Abstract
Fault formation and evolution in the presence of multiple pre-existing weaknesses has not been investigated extensively in rift basins. The fault systems of Weixinan Sag, Beibuwan Basin of China, which is fully covered with high-precision 3-D seismic data and is rich in oil-gas resources, have been successfully reproduced by sandbox modeling in this study with inclusion of multiple preexisting weaknesses in the experimental model. The basic characteristics of fault formation and evolution revealed by sandbox modeling are as follows. 1) Weakness-reactivation faults and weakness-related faults are formed much earlier than the distant-weakness faults (faults far away from and with little or no relationship to the weakness). 2) Weakness-reactivation faults and weakness-related faults develop mainly along or parallel to a pre-existing weakness, while distant-weakness faults develop nearly perpendicular to the extension direction. A complicated fault system can be formed in a fixed direction of extension with the existence of multiple pre-existing weaknesses, and the complicated fault system in the Weixinan Sag formed gradually in a nearly N-S direction with multiple pre-existing weaknesses. 3) The increase in the length and number of faults is closely tied to the nature of pre-existing weaknesses. The sandbox model may provide a new clue to detailed fault system research for oil and gas exploration in rift basins.
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