Basin Modeling Along Emergent Island Arcs and Oblique Convergent Margins – Impact on Petroleum System – SE Caribbean Case

Abstract

We performed a study using forward basin modeling in the southeastward Caribbean region in order to evaluate the effect of active volcanic arcs and oblique convergence on the evolution of petroleum systems in the adjacent sedimentary basins. The study is done along a geologic profile based on the interpretation of a regional 2D seismic line across the Lesser Antilles island arc, oriented NW-SE with a length of ~650 Km and covers the SE corner of the Caribbean region. The Grenada and Tobago basins are the backarc and forearc of the Lesser Antilles island arc respectively, and record sedimentation since the early Eocene-recent with more than 14 km of thickness. Our interpretation suggests that both basins were a large basin during the Eocene and that were split by the impinging Lesser Antilles arc during the middle Miocene which remains as an active volcanic island arc until present. Basin modeling results of paleo- heat flow, temperature history and simple shear restorations shows that the impinging Lesser Antilles arc in the middle Miocene was key on the maturation of possible Paleogene source rocks in the Grenada and Tobago basins.