Hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Argentine Continental Slope
A rift basin containing stratigraphic and structural closures is developed along the Argentine slope over a distance of some 1000 km and area of 50,000 km[sup 2] in potentially exploitable water depths of 200 to 1500 m. No wells exist on this part of the continental margin. Rifting began during the Late Triassic/Jurassic and ended in Early Cretaceous. The first marine seaways flooded the Rift alluvial plains and lake. In Hauterian-Barrenian time, low circulation marine conditions with oxygen deficiency prevailed up to Rio Grande/Walvis Ridge flooding in part the coastal pull-apart basins. A major marine transgression in the Maastrichtian formed a widespread seal over the entire shelf and slope area. Four play types were identified: (1) a major north-east trending elongate delta system sourced inland from the San Julien (N. Malvinas) Basin and deposited on the southern Patagonian shelf and rise, (2) reworked deltaic barrier sands accumulated along the crest of the Outer Basement Ridge, (3) The Outer Basement Ridge, a major structural closure 400 km long, and (4) a series of margin-parallel rift systems in the offshore region between the 200 m and 1500 m isobaths. Regional seismic data and geological correlations suggest that oil prone source rocks are likely in the Middle and Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous formations. Source rocks are probably mature east and west of the Outer Basement Ridge and in the easterndepocenter of the Colorado Basin. Eastward migration from Jurassic age lacustrine source rocks in the Colorado Basin may have charged traps along the crest of the Outer Basement Ridge. Westward directed migration from deeply buried Aptian age marine source rocks in the Atlantic basins has probably charged prospective stratigraphic and structural traps in a suite of coast-parallel grabens developed on the Argentine continental shelf and slope. The Argentine offshore region, therefore, offers significant encouragement as a productive hydrocarbon province.
- OSTI ID:
- 5939546
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930306-; CODEN: AABUD2
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 77:2; Conference: International congress of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Caracas (Venezuela), 14-17 Mar 1993; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
ARGENTINA
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
EXPLOITATION
HYDROCARBONS
DEPOSITION
RIFT ZONES
ORIGIN
CLOSURES
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MIGRATION
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RIVER DELTAS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SOURCE ROCKS
COASTAL REGIONS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
LATIN AMERICA
MINERAL RESOURCES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RESOURCES
SOUTH AMERICA
SURVEYS
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
580000 - Geosciences