Fluid Flow Systems Within the Plio- Quaternary Succession in the Levant Basin, Offshore Central Israel

Abstract

The present study focuses on investigating seismo-geomorphologic manifestations of fluid flow in the Plio-Quaternary deposits, overburdening the offshore hydrocarbon province within the Levant Basin, SE Mediterranean Sea. We present the analysis of a new three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution seismic data, spanning ∼1440 sq km in water depths ranging 1100m to 1500m offshore central Israel. Controls for our study are petrophysical logs from two deepwater wells. Seismic stratigraphic techniques and robust seismic attribute workflow has promoted the recognition of evidences for fluid flow in the study area expressed as acoustic anomalies observed in the 3D seismic data. Preliminary results reveal at high resolution fluid flow structures encompassing dissolution pipes, pockforms and zones of chaotic reflections within the Plio-Quaternary succession, all emanating from the top Messinian evaporite unit. These features are spatially grouped into two populations, with the western part of the study area predominating with fluid flow structures compared to the eastern. The lack of evidences for focused fluid flow beyond the successive mass transport deposits emplaced and the seafloor, with the exception of enhanced reflectivity in paleo-channels, suggest a casual mechanism between decimation of possible fluid flow features and mass wasting events during the Plio-Quaternary. We invoke the origin of the fluid flow systems to be related to evaporite–fluid interaction in the Messinian evaporite substratum and subsequent fluid transport through migration pathways into the Plio-Quaternary unit. Understanding the fluid flow systems exemplified here has important implications for geohazards risk assessment, contributes to our understanding of fluid flow subsequent to the Messinian salinity crisis and as an analog to other sedimentary basins and margins.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90194 © 2014 International Conference & Exhibition, Istanbul, Turkey, September 14-17, 2014