--> West Carpathians: Crustal Structure and Oil Prospecting, by C. Tomek; #90986 (1994).

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Abstract: West Carpathians: Crustal Structure and Oil Prospecting

Cestmir Tomek

The subsurface of the Western Carpathians in the Czech and Slovak Republics is revealed through nearly 10,000 km of industry seismic reflection data and 900 km of deep-seismic profiles. These profiles reveal that the Western Carpathian foreland consists of two subduction-related, accretionary (flysch) wedges of Neogene (Krosno-Tarcan) and Paleogene (Magura) ages. In the hinterland, behind strike-slip faults of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, two remnants of the Mesozoic collisional orogen are present. The northern remnant (Central West Carpathians) relates to closing of the South Penninic (Ligurian) Sea during Turonian-to-Maastrichtian continental collision. The southern remnant (Inner Carpathians) is associated with Tethyan closure at the end of the Jurassic. The zone of suturing is imaged on several seismic lines.

Oil and gas deposits of the Western Carpathians are situated in two tectonic provinces. The first province consists of the outer accretionary wedge and underlying European passive margin, as well as the Vienna basin. Oil generation is due to maturation of Jurassic black shale of the passive margin during Neogene overthrusting. Most of the discoveries are in an autochthonous position beneath the Krosno-Tarcan flysch wedge; other accumulations result from migration into traps within the wedge and into the sedimentary fill of the Vienna basin. The second province is backarc basins superimposed on extensional structures of the Central and Western Carpathians. Deposits there are predominately gas; their origin is closely tied to the opening of the Pannonian basin.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90986©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994