Hydrocarbon Play
Types in the Tertiary Rocks of the
Pigott, John D.1, Sara Elgueta2
(1)
The Magallanes Basin of Southern Chile
is a polyhistory basin with three distinct episodes
of geomechanical strain responses to tectonic stress:
1. An elastic pre-Cretaceous rifting stage, 2. A flexed downwarping
and upwarping Turonian
stage, and 3. A Tertiary viscoelastic response to
loading and unloading. These three geomechanical
episodes have resulted in the evolution of a variety of possible petroleum
systems with
vertical
,
lateral
, and mixed
vertical
-
lateral
migration
pathways.
Though the Chilean-Argentine Mesozoic petroleum systems of the basin are still
productive, most of the
1. Paleocene TST
(“Zona Glauconítica”)
on-lapping sands on an
migration
pathways. 2. Offlapping Oligo-Miocene
LST deltas proximal to deep faults for secondary
lateral
migration
with viscoelastic deformation from original
vertical
elastic
fault conduits from deeper strata. 3. Structurally rotated Oligo-Miocene
deltas with secondary
migration
. 4. Basin floor fan channel sands with
hydrocarbons feeding updip from viscoelastic
deformation and basin floor fan feeder channels. 5. Sub decollement
folded and faulted Eocene basin floor sands of secondary
migration
. 6.
Paleocene incised LST valleys filled by ensuing TST shales
and sands of Lower Eocene upon a Turonian ramp with
lateral
migration
upon a viscoelastic flexed basement
flank. 7. Miocene HST fluvial and estuarine channels associated with
alluvial/estuarine complexes with
vertical
migration from deeper Cretaceous
strata (eastern margin).