Abstract
Abstract The occurrence of failed breakup basins and deepwater blocks of thinned continental crust is commonplace in the rifting and breakup of continents, as part of passive margin development. This paper examines the rifting of Pangaea–Gondwanaland and subsequent breakup to form the South Atlantic Ocean, with development of a failed breakup basin and seafloor spreading axis (the deepwater Santos Basin) and an adjacent deepwater block of thinned continental crust (the Sao Paulo Plateau) using a combination of 2D flexural backstripping and gravity inversion modelling. The effects of the varying amounts of continental crustal thinning on the contrasting depositional and petroleum systems in the Santos Basin and on the São Paulo Plateau are discussed, the former having a predominant post-breakup petroleum system compared with a pre-breakup system in the latter. An analogy is also made to a potentially similar failed breakup basin/thinned continental crustal block pairing in the Faroes region in the NE Atlantic Ocean.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Geological Society, London, Petroleum Geology Conference Series
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
