Hydrocarbon potential of Altiplano and northern Subandean, Bolivia
Seismic, stratigraphic, structural, and geochemical data from the Altiplano, northern Subandean, and northern plains of Bolivia were interpreted in order to evaluate the exploration potential of each province. Identification of three possible source rock intervals, primarily the Devonian and secondarily the Permian and Cretaceous, was used as the basis for recognizing active hydrocarbon systems. For those areas containing source intervals, their analysis revealed that possible reservoir and seal units range in age from Paleozoic to Tertiary; the majority of structures, however, are Eocene or younger. With these general concepts in mind, traps were identified in all three sedimentary provinces. In the northern Altiplano, the most prospective area is along the eastern margin near a southwest and west-vergent thrust belt where hanging-wall anticlines and a warped Eocene-Oligocene(.) unconformity surface form the most likely potential traps. In the central and southern Altiplano, both thrust-related and wrench-related structures present possible exploration targets. In the northern Subandean and Beni plains north of the Isiboro-Chapare area, traps can be classified into two broad groups. First, there are a wide variety of structural traps within the northern Subandean thrust belt, the most attractive of which are footwall structures that have been shielded from surface flushing by hanging-wall strata. Second, in the plains just northeast of the thrust belt, hydrocarbons sourced from the remnant Paleozoic basin may have migrated onto the Isarsama and Madidi highs.
- Research Organization:
- Exlog/Brown and Ruth, Denver, CO (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6120287
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-890404-
- Journal Information:
- AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States), Vol. 73:3; Conference: AAPG annual convention with DPA/EMD Divisions and SEPM, San Antonio, TX, USA, 23 Apr 1989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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BOLIVIA
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EOCENE EPOCH
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
PERMIAN PERIOD
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SOURCE ROCKS
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
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