Thèses sur le sujet « Continental margins and sedimentary basin »

Two 3D seismic reflection datasets from the West African and Brazilian continental margins were analysed to determine their architectural elements and to further the understanding of the sedimentary processes that control their morphology. The results suggest a strong influence of local slope variations on the sedimentary processes and depositional and erosional products within these complex deep water settings. The Niger Delta dataset is characterised by large channel-levee systems and thrust-related folds. The folds degrade by channel erosion and slope failure, which creates laterally discontinuous erosional surfaces on the crests and flanks of the anticlines and chaotic deposits at their bases. The type of slope failure depends on the length and morphology of the local slope, sediment properties and the presence of anisotropics, such as faults. The location and morphology of the channel-levee systems on the Niger Delta are affected by topographical effects associated with thrust-related folding. Fold-induced local changes in gradient cause turbidity currents to deposit sediment upstream of the folds and erode the seafloor downstream of them. This results in the formation of knickpoints along the present- day thalweg of a channel-levee system. A model for the formation and evolution of the knickpoints predicts that they migrate upstream and leave internal erosion surfaces and terraces with coarse sediments in the sedimentary record. They may be an important process by which channels cut through uplifting fold belts. The Espirito Santo Basin dataset is characterised by salt diapirs, slope failures, channels and canyons. Interaction of turbidity currents with variations in topography has led to the formation of large depressions, which occur above abrupt breaks in slope and in trails that follow underlying erosional channels. They are inferred to form by Froude-supercritical currents that become unstable as they encounter topographical irregularities, such as scarps and knickpoints. This leads to the formation of erosional scours and deposits similar to sediment waves, which, when confined within channels, appear as roughly circular depressions.

“El present és la clau del passat”. James Hutton (1788), amb aquesta prou coneguda asserció uniformista, posà els fonaments pel desenvolupament de la investigació geològica moderna des de la perspectiva actualista. L’estratigrafia es val d’aquest principi per interpretar l’origen de les formacions geològiques a partir de l’observació de processos i geometries actuals i subactuals. Alhora, la geomorfologia estudia els processos afaiçonadors del relleu per conèixer l’origen i l’evolució del paisatge actual. Conceptualment, aquesta Tesi se situa a cavall entre l’estratigrafia i la geomorfologia amb l’objectiu general de reconèixer el per què i el com de la variabilitat morfosedimentària dels marges continentals passius silicoclàstics a llarg termini. Per atènyer aquest objectiu adoptem la hipòtesi de partida següent: la variabilitat morfològica dels marges continentals silicoclàstics passius pot ésser classificada per categories de forma objectiva i sistemàtica. Les diferències morfològiques observades responen principalment a l’acció d’uns pocs processos sedimentaris claus. Els mètodes i conceptes emprats en aquesta Tesi són propis de la hidrodinàmica i la sedimentologia. L’observació detallada de la morfologia i l’estratigrafia dels marges continentals, junt amb l’estudi dels processos hidrodinàmics que les han generades i l’anàlisi de la variabilitat espaciotemporal de les condicions ambientals en què s’han format, permet establir lleis de transport geomòrfic, altrament dites lleis de la morfodinàmica. En els successius capítols d’aquesta Tesi abordem aquests aspectes mitjançant l’anàlisi de dades geofísiques de reconeixement del fons i del subsòl marins, amb un especial èmfasi en les xarxes de drenatge del talús continental i la conca profunda. Els resultats d’aquesta anàlisi se sintetitzen en el plantejament d’un model morfodinàmic predictiu sobre la forma del perfil longitudinal dels canyons submarins. Aquest model dóna peu a discutir sobre transitorietat i equilibri en les formes de drenatge observades a les dades geofísiques considerades. Així doncs, en aquest treball advoquem per la complementarietat i interdependència de les anàlisis observacionals i la modelització basada en la formulació teòrica de processos. Els principals resultats obtinguts en aquest treball demostren la possibilitat d’extreure informació sobre l’evolució de les conques sedimentàries a partir de l’estudi de les seves morfologies, tan modernes com relictes i fòssils, i indiquen la necessitat d’entendre els canyons submarins com a sistemes capaços d’evolucionar a partir de mecanismes netament deposicionals, a més dels mecanismes erosius ja prou coneguts. Aquests resultats es poden traduir en una millora de les prediccions estratigràfiques al talús continental, en un millor coneixement de la distribució de reservoris sedimentaris d’hidrocarburs o aigua en aquests ambients, i a replantejar els models establerts sobre el desenvolupament dels canyons submarins a escala global. La Tesi està formada per un compendi de quatre articles publicats en revistes pertanyents al Journal Citation Report de l’Institute for Scientific Information (JCR-ISI), i l’hem estructurada en set capítols. El Capítol 1 consisteix en una introducció general destinada a centrar el lector en el marc conceptual, geogràfic i metodològic en què s’ha elaborat l’estudi. Els capítols 2 a 5 corresponen als quatre articles publicats. El capítol 6 correspon a la síntesi i discussió general dels principals resultats presentats als quatre capítols anteriors. Al capítol 7 hi incloem un sumari de les conclusions més rellevants conjuntament amb algunes perspectives de futur sorgides arran d’aquest treball. Finalment, a l'Annex, hi incloem un treball de síntesi bibliogràfica on descrivim les principals característiques fisiogràfiques dels fons marins mediterranis.
Sedimentary morphodynamics of siliciclastic passive continental margins "The present is the key to the past". James Hutton (1788), with this well-known principle of uniformitarianism, established the basis of the modern geology by following the assumption of actualism. Stratigraphy makes use of this principle to interpret the origin of geological formations according to observations of modern and submodern processes and geometries. Geomorphology studies the processes that sculpt the Earth’s surface to understand the origin and evolution of present landscapes. The main objective of this Thesis, which is conceptually halfway between stratigraphy and geomorphology, is to understand the long-term morphosedimentary variability of siliciclastic passive continental margins. Our initial hypothesis is that the morphology differences among modern siliciclastic passive margins can be objectively and systematically categorized, and that these differences are mainly related to the action of a few key sedimentary processes. The methods and concepts we use in this study are based on hydrodynamics and sedimentology. The detailed observation of continental margin morphology and stratigraphy, the study of the hydrodynamic processes that control their evolution, and the analysis of changing environmental conditions through time and space facilitate the development of geomorphic transport laws (also known as morphodynamic flux laws) for predicting landscape forms and dynamics. In the following chapters we discuss these topics while analysing seafloor and subseafloor geophysical data, with a particular focus on submarine drainage networks. An important result of this analysis is a morphodynamic model that can explain the long-profile shape of submarine canyons. The model stimulates our discussion about the equilibrium and transience of drainage morphologies observed in the geophysical data set we present. In this work we advocate for the complementariness and interdependence of observational analyses and modeling of sedimentary processes. This Thesis demonstrates that much can be learned about the sedimentary evolution of submarine basins from the study of seascape morphologies, both modern and ancient, and that submarine canyons can evolve while remaining net depositional, beyond the broadened view of these features as purely erosive. These results can be translated to improved stratigraphic prediction in slope strata, a better knowledge of hydrocarbon and water resource distribution in these settings, and a broadened view of submarine canyon development.

The aims of this study are to extend the established high-resolution sequence stratigraphic framework of the Madison Formation of Wyoming and southern central Montana to the correlative and genetically-related Mississippian carbonate ramp, ramp margin, and basin strata of the central Montana trough and Antler foreland basin in order to examine and discriminate the controls on depositional processes and the resulting stratigraphic architecture through space and time in tectonically-active settings. An outcrop-based, high-resolution sequence stratigraphic study of two ramp-to-basin transects, one in central Montana and the other in southwestern Montana and east-central Idaho, is conducted in order to examine these deposits across two coeval margins with differing subsidence, hydrodynamic, and physiographic configurations and histories. Independent measurements of system response to global and local forcings allows disentanglement of primary controls on deposition and allows us to gain understanding of the roles and interplay of these controls, in particular eustasy and tectonics, on the system's architectural development. Conversely, insight into the geodynamic evolution of western North America, glacioeustatic changes, and variations in global climate and oceanographic systems during the greenhouse-to-icehouse transition is gained. A series of high-resolution sequence stratigraphic cross-sections and time-slices are produced incorporating outcrop measured sections and measured sections previously collected by members of the Comparative Sedimentology Laboratory in a series of transects across the Madison ramp system. A new chronostratigraphic framework for Madison carbonates is developed by using Lower Carboniferous delta C-13 isotope excursions as isochronous tie points between ramp-top, margin, and basinal sections. These delta C-13 excursion events have been documented to be time-invariant globally due to global changes in ocean chemistry. The results of the study include resolution and discrimination of sequential foreland basin subsidence, carbonate sediment production and progradation, subsidence and uplift of foreland basin structures along a carbonate shelf edge, diachronous subsidence of discrete depocenters, and eustasy.

