Basin-floor Fans Research Articles

Spectral decomposition application for appraisal of Miocene lowstand prograding wedge plays, Indus Offshore, Pakistan: Implications for petroleum exploration

Turbidite-embedded lowstand prograding wedges are hot topics in the sequence stratigraphic consortium. The lowstand prograding wedges within the lowstand system tract are mud-prone in deep-water settings, and hence, sandstone reservoirs become ultra-thin to be detected using bandlimited seismic. The prediction of thin-bedded (hydrocarbon-charged) lowstand prograding wedge reservoirs along the structural closure is therefore a challenge. We delineate thick and porous source and reservoir segments by interpreting the seismic stratigraphy and performing continuous wavelet transforms of spectral decomposition tools on the Indus Offshore, Pakistan. The 48 Hz resolves the shallow-marine coarse-grained hydrocarbon-bearing oblique-tangential clinoforms, faults, source rock, and shale out zone, which captured the lowstand prograding wedges play. The 48 Hz images the lowstand prograding wedge geomorphology and high-energy coarse-grained turbidity channelized basin floor fans source beds. The bandlimited seismic facies simulation predicted a 15 to 25 % porosity and a thickness of 5.7 m for porous oblique-tangential prograding clinoform facies. The CWT-based spectral seismic facies and porosity simulations predicted a 15 to 35 % porosity and enhanced reservoir thickness of 11 m for oblique-tangential prograding clinoform facies, which suggested robust indicators for explorations of lowstand prograding wedge plays in the Indus Offshore and other similar basins.

Depositional architecture and evolution of basin-floor fan systems since the Late Miocene in the Northwest Sub-Basin, South China Sea

The sediment budget of the Northwest Sub-basin, South China Sea since the Late Miocene (11.6 Ma, average thickness > 1000 m) accounts for more than two-thirds of the total infill since the initial ocean spreading of the sub-basin (32 Ma). The sediment sources and architectural pattern of these deposits, however, are poorly known. Using high-resolution 2D reflection seismic data with age constraint from IODP boreholes, we have documented two interdigitating basin-floor fan systems that developed since the Late Miocene. These were fed by two of the largest deep-water canyon systems worldwide, from the west (the Central Canyon/Xisha Trough) and the northeast (the Pearl River Canyon), as well as from smaller headless canyons and gullies across the surrounding slopes. Based on careful analysis of seismic facies, their geometry and occurrence, we identify the principal deep-water architectural elements, including the multi-scale channels, channel-levee complexes, lobes, sheets and drapes, mass-transport deposits, volcanic intrusions, turbidity-current sediment-wave fields, and a contourite drift/terrace.Tentative reconstructions show that the development of these Late Miocene-Quaternary basin-floor fan systems was dominated by changes of sediment supply. The Xisha fan reached its largest extent during the Late Miocene, while the Pearl River fan was most active during the Late Miocene to Quaternary. During the Late Miocene, both the conduits of the Central Canyon and the Pearl River Canyon were active with abundant sediment supply, generating the two incipient fan systems. Sediment supply from the west via the Central Canyon persisted throughout the Late Miocene, being coarser-grained than that of the Pearl River fan. With the demise of the Central Canyon during the Pliocene and consequent sharp decrease in sediment supply, the Xisha fan size reduced significantly. By contrast, supply of mud-rich sediments from the Pearl River and northern slope increased through the Pliocene and into the Quaternary, leading to the modern sedimentary pattern of interdigitating basin-floor fans. Insights into the evolution of sediment supply and fan development through time derived in this study contribute to a better understanding of how source to sink systems feed marginal oceanic basins such as the South China Sea.

