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Title: Geologic development and hydrocarbon habitats of the Tunisia-Sicily shelf

Abstract

Hydrocarbon habitats on the Tunisia-Sicily shelf result from the complex interplay of three factors: (1) proximity to a source of terrigenous sediments, (2) eustatic sea level changes resulting in major transgressive/regressive events, and (3) a varied and ever-changing structural mosaic involving successive transtensional, transpressive, and compressional tectonic phases. The stratigraphy, structure, and petroleum resources of the shelf are linked, directly or indirectly, to the crustal template created during the middle Mesozoic rifting of the Tethyan margin of north Africa. Transtensional stretching and crustal fragmentation forming the Tunisia-Sicily passive margin occurred in the Late Triassic-Jurassic at the juncture of the South Saharan and Gibraltar shear zones, creating a complex array of ridges and furrows and localized pull-apart basins. During the Cretaceous and early Tertiary, the subsident block-faulted shelf was buried beneath a varied stratigraphy ranging from a thin pelagic limestone succession devoid of terrigenous components in Sicily to a considerably thicker neritic Tunisian succession composed of mixed terrigenous and carbonate strata. Beginning in the middle Cretaceous, the region experienced localized tectonic instability expressed as transtensional faulting, crustal inversion, salt diapirism, and submarine volcanism. The principal post-Paleozoic hydrocarbon habitats are (1) Triassic-Jurassic restricted pull-apart basins, (2) Cretaceous-early Tertiary structurally controlled shallow shelfmore » edges, and (3) the late Cenozoic foredeep containing synorogenic clastic facies.« less

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia (USA)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
5749398
Report Number(s):
CONF-8809346-
Journal ID: ISSN 0149-1423; CODEN: AABUD
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 72:8; Conference: Mediterranean Basins conference and exhibition, Nice (France), 25-28 Sep 1988; Journal ID: ISSN 0149-1423
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS; GEOLOGY; PETROLEUM DEPOSITS; SICILY; TUNISIA; CRETACEOUS PERIOD; GEOLOGIC FAULTS; JURASSIC PERIOD; TERTIARY PERIOD; VOLCANISM; AFRICA; CENOZOIC ERA; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; EUROPE; GEOLOGIC AGES; GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS; GEOLOGIC FRACTURES; GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES; ITALY; MESOZOIC ERA; MINERAL RESOURCES; RESOURCES; WESTERN EUROPE; 020200* - Petroleum- Reserves, Geology, & Exploration

Citation Formats

Schamel, S. Geologic development and hydrocarbon habitats of the Tunisia-Sicily shelf. United States: N. p., 1988. Web.
Schamel, S. Geologic development and hydrocarbon habitats of the Tunisia-Sicily shelf. United States.
Schamel, S. 1988. "Geologic development and hydrocarbon habitats of the Tunisia-Sicily shelf". United States.
@article{osti_5749398,
title = {Geologic development and hydrocarbon habitats of the Tunisia-Sicily shelf},
author = {Schamel, S},
abstractNote = {Hydrocarbon habitats on the Tunisia-Sicily shelf result from the complex interplay of three factors: (1) proximity to a source of terrigenous sediments, (2) eustatic sea level changes resulting in major transgressive/regressive events, and (3) a varied and ever-changing structural mosaic involving successive transtensional, transpressive, and compressional tectonic phases. The stratigraphy, structure, and petroleum resources of the shelf are linked, directly or indirectly, to the crustal template created during the middle Mesozoic rifting of the Tethyan margin of north Africa. Transtensional stretching and crustal fragmentation forming the Tunisia-Sicily passive margin occurred in the Late Triassic-Jurassic at the juncture of the South Saharan and Gibraltar shear zones, creating a complex array of ridges and furrows and localized pull-apart basins. During the Cretaceous and early Tertiary, the subsident block-faulted shelf was buried beneath a varied stratigraphy ranging from a thin pelagic limestone succession devoid of terrigenous components in Sicily to a considerably thicker neritic Tunisian succession composed of mixed terrigenous and carbonate strata. Beginning in the middle Cretaceous, the region experienced localized tectonic instability expressed as transtensional faulting, crustal inversion, salt diapirism, and submarine volcanism. The principal post-Paleozoic hydrocarbon habitats are (1) Triassic-Jurassic restricted pull-apart basins, (2) Cretaceous-early Tertiary structurally controlled shallow shelf edges, and (3) the late Cenozoic foredeep containing synorogenic clastic facies.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5749398}, journal = {AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)},
issn = {0149-1423},
number = ,
volume = 72:8,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988},
month = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988}
}

Conference:
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