Characteristic half-graben and graben geometries are generated by extensional tectonics. The sedimentary infill to such basins reflects their structural evolution. The actively extending basins of central Greece have provided an opportunity to study the mechanisms that control sediment distribution and the resultant facies patterns and geometries produced in such environments. The modern and precedent Neogene to Quaternary sediments studied, and their controlling processes, provide predictive templates for the analysis of controls acting upon ancient extensional basin fills. On a basinwide scale, facies patterns are controlled by the geometry of major basin-controlling normal faults and by the structural level of the basin - determining alluvial, lacustrine or marine environments. Increments of movement on normal faults tilt and vertically displace the depositional surface, producing facies responses in terms of fluvial/submarine channel avulsion or preferential migration into topographic lows, lake or sea coastline advance or retreat across the depositional slope, and the progradation of clastic wedges off fault scarps and uplifted areas. The time-averaged product in the stratigraphic record is typically of clinoforms developed preferentially against basin margin faults and axial channel systems concentrated in the structurally constrained depocentre(s). Such gross morphologies are seen in the Lower Pliocene early rift history of the Corinth asymmetric graben; conglomerate-dominated fan deltas and alluvial fans prograded laterally into the basin. The progradation of an ophiolite-derived, fluvio-deltaic system along the basin axis illustrates the competition of sediment supply rates with tectonic subsidence rates in determining facies geometries. A number of other controls on sediment distribution are variously important through time within extensional basins, in addition to structuration and sediment supply rates (itself a function of hinterland litho-type and structural evolution). These include eustatic and climatic variation and compactional subsidence rates. The Corinth Isthmus has been studied with the aim of establishing the interaction of concurrent tectonic and eustatic relative base-level changes. Computer-modelling of the migration of a coastline through theoretical stratigraphic sections illustrates the effects of varying rates of change of sea-level, tectonic subsidence (or uplift) and deposition with time. Incorporation of the global sea-level curve for the Late Quaternary into such models reasonably predicts observed facies geometries in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the Isthmus. U-series disequilibrium dating of corals from the Corinth Canal area has constrained transgressive beach sub-sequences as reflecting c. 100,000 year wavelength eustatic cycles. After subtraction of depositional levels constrained in time and space against the sea-level curve, an average net uplift rate is derived for the central Isthmus of more than 0.3m per 1000 years. The areal distribution of Late Pleistocene marine facies in the southern Corinth Basin is principally controlled by the structural form and evolution at time of deposition. Subsequent tilt block faulting in an alluvial environment illustrates how intrabasinal fault block morphologies may generate axial and lateral sediment transport systems analagous to those on a basinwide scale. The competition between process rates is emphasized. Three- dimensional sedimentary facies patterns within evolving syn-rift basins are shown to be dependent upon the interaction of three principal factors: a) the rate of tectonic displacements through time, on both basinwide and local fault block scales, b) the rate of sea-level change through time (or lake-level change, whether determined by tectonic or climatic means), and c) the rate of deposition at any locality, itself a function of hinterland structure and lithology, climate and depositional geometries.

Deepwater continental margins constitute one of the ultimate exploration frontiers where giant oilfields have been discovered. These comprise reservoirs units affected by multi‐scale compartmentalisation resultant from stratigraphic, structural and/or diagenetic processes that compromise the lateral and/or vertical connectivity of permeable strata. A 3D seismic dataset from the deepwater Espírito Santo Basin (SE Brazil) was analysed to assess and quantify the architectural elements that influence the compartmentalisation of reservoir units. Mass‐Transport Deposits (MTDs) have growing importance on reservoir studies as they highly impact the compartmentalisation of contemporaneous reservoir‐prone turbidite strata. More significant compartmentalisation occurs in areas with higher MTD proportion, which are associated to wider dimensional ranges of laterally limited turbidites. However, salt diapirs constitute important barriers for MTD erosion, thus aiding the preservation of reservoir‐prone turbidites. The internal compositional heterogeneities and cohese strata on remnant and rafted blocks identified within the studied MTDs constitute important fluid flow or accumulation compartments, particularly when linked to underlying permeable faults. Submarine channels in Palaeocene and Neogene Units comprise important reservoir‐prone strata, thus it is crucial to understand their spatial distribution. Large channels are focused along the axis of salt‐withdrawal basins, whereas in sub‐units with numerous smaller channels these are laterally scattered across the basin. A new quantitative method used in this study shows that channel confluences and topographic confinement control significantly the density and spatial distribution patterns of submarine channels. A novel classification for submarine channel confluences is proposed, based on channel morphology and distribution of sediment facies within the tributaries. The key aim of this thesis was to undertake a seismic‐scale qualitative and quantitative analysis of the compartmentalisation of reservoir units on the Brazilian margin using methodologies that can be applied to other continental margins worldwide. As such, the results of this study can provide significant contributions for hydrocarbon exploration.

A comprehensive geophysical survey dataset from the continental shelf of northeastern Svalbard is analysed for the first time in order to investigate the seafloor geomorphic and sedimentary records of glaciation in the area, and to interpret this information in the context of large-scale ice sheet development. High-resolution swath-bathymetric data, used together with co-located 3.5 kHz sub-bottom profiler records and geological core records, are used to characterise and map submarine glacigenic landforms. Process-based interpretations are used to group these data into landsystem models, which are then used to reconstruct former ice-sheet behaviour and dynamics during the Late Weichselian (30-10 kyr B.P.). Absolute flow directions suggest that flow was towards the east and northeast in areas south of the Kvitøya Trough, and northwards towards the shelf break in the trough itself. On the basis of these data, new ice-sheet reconstructions are presented for this sector of the former Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet and include the suggestion that the former ice centre was located significantly further west than in previous reconstructions. A fast-flowing Kvitøya Trough ice stream draining a significant internal ice basin did not exist. Two further datasets are considered. First, a TOBI side-scan sonar dataset collected over the Hinlopen Slide scar provides detailed imagery of this grant submarine slope failure, which is located in a glacier-influenced, outer shelf setting. Through a systematic analysis of meso-scale morphological features (m to km scale) new insights into the composition of slide scarps and deposits are gained and small-scale post-slide processes are identified. Lastly, a 3D seismic dataset from the Murzuq Basin, Libya, which images an ancient (~440 Myr B.P., Late Ordovician) glacigenic succession, is also analysed. By considering the architecture of the deposits and their glaciological setting in an inner shelf, inter-ice stream area, modern analogues for the glacier-related sediments are identified.

Rifted continental margins are economically important regions of Earth. Many of these margins are a product of multiple phases of rifting, where structural inheritance plays a role in subsequent deformation. The Northern Carnarvon Basin of Australia’s North-West Shelf is an example of a polyphase margin that has undergone several episodes of extension in the Palaeozoic to Early Cretaceous. This thesis presents original regional scale interpretations of publicly available seismic data from the inboard margin of the Northern Carnarvon Basin. This work shows two distinct orientations of Palaeozoic structures providing evidence for a polyphase Palaeozoic rift history of the basin. These structural trends influence the subsequent fault patterns associated with Mesozoic rifting. Two-dimensional, isothermal mechanical numerical experiments are used to test seismic observations by forward modelling lithospheric extension at a polyphase continental margin. These experiments document different modes of deformation including “narrow rifts” and “wide rifts” and a dual mode of extension with coeval narrow and wide rift attributes. These experiments potentially shed light on the crustal structure of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, revealing that the dual mode of extension observed could be the result of the removal of the lower crust adjacent to the Pilbara craton and subdued extensional strain rate in the Exmouth Plateau. Three-dimensional ‘numerical sandbox’ experiments where inherited structures are at varying degrees of obliquity to the imposed extension direction are also presented. These experiments generate complex time-dependent deformation patterns. Learnings from this work demonstrates that the Mesozoic deformation patterns of the Northern Carnarvon Basin can be explained by just one extension vector associated with the rifting of Greater India and that the rifting of the Argo block potentially had little effect on the first order deformation patterns of the basin.