Fringe or background: Characterizing deep-water mudstones beyond the basin-floor fan sandstone pinchout

ABSTRACT Mud dominates volumetrically the fraction of sediment delivered and deposited in deep-water environments, and mudstone is a major component of basin-floor successions. However, studies of basin-floor deposits have mainly focused on their proximal sandstone-prone part. A consequent bias therefore remains in the understanding of depositional processes and stratigraphic architecture in mudstone-prone distal settings beyond the sandstone pinchouts of basin-floor fans. This study uses macroscopic and microscopic descriptions of over 500 m of continuous cores from research boreholes from the Permian Skoorsteenberg Formation of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, to document the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and ichnology of a distal mudstone-prone basin-floor succession. Very thin- to thin-bedded mudstones, deposited by low-density turbidity currents, stack to form bedsets bounded by thin packages (< 0.7 m thick) of background mudstones. Genetically related bedsets stack to form bedset packages, which are bounded by thicker (> 0.7 m thick) background mudstones. Stratigraphic correlation between cores suggests that bedsets represent the distal fringes of submarine fan lobe elements and/or lobes, and bedset packages represent the distal fringes of lobe complexes and/or lobe complex sets. The internal stacking pattern of bedsets and bedset packages is highly variable vertically and laterally, which records dominantly autogenic processes (e.g., compensational stacking, avulsion of feeder channels). The background mudstones are characterized by remnant tractional structures and outsize particles, and are interpreted as deposited from low-density turbidity currents and debris flows before intense biogenic reworking. These observations challenge the idea that mud accumulates only from hemipelagic suspension fallout in distal basin-floor environments. Thin background mudstones separating bedsets (< 0.7 m thick) are interpreted to mainly represent autogenically driven lobe abandonment due to up-dip channel avulsion. The thicker background mudstones separating bedset packages (> 0.7 m thick) are interpreted to dominantly mark allogenically driven regional decrease of sand supply to the basin floor. The recognition of sandstone-prone basin-floor fans passing into genetically linked distal fringe mudstones suggests that submarine lobes are at least ∼ 20 km longer than previously estimated. This study provides sedimentological, stratigraphic, and ichnological criteria to differentiate mudstones deposited in different sub-environments in distal deep-water basin-floor settings, with implications for the accurate characterization of basin-floor fan architecture, and their use as archives of paleoenvironmental change.

Seismic geomorphology and overpressure variation in the shallow-water-flow-prone sand units in the north-central Gulf of Mexico

The north-central Gulf of Mexico area received rapid deposition of a basin-floor fan system consisting of interbedded muds, silts, and sandy turbidite deposits during the Pleistocene. Overpressure occurs at shallow depths when burial rates exceed the dewatering rates of sediment pore fluids. Two stratigraphic sequences in the region contain significant overpressure with elevated shallow-water flow risk within these units. We have used publicly available seismic and well data to identify the geomorphology and overpressure variation of these units. The previously described “Blue Unit” and its lateral extent, thickness, depth below sea level (BSL), and overpressure gradient have been revised. The Blue Unit extends from the northern portion of the Mississippi Canyon (MC) protraction area to as far south as the Atwater Valley (AT) protraction area. For the first time, the Green Unit’s lateral extent, thickness, depth BSL, and pore pressure are defined. The “Green Unit” was found to extend further south than the Blue Unit into the AT protraction area and further east in the Desoto Canyon protraction area. The tops of both units are highly incised by postdepositional erosional systems, whereas the base of each unit is well preserved. The top of the Blue Unit below the mud line (BML) varies from <70 m (<230 ft) in the north to as deep as 701 m (2300 ft) in the south, whereas the top of the Green Unit is as shallow as 300 m (985 ft) in the north to 901 m (2956 ft) in the south. Overpressure in the MC area has been reported just BML. The pore pressure gradient ranges from 0.47 to 0.52 psi/ft at the base of the Blue Unit and increases to 0.60 psi/ft within the Green Unit.

