--> Abstract: Mechanical Stratigraphy of a Salt-Cored Anticline; Late Cretaceous and Eocene Carbonates, Tunisia, by C. Gordon, J. A. Toni Simo, B. Tikoff, and M. Cooke; #90039 (2005)

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Mechanical Stratigraphy of a Salt-Cored Anticline; Late Cretaceous and Eocene Carbonates, Tunisia

C. Gordon1, J. A. Toni Simo1, B. Tikoff1, and M. Cooke2
1 University of Wiscosnin-Madison, Madison, WI
2 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Fractured carbonates within salt-cored anticlines form major reservoirs worldwide. We have attempted to reconstruct a three-dimensional data set on different scales of fracturing to accurately model fracture networks and fluid flow of the Djebel Alima, a salt-cored anticline in Central Tunisia. The objectives of the reconstruction are to better understand the development and evolution of fractures in 3D of carbonates implicated in of salt-involved folds and the relation between the fracture networks and the large scale fold geometry and bed curvature.

The anticline object of study is well exposed with preserved crest and flanks with different attitudes. Three dimensions exposures of the upper member of the Berda Formation (Late Maastrichtian) and Kef Ed Dour (Eocene) are excellent throughout the anticline; the exposures consist of a number of large pavements and deep gorges that transect the mountain. A stratigraphic framework has been established and correlated across the anticline allowing for comparison of 3D fracture patterns from different stratigraphic intervals in different parts of the anticline. Fracture-mapping of pavements and vertical faces has allowed quantifying the orientation, density, and mode of failure of fractures around the anticline. The unique exposure and environment also facilitate the mapping of fractures via aerial photography and satellite imagery in which linear features are apparent.

Results from this study provide data to interpret the connectivity between first-order flow conduits (interformational) and second-order fracture networks (intraformational) that can be assessed with first-order numerical simulations.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005