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Vários trabalhos têm tentado abordar a evolução das margens conjugadas do Atlântico, incluindo o nordeste do Brasil e o oeste da África. Entretanto, o avanço de pesquisas anteriores tem sido dificultado em razão da falta de dados na região marginal da porção oriental do nordeste do Brasil, principalmente na área inserida entre a Zona de Cisalhamento de Pernambuco e o Alto de Touros. Este fato tem imposto limitações ao desenvolvimento de modelos regionais sobre a evolução geotectônica e paleogeográfica desta região, assim como na correlação com sua contraparte na África. Nesta dissertação é apresentada uma investigação realizada com base em dados gravimétricos, magnéticos e sísmicos regionais. Os resultados mostraram que esta região representa um alto do embasamento com a orientação regional das principais estruturas tectônicas (ENE-WSW), ortogonais as estruturas desenvolvidas durante o processo de abertura das bacias da Paraíba e da Plataforma de Natal (NNE-SSW e NNW-SSE). Sobre o embasamento continental formou-se uma plataforma estreita com uma cobertura sedimentar pouco espessa (0,8-2,5 km) e uma quebra abrupta da plataforma, criando uma vasta zona de bypass através do talude. A análise de uma seção sísmica profunda revelou que a crosta continental afinada (crosta transicional) representa uma estreita zona e que o limite crosta continental-oceânica (COB) está localizado a aproximadamente 100 km a leste da atual linha de costa, na Bacia da Paraíba, e a 70 km, na Bacia da Plataforma de Natal. A modelagem geofísica, integrada com a interpretação sísmica, indica que esta região é caracterizada por um afinamento abrupto da crosta continental, com a consequente ascensão súbita da Moho. Também há evidências da existência de uma zona de crosta continental extremamente afinada, a qual foi interpretada como crosta proto-oceânica. Estes novos dados demonstram que esta área apresenta fortes similaridades com margens rifteadas não vulcânicas ou pobres em magma.
Several studies have tried to address the evolution of the Atlantic conjugate margins, including Northeast Brazil and West Africa. However, past research advances has been hindered by a lack of data for the marginal region in the eastern portion of northeastern Brazil, extending from the Pernambuco Shear Zone to the Touros High. This situation has imposed serious limitations on the development of a regional view of the geotectonic and paleogeographic evolution of this area and on correlations with regional counterparts in Africa. Here, we present an investigation using regional gravimetric, magnetic and seismic data. The results show that this region represents a basement high with regional orientation of tectonic structures (ENE-WSW) orthogonal at structures developed during the open processes of the Paraíba and Natal Platform Basins (NNE-SSW and NNW-SSE). The continental basement forming a narrow platform with a thin sedimentary cover (0.8-2.5 km) and an abrupt shelf break, which created a large bypass zone towards the slope. The analysis of a deep seismic section revealed that thinned continental crust (transitional crust) occupies a narrow zone and that the continental-oceanic boundary (COB) is located approximately 100 km to the east of the present coastline, at Paraíba Basin, and 70 km, at Natal Platform Basin. Geophysical modeling integrated with interpretation of the seismic data suggests that this region is characterized by an abrupt thinning of continental crust, with an accompanying sudden rise of the Moho. There are also indications for the existence of a zone of extremely thinned continental crust, which was interpreted as protooceanic crust. Our findings suggest that the study area shows strong similarities to nonvolcanic or magma-poor rifted margins.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the spatial and temporal recurrence of mass-transport deposits (MTDs) within salt withdrawal basins to unravel the complex interaction between mass-wasting processes and salt halokinesis. A high-quality 3D seismic dataset from the mid-continental slope of Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil, was used to assess the provenance of mass-transport deposits and their potentials as structural markers for seafloor perturbation and fault activity. A new proposition from this work includes scale-independent classification of mass- transport deposits into homogeneous and heterogeneous types. Heterogeneous MTDs are composed of seismic facies corresponding to slides, slumps and debrites. Homogeneous MTDs comprise consolidated debrites considered in this work as comprising barriers to fluid flow. In addition, MTD composed of rafted blocks displayed a disproportionate relationship between their shape, transporting distance and degree of remobilization. Drag zones denote sections of MTDs that are uplifted during salt diapir rise. These drag zones are extended and shortened along their long and short axis respectively. Ramps flanking salt diapirs are formed by either complete or partial erosion of paleo-seafloors and pre-existing fault scarps. In this thesis, it is shown that the risk of remobilized sediments is highest within drag zones. The erosive nature of mass-wasting processes is justified by the decoupling history of faults eroded by MTDs. An innovative method to assess fault decoupling history on continental margin is the use of cumulative throw character. MTD-decoupled faults are iv | P a g e characterised by shorter propagation rate and cumulative throw and are potentially sealing compared to their non-decoupled counterparts. The information from this study is crucial information for successful hydrocarbon exploration and risk assessment in deep-water environments. The methodologies and results from this thesis are applicable to continental margins worldwide.

