--> ABSTRACT: Fault-block Controlled Sedimentation in the Gulf of Suez Rift, Egypt, by David A. Pivnik, Mohamed Ramzy, Brad L. Steer, Jay C. Thorseth, Zarif ElSisi, Ihab Gaafar, John D. Garing, and Robert S. Tucker; #90906(2001)

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David A. Pivnik1, Mohamed Ramzy2, Brad L. Steer3, Jay C. Thorseth1, Zarif ElSisi2, Ihab Gaafar2, John D. Garing1, Robert S. Tucker4

(1) BP, Houston, TX
(2) Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co, Cairo, Egypt
(3) BP Amoco, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
(4) Consulting Geologist, Highlands Ranch, CO

ABSTRACT: Fault-block Controlled Sedimentation in the Gulf of Suez Rift, Egypt

The Early Miocene Asl and Hawara formations are part of the syn-rift stratigraphic sequence of the Gulf of Suez rift basin, Egypt. They were deposited basinward of a major structural transfer zone, which has controlled sediment input into the basin for the past 20 million years. The original depositional area has been inverted as a horst block and is a major oil field (July field), however the Asl and Hawara formations record earlier structural deformation. They record basinward pulses of coarse-grained sedimentation during which fault motion resulted in dramatic lateral changes in thickness and facies.

Core and electric-log data suggest that the Asl and Hawara formations were deposited on the slope of a large delta system which prograded into the basin, over and around a bathymetric high created by early faulting in the July field area. The sandstone units are thickest in the immediate hanging walls of some normal faults, but are isopachous across others. However, the major, rift-parallel normal fault that presently forms the western edge of July field did not affect sediment thickness or facies, and post-dated Asl and Hawara deposition. Thus, faulting was episodic and displacement was transferred among faults through time. The present structural configuration cannot be used to predict sediment thickness and facies. This underscores the need for careful analysis of seismic, well-log and core data when trying to predict syn-rift sedimentation patterns, and that simple models of onlap onto footwalls of major normal faults may not apply to all large structural blocks.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado