Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of a cretaceous intracontinental rift: Example from Rio do Peixe Basin, north-eastern Brazil

Abstract

The Rio do Peixe Basin is part of a set of aborted rifts with NE-SW trend along the NE region of Brazil. This axis was originated in response to the stress caused by the fragmentation of Pangea during the Mesozoic, and effectively installed during the Cretaceous event that defined the Brazilian equatorial margin. The detailed structural framework allowed the recognition of the Brejo das Freiras fault zone which presents NE-SW trend and, locally, ENE-WSW. This fault zone, strongly influenced by the basement fabric, deformed the layers and originated drag folds, fault-bending folds, and fault-propagation gentle folds. The half-graben fault margin developed alluvial fans, triggered by tectonic activity and geologically instantaneous creation of accommodation space. At the central portion it predominates a lacustrine sedimentation, while fluvial systems are responsible for carrying sedimentary supply from the flexural margin towards the depocenter. Since tectonics controls sedimentation on rifts, the tectonic systems tracts correspond to an arrangement of contemporaneous depositional systems associated with basin evolutional stages. In the syn-rift sequence, corresponding to Rio do Peixe Group nine stratigraphic units were recognized, bounded by flooding surfaces and drowning unconformities which record cycles of expansion and contraction of the lacustrine system. The tectonic systems tracts related to the initial stages of the rift installation were identified, followed by moments of high and low tectonic activity. The seismic and the well data support both the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Brejo das Freiras Sub-Basin and the seismic-stratigraphic model proposed in this work. Different correlations between accommodation and sedimentation along a half-graben basin are expected in moments of tectonic activity and quiescence. The use of seismic attributes and filters improved the visualization and extraction of geological features, in both, structural (using pseudo-relief and curvature attributes) and stratigraphic interpretations (RMS amplitude and cosine phase). The understanding of spatial and temporal distribution of depositional systems responsible for a basin filling allows predicting potential petroleum systems.