In this PhD work, we carry out a geophysical and geological study of two classical examples of rifted continental margins: the Gulf of Lions (GoL), located in the Western Mediterranean, and the Tagus Abyssal Plain (TAP), located in the West Iberia margin. In spite of numerous previous studies of these regions, there is a debate on the crustal structure and the processes that led to the formation of the basin. Our study aims to 1) determine the nature of rocks forming the main geological domains of the basin, 2) define the tectonic structure of the basement and 3) place constrains and discuss the kinematics and tectonic and magmatic mechanisms involved in basin formation. To study the GoL, we used a geophysical data set acquired during the SARDINIA-2006 survey by the Ifremer Institute (France). In particular, we used a Multi-Channel Seismic (MCS) line and a coincident Wide-Angle Seismic (WAS) profile. Altogether, these lines cover a seismic transect that runs NW-SE across the GoL until the central part of the Liguro-Provençal basin. The geophysical data used to study the TAP were collected during the FRAME-2018 survey within the framework of the FRAME project. We present spatially coincident MCS and WAS data, along a 350 km-long, E-W trending profile located at 38º N, crossing the basin in the North-West Iberian margin. We apply joint refraction and reflection travel-time tomography (TT) that combines travel-times from MCS and WAS data to provide new constraints on the structure and petrological nature of basement domains along the margins. The result of this joint WAS- MCS tomography is a P-waves velocity (Vp) model of the margin that is fully consistent with the MCS image along the profile, making the geological interpretation less subjective. The processing of MCS data provides the tectonic structure and geometry of the sedimentary basins. The results from the GoL support the existence of three geological domains that are: 1) a continental domain formed by normal faults that tilted the continental basement, 2) a ~100 km wide domain bounded by continental crust domains, characterized by a 4-5 km thick layer with high velocity and steep gradients that we interpret as a lens-shaped body of oceanic crust and 3) a thin continental crust (<4 km). This configuration implies that the continent-ocean transition (COT) occurs abruptly (<10 km along profile) at each side of the oceanic domain. In the case of the TAP, the models show that the crustal structure is more complex, presenting sharp boundaries between five different domains at the base of the continental slope and across the J-anomaly. Thus, the profile across the TAP shows that Domain I and Domain III are made of 4-6 km thick continental crust. Domain III shows a lower crust with comparatively higher velocities possibly due to limited magmatic intrusions. Domain II, previously interpreted as oceanic crust, is shown to constitute a ~70 km wide domain of exhumed and serpentinized mantle. The westernmost 200 km of the profile include Domain IV and Domain V with a basement made of oceanic crust. The new Vp model and seismic images support that the COT is located ~300 km offshore and that occurs abruptly from 10 to 15 km wide. Based on these results, we discuss a new geodynamic scenario characterized by two main phases of crustal extension. According to the presented distribution of the basement, rifting in the TAP would have started with continental crust extension, continued with exhumation of the mantle, followed by the formation of the oceanic crust of the J-magnetic anomaly, and continued with spreading of oceanic crust of the Cretaceous Magnetic Quiet Zone. The interpretation of these results differs from current conceptual models of the formation of both examples of rifting systems. Its integration offers the opportunity to review the existing conceptual models related to rifted margins that involve mantle exhumation and indicate that the response of the continental lithosphere to extension processes may be more complex than previously assumed.
En esta tesis doctoral, se ha realizado un estudio geofísico y geológico de dos ejemplos clásicos de márgenes continentales: el margen de la Cuenca de Liguria y el margen de la Llanura Abisal del Tajo, ubicada en el margen Oeste de Iberia. A pesar de los diversos estudios previos de estas regiones, existe un debate abierto tanto sobre su estructura cortical como sobre los procesos que operaban durante su formación. Este trabajo de tesis ha tenido como objetivos: 1) determinar la naturaleza de las rocas que forman los principales dominios geológicos de ambos márgenes, 2) definir la estructura tectónica del basamento y 3) discutir la cinemática y la interacción de mecanismos tectónicos y magmáticos involucrados en la formación de los márgenes. Para conseguir estos objetivos, se han analizado e integrado diversos datos geofísicos. Los datos principales son de sísmica de reflexión de “streamer” multicanal y de sísmica de refracción y refracción de gran ángulo marinos. También se han integrado datos batimétricos y gravimétricos. La parte metodológica más novedosa de esta tesis es la utilización de los tiempos de trayecto de fases sísmicas de datos de streamer y gran ángulo en una tomografía conjunta. Esta metodología permite determinar con más precisión que otros métodos las velocidades de las ondas sísmicas (Vp) a través del basamento a lo largo de los perfiles. El modelo resultante permite establecer la naturaleza petrológica con menos incertidumbre que los métodos más comúnmente usados. El análisis, procesamiento, modelado e interpretación de estos conjuntos de datos permite una interpretación novedosa de los aspectos relacionados con la estructura y naturaleza de la corteza, así como la discusión de nuevas propuestas para los procesos tectónicos que llevaron a la configuración actual de cada uno de los ejemplos de márgenes continentales. La interpretación desarrollada difiere en gran medida de modelos previos en cuanto a la formación de ambos sistemas de rifting. Por ello, proponemos que su integración ofrece la oportunidad de revisar modelos conceptuales existentes en la literatura. En particular, los resultados muestran que la respuesta de la litosfera continental a los procesos de extensión puede ser más compleja de lo que se suponía hasta ahora.

Systeme von Vorlandbecken repräsentieren bedeutende geologische Archive und dienen dem Verständnis von Rückkopplungen zwischen oberflächennahen und tektonischen Prozessen. Außerdem dokumentieren sie die Entwicklung unmittelbar angrenzender Bergketten. Die sedimentären Abfolgen in Vorlandbecken reflektieren das Gleichgewicht zwischen tektonischer Subsidenz, der Bildung langzeitlichen Akkommodationsraumes und des Sedimenteintrages, welcher wiederum die Wirksamkeit von Erosions- und Massenneuverteilungsprozessen wiederspiegelt. Um die Effekte von Klima und Tektonik in einem solchen System zu erforschen, untersuchte ich die Oligo-Miozänen Sedimente in den Vorlandbecken der südlichen Elburs Bergkette, einem intrakontinentalen Gebirge in Nord-Iran, das im Zuge der Arabisch-Eurasischen Kontinent-Kollision herausgehoben wurde. In dieser Studie der Vorlandbeckensedimente wurden Datierungstechniken angewandt (40Ar/39Ar, (U-Th)/He Thermochronologie und Magnetostratigraphie), die Sedimente und deren Herkunft analysiert und die Tonmineralogie, sowie Sauerstoff- und Kohlenstoffisotope untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass auf einer Zeitskala von 105 bis 106 Jahren eine systematische Korrelation zwischen „coarsening upward“ Zyklen und den sedimentären Akkumulationsraten besteht. Während sukzessiver Überschiebungsphasen werden die durch Hebung der Bergkette bereitgestellten groben Kornfraktionen in proximale Bereiche des Beckens geliefert und feinkörnige Fazies in distalen Beckenregionen abgelagert. Variationen in der Sedimentherkunft in Phasen größerer tektonischer Aktivität zeugen von erosionaler Abdeckung und/oder der Umorganisation natürlicher Entwässerungsstrukturen. Außerdem zeigen die Untersuchungen an stabilen Isotopen, dass die verstärkte tektonische Aktivität das Anwachsen der Topographie förderte und damit die Wirksamkeit einer topographischen Barriere erhöhte. Wenn aufgrund nachlassender Beckenabsenkung die grobe Kornfraktion nicht vollständig im Nahbereich des Beckens aufgenommen werden kann breitet sie sich in ferne Beckenregionen aus. Im Elburs wird die verringerte Subsidenz durch eine interne Hebung des Vorlandes hervorgerufen und ist mit einer lateralen Stapelung von Flussbetten assoziiert. Dokumentiert wird dies anhand konsequenten Schichtwachstums, tektonischer Schrägstellung und sedimentärer Umlagerung. Gleichzeitig nehmen die Sedimentationsraten zu. Die Sauerstoff-Isotope der Paläoböden zeigen, dass dieser Anstieg mit einer Phase feuchteren Klimas einhergeht, wodurch Oberflächenprozesse effizienter werden und Heraushebungssraten steigen, was eine positive Rückkopplung erzeugt. Des Weiteren zeigen die isotopischen und sedimentären Daten, dass seit 10-9 Millionen Jahren (Ma) das Klima durch saisonalen Anstieg der Niederschläge zunehmend feuchter wurde. Da bedeutende klimatische Veränderungen zu dieser Zeit auch im Mittelmeerraum und Asien beobachtet wurden, ist anzunehmen, dass die klimatische Veränderung, die im Elburs Gebirge beobachtet wird, höchstwahrscheinlich Änderungen der atmosphärischen Zirkulationen der nördlichen Hemisphäre reflektiert. Aus den Ergebnissen dieser Studie lassen sich zusätzliche Implikationen für die Entwicklung des Elburs Gebirges und die Arabisch-Eurasische kontinentale Kollisionszone ableiten. Die orogen-weite Hauptdeformation propagierte nicht gleichmäßig nach Süden, sondern seit dem Oligozän schrittweise vorwärts und rückwärts. Insbesondere von ~17,5 bis 6,2 Ma wurde das Gebirge durch eine Kombination aus frontaler Akkretion und interner Keildeformation in Schritten von 0,7 bis 2 Millionen Jahren herausgehoben. Darüber hinaus deuten die Sedimentherkunftsdaten darauf hin, dass sich noch vor 10-9 Ma die Haupteinengungsrichtung von NW-SE nach NNE-SSW veränderte. Regional erlaubt die Geschichte der untersuchten Becken und angrenzenden Gebirgszüge Rückschlüsse auf ein neues geodynamisches Model zur Entwicklung der Arabisch-Eurasischen kontinentalen Kollisionszone. Zahlreiche Sedimentbecken des Elburs Gebirges und anderer Lokalitäten der Arabisch-Eurasischen Deformationszone belegen einen Wechsel von einem tensionalen zu einem kompressionalen tektonischen Regime vor ~36 Ma . Dieser Wechsel könnte den Beginn der Subduktion von gedehnter arabischer kontinentaler Lithosphäre unter Zentral-Iran bedeuten, was zu einer moderaten Plattenkopplung und Deformation von Unter- sowie Oberplatte geführt hat. Der Anstieg der Deformationsraten im südlichen Elburs Gebirge seit ~17,5 Ma lässt vermuten, dass die Oberplatte, wahrscheinlich aufgrund steigender Plattenkopplung, seit dem frühen Miozän signifikant deformiert wurde. Diese Veränderung könnte der Subduktion mächtigerer arabischer kontinentaler Lithosphäre zugeschrieben werden und den Anfang echter kontinentaler Kollision bedeuten. Dieses Model erklärt daher die Zeitverzögerung zwischen der Initiation der Arabisch-Eurasischen kontinentalen Kollision (Eozän-Oligozän) and dem Beginn ausgedehnter Deformation in der Kollisionszone (Miozän).
Foreland-basin systems are excellent archives to decipher the feedbacks between surface and tectonic processes in orogens. The sedimentary architecture of a foreland-basin system reflects the balance between tectonic subsidence causing long-term accommodation space and sediment influx corresponding to efficiency of erosion and mass-redistribution processes. In order to explore the effects of climatic and tectonic forcing in such a system, I investigated the Oligo-Miocene foreland-basin sediments of the southern Alborz mountains, an intracontinental orogen in northern Iran, related to the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision. This work includes absolute dating methods such as 40Ar/39Ar and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology, magnetostratigraphy, sedimentological analysis, sandstone and conglomerate provenance study, carbon and oxygen isotope analysis, and clay mineralogy study. Results show a systematic correlation between coarsening-upward cycles and sediment accumulation rates in the basin on 105 to 106yr time scales. During thrust loading phases, the coarse-grained fraction supplied by the uplifting range is stored in the proximal part of the basin (sedimentary facies retrogradation), while fine-grained sediments are deposited in distal sectors. Variations in sediment provenance during these phases of enhanced tectonic activity give evidence for erosional unroofing phases and/or drainage-reorganization events. In addition, enhanced tectonic activity promoted the growth of topography and associated orographic barrier effects, as demonstrated by sedimentologic indicators and the analysis of stable C and O isotopes from calcareous paleosols and lacustrine/palustrine samples. Extensive progradation of coarse-grained deposits occurs during phases of decreased subsidence, when the coarse-grained fraction supplied by the uplifting range cannot be completely stored in the proximal part of the basin. In this environment, a reduction in basin subsidence is associated with laterally stacked fluvial channel deposits, and is related to intra-foreland uplift, as documented by growth strata, tectonic tilting, and sediment reworking. Increase in sediment accumulation rate associated with progradation of vertically-stacked coarse-grained fluvial channels also occurs. Paleosol O-isotope data shows that this increase is related to wetter climatic phases, suggesting that surface processes are more efficient and exhumation rates increase, giving rise to a positive feedback. Furthermore, isotopic and sedimentologic data show that starting from 10-9 Ma, climate became less arid with an increase in seasonality of precipitation. Because important changes were also recorded in the Mediterranean Sea and Asia at that time, the evidence for climatic variability observed in the Alborz mountains most likely reflects changes in Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation patterns. This study has additional implications for the evolution of the Alborz mountains and the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. At the orogenic scale, the locus of deformation did not move steadily southward, but stepped forward and backward since Oligocene time. In particular, from ~ 17.5 to 6.2 Ma the orogen grew by a combination of frontal accretion and wedge-internal deformation on time scales of ca. 0.7 to 2 m.y. Moreover, the provenance data suggest that prior to 10-9 Ma the shortening direction changed from NW-SE to NNE-SSW, in agreement with structural data. On the scale of the entire collision zone, the evolution of the studied basins and adjacent mountain ranges suggests a new geodynamic model for the evolution of the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. Numerous sedimentary basins in the Alborz mountains and in other locations of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone record a change from a tensional (transtensional) to a compressional (transpressional) tectonic setting by ~ 36 Ma. I interpret this to reflect the onset of subduction of the stretched Arabian continental lithosphere beneath central Iran, leading to moderate plate coupling and lower- and upper-plate deformation (soft continental collision). The increase in deformation rates in the southern Alborz mountains from ~ 17.5 Ma suggests that significant upper-plate deformation must have started by the early Miocene most likely in response to an increase in degree of plate coupling. I suggest that this was related to the subduction of thicker Arabian continental lithosphere and the consequent onset of hard continental collision. This model reconciles the apparent lag time of 15-20 m.y between the late Eocene to early Oligocene age for the initial Arabia-Eurasia continental collision and the onset of widespread deformation across the collision zone to the north in early to late Miocene time.

