Abstract: Tethys- and Atlas-Related Deformations in the Triassic Basin, Algeria

J. S. Jackson, S. R. Moore, A. I. Quarles

Petroleum provinces of Algeria can be divided into Paleozoic and Mesozoic domains. Paleozoic basins are located on the Gondwanaland paleo-continent where the last significant tectonic episode is ascribed to the Late Paleozoic Hercynian Orogeny. Mesozoic basins are located on the south margin of the Neo-Tethyan seaway. These basins were subject to varying degrees of contractional deformation during the Cenozoic Atlas Orogeny.

The Triassic basin of Algeria is a Tethyan feature located above portions of the Paleozoic Oued M'ya and Ghadames basins. Paleozoic strata are deeply truncated at the Hercynian Unconformity on a broad arch between the older basins. This is interpreted to reflect rift margin rebound during Carboniferous time. Continental Lower Triassic sediments were deposited in a series of northeast trending basins which opened as the Neo-Tethys basin propagated from east to west between Africa and Europe. Middle Triassic marine transgression from the east resulted in evaporite deposition persisting through the Early Jurassic. Passive margin subsidence associated with carbonate marine deposition continued through the Early Cretaceous. Several zones of coeval wrench deformation cross the Atlas and adj ining regions. In the Triassic basin, inversion occurred before the end of the Early Cretaceous. This episode created discrete uplifts, where major hydrocarbon accumulations have been discovered, along northeast trending lineaments. During the Eocene, the main phase of the Atlas Orogeny produced low amplitude folding of Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments. The folds detach within the Triassic-Jurassic evaporite interval. Many of these folds have been tested without success, as the deeper reservoirs do not show structural closure.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90956©1995 AAPG International Convention and Exposition Meeting, Nice, France