--> Sedimentary Evolution of the Ionian Basin, eastern edge of Apulia during the Upper Cretaceous in Albania

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Sedimentary Evolution of the Ionian Basin, eastern edge of Apulia during the Upper Cretaceous in Albania

Abstract

The petroleum interest in the Cretaceous to Eocene reservoir system in Albania started in the 60's. Since then, few studies attempted to unravel the sedimentary evolution at a reservoir scale. The Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Ionian Basin are composed of pelagic and gravity-flow facies. They broadly outcrop in the south of the country along three main thrust belts with a NNW-SSW orientation, bordered to the east by the Sazani Zone, exposing the Apulian platform succession. Our study focuses on the sedimentary deposition during the Upper Cretaceous in the Ionian Basin. Field investigations coupled with bio- and chronostratigraphical methods were performed in order to highlight the Upper Cretaceous sedimentary evolution. Hemipelagites and low-density calciturbiditic deposits, typically accumulating until the Santonian, are gradually replaced by coarser and thicker calciturbiditic and debris-flow deposits during the Campanian. The carbonate transport-system brutally turns into a large-scale slump system, showing soft-sediment deformation structures during the Maastrichtian. Four slumped levels are identified during the late Upper Cretaceous, with a first deformation level reaching up to 50 meters in thickness in the central part of the basin. These major levels are consistent with tectonic triggers affecting the Apulian Platform during this period. The large scale outcrops studied in the field and the extension of well-bedded and reworked units throughout the basin allows unraveling the foredeep evolution of the Ionian basin during the Upper Cretaceous.