CORRELATION OF SYN-RIFT STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS ACROSS THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC BETWEEN MOROCCO AND NOVA SCOTIA

Transcription

1 CORRELATION OF SYN-RIFT STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS ACROSS THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC BETWEEN MOROCCO AND NOVA SCOTIA Jim Molnar, Gabor Tari, Paul Ashton and Philip Thompson Vanco Energy Company Houston, Texas

2 (c) 2001 The American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Jim Molnar, et al. No slides, figures, text or other matter contained herein may be reproduced without the written permission of both the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Jim Molnar, et al.

3 OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION Introduction Regional geology Syn-rift reconstruction of Morocco and Nova Scotia Hydrocarbon exploration implications Conclusions Acknowledgements

4 REGIONAL SEISMIC TRANSECTS, OFFSHORE NOVA SCOTIA AND MOROCCO

5 REGIONAL SEISMIC TRANSECT, LAHAVE PLATEAU, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

6 REGIONAL SEISMIC TRANSECT, TAFELNEY PLATEAU, MOROCCO

7 OFFSHORE BATHYMETRY AND ONSHORE TOPOGRAPHY Rif Cordillera Alboran Sea Mazagan Plateau Moroccan Meseta Middle Atlas Saharan Atlas Tafelney Plateau High Atlas Anti-Atlas Canary Islands

8 OFFSHORE FREE-AIR GRAVITY AND ONSHORE TOPOGRAPHY Rif Cordillera Alboran Sea Mazagan Plateau Moroccan Meseta Middle Atlas Saharan Atlas Tafelney Plateau High Atlas Anti-Atlas Canary Islands

9 LATE SYN-RIFT (EARLY JURASSIC) RECONSTRUCTION NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA AND MOROCCO MINIMUM CLOSURE CCW rotation o Pole at 66.97N and 12.34W (Klitgord and Schouten, 1986) CCW rotation o Pole at 66.92N and 12.45W (This work)

10 SUBREGIONAL STRIKE SECTION, TAFELNEY PLATEAU AND SAFI SUBBASIN, MOROCCO VANCO ENERGY COMPANY APRIL 2002

11 SUBREGIONAL STRIKE SECTION, TAFELNEY PLATEAU AND SAFI SUBBASIN, MOROCCO

12 LATE SYN-RIFT (EARLY JURASSIC) RECONSTRUCTION NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA AND MOROCCO High-relief accommodation zones (HRAZ) in rift basins

13 PRESENT-DAY EXPRESSION OF THE TAFELNEY ACCOMMODATION ZONE, SAFI HAUTE MER, MOROCCO MID-JURASSIC DEPTH STRUCTURE VIEW IS TOWARDS THE SE

14 PRESENT-DAY EXPRESSION OF THE TAFELNEY ACCOMMODATION ZONE, SAFI HAUTE MER, MOROCCO MID-JURASSIC DEPTH STRUCTURE ARBITRARY LINE

15 SW PRESENT-DAY EXPRESSION OF THE TAFELNEY ACCOMMODATION ZONE, SAFI HAUTE MER, MOROCCO NE TOP CRETACEOUS TOP ALBIAN TOP APTIAN TOP JURASSIC MID-JURASSIC TOP SYN-RIFT

16 EXPLORATION IMPLICATIONS TAFELNEY ACCOMMODATION ZONE, MOROCCO RMS AMPLITUDES 300 MS ABOVE MID-JURASSIC HORIZON ARBITRARY LINE

17 EXPLORATION IMPLICATIONS TAFELNEY ACCOMMODATION ZONE, MOROCCO MID-JURASSIC DEPTH STRUCTURE WITH RMS AMPLITUDE OVERLAY VIEW IS TOWARDS THE SE

18 CONCLUSIONS Published structural patterns offshore Nova Scotia combined with detailed structural mapping results offshore Morocco are interpreted in terms of a very specific syn-rift reconstruction of these conjugate margins. The basement embayment beneath the Sable Basin, Canada, correlates with the basement promontory offshore Essaouira/Safi, Morocco. The basement high of the Tafelney Plateau is interpreted as a high-relief accommodation zone during the late syn-rift stage (Early Jurassic). The actual Middle Jurassic breakup occurred obliquely across this accommodation zone leaving most of it on the Moroccan margin. The area of the Tafelney accommodation zone experienced inversion as the offshore manifestation of the Atlas deformation onshore. Therefore a better understanding of the syn-rift structural evolution of the conjugate margins of both Nova Scotia and Morocco may have an impact on the ongoing hydrocarbon exploration efforts.

19 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AGIP AOA GEOPHYSICS ONAREP SHELL