Burial and Exhumation History of the Oman Passive Margin Untangled by Combining Structural and Temperature Data

Abstract

The passive margin exposed in the Oman Mountains hosts some of the most prolific oil and gas reservoirs in the Middle East. The entire passive margin sequence is exceptionally well exposed in the Jebel Akhdar Dome. It has been conjectured that the obduction of the Semail ophiolite onto the passive margin has resulted in fluid migration towards the foreland fold-thrust belt. In this talk, a comprehensive overview of the structural and thermal evolution of the Jebel Akhdar Dome is presented. By combining results from more than 1,500 vein cross cutting relationships collected over the entire Jebel Akhdar Dome with new low-temperature thermochronometry, fluid inclusion and RSCM data and PetroMod modeling, the full burial and exhumation history of the dome can be constrained. Results are placed in a plate tectonic framework, showing it is possible to link individual structures in the dome with the regional plate movements. This has important implications for our understanding of how fluids migrate within the passive margin sequence into the reservoirs in the foreland.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90362 ©2019 AAPG Middle East Region, Geosciences Technology Workshop, 2nd Edition Structural Styles of the Middle East, Muscat, Oman, December 9-11, 2019