Este estudo constitui parte do Projeto Habitats Heterogeneidade Ambiental da Bacia de Campos coordenado pelo CENPES/Petrobras, um projeto multidisciplinar de caracterização ambiental que considera as diferentes feições e habitats da margem continental do sudeste brasileiro. O objetivo desta tese foi investigar os processos relacionados com a origem, o transporte e o acúmulo de matéria orgânica (MO) em sedimentos da margem continental da Bacia de Campos (RJ). Para isso, foram determinados a composição elementar da matéria orgânica (carbono e nitrogênio) por combustão a seco e os lipídios (esteróis, álcoois e ácidos graxos) por CG-MS e CG-DIC. Foram analisadas 215 amostras de sedimento superficial (0-2 cm de profundidade), coletadas em duas amostragens (períodos seco e chuvoso de 2008/2009), distribuídas sobre 12 isóbatas (de 25 a 3000 m) ao longo de 9 transectos de norte a sul da bacia. Além disto, foram ainda consideradas as isóbatas de 400 a 1900 m em dois cânions submarinos no norte da bacia (Almirante Câmara e Grussaí). Com base nos resultados obtidos, a MO sedimentar na plataforma e talude da bacia revelou-se essencialmente autóctone, derivada de produtores primários e secundários. Com isto, a MO contém uma fração reativa significativa e, portanto, é potencialmente biodisponível para os organismos bentônicos. No entanto, foram observados gradientes espaciais significativos na qualidade e na quantidade da MO sedimentar. Na plataforma continental (25 m a 150 m de profundidade) as concentrações de lipídios foram intermediárias e houve predomínio de MO sedimentar lábil. Exceções foram as áreas influenciadas por ressurgência costeira e/ou intrusão sub-superficial (próximo à Cabo Frio, Cabo de São Tomé e no limite norte da bacia), onde as concentrações foram altas. No talude superior e médio (400 a 1300 m) as concentrações de MO foram notadamente mais elevadas, mas com maior influência de processos bacterianos de alteração de sua composição original. E no talude inferior (1900 a 3000 m) as concentrações de MO estiveram muito baixas e apenas os lipídios mais resistentes à degradação bacteriana foram encontrados em concentrações mensuráveis. Isto sugeriu a exportação de materiais da plataforma ao longo do gradiente batimétrico, possivelmente decorrente da ação de meandros e vórtices da Corrente do Brasil e das correntes de fundo atuantes na região. Além disto, por ser lábil e biodisponível, a MO no sedimento apresenta uma fração biodisponível que pode ter uma influência na ecologia das comunidades bentônicas, particularmente aquelas localizadas no talude superior. Os cânions Grussaí e Almirante Câmara se revelaram regiões de acúmulo de MO e importantes no transporte da MO com valor nutritivo para comunidades bentônicas do talude médio e inferior.
This study is part of the Habitats Project - Campos Basin Environmental Heterogeneity - coordinated by CENPES/PETROBRAS, a multidisciplinary project that considers environmental characterization of the different features and habitats of the Brazilian South-Eastern continental margin. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the processes related to the origin, transport and accumulation of organic matter (OM) in sediments of the continental margin of the Campos Basin (RJ).To this end, the elemental composition of organic matter (carbon and nitrogen) - determined by dry combustion - and lipids (sterols, alcohols and fatty acids) - determined by GCMS and GC-FID - were considered. It was analyzed 215 samples of surface sediment (0-2 cm depth) collected in two samplings (dry and rainy seasons of 2008/2009), distributed over 12 isobaths (25 to 3000 m) along transects distributed from north to south of the basin. Moreover, it was also considered samples from the 400 to 1900 m isobaths in two submarine canyons (Almirante Câmara and Grussaí) in the northern basin. Based on the results, the sedimentary OM continental shelf and slope of Campos Basin was considered to be essentially autochthonous, derived from primary and secondary producers. As a consequence, a significant fraction of OM is reactive and therefore is potentially bioavailable to benthic organisms. However, significant spatial gradients in the quality and quantity of sedimentary OM were observed. In the continental shelf (25 m to 150 m depths), concentrations of lipids were intermediate and there was a predominance of labile sedimentary OM. Exceptions to this general feature were the areas influenced by coastal upwelling and/or sub-surface water intrusion (near Cabo Frio, Cabo de São Tomé and the northern boundary of the basin), where high concentrations of both total organic carbon and lipids were measured. In the upper and middle slope (400 to 1300 m) concentrations of OM were notably higher, but with greater influence of bacterial processes changing their original composition. And in the lower slope (1900 to 3000 m) concentrations of OM were very low and only the lipids more resistant to bacterial degradation were found in measurable concentrations. This suggested the export of materials from the continental shelf along the depth gradient, possibly due to the action of eddies and meanders of the Brazil Current and bottom currents operating in the region. Moreover, for its lability and bioavailability, the OM in the sediment can have a major influence on the ecology of benthic communities, particularly those located on the upper slope. The Almirante Câmara and Grussaí canyons revealed to be regions of OM accumulation and important features on the transport of OM with nutritional value for benthic communities of middle and lower slope.

