Seismotectonic analysis of Hamada oil pool, Libya, using Landsat and seismic data

Abstract

The distribution of oil and gas accumulations in the Hamada oil pool is strongly influenced by the structural architecture of the study area. An analysis was undertaken to appraise the effectiveness of using the current remote sensing data and deep seismic reflection profiles to evaluate both the surface and subsurface structures of the Hamada oil pool on the western part of Libya. In order to understand the evolution of the southeast Ghadames Basin during Palaeozoic times, the integration of log correlation, seismic interpretation and remote sensing analysis was carried out. The main goal of the remote sensing study was the determination of the structural features of the Qarqaf Arch. The Ghadames Basin and the Al Qarqaf Arch are very large scale, hundreds of kilometres and extremely low-relief “lithospheric waves” of the Saharan Platform. Kilometric to metric folds and faults, which are second-order structures of much lesser scale, affect this basically flat area, providing the required structural complication for the traps to be formed. The main structures detectable in the subsurface by seismic interpretation are normal faults affecting the basement and dividing it into horst and graben systems and positive inversion structures, consisting of compressional gentle folds associated with reverse faults located on the pre-existing normal faults. The extensional movement switched into a compressional one. Deep-seated, flower-like fault systems that are probably transpressional faults were recognised.