Structure, stratigraphy, and petroleum potential of the deepwater Colombian Basin, offshore northern Colombia

We have defined the structure and stratigraphy of the central area of the Colombian Basin — offshore of the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia — using approximately 8400 line km of depth-converted 2D seismic data assembled from academic and industry sources. We integrate information from offset deep sea drilling program and ocean drilling program wells into a structural and stratigraphic model of the Colombian Basin, identifying the key elements of a petroleum system. These elements are (1) Upper Cretaceous marine shale source rock, (2) Middle to Upper Miocene (16–5.3 Ma) basin-floor fans associated with the Magdalena fan turbidite system, (3) structural traps and stratigraphic traps, and (4) sealing intervals formed by Miocene hemipelagic marine shale associated with sea-level high-stands. We extend a previously recognized trap type for the Colombian margin to include stratigraphic traps within the distal Miocene Magdalena fan section. We base our interpretations upon seismic observations of amplitude anomalies conformant with structures; fluid migration pathways along faults; and bright, laterally continuous, and low-impedance seismic reflectors. The primary risk for the exploration potential of the area is the presence of a laterally extensive Upper Cretaceous source rock within the main Colombian basin depocenter. The 1D burial history models and 3D basin modeling indicate that a source rock of this age and at this stratigraphic level would have expelled hydrocarbons during Middle to Late Miocene from the deepest part of the basin and may continue to expel hydrocarbons in the present day.

The arrival of the paleo–Orinoco Delta at Trinidad: The Cruse Formation delta lobes and delivery to deepwater Atlantic

ABSTRACT Icehouse continental-shelf-margin accretion is typically driven by high-sediment-supply deltas and repeated glacio-eustatic, climate-driven sea-level changes on a ca. 100 ky time scale. The paleo–Orinoco margin is no exception to this, as the paleo–Orinoco River Delta with its high sediment load prograded across Venezuela, then into the Southern and Columbus basins of Trinidad since the late Miocene, depositing a continental-margin sedimentary prism that is > 12 km thick, 200 km wide, and 500 km along dip. The Cruse Formation (> 800 m thick; 3 My duration) records the first arrival of the paleo–Orinoco Delta into the Trinidad area. It then accreted eastwards, outwards onto the Atlantic margin, by shallow to deepwater clinoform increments since the late Miocene and is capped by a major, thick flooding interval (the Lower Forest Clay). Previous research has provided an understanding of the paleo–Orinoco Delta depositional system at seismic and outcrop scales, but a clinoform framework detailing proximal to distal reaches through the main fairway of the Southern Basin has never been built. We integrate data from 58 wells and outcrop observations to present a 3-D illustration of 15 mapped Cruse clinoforms, in order to understand the changing character of the first Orinoco clastic wedge on Trinidad. The clinoforms have an undecompacted average height of 550 m, estimated continental slope of 2.5° tapering to 1°, and a distance from shelf edge to near-base of slope of > 10 km. The clinoform framework shows trajectory changes from strong shelf-margin progradation (C10–C13) to aggradation (C14–C20) and to renewed progradation (C21–24). Cruse margin progradational phases illustrate oblique clinothem geometries that lack well-developed topsets but contain up to 70 m (200 ft) thick, deepwater slope channels. This suggests a high supply of sediment during periods of repeated icehouse rise and fall of eustatic sea level, with fall outpacing subsidence rates at times, and delivery of sand to the deepwater region of the embryonic Columbus channel region. Also, evidence of wholesale shelf-edge collapse and canyon features seen in outcrop strongly suggest that deepwater conduits for sediment dispersal and bypass surfaces for Cruse basin-floor fans do exist. The change to a topset aggradational pattern with a rising shelf trajectory may be linked to increased subsidence associated with eastward migration of the Caribbean plate. The Cruse-margin topsets were dominated by mixed fluvial–wave delta lobes that were effective in delivery of sands to the basin floor. The preservation of a fluvial regime of the delta may have been impacted by basin geometry which partly sheltered the area from the open Atlantic wave energy at the shelf edge. Ultimately, understanding shelf-edge migration style as well as process-regime changes during cross-shelf transits of the delta will help to predict the location of bypassed sands and their delivery to deepwater areas.