Dans ce travail de thèse, nous analysons la structure crustale de la marge est-algérienne et du bassin adjacent (région d’Annaba), à partir d’un ensemble de nouvelles données acquises durant la Campagne SPIRAL’2009 incluant un profil sismique terre-mer de ~240 km de long, des lignes sismiques réflexion pénétrante 360-traces, et des profils gravimétriques et magnétiques. Nous avons par ailleurs disposé pour cette étude de données complémentaires incluant notamment un ensemble de profils de sismique réflexion offrant des résolutions complémentaires. La structure crustale ainsi établie nous permet de discuter les nombreux modèles cinématiques d’ouverture du bassin est-algérien proposés dans la littérature, afin de caler dans le temps la formation du bassin par rapport à la collision. Elle permet également de discuter la localisation de la déformation liée à la réactivation de la marge, par rapport aux grands domaines lithosphériques du système marge-bassin, afin de mieux comprendre les modalités de l’inversion. Dans le bassin profond, la modélisation directe des temps d’arrivée et des amplitudes des ondes réfractées et réfléchies met en évidence une croûte océanique anormalement mince de 5-5.5 km d’épaisseur, composée de deux couches. La première, de 2.2 km d’épaisseur, montre des vitesses comprises entre 4.8 à 6.0 km/s impliquant un fort gradient; la seconde de 3.3 km d’épaisseur, présente des vitesses comprises entre 6.0 à 7.1 km/s et un plus faible gradient de vitesse. La modélisation des temps d’arrivées des ondes S fourni pour cette couche un coefficient de Poisson de 0.28, indiquant qu’elle est majoritairement constituée de gabbros
In this study, we determine the deep structure of the eastern Algerian basin and its southern margin in the Annaba region (easternmost Algeria), to better constrain the plate kinematic reconstruction in this region. This study is based on new geophysical data collected during the SPIRAL cruise in 2009 that included a wide-angle, 240-km-long, onshore-offshore seismic profile, multichannel seismic reflection lines, and gravity and magnetic data, which was complemented by the available geophysical data for the study area. The analysis and modeling of the wide-angle seismic data using travel-times and amplitudes, and integrated with the multichannel seismic lines, reveal the detailed structure of an ocean-to-continent transition. In the deep basin, there is an ~5.5-km-thick oceanic crust that is composed of two layers. The upper layer of the crust is defined by a high velocity gradient and P-wave velocities between 4.8 km/s and 6.0 km/s from the top to the bottom. The lower crust is defined by a lower velocity gradient and P-wave velocity between 6.0 km/s and 7.1 km/s. The Poisson ratio in the lower crust deduced from S-wave modeling is 0.28, which indicates that the lower crust is composed mainly of gabbros. Below the continental edge, a typical continental crust with P-wave velocities between 5.2 km/s and 7.0 km/s from the top to the bottom shows a gradual seaward thinning of ~15 km over an ~35-km distance

