. 30 km of translation in the area. As the system translated downdip, salt flux variations caused by significant base-salt relief resulted in non-uniform motion of the cover with simultaneous development of extensional and contractional structur...
providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:02. Jun. 2020 Highlig... more providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:02. Jun. 2020 Highlights Ramp syncline basins were identified above thick salt in the São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin They form by translation over a thick salt detachment with basal relief due to viscous drag and salt flux variations They record 28-32 km of SE translation during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene They form by translation over basinward-dipping and landward-dipping basesalt ramps Stratal terminations and architecture vary along-dip and strike within these systems
Reservoir deliverability is a critical risk for deepwater Paleogene reservoirs in the Gulf of Mex... more Reservoir deliverability is a critical risk for deepwater Paleogene reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. Permeability can vary two orders of magnitude (1s to 100s of md) for a given porosity within a single lithofacies. The objective of this paper is to frame reservoir quality within the architectural elements of submarine gravity flows in a deepwater Paleogene field. Approximately 380 m (1246 ft) of core was described from a lower and upper reservoir, and core descriptions were integrated with routine core analysis, petrography, and laser grain size analysis data. We distinguished specific rock property suites, textural, and compositional characteristics for channel, lobe, and lobe margin depositional environments. Channel architectural elements have the best reservoir quality because they are generally relatively coarser-grained and have a relatively low abundance of silt-sized particles (average 24%) and ductile grains (average 17%) dispersed as framework grains. Lobe architectural ...
... This region contains the Mad Dog, Atlantis, Neptune, and K2/Timon discoveries, plus several u... more ... This region contains the Mad Dog, Atlantis, Neptune, and K2/Timon discoveries, plus several undrilled structures (Fig. ... Cole, GA, R. Requejo, A. Yu, J. DeVay, C. Taylor, P. Dougherty, F. Peel, C. Thomas, D. Ormerod, J. Zumberge, S. Brown, J. Brooks, B. Hoff, and T. White, 1999 ...
In this short talk, we briefly review the fill-and-spill model for topographically complex, deep-... more In this short talk, we briefly review the fill-and-spill model for topographically complex, deep-water slopes, focusing on: (i) the various tectono-stratigraphic settings in which the model has been applied; and (ii) variations in the number, thickness, and duration of fill-and-spill cycles interpreted within the various depositional settings. This talk was presented on 7th November 2019 at the Applied Geodynamic Laboratory (AGL) Annual Meeting at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), University of Texas at Austin. Note that a talk commentary is provided for *most* slides. Please feel free to remix, reuse and recycle.
Many passive margins have deep-water, contractional fold belts that formed above salt or shale. M... more Many passive margins have deep-water, contractional fold belts that formed above salt or shale. Margin failure, accommodated by proximal extension and distal shortening, is caused by some combination of gravity gliding above a basinward-dipping detachment and gravity spreading of a sedimentary wedge with a seaward-dipping bathymetric surface. Gravitational failure is inherently self-limiting, and sedimentation patterns provide fundamental control of deformation. Continued shortening is driven primarily by shelf and upper-slope deposition, which maintains the bathymetric slope and the gravity potential, and by increased basinward tilting. Deformation is retarded or halted by distal thickening of the overburden caused by the folding itself or by lower-slope and abyssal sedimentation. Net shortening amounts and deformation rates are lower than in collisional/accretionary fold belts, because the driving forces are weaker than those induced by lithospheric plate motions. Structural style...
The relative timing between crustal extension and salt deposition can vary spatially along passiv... more The relative timing between crustal extension and salt deposition can vary spatially along passive margin salt basins as continents unzip or the locus of extension shifts through time towards the embryonic spreading centre. Determining the relative timing of salt deposition, rifting and seafloor spreading is often problematic due to the diachronous nature of rifting, the ability of salt fill pre-existing topography and to the post-rift gravity-driven salt tectonics. We use 2D PSDM seismic data and structural restorations to investigate the Merluza Graben, a large rift-related depocentre located at the proximal and southernmost portion of the Santos Basin, Brazil and at the continuation of a failed spreading centre, the Abimael Ridge. The graben presents up to 3.5 km of base-salt relief at its basinward-bounding fault and internal base-salt horsts up to 1 km high. This compartmentalises deformation, producing extensional and contraction salt structures, ramp-syncline basins and expulsion rollovers within the graben, resulting in a remarkably different and variable style of salt tectonics than in the adjacent areas. We also conduct structural restorations to analyse the spatial and temporal evolution of this complex style of deformation and potential prolonged crustal extension in the Merluza Graben by using discrepancies in the present and restored salt area. This approach affords further constraints on local variations in the relative timing of rifting and salt deposition and its impact on salt tectonics along the margin, which can be applied to other hyper-extended rifted margins worldwide.