The Svalbard Eocene‐Oligocene (?) Central Basin succession: Sedimentation patterns and controls

AbstractA synthesis has been undertaken based on regionally compiled data from the post early Eocene foreland basin succession of Svalbard. The aim has been to generate an updated depositional model and link this to controlling factors. The more than kilometer thick progradational succession includes the offshore shales of the Gilsonryggen Member of the Frysjaodden Formation, the shallow marine sandstones of the Battfjellet Formation and the predominantly heterolithic Aspelintoppen Formation, together recording the progressive eastwards infill of the foredeep flanking the West Spitsbergen fold‐and‐thrust belt. Here we present a summary of the paleo‐environmental depositional systems across the basin, their facies and regional distribution and link these together in an updated depositional model. The basin‐margin system prograded with an ascending shelf‐edge trajectory in the order of 1°. The basin fill was bipartite, with offset stacked shelf and shelf‐edge deltas, slope clinothems and basin floor fans in the western and deepest part and a simpler architecture of stacked shelf‐deltas in the shallower eastern part. We suggest a foredeep setting governed by flexural loading, likely influenced by buckling, and potentially developing into a wedge top basin in the mature stage of basin filling. High‐subsidence rates probably counteracted eustatic falls with the result that relative sea‐level falls were uncommon. Distance to the source terrain was small and sedimentation rates was temporarily high. Time‐equivalent deposits can be found outbound of Stappen High in the Vestbakken Volcanic Province and the Sørvestsnaget Basin 300 km further south on the Barents Shelf margin. We cannot see any direct evidence of coupling between these more southerly systems and the studied one; southerly diversion of the sediment‐routing, if any, may have taken place beyond the limit of the preserved deposits.

Lithostratigraphy and Sequence Stratigraphy of Ultra-Deep E-Field, Eastern Niger Delta: Reservoir, Geological and Biostratigraphical Evidence

The ultra-deep offshore, eastern Niger Delta is marked by rapid, cyclic deposition of thick units of siliciclastic sediments ranging from deep marine to non-marine environments, deposited into rapidly subsiding sub-basins occurring along the slope of the continental margin. This rapid deposition resulted in thick third-order sequences and systems tracts. Patterns of deposition were analysed from seismic reflection configuration and well-log patterns. Lithofacies patterns critical for systems tract recognition were interpreted from well logs and tied to seismic sections where possible. Sediment accumulation plots were constructed and employed to interpret the location of stratigraphic condensation, key surfaces, diffuse boundaries between systems tracts and evaluate the significance of condensed sections. The origin of these condensed sections is caused by major allocyclic changes associated with transgression and shifting of the deltaic depocenter that fed the area. The regional change in condensation through time was interpreted as reflecting avulsion of the shallow marine sediment source. The compilation of sediment accumulation plots also showed a major increase in sedimentation approximately 2.4 Ma; caused by the influx of the prograding shallow marine sediments. Wells located in distal regions in this field are more condensed [steeper slope] than proximal locations. The resulting analyses of this study showed that the basin-floor fan has the highest rate of deposition and could be identified as a gentle slope in the line of sediment accumulation. In the distal regions of the field, TST’s are characterized by sediment starvation because most of the sediments are trapped in the proximal areas. The maximum flooding surfaces [MFS’s] were recorded in deep water as condensed sections. Secondary condensed sections were delineated and interpreted to have deposited above the top basin-floor fan surface [tbfs] and top slope fan surface [tsfs]. In addition to traditional first downhole occurrence biostratigraphy, the database also contains information on nannofossil abundance. The sands encountered in the reservoirs are correlatable indicating a relatively longer period of depositional cycle. Keywords : Lithostratigraphy, Sequence stratigraphy, Eustacy, Reservoir geology, Biostratigraphy, Ultra-deep Offshore, Eastern Niger Delta. DOI : 10.7176/JEES/10-7-06 Publication date :July 31st 2020

How much systems-tract scale, three-dimensional stratigraphic variability is present in sequence stratigraphy?: An answer from the middle Miocene Pearl River Mouth Basin

