Establishing a High Resolution Integrated Stratigraphic Framework for the Berriasian to Early Barremian of the Morocco Atlantic Margin

Abstract

The Moroccan Atlantic margin is a contemporary focus for oil and gas exploration owing to recent successes to the south in the Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry (MSGBC). Recent field studies (Luber et al. 2017, 2018) have successfully built a high resolution integrated stratigraphic framework for the late Barremian to early Albian interval of the early Cretaceous in the Essaouira-Agadir Basin (EAB) of Morocco. However, our understanding of the detailed stratigraphy of the early Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian to Lower Barremian) remains at a preliminary stage and a robust framework is still missing. The focus of this multi-disciplinary study is to build a stratigraphic framework for the early Lower Cretaceous of the EAB by integrating ammonite, calpionellid, nannofossil and smaller benthic foraminifera biostratigraphy with sequence stratigraphic analysis. The initial field study results will allow for the designation of regional reference sections for the Berriasian, Valanginian, Hauterivian and early Barremian. State-of-the-art sampling and sedimentary logging techniques are currently being used to generate a high-resolution chart from key outcrops defined in pioneering research (Roch, 1930; Ambroggi 1963; Duffaud et al 1966; Rey et al, 1986; Ettachfini, 1991; 2004). This study will provide new insights into the age-relationships, stratigraphic architecture, facies trends, and palaeogeography of the Berriasian to Lower Barremian of the EAB. As a result, the project will improve our understanding of the development of potential early Cretaceous reservoirs offshore on the Atlantic Margin. Research findings will also be tied to preceding North Africa Research Group (NARG) studies on the younger Barremian to Aptian sections and subsequently correlated to global type sections.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90350 © 2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, May 19-22, 2019