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the crustal structure, and assesses the qualitative and quantitative impacts of crust-mantle dynamics on subsidence pattern, past and present-day thermal field and petroleum system evolution at the southern South African continental margin through the application of a multi-disciplinary and multi-scale geo-modelling procedure involving both conceptual and numerical approaches. The modelling procedure becomes particularly important as this margin documents a complex interaction of extension and strike-slip tectonics during its Mesozoic continental rifting processes. Located on the southern shelf of South Africa, the Western Bredasdorp Basin (WBB) constitutes the focus of this study and represents the western section of the larger Bredasdorp sub-basin, which is the westernmost of the southern offshore sub-basins. To understand the margin with respect to its present-day structure, isostatic state and thermal field, a combined approach of isostatic, 3D gravity and 3D thermal modelling was performed by integrating potential field, seismic and well data. Complimenting the resulting configuration and thermal field of the latter by measured present-day temperature, vitrinite reflectance and source potential data, basin-scale burial and thermal history and timing of source rock maturation, petroleum generation, expulsion, migration and accumulation were forwardly simulated using a 3D basin modelling technique. This hierarchical modelling workflow enables geologic assumptions and their associated uncertainties to be well constrained and better quantified, particularly in three dimensions. At present-day, the deep crust of the WBB is characterised by a tripartite density structure (i.e. prerift metasediments underlain by upper and lower crustal domains) depicting a strong thinning that is restricted to a narrow E-W striking zone. The configuration of the radiogenic crystalline crust as well as the conductivity contrasts between the deep crust and the shallow sedimentary cover significantly control the present-day thermal field of the study area. In all respects, this present-day configuration reflects typical characteristics of basin evolution in a strike-slip setting. For instance, the orientations of the deep crust and fault-controlled basin-fill are spatially inconsistent, thereby indicating different extension kinematics typical of transtensional pull-apart mechanisms. As such, syn-rift subsidence is quite rapid and short-lived, and isostatic equilibrium is not achieved, particularly at the Moho level. Accompanied syn-rift rapid subsidence and a heat flow peak led to petroleum preservation in the basin since the Early Cretaceous. Two additional post-rift thermal anomalies related to the Late Cretaceous hotspot mechanism and Miocene margin uplift in Southern Africa succeeded the syn-rift control on maturation. This thermal maturity of the five mature source rocks culminated in four main generation and three main accumulation phases which characterise the total petroleum systems of the WBB. The Campanian, Eocene and Miocene uplift scenarios episodically halted source maturation and caused tertiary migration of previously trapped petroleum. Petroleum loss related to the spill point of each trap configuration additionally occurs during the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene and Oligocene-Early Miocene. The timing and extent of migration dynamics are most sensitive to the geological scenario that combined faulting, intrusive seal bypass system and facies heterogeneity. In fact, for models that do not incorporate facies heterogeneity, predicted past and present-day seafloor leakage of petroleum is largely underestimated. This complex interplay of generation and migration mechanisms has significant implications for charging of petroleum accumulations by multiple source rocks. Due to early maturation and late stage tertiary migration, the syn-rift source rocks particularly Mid Hauterivian and Late Hauterivian source intervals significantly control the extent of petroleum accumulation and loss in the basin. Lastly, the modelled 3D crustal configuration and Mezosoic to Cenozoic thermal regime of the WBB dispute classic uniform lithospheric stretching for the southern South African continental margin. Rather, this PhD thesis confirms that differential thinning of the lithosphere related to a transtensional pull-apart mechanism is the most appropriate for accurately predicting the evolution of basin and petroleum systems of the margin. Also, the presented 3D models currently represent the most advanced insights, and thus have clear implications for assessing associated risks in basin and prospect evaluation of the margin as well as other similar continental margins around the world.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die korsstruktuur en evalueer die kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe impakte van kors-mantel-dinamika op insinkingspatroon, die termiese veld en petroleumstels evolusie aan die suidelike Suid-Afrikaanse kontinentale grens, in die hede en die verlede, deur die toepassing van ’n multidissiplinêre en multiskaal-geomodelleringsprosedure wat beide konseptuele en numeriese benaderings behels. Die modelleringsprosedure veral is belangrik aangesien hierdie kontinentale grens ’n komplekse interaksie van uitbreidings- en strekkingsparallelle tektoniek gedurende die Mesosoïese vastelandskeurprosesse daarvan dokumenteer. Omdat dit op die suidelike platvorm van Suid-Afrika geleë is, maak die Westelike Bredasdorp Kom (WBK) die fokus van hierdie studie uit, en verteenwoordig dit die westelike deel van die groter Bredasdrop-subkom, wat die verste wes is van die suidelike aflandige subkomme. Om die grens met betrekking tot sy huidige struktuur, isostatiese staat en termiese veld te verstaan, is ’n kombinasie benadering bestaande uit isostatiese, 3D-gravitasie- en 3D- termiese modellering gebruik deur potensiëleveld-, seismiese en boorgatdata te integreer Ondersteunend totot die gevolglike konfigurasie en termiese veld van die laasgenoemde deur middel van hedendaagse temperatuur, soos gemeet, vitriniet-refleksiekoëffisiënt en bronpotensiaal data, komskaal-begrawing en termiese geskiedenis en tydsberekening van brongesteentematurasie, is petroleumgenerasie, -uitwerping, -migrasie en -akkumulasie in die toekoms gesimuleer deur gebruik te maak van ’n 3D-kommodelleringstegniek. Hierdie hierargiese modelleringswerkvloei maak dit moontlik om geologiese aannames en hulle geassosieerde onsekerhede goed aan bande te lê en beter te kwantifiseer, veral in drie dimensies. In die hede word die diep kors van die WBK gekarakteriseer deur ’n drieledige digtheidstruktuur (met ander woorde voorrift-metasedimente onderlê deur bo- en benedekors domeine) wat dui op ’n baie wesenlike verdunning, beperk tot ’n dun O-W-strekkingsone. Die konfigurasie van die radiogeniese kristallyne kors, sowel as die konduktiwiteitskontraste tussen die diep kors en die vlak sedimentêre dekking, beheer grotendeels die hedendaagse termiese veld van die studiearea. Hierdie hedendaagse konfigurasie weerspieël in alle opsigte tipiese eienskappe van kom-evolusie in ’n skuifskeur omgewing. Byvoorbeeld, Die oriëntasies van die diep kors en verskuiwingbeheerde komsedimentasie byvoorbeeld is ruimtelik inkonsekwent en dui daardeur op verskillende ekstensiekinematika, tipies van transtensionale tensiemeganisme. As sulks, is sin-rift-versakking taamlik vinnig en kortstondig, en word isostatiese ekwilibrium nie by die Moho-vlak, in die besonder, bereik nie. Samehangende sin-rift vinnige versakking en hittevloeihoogtepunt het gelei tot petroleum behoud in die kom sedert die vroeë Kryt. Twee bykomende post-rift termiese anomalieë wat verband hou met die laat Kryt-“hotspot” meganisme en die Mioseense kontinentale grensopheffing in Suidelike Afrika het die sin-rift-beheer met maturasie opgevolg. Hierdie termiese maturiteit van die vyf gematureerde brongesteentes het in vier hoofgenerasie- en drie hoofakkumulasie fases, wat die totaliteit van die petroleumstelsels van die WBK karakteriseer, gekulmineer. Die Campaniese, Eoseense en Mioseense opheffings senarios het episodies bronmaturasie gestop en tersiêre migrasie van petroleum wat vroeër opgevang was veroorsaak. Addisioneel vind petroleumverlies gekoppel aan die spilpunt van elke opvanggebiedkonfigurasie tydens die laat Kryt-Paleoseen en Oligoseenvroeë Mioseen plaas. Die tydstelling en omvang van migrasiedinamika is die sensitiefste vir die geologiese scenario wat verskuiwing, seëlomseilingstelsel en fasiesheterogeniteit kombineer. Trouens, vir modelle wat nie fasiesheterogeniteit inkorporeer nie, is voorspellings van vroeëre en huidige seebodemlekkasie van petroleum grotendeels onderskattings. Hierdie komplekse wisselwerking van generasie- en migrasiemeganismes het beduidende implikasies vir die laai van petroleumakkumulasies deur veelvoudige brongesteentes. Vanweë vroeë maturasie en laatstadiumtersiêre migrasie, oefen die sin-rift-brongesteentes, veral middel Hauterivium- en laat Hauteriviumbronintervalle, beduidende beheer oor die omvang van petroleumakkumulasie en -verlies in die kom uit. Laastens weerspreek die gemodelleerde 3D-korskonfigurasie en Mesosoïese-tot-Senosoïesetermiese regime van die WBK ’n klassieke uniforme litosferiese rekking vir die suidelike Suid- Afrikaanse kontinentale grens. Inteendeel, hierdie PhD-proefskrif bevestig dat ’n differensiële verdunning van die litosfeer, gekoppel aan ’n transtensiemeganisme, die beste geskik is om ’n akkurate voorspelling oor die evolusie van kom- en petroleumstelsels van die kontinentale grens mee te maak. Verder, verteenwoordig die 3D-modelle, wat hier aangebied word, tans die mees gevorderde insigte, en het hierdie modelle dus duidelike implikasies vir die assessering van verwante risiko’s in kom- en petroleum teikene valuering van die kontinentale grens, so wel as van ander soortgelyke kontinentale grense regoor die wêreld.

There is growing recognition that extensive phases of compressional deformation and exhumation have interrupted the post-rift subsidence histories of some economically important ‘passive’ continental margins. Understanding the distribution, magnitude, chronology and causes of exhumation and compressional deformation at these margins can reduce exploration uncertainty. The Otway and Faroe-Shetland basins along the southern Australian margin and northwest European Atlantic ‘passive’ margins, respectively, provide ideal natural laboratories to further understand syn and post-rift compressional deformation, inversion and exhumation. Post-Albian exhumation in the Otway Basin was quantified to be ~400-3600 m across the eastern and northern parts of basin using a new sonic transit time-depth trend, which represents normal compaction of volcaniclastic shales deposited within a fluvio-lacustrine environment – unlike any other such trends previously published. These estimates are consistent with those from complementary thermal, palynological and seismic datasets. Whilst the impacts of exhumation are well known for conventional hydrocarbon systems, this study is amongst the first to highlight the implications of exhumation on unconventional hydrocarbon systems, in particular related to petrographical and geomechanical rock properties. Exhumation in the Otway Basin is mainly related to mid-Cretaceous and Neogene neotectonic compressional deformation and inversion episodes, with the latter strongly governed by the contemporary stress state. Using complementary geophysical datasets and considering lithological heterogeneity, basement fabrics and variations in structural style with depth – factors generally neglected in previous geomechanical-focused studies in this region – it is possible to better understand the relationship between neotectonic deformation and stress. Comparisons between bulk crustal strain rates based on Neogene shortening estimates, and present-day strain rates of based on earthquake data and geological observations demonstrates that strain rates in the Otway Basin have declined since the onset of Neogene compressional deformation and exhumation. Neogene bulk crustal strain rates determined independently from shortening estimates and exhumation magnitudes yield similar results, suggesting that Neogene exhumation in the eastern Otway Basin can be accounted for solely by crustal shortening within a mildly compressional intraplate stress field, with ~30% of the total present-day strain rate accounted for by aseismic deformation. In the central parts of the offshore Otway Basin, where there is very thick preserved Upper Cretaceous sequence and few indications of major post-Albian tectonic activity, significant and previously unreported overpressures are examined. Pore pressure gradients exceed ~16 MPa/km within the fine-grained Upper Cretaceous Belfast and Flaxman formations, and are most likely due to a disequilibrium compaction associated with Pliocene burial by a proto-Murray River discharge. Estimating exhumation in the Otway Basin using sonic log data provided consistent values with thermal-based techniques, indicating that heating can be related (in part) to deeper burial. However, this may not hold true in all basins. More than ~400m of post-Danian exhumation was quantified using sonic data along the Rona High in the Faroe-Shetland region where thermal history data indicates anomalous heating due to transient hot fluid flow and is problematic for exhumation analyses. This exhumation likely occurred during the Oligocene to Mid-Miocene in response to a major reorganisation of the northern North Atlantic spreading system.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Australian School of Petroleum, 2014

