--> Use of SAR Images for Seepage Slick Detection in the Offshore Portion of the Camamu-Almada Basin (Bahia State), Brazil, Lima, Sylvia C.; Landau, Luiz; Miranda, Fernando P., #90100 (2009)

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Use of SAR Images for Seepage Slick Detection in the Offshore Portion of the Camamu-Almada Basin (Bahia State), Brazil

Lima, Sylvia C.1
 Landau, Luiz2
 Miranda, Fernando P.3

1LabSAR, UFRJ/COPPE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2
LAMCE, UFRJ/COPPE,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
3
CENPES, Petrobras,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems have been used to detect seepage slicks in the initial stages of projects carried out in exploration frontiers. These systems are advantageous because they are able to cover vast regions and to operate day and night, independently of weather, thus obtaining images in tropical areas constantly cloud-covered. The present research intends to detect seepage slicks in the offshore portion of the Camamu-Almada Basin by means of (a) digital processing of RADARSAT-1 data using a textural classification algorithm, which makes feasible the identification of seepage slicks possibly related to present-day hydrocarbon generation and migration; (b) interpretation of results using meteo-oceanographic satellite data to rule out false targets; (c) comparison with available bathymetric, geological, geophysical, and exploration information.

Such an approach indicates the existence of active petroleum systems and suggests possible tectonic controls in the spatial distribution of seepage slicks. Thus, oil seeps occur in the vicinities of prominent normal faults affecting rift and pre-rift sections, pointing out that petroleum migrates westwards from oil kitchens within the Morro do Barro or Rio de Contas formations located in deep offshore areas to the east. In addition, seepage slicks are situated adjacent to accommodation zones oriented in the E-W direction (Mutá, Jaguaripe, Ilhéus), which are possibly related to strike-slip movements. These tectonic features may play an important role in hydrocarbon migration within the limits of the study area. One seepage slick is situated in an area of thinner continental crust that was affected by the
Upper Barremian - Lower Aptian extensional event, where potential source rocks are sediments of Aptian age or post-rift deposits of the Urucutuca Formation. At last, seepage slicks are also found within marine areas of oceanic crust, where potential source rocks are post-rift deposits of the Urucutuca Formation.


AAPG Search and Discover Article #90100©2009 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition 15-18 November 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil