--> Figure 3

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Click on image for enlargement.

Figure 3. The shelf-edge delta illustrated in Figure 2 is seen in the broader context of a shelf-margin system bounded by a major growth fault (at right) and a deeply rooted near-surface salt body (at left). Here, the shallow delta lobe is seen as back-stepping from the more seaward position of an older delta which has been displaced downward along the growth fault. This cross-section provides a hydrocarbon migration model in which vertical migration along the salt body is blocked by the development of gas hydrates. Gas liberated from the hydrate stability zone in response to temperature and pressure fluctuations may laterally migrate through delta-front turbidite beds into more massive updip reservoir facies.