A revised model for the evolution of the East Africa-Madagascar conjugate margins and intervening oceanic crust is presented. The model incorporates available magnetic data, a reinterpretation of oceanic basement morphology in the Comore and Somali basins and analysis of structural features within the neighbouring continental areas. It is essentially an adaptation of previous models but proposes a three phase tectonic evolution rather than the single southward migration of Madagascar along the Davie and Dhow Fracture Zones envisaged in previous models. The three phases are as follows: Phase 1) NE-SW rifting: Late Carboniferous-Permotriassic rifting, with related strike-slip movements in connection with the main African Shear Zones (NE-SW trend). Phase 2) N-S rifting: Middle to Late Triassic (?) rifting along the eastern arm of a triple junction centred in northern Kenya which resulted in southward displacement of Madagascar between the Davie and the Dhow Fracture Zones. Phase 3) NNW-SSE drifting: Early to Middle Jurassic(?)-Aptian SSE drifting of Madagascar and limited rotation due a triple junction located to the south of Madagascar at the junction of the African, India-Madagascar and Antarctic-Australia plates. In this geodynamic reconstruction, Madagascar is restored very close to the coast of Kenya with its main axis approximately N-S, parallel to the Dhow fracture zone.

Determining the relative importance of processes that control the generation and preservation of continental margin stratigraphy is fundamental to deciphering the history of geologic, climatic and oceanographic forcing imprinted on their sedimentary record. The Northern Carnarvon Basin (NCB) of the North West Shelf of Australia has been a site of passive margin sedimentation throughout the Neogene. Cool-water carbonate sedimentation dominated during the early-middle Miocene, quartz-rich siliciclastics prograded over the shelf during the late-middle Miocene, and carbonate sedimentation resumed in the Pliocene. Middle Miocene to Pliocene siliciclastics were deposited as clinoform sets interpreted as delta lobes primarily based on their plan-view morphology and their relief of 40-100 m. Shelf-edge trajectory analysis suggests that part of this stratigraphic succession was built during a long-term, third order, regressive phase, producing shelf-edge deltas, followed by an aggradational episode. These trends appear to correlate with third-order global eustatic cycles. Slope incisions were already conspicuous on the slope before deltas reached the shelf-break. Nevertheless, slope gullies immediately downdip from the shelf-edge deltas are wider and deeper (>1 km wide, ~100 m deep) than coeval incisions that are laterally displaced from the deltaic depocenter (~0.7 km wide, ~25 m deep). This change in gully morphology is likely the result of greater erosion by sediment gravity flows sourced from shelf-edge deltas. Total late-middle to late Miocene margin progradation increased almost three times from 13 km in the southwest to 34 km in the northeast, where shelf-edge deltas were concentrated. Flat-topped carbonate platforms seem to have initiated on subtle antecedent topographic highs resulting from these deltaic lobes. A reduction of siliciclastic supply to the outer paleo-shelf during the Pliocene combined with the onset of a southwestward-flowing, warm-water Leeuwin Current (LC) most likely controlled the initiation of these carbonate platforms. These platforms display marked asymmetry, likely caused by an ancestral LC, which created higher-angle, upcurrent platform margins, and lower-angle, downcurrent clinoforms. The along-strike long-term migration trend of the platforms could be the result of differential subsidence. These platforms constitute the first widespread accumulation of photozoan carbonates in the Northern Carnarvon Basin. They became extinct after the mid-Pleistocene when the LC weakened or became more seasonal.
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abstract: Understanding the evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen is important because of its purported effects on global geodynamics, geochemistry and climate. It is surprising that the timing of initiation of this canonical collisional orogen is poorly constrained, with estimates ranging from Late Cretaceous to Early Oligocene. This study focuses on the Ladakh region in the northwestern Indian Himalaya, where early workers suggested that sedimentary deposits of the Indus Basin molasse sequence, located in the suture zone, preserve a record of the early evolution of orogenesis, including initial collision between India and Eurasia. Recent studies have challenged this interpretation, but resolution of the issue has been hampered by poor accessibility, paucity of robust depositional age constraints, and disputed provenance of many units in the succession. To achieve a better understanding of the stratigraphy of the Indus Basin, multispectral remote sensing image analysis resulted in a new geologic map that is consistent with field observations and previously published datasets, but suggests a substantial revision and simplification of the commonly assumed stratigraphic architecture of the basin. This stratigraphic framework guided a series of new provenance studies, wherein detrital U-Pb geochronology, 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He thermochronology, and trace-element geochemistry not only discount the hypothesis that collision began in the Early Oligocene, but also demonstrate that both Indian and Eurasian detritus arrived in the basin prior to deposition of the last marine limestone, constraining the age of collision to older than Early Eocene. Detrital (U-Th)/He thermochronology further elucidates the thermal history of the basin. Thus, we constrain backthrusting, thought to be an important mechanism by which Miocene convergence was accommodated, to between 11-7 Ma. Finally, an unprecedented conventional (U-Th)/He thermochronologic dataset was generated from a modern river sand to assess steady state assumptions of the source region. Using these data, the question of the minimum number of dates required for robust interpretation was critically evaluated. The application of a newly developed (U-Th)/He UV-laser-microprobe thermochronologic technique confirmed the results of the conventional dataset. This technique improves the practical utility of detrital mineral (U-Th)/He thermochronology, and will facilitate future studies of this type.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Geological Sciences 2011

This thesis presents a multiscale structural analysis of upper crustal deformation at a passive continental margin, using the Jurassic - Quaternary Otway Basin along Australia’s southern margin as a case study. Techniques of structural analyses across the micro (calcite twin, magnetic and porefabric analyses), meso (wellbore and outcrop natural fracture analysis) and macroscales (three-dimensional seismic interpretation) providing an effective means of characterising stress and strain across space and time. The integration of these investigative methods at a passive continental margin for the first time, has assisted in reducing structural uncertainty for basin evolution models, delivering original insights into the evolution of stress within these tectonic environments. The results of this study show magnitudes of maximum differential stress as high as 69MPa during extension and continental breakup, in contrast to magnitudes as low as 13MPa during basin inversion. The influence of high extensional stresses during continental break up, resulting in layer parallel stretching (LPSt), a microstructural strain which may develop in layered rock, characterised by an azimuth of stretching or thinning, orthogonal to the orientation of regional extensional faults. LPSt occurs in the early stages of extension, prior to the development of calcite twins, natural fractures, and faults which occur progressively as the intensity and duration of extension increases. This is evidenced in the Otway Basin, where Late Cretaceous aged NE-SW and N-S oriented LPSt is co-axial with extensional azimuths during that time, derived from the stress inversion of seismic scale faults, calcite twins and natural fractures from the outcrop and wellbore. The neotectonic preservation of LPSt in the Otway Ranges, an uplifted section of Early Cretaceous sediments in the Otway Basin, suggests that early grain-scale extensional strain can be preserved during ensuing phases of inversion at continental margins. As during the process of inversion, stress is primarily released through the reactivation of previously formed extensional fault and detachment systems. A process of deformation that results in low levels of coupling between the basement and cover, an observation that is supported by the low magnitudes of compressional stress (13MPa) calculated during the same period. Additionally, the results of this study have improved our understanding of sub-surface fluid flow in the Otway Basin. Geomechanical modelling demonstrating that low contemporary magnitudes of effective normal stress, acting on NW-SE oriented faults, striking parallel to the orientation of maximum horizontal stress, results in a high risk of fault dilation. This suggests that future efforts of exploration for conventional oil and gas systems within the Otway Basin, are best focused where E-W, N-S and NE-SW striking faults interact with the major NW-SE fabric, or where the influence of basin inversion is most pronounced. A major outcome of this study is a new structural framework for the Otway Basin, one that is defined by a consistent pattern of NW-SE striking faults across much of the basin, in contrast to the previous structural model of opposing fault trends in the west and east. The new framework characterises a structural trend that is consistent with faulting patterns in sedimentary provinces to the west and east along Australia’s southern margin.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Australian School of Petroleum, 2019