Prior sequence stratigraphic methods mainly employed two-dimensional (2-D) stacking patterns to reconstruct stratigraphic frameworks. The future of sequence stratigraphy will pay more attention to systems-tracts scale and three-dimensional (3-D) stratigraphic variability. Using 1.2 × 104 km2 (4.63 × 103 mi2) 3-D seismic data, tied to regional 2-D seismic lines and 21 boreholes, the present study examines systems-tract scale and 3-D stratigraphic variability of the 14.8–13.8 Ma Pearl River shelf-margin to deep-water sedimentary prisms. The studied prisms were divided into four main systems tracts, namely, highstand systems tract (HST), falling-stage systems tract (FSST), lowstand systems tract (LST), and transgressive systems tract (TST). Each systems tract is represented by a given clinoformal architecture and stacking pattern: (1) clinothem sets with aggradation to progradation are HST, (2) clinothem sets with progradation to degradation (PD) are FSST, (3) clinothem sets with progradation to aggradation (PA) are LST, and (4) clinothem sets with retrogradation are TST, LST, or HST. In addition, Pearl River FSST and LST display downdip stratigraphic variabilities which are regionally manifested in at least three ways: (1) shelf-edge deltas linked downdip to basin-floor fans, (2) shelf-edge deltas linked downdip without fans, and (3) basin-floor fans linked updip that lack deltas. In along-strike orientation, the Pearl River FSST could exhibit low-angle progradation, not just PD stacking. The LST could present retrogradational stacking, not just PA stacking. Therefore, the physical position of a systems tract is reemphasized in terms of assigning a given systems tract. The concepts of three systems tracts are then revised for chronostratigraphic significance. The LST is the lowermost systems tract of a sequence, presenting a normal regression of the shoreline as its diagnostic characteristic and including contemporaneous stratigraphic units laterally. The HST is the upper systems tract of a sequence, providing a normal regression of the shoreline as its diagnostic characteristic and including contemporaneous stratigraphic units laterally. The TST is the middle systems tract of a sequence, generating a backstep of the shoreline and excluding contemporaneous onlapping units of both the LST and HST laterally. The FSST has not been revised because FSST may be a supply-independent feature.

Seismic attribute and petrophysics-assisted interpretation of the Nanushuk and Torok Formations on the North Slope, Alaska

Exploration of the Brookian sandstone reservoirs in the Nanushuk and Torok Formations on the North Slope of Alaska is a hot topic and presents opportunities to the oil and gas community because of their shallow depth, vast extent, and scope of development. The consecutive hydrocarbon discoveries announced by Repsol-Armstrong, Caelus Energy, and ConocoPhillips in 2015, 2016, and 2017 have indicated the presence of the vast recoverable resources on the North Slope in the Nanushuk and Torok reservoirs. We have investigated the detailed geophysical and petrophysical characteristics of these reservoirs. Our goal is to detect dominant geologic features in these formations using a combination of seismic attributes at the regional scale and analyze critical petrophysical and rock physics properties to evaluate formation heterogeneities and identify the reservoir targets by integrating well log and core data at the well scale. The Nanushuk Formation is expressed as topset reflections, whereas the Torok and gamma-ray zone formations are expressed as foresets and bottomsets on the seismic reflection data. Using seismic attributes, we mapped the extent of different geomorphological features, including shelf edges, channels, slides, and basin-floor fans, all with significant amplitude anomalies. The shelf edges continue for tens to hundreds of miles along the north/northwest and east–west directions, depending on the areas. The internal characters of these formations delineated by conventional well logs and advanced petrophysical analysis reveal their vertical heterogeneities and complexities, in terms of reservoir properties. We conclude that the reservoirs are vertically and laterally heterogeneous. These are thin-bedded low-resistivity reservoirs. Only a few zones in the parasequences are oil-saturated. We find that a combination of low [Formula: see text] ratio and acoustic impedance can be a useful proxy to detect the hydrocarbon-bearing sand intervals in these formations.

