--> ABSTRACT: Mediterranean Basin Clastic Depositional Styles and Their Reservoir Potential, by Arnold H. Bouma; #91032 (2010)
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Mediterranean Basin Clastic Depositional Styles and Their Reservoir Potential

Arnold H. Previous HitBoumaNext Hit

The Mediterranean was typified by a wide variety of tectonic styles throughout the late Mesozoic and Tertiary, which is the primary cause for finding many types of deep-water depositional basins. The style and genesis of the basins vary from west to east, with rather large basinal depressions in the Western Mediterranean province, more elongated shapes in the Central province, and numerous small basins and trenches in the Eastern Mediterranean province. Despite these differences, the basins in the Mediterranean display a certain similarity in their fill. That fill can be described as a deep-water Previous HitsequenceNext Hit that is older than late Miocene, overlain by a late Miocene evaporite series, and capped by a Pliocene-Quaternary clastic Previous HitsequenceTop. The exact type of basin fill is stron ly dependent upon proximity to the sediment source, oceanographic and climatologic conditions, subsidence, and tectono- or glacio-eustatic oscillations.

The Mediterranean has about 22,500 km of coastline, which is bordered by narrow shelves except in a few areas where major drainage systems, such as the Ebro, Rhone, Po, and Nile, transport large volumes of sediment to the Mediterranean. Most of the coastline is dissected by short, steep rivers that move sediment on a seasonal basis. The slopes toward the basins can be short and steep, sometimes exceeding 10 degrees.

Sediment shedding from the surrounding land masses occurs almost everywhere, but only in a few locations are major submarine fans developed. Tectonic history makes it possible to study the modern and older depositional systems in the marine area and to observe smaller scale characteristics in the numerous outcrops on land, such as the classical Eocene "turbidites" in southeastern France, northern Spain, and western and central Italy.

A better understanding of deep-water sands in "active" margin settings will reduce exploration risk in these potential reservoirs.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.