In salt-detached gravity-gliding/spreading systems the detachment geometry is a key control on th... more In salt-detached gravity-gliding/spreading systems the detachment geometry is a key control on the downslope mobility of the supra-salt sequence. Here we used regional 3D seismic data to examine a salt-stock canopy in the northern Gulf of Mexico slope, in an area where supra-canopy minibasins subsided vertically and translated downslope above a complex base-of-salt. If thick enough, minibasins can interact with, and weld to, the base-of-salt and be obstructed from translating downslope. Based on the regional maps of the base of allochthonous salt and the base of the supra-canopy sequence, the key controls on minibasin obstruction, we distinguished two structural domains in the study area: a highly obstructed domain and a highly mobile domain. Large-scale translation of the supra-canopy sequence is recorded in the mobile domain by a far-travelled minibasin and a ramp syncline basin. These two structures suggest downslope translation on the order of 40 km from Plio-Pleistocene to Pres...
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Passive-margin salt basins tend to be much more deformed than their nonsalt equivalents, but they... more Passive-margin salt basins tend to be much more deformed than their nonsalt equivalents, but they are by no means all the same. We used seismic data to study the Salina del Bravo region, northeast Mexico, to investigate the ways in which margin configuration and postsalt uplift history can influence passive-margin salt tectonics. The Salina del Bravo area contains four main structural systems, all of which trend NNE across the entire region. These structures are the Bravo trough, Sigsbee salt canopy, Perdido fold-and-thrust belt, and BAHA high. Gravity-driven deformation did not begin until more than 130 m.y. after salt deposition, because of buttressing against the BAHA high. We suggest that deformation was ultimately triggered in the Cenozoic by Cordilleran uplift that tilted the margin seaward and created a major sediment source terrane. Sediments shed from the uplift expelled salt seaward to form the Sigsbee canopy. At the same time, tilted and loaded sediments were translated s...
Base-salt relief influences salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strains and multipha... more Base-salt relief influences salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strains and multiphase deformation within the salt and its overburden. Understanding how base-salt relief influences salt-related deformation is important to correctly interpret salt basin kinematics and distribution of structural domains, which have important implications to understand the development of key petroleum system elements. The São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin, Brazil is characterized by a >2 km thick, mechanically layered Aptian salt layer deposited above prominent base-salt relief. We use 3D seismic reflection data, and physical and conceptual kinematic models to investigate how gravity-driven translation above thick salt, underlain by complex base-salt relief, generated a complex framework of salt structures and minibasins. We show that ramp-syncline basins developed above and downdip of the main presalt highs record c. 30 km of Late Cretaceous-Paleocene basinward translation. As salt and overburden translated downdip, salt flux variations caused by the base-salt relief resulted in non-uniform motion of the cover, and the simultaneous development of extensional and contractional structures. Contraction preferentially occurred where salt flow locally decelerated, above landward-dipping base-salt ramps and downdip of basinward-dipping ramps. Extension occurred at the top of basinward-dipping ramps and base-salt plateaus, where salt flow locally accelerated. Where the base of the salt layer was broadly flat, structures evolved primarily by load-driven passive diapirism. At the edge of or around smaller base-salt highs, salt structures were affected by plan-view rotation, shearing and divergent flow. The magnitude of translation (c. 30 km) and the style of salt-related deformation observed on the São Paulo Plateau afford an improved kinematic model for the enigmatic Albian Gap, suggesting this structure formed by a combination of basinward salt expulsion and 4 regional extension. These observations contribute to the long-lived debate regarding the mechanisms of salt tectonics on the São Paulo Plateau, ultimately improving our general understanding of the effects of base-salt relief on salt tectonics in other basins.
Pre-salt relief has been recently shown to significantly influence salt flow, producing three-dim... more Pre-salt relief has been recently shown to significantly influence salt flow, producing three-dimensionally complex strain distribution and multiphase deformation within the evaporite sequence and overburden. The São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin, Brazil is a prolific hydrocarbon province situated downdip of the Albian Gap, characterized by > 2 km thick, mechanically layered Aptian salt, prominent basal relief and a complex framework of supra-salt structures. This study uses 3D seismic data combined with physical and kinematic models to demonstrate how gravity-driven translation above thick salt with complex basal relief generated this framework. A series of ramp-syncline basins occur above and downdip of the main pre-salt highs indicating c. 30 km of translation in the area. As the system translated downdip, salt flux variations caused by significant base-salt relief resulted in non-uniform motion of the cover with simultaneous development of extensional and contractional structur...
providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:02. Jun. 2020 Highlig... more providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:02. Jun. 2020 Highlights Ramp syncline basins were identified above thick salt in the São Paulo Plateau, Santos Basin They form by translation over a thick salt detachment with basal relief due to viscous drag and salt flux variations They record 28-32 km of SE translation during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene They form by translation over basinward-dipping and landward-dipping basesalt ramps Stratal terminations and architecture vary along-dip and strike within these systems
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