Cretaceous lithostratigraphy of North-East Greenland

An updated and revised lithostratigraphic scheme is presented for the Cretaceous of North-East Greenland from Traill Ø in the south to Store Koldewey in the north. The Ryazanian to lower Maastrichtian succession is up to several kilometres thick and comprises four groups, 12 formations and 18 members. The groups record the tectonic evolution of the East Greenland depocentre on the western flank of the evolving proto-Atlantic seaway. The Wollaston Forland Group encompasses the uppermost Jurassic – lowermost Cretaceous rift-climax succession and contains the Lindemans Bugt and Palnatokes Bjerg Formations; two new members of the latter formation are erected from Store Koldewey. Post-rift Cretaceous strata are referred to the new Brorson Halvø Group and the Home Forland Group. The Brorson Halvø Group (uppermost Hauterivian – middle Albian) is dominated by slope and basinal mudstones of the new Stratumbjerg Formation but also includes fluvio-deltaic and shallow marine sandstones of the revised Steensby Bjerg Formation on northern Hold with Hope and submarine slope apron breccias and conglomerates of the revised Rold Bjerge Formation on Traill Ø. The Home Forland Group covers the middle Albian – Coniacian succession. The basal unconformity records an important mid-Albian tectonic event involving intrabasinal uplift, tilting and erosion, as exemplified by the middle Albian conglomerates of the new Kontaktravine Formation on Clavering Ø. The Home Forland Group is dominated regionally by mud-dominated slope to basinal deposits of the elevated and revised Fosdalen Formation; it also includes lowstand basin-floor fan sandstones of the new upper Albian Langsiden Member. The new Jackson Ø Group (upper Turonian – lower Maastrichtian), records a phase of basin reorganisation marked by a significant fall in sedimentation rate in North-East Greenland, probably linked to rift events in, and bypass to, the central proto-Atlantic rift system. The base of the group is an erosional unconformity on Traill Ø and Geographical Society Ø overlain by submarine slope-apron conglomerates of the Turonian Månedal Formation. The base is conformable on Hold with Hope but is defined by a condensed interval (the Coniacian Nanok Member) that is succeeded conformably by slope and basin-floor turbidite sandstones of the Coniacian–Santonian Østersletten Formation and slope to basinal mudstones of the Campanian – lower Maastrichtian Knudshoved Formation. The new Leitch Bjerg Formation of Campanian slope-apron conglomerates and sandstones in eastern Geographical Society Ø erosionally overlies the Knudshoved Formation.

Using polygonal layer-bound faults as tools to delimit clastic reservoirs in the Levant Basin offshore Lebanon

The Levant Basin offshore Lebanon contains an array of layer-bound normal faults in the Oligocene–Miocene units. The faults are believed to have nucleated in fine-grained sedimentary rocks similar to polygonal fault systems worldwide, and as a result, they may be influenced by lithological heterogeneities in the host-rock unit. Three-dimensional seismic data and amplitude extraction from offshore Lebanon were used to map deep-water channels and fan lobes, demonstrating that the distribution, geometry, and growth of the layer-bound normal faults are affected by these sedimentary bodies, which are impacting fault propagation. Three fault types are identified, differentiated by their growth models and overall geometry. Type I faults in the deep basin indicate that a competent unit is present in the lower Miocene and is affecting their growth. Type II and III faults in the Latakia ridge and the margin, respectively, are smaller because of restriction by upper Miocene and lower Oligocene basin-floor fans. Based on their seismic expression and on analogy with other basins containing similar faults, it is very likely that the overlying and underlying units causing restriction consist of coarse-grained clastic intervals. Therefore, reservoirs offshore Lebanon are probably lower Miocene in the deep basin, whereas in the Latakia ridge and the Levant margin, reservoirs are in upper Miocene and in lower Oligocene units. This study provides an additional evidence that layer-bound, or polygonal faults, can have practical industrial application during exploration of hydrocarbons, even in the absence of well data.

Geological process simulation in 3-D lithofacies modeling: Application in a basin floor fan setting

Geological process simulation in 3-D lithofacies modeling: Application in a basin floor fan setting

Depth conversion and seismic inversion of the Scarborough gas field

The Scarborough gas resource is located in the Exmouth Plateau of the North Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. The reservoir is a deep-water basin floor fan complex. The overburden has multiple la...

