Stratigraphic patterns within the Nam Con Son Basin, offshore Vietnam: Relationship to accommodation changes resulting from tectonics, eustasy and sediment flux from the Tibetan Plateau

Khryste Wright, Texas A&M University Department of Geology and Geophysics, College Station, TX, [email protected]

The Mekong River system has been an important siliciclastic source to the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son Basins (offshore Vietnam) since middle Miocene time (~15 Ma), although the volume of sediment delivered has varied significantly over time as a function of continental tectonics, paleoclimate history and eustatic sea-level fluctuations. Thus, the Neogene stratigraphy of offshore Vietnam provides an important record for the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau (where the headwaters of the modern Mekong River are located), paleoclimatic history, and the evolution of continental drainage systems across Southeast Asia.

The overall project goal is to characterize the Neogene stratigraphic succession and seismic facies within the Nam Con Son Basin in detail and to relate this stratigraphy to potential petroleum systems, changes in sediment flux from the Mekong River, differential tectonic subsidence, and eustatic sea-level fluctuations.

Results from this study will aid in our understanding of the overall timing of Tibetan Plateau uplift and erosional unroofing, as well as the relationships between uplift and climate change. Greater understanding of the Neogene stratigraphy of offshore Vietnam will also provide insight into the petroleum systems and drilling risks across offshore southeast Vietnam.