Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of Neogene Antalya Basin, Antalya Offshore, Turkey, Eastern Mediterranean

Mehmet A. Sunnetcioglu

Mehmet A. Sunnetcioglu, Riza Ozgur Temel, Nazif Sahin, M. Bülent Ercengiz and Emel Cali Deep offshore Antalya between Cyprus and Turkey in the northern part of the Eastern Mediterranean has been the region for many scientific studies, regarding global tectonic concept, Messinian salinity crisis, fluid/gas escape features at the sea surface, specifically at the Anaximander seamount since 1970’s. On the other hand, the area can be classified as unexplored in petroleum industry due to mainly ultra-deep water depth. Following to the deep water discoveries in Egypt, Israel, TPAO has applied an intense seismic acquisition program in the area. This gave us a great opportunity to investigate the depositional history of the Neogene sedimentary record in the Eastern Mediterranean in a sequence stratigraphic approach and estimates the contribution of regional tectonics, basin physiography and eustasy. In the study concept, 10,000 km 2D seismic data sets were interpreted, tied to onshore, and the Neogene package is subdivided into four major sequences. Each has mainly clastics and partly carbonate rocks with varying depositional environment and thicknesses from alluvial fan, fan delta to slope and deep marine environments. The study results indicated that the facies diversity were strongly affected by the interaction of regional tectonics, related basin morphology and eustatic fluctuations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Tectonically-induced alluvial fan developments, submarine canyons and fault controlled thickness changes suggested that facies distribution during Aquitanian to Tortonian was controlled by a high uplift rate of sea-floor dominantly instead of eustasy. On the other hand, eustatic fluctuations during Messinian to Pliocene was a major factor of facies diversity.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90161©2013 AAPG European Regional Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 8-10 April 2013