Facies and architectural variability of sub‐seismic slope‐channel fills in prograding clinoforms, Mid‐Jurassic Neuquén Basin, Argentina

AbstractMost slope‐channel outcrop studies have been conducted at continental margin‐scale on seismic data. However, in foreland and back‐arc deepwater settings, sub‐seismic scale slope channels hold equally important information on deepwater sediment delivery, often in hydrocarbon‐bearing provinces. One such slope‐channel system is examined in Lower Jurassic prograding shelf‐margin clinoforms in Bey Malec Estancia, La Jardinera area, southern Neuquén Basin, Argentina. In a 4 km wide, 300 m tall, slightly oblique‐ to depositional‐dip section of Jurassic Los Molles Formation deepwater slope deposits, seven clinoform timelines were identified by isolated slope‐channel fills with thicknesses less than 50 m. Sedimentary logs, satellite images, a digital elevation model and drone photogrammetry were used to map variations in downslope channel geometry and infill facies. The slope channels are filled with sediment density flow deposits: poorly sorted conglomeratic debrites, structureless sandy high‐density turbidites and well‐sorted, fine‐grained, graded low‐density turbidites. The debrite portion decreases downslope, whereas high‐ and low‐density turbidites increase. A grain‐size analysis reveals a broad downslope fining trend of turbidite and debrite beds within slope channels with increasing water depth, and some notable bypass of conglomeratic facies to the lowermost slope channels and basin floor fans. The architecture of the slope channels changes from lateral to aggradational infill downstream. The Bey Malec clinoforms and its slope channels add new knowledge on downslope changes for sediment delivery in relatively shallow (<500 m water depth), prograding‐dominant deepwater basins. They also highlight one of very few outcropping examples of oblique‐type clinoforms.

Hunting for Africa’s new transform play trends

The abyssal plains of Africa’s passive margins have been inaccessible to drilling until recently, and traps for true basin floor fans little explored. Turbidite flows reaching the basin floor through confined slope channels can begin to lose energy and deposit coarser clastic components, although if the basin floor continues to gently slope down in an offshore or lateral direction then turbidite flows can continue for long distances. However, younger, hotter and more buoyant oceanic crust generally lies offshore from older, colder oceanic crust riding deeper on the mantle. This creates an up-dip-to-offshore (UDTO) geometry to the basin floor. UDTO basins, can therefore present opportunities for basin floor turbidite flows to onlap and form stratigraphic trapping geometries towards the offshore on oceanic crust. Yet such plays are often in water deeper than 3 km (i.e. the Early Cretaceous basin floor play under the Raya-1 well offshore Uruguay), unless the crust is supported by mantle convection (Yakaar-1 offshore Senegal).

Lessons learnt from recent dry wells in northwest Africa

Industry interest in the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin has heightened in recent years with the SNE and FAN discoveries, offshore Senegal in 2014, as well as a successful drilling campaign in 2015-16. Recently, however, many high-profile dry wells suggest that the geological risks in these basins are not fully understood at present. The first exploration-drilling programme during 2015-16 (led by Kosmos Energy in partnership with BP) boasted a 100% success rate across five wells. It included major dry gas discoveries at the Greater Tortue Complex (Tortue, Ahmeyim, and Guembeul), Marsouin, and Teranga. During this campaign, more than 50 Tcf of gas was discovered. The wells targeted gas reservoirs in Cenomanian channel sandstones in combination traps with a strong structural component. Although industry excitement was high regarding the large gas volumes discovered, many exploration and production (E&P) companies hoped for the potential of significant volumes of economically recoverable oil in the basin. With the objective of discovering a new oil province, the 2017-18 drilling campaign shifted from slope-channel sandstones to focus on an outboard basin floor fan fairway. A liquids-rich pay zone was believed to be more likely here because of expected lower maturities of potential source rocks basin-ward. Four independent prospects were high graded from a large inventory to provide the best chance of discovering liquids in volume. The wells were drilled between May 2017 and January 2018 and resulted in a 25% success rate (with the only discovery of dry gas). The results of wildcats provide hard evidence for where the petroleum system works and where it does not. Commonly, many of these failures constitute a prospect-specific risk. However, understanding the likely chance of this risk reoccurring on a new prospect is key to future exploration campaigns. Therefore, placing these wells in the wider context of a basin review, it is possible to better understand and differentiate basin-scale risk and prospect-scale risk.

