From foreland rift to forearc basin: Tectono-thermal controls on subsidence and stratigraphic development in the Mesozoic-Recent Salar de Atacama basin, Chilean Andes

Conference · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5738269

Flint, S ^[1]; Turner, P ^[2]; Hartley, A ^[3]; Jolley, E ^[4]

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1. Univ. of Liverpool (United Kingdom)
2. Univ. of Birmingham (United Kingdom)
3. Univ. of Wales, Cardiff (United Kingdom)
4. BP Exploration, Glasglow (United Kingdom)

The Salar de Atacama and westerly adjacent Domeyko basins originated as Permian foreland rifts, containing some 2 km of Triassic synrift red beds. Continued extension and volcanic are establishment resulted in deposition of important Jurassic marine source rocks in the Domeyko basin. Rift basin subsidence was controlled by extension, followed by thermal sagging. Middle Cretaceous contraction (opening of the south Atlantic) inverted the Domeyko back-arc basin as a thrustbelt. To the east, the Salar basin subsequently accommodated 4 km of Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene continental detritus. Accommodation space reflected the interplay between limited flexural loading and thermal effects related to a 150 km eastward jump of the Andean volcanic arc to the margin of the arc-related, foreland-style basin. Late Eocene transpression (high rate of oblique convergence between the Farallon and South American plates) inverted the western basin margin, sourcing a 2 km thick Oligocene intra-arc basin-fill component. Accommodation space was controlled by thermal sagging associated with a further 100 km eastward arc jump. The Salar de Atacama basin thus provides a model for the evolution of complex, mixed origin basins associated with a migrating volcanic arc and varying crustal stress regime. The complex interplay between variable tectonic style and thermal processes in controlling subsidence and resultant stratigraphic development is not yet adequately constrained. However, simple, single stage tectono-sedimentary models commonly used in play definition may not be appropriate in complex, arc-related basin settings.

• OSTI ID: 5738269
• Report Number(s): CONF-910403-; CODEN: AABUD
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 75:3; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Dallas, TX (United States), 7-10 Apr 1991; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
CHILE
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
PLATE TECTONICS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
STRATIGRAPHY
ANDES
DEPOSITION
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
MESOZOIC ERA
RIFT ZONES
SEDIMENTATION
SOURCE ROCKS
VOLCANISM
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
LATIN AMERICA
MOUNTAINS
SOUTH AMERICA
TECTONICS
580000* - Geosciences
020200 - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
030200 - Natural Gas- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration