The Relationship Between Thrust Faults and Structural Fractures in the Tarim Basin, China

Abstract

It is a problem that how thrust faults control the distribution of structural fractures in the exploration and development of fracture oil-reservoirs. One section of fracture outcrops in Ordovician carbonites is measured in the north margin of Tarim Basin, and two sections cross the Fault I in the central Tarim Basin are measured and processed in the paper. The development rule of structural fractures can be depicted by the fracture density, and the fractures near fault can be divided into two regions: the fracture zone controlled by fault and the fracture zone controlled by regional stress field. The ratio of fault-controlled fracture zone width to the throw of thrust fault is a very important parameter to depict the development of fractures influenced by thrust fault. The ratio is related to the mechanism, scale and throw of the thrust fault. The width of fault-controlled fracture zone can be predicted based on the mechanism and throw of the thrust fault. It is very helpful to the exploration and development of fault-controlled fracture reservoirs. Key words: Structural fractures; Fault-controlled fracture zone; Thrust fault; Fracture density