Quantification of Basin-Floor Fan Pinchouts: Examples From the Karoo Basin, South Africa

The topography of the seabed (orientation and gradient) and rheology of the flows greatly influences the character of basin-floor turbidity current deposits. Therefore, submarine fan pinchouts can help to constrain seabed topography and basin configurations at the time of deposition. Although the depositional architecture of submarine lobe pinchouts has been documented in various basin-fills, the quantification of the rates of change at pinchouts in different palaeogeographic positions and basin configurations has not been attempted previously. Here, we utilize extensive outcrops and research boreholes from the oblique up-dip pinchout of Fans 3 and 4 and the lateral pinchout of Fan 3 in the Tanqua depocentre, Karoo Basin, South Africa, to compare sedimentary facies and to quantify the rates of change in gross interval thickness. At the oblique up-dip pinchout, Fan 3 thins abruptly at a rate of 12 m/km, whilst Fan 4 thins at a rate of 4 m/km. Marked differences between Fan 3 and 4 in sedimentary facies and architecture towards the up-dip pinchout, with termination of lobes in Fan 3 and a channel-lobe transition zone and external levee in Fan 4, suggests progradation of the system. The thinning rate of the lateral pinchout of Fan 3 is 2 m/km with the presence of hybrid beds in the lower part of Fan 3, whilst the upper part is dominated by structured sandstones and thin-bedded heterolithics. The variations in facies suggest that at the lobe-scale frontal and lateral pinchouts are stacked at the lobe complex-scale lateral pinchout of Fan 3, highlighting the importance of a hierarchical understanding when studying basin-floor fan pinchouts. The quantified rates of change in fan thickness and sedimentology on the oblique up-dip and lateral fan pinchouts are markedly different. Contrasting pinchout architectures above slopes with subtle differences in gradient and orientation cautions against simple definition of reservoir input parameters for stratigraphic traps in submarine fan systems.

Lithofacies and Depositional Environment from Geophysical Logs of EMK Field, Deepwater Niger Delta, Nigeria

The lithofacies and environments of deposition of the EMK field, in parts of the deepwater zone of Niger Delta Basin, have been carried out. Geophysical well logs from two deep oil wells were used. Shale and sand were identified in the gamma ray logs. The shale lithology is more dominant than the sand and this was interpreted as the marine Akata Formation. Four sand bodies were identified and correlated across the wells. The shapes of the gamma ray signatures are funnel, bell and cylindrical. Prograding, retrograding and aggradational parasequences were identified from the stacking patterns of the gamma ray curves. The environments of deposition delineated for the study area are slope fans and basin floor fans.

Organization and reorganization of drainage and sediment routing through time: the Mississippi River system

Abstract It has been said that large rivers are the bloodlines of continents, and the Mississippi River system is the most prominent bloodline in North America. The Mississippi drainage stretches from the Rocky Mountains in the western USA to the Appalachian Cordillera in the east, and sediment from this vast area is then routed to the alluvial–deltaic plain of south Louisiana and the basin-floor fan in the deep Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Origins of the Mississippi system can be traced to the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene reorganization of North American drainage. However, integration of a continental-scale Mississippi drainage is a Late Neogene phenomenon, and sediment routing to the GoM has changed significantly over multiple timescales in response to a variety of large-scale natural forcing mechanisms and to human activities. This paper reviews large-scale change in drainage, sediment routing and sediment storage for the Mississippi system over timescales of 150 myr, where tectonic and geodynamic processes dominate, the last 150 kyr, where Milankovitch climate and sea-level changes dominate, and the 150 year period of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries when human activities have fundamentally altered the sediment routing and dispersal system.