Abstract: Paleogeographic Evolution of Foldbelts Adjacent to Petroleum Basins of Venezuela and Trinidad

E. D. Goodman, A. R. Green, D. A. Yurewicz, G. C. Stone, P. E. Walker, I. O. Norton, P. S. Koch, L. L. Summa

The foldbelts of Venezuela and Trinidad have shaped the history of adjacent sedimentary basins. A set of paleogeographic maps on reconstructed bases depict the role of foldbelts in the development of the sedimentary basins of Venezuela. Some of the foldbelts are inverted, pre-Tertiary graben/passive margin systems. Other foldbelts are allochthonous nappes or parautochthons that override the Mesozoic passive margin hinge without inversion. The emergence of these foldbelts changed the course of existing river systems and provided a new source for sediments and maturation in adjacent deeps. The Merida Andes area was remobilized beginning in the Early Miocene as a zone of lateral shear, along which the Bonaire Block has moved over 200 km to the northeast, dismembering the Mar caibo and Barinas basins. Late Miocene to Recent transpression and fault reactivation have driven rapid Andean uplift with thrust-related subsidence and maturation (e.g., SE Maracaibo foredeep). To the east, uplift and erosion of the Serrania del Interior (1) curtailed mid-Tertiary fluvial systems flowing northward from the igneous and sedimentary rocks of the Guyana Shield, deflecting them eastward, and (2) removed the thick early Miocene foredeep fill into a younger foredeep. Thus, the fold-thrust belts and sedimentary basins in this region are linked in their evolutionary histories.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90951©1996 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Caracas, Venezuela