Geology and hydrocarbon accumulations, Columbus basin, offshore Trinidad
The Columbus basin, situated on the eastern shelf of Trinidad, lies at the eastern extremity of a belt of severe deformation along the northern boundary of South America that has been affected by compressional and wrench tectonics in Pliocene-Pleistocene time. Two major structural trends are present in the Columbus basin: a series of east-nourtheast trending anticlines and north-nouthwest oriented normal faults. The basin was filled during late Moecene to Holocene time with sediments deposited by an ancestral Orinoco River draining a hinterland to the southwest. The Pliocene-Pleistocene section, which contains the hydrocarbon accumulations in the Columbus basin, was deposited in three coarsening-uppward sedimentary sequences followed by a late Pliestocene transgressive sequence. Traps for hydrocarbon accumulation were formed by an easterly trending Pliocene-Pleistocene wrench system with associated east-northeast-oriented anticlines combined with north-northwest-oriented normal faults. Oil was sourced in the late Miocene lower Cruse Formation, whereas gas was derived both from Pliocene-Pleistocene pro-delta shales and as a late high-temperature phase of lower Cruse hydrocarbon generation. The north-northwestern faults formed migrarion conduits form the oil source rock to Pliocene-Pleistocene reservoirs. The temporal relationship of faulting to oil generation is a major factor affecting the distribution of oil and gas. The size of hydrocarbon accumulations is limited to some extent by a lack of an effective hydrocarbon seal, particularly in the western half of the basin.
- Research Organization:
- Amoco Norway Oil Co., Stavanger, Norway
- OSTI ID:
- 5635916
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 67:7; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Geology and hydrocarbon accumulations, Columbus basin, offshore Trinidad
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Related Subjects
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
ISLANDS
LESSER ANTILLES
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
OFFSHORE SITES
ORIGIN
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
WEST INDIES