--> Abstract: Tectonic and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Kebili Area (Central Tunisia) and the Associated Petroleum System, by GY. Pogacsas, I. Koncz, L. Samu, J. Rumpler, E. Simon, Z. Unger, and I. Szulyovszky; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: Tectonic and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Kebili Area (Central Tunisia) and the Associated Petroleum System

POGACSAS, GY., I. KONCZ, L. SAMU, J. RUMPLER, E. SIMON, Z. UNGER, and I, SZULYOVSZKY

The Mesozoic/Paleozoic petroleum system of the Kebili region represents the results of eight main tectonostratigraphic events: 1.The Pan African Orogeny and the orientation of its suture zones controlled the thickness and areal distribution of the Cambrian and Ordovician siliciclastic reservoirs. 2. The eustatic first order cycle, which started in the uppermost Proterozoic and was related to the break-up and dispersion of the Precambrian supercontinent, influenced the deposition of the high-quality Paleozoic source rocks. The accumulation of the Silurian Tanezuff hot shale and the Ordovician source rocks was related to first and second order marine floodings (sea level rises) of the Lower Paleozoic oceans. 3. The Hercynian Orogeny resulted in foreland compression, inversion, uplifting and erosion in the area of the east-west trending Telemzana Arch. 4.The collision and gathering of the Paleozoic continents produced the Permian supercontinent (Pangea) and a global first order sea level fall. The first order lowstand enhanced the erosion which had been initiated by the Hercynian Orogeny. 5. Fracturing of the Pangea supercontinent and opening of the Tethys between Gondwana and Laurasia during the Triassic were evolution of the new (Mesozoic) first order cycle. The transgressive half cycle of this youngest first order eustatic cycle, starting at the base of the Triassic, resulted in the deposition of basal transgressive TAGI reservoir sand and evaporites proved to act as "super seal". 6. During the Late Kimmerian events (Jurassic and Neocomian time) the Tethyan distension continued and the Silurian source rock reached the early oil window. 7. The Austrian inversion in the Aptian was characterized by a north-south transpression (Limages anticline). This stress field resulted in a 25-km wide NW-SE-trending stike-slip fault zone and associated "en-echelon" folds in the Kebili Area. 8. The Atlassic (Alpine) event generated by the collision of the African and European plates resulted in foreland compression and inversion. These deformations were critical for preservation of the existing oil pools.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria