Print this pageThe development and evolution of 
structural
styles and sedimentary patterns during the break-up and subsequent history
of the South Atlantic hydrocarbon frontier remain poorly understood. The
aim of my PhD is to use subsurface data from both the South African continental
margin (provided by Soekor), and the Falklands Plateau (that originally
lay adjacent to the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa), to determine the role
that basement structures have had on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution
of the break-up and drift of Gondwana. Although the intention is to unravel
the structural controls on sedimentation during the early, extensional
history, a prerequisite of this is to restore the basin for each subsequent
phase of deformation. Results of my current syn-rift mapping show one of
the basins has been affected by an important, but hitherto unrecognised
phase of Cretaceous contraction (structural inversion).
The Grant in Aid will be used to undertake fieldwork
complimentary to the seismic interpretation, thus taking the understanding
of the structural styles to sub-seismic resolution. By developing a knowledge
of the structures in the basins a better understanding of the syn-rift
sedimentation can be obtained. The fieldwork will also allow a detailed
assessment of any structural styles resultant from the structural inversion.
An understanding of the early structural
styles
(both onshore and offshore) associated with Gondwana break-up, and the
related original syn-rift sedimentary transport pathways will aid reservoir
understanding if replicated in the subsurface and offshore.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90925©1999 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid