Oil Potential of the Marmara Sea, Northwest Turkey

Coskun, Bulent, Ankara University, Geological Eng. Dept, Ankara, Turkey

The oil potential of the Marmara Sea is influenced by the Late Cretaceous and Miocene tectonic activities between the northern Istranca-Rhodope Massif and southern Izmir-Ankara-Sakarya zone. Recent gas discovery by TPAO witnessed generation of hdrocarbons in the offshore area. Field and well data indicate that the Upper Cretaceous ophiolites are the oldest rocks in the area. Seismic and aeromagnetic data show also a huge anomaly corps at the center of the Marmara Sea, which corresponds to an offshore ophiolitic extension. These ophiolites created a subduction zone with appearence of favourable geological conditions for reservoir developments in the Marmara Sea. The Eocene Sogucak reefoidal and Oligocene deltaic sandstone trends are elongated in a NW-SE direction. The oil generation zones are located to the north of this suture zone and the latest Miocene movements, with occurrence of the North Anatolian Fault, ameliorated, by creating fractures, reservoir characteristics.Then, the oil possibilities of the Marmara Sea is tectonic concurrence between the Istranca-Rhodope Massif and Izmir-Ankara-Sakarya zone.