The Oligo-Miocene Submarine Channel System, a New Hydrocarbon Play in the Levant Basin, Offshore Israel

Michael A. Gardosh¹, Yehezkeel Druckman², and Benjamin Buchbinder^3
1The Geophysical Institute of Israel, Lod, Israel
²Geophysical Institute of Israel, Lod, Israel
³Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel

A large scale uplift of the Arabian shield commenced in Oligocene times and resulted in the development of extensive, westward flowing drainage system on the Levant margin. The distal part of this system was studied on a new set of regional, 2D seismic reflection profiles extending from the Mediterranean coast of Israel far offshore. Three erosional surfaces of Early Oligocene, Middle Miocene and Late Miocene age were interpreted on the seismic data and were correlated to about 40 wells, most of them located near the coastline. The seismic dataset shows several, vertically stacked, straight to slightly curvilinear erosional canyons that extend on the Levant slope up to 70 kilometers westward of the present-day coastline. Secondary, confined channels flowed into the main canyons in a northeast-southwest direction, controlled by the morphology of pre-existing Syrian Arc fold structures. The largest erosive feature, the Ashdod channel, cuts a 700 meters-deep gorge into Mesozoic strata. A thick succession (ca. 250 m) of Oligocene sands and conglomerates were found in onshore wells at the upper part of the Ashdod canyon. Continental clastic deposits of Miocene age are widespread in southern and northern Israel (Hazeva and Hordos Formations). We estimate that significant amount of clastic sediments were transported basinward through the Oligo-Miocene channel system by submarine gravity flows. Coarse-grained channel-fill strata and sand sheets and lobes on the basin floor are potential exploration targets that are yet to be explored.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90072 © 2007 AAPG and AAPG European Region Conference, Athens, Greece