The evolution of the central part of the Lurestan region in the Zagros fold‐and‐thrust belt has been studied using newly generated isopach maps for different time intervals between the Late Cretaceous and the Miocene. The study was based on existing geological maps, gravity data, measured stratigraphic surface sections, original field work and well data. Understanding the processes which have influenced facies and thickness variations in the study area will have a significant impact on future hydrocarbon exploration.
Cenomanian carbonates assigned to the Sarvak Formation, the main reservoir unit in the study area, are composed of both pelagic and neritic facies. These facies occur along the roughly north‐south trending “Anaran lineament”, interpreted to represent a palaeohigh, which influenced patterns of sedimentation in the Cretaceous‐Tertiary. The palaeohigh formed as a result of the reactivation of a basement lineament in the Late Cretaceous. The continuing influence of this lineament on patterns of sedimentation during Oligocene — early Miocene time is indicated by a range of evidence including the presence of clinoform geometries.
Analysis of sedimentary thicknesses in the Zagros foreland basin between the Late Cretaceous and the early Miocene indicates progressive SWward migration of the depocentre. Late Cretaceous ophiolite obduction and plate margin convergence exerted a major influence on stratigraphic architecture, and controlled depocentre migration and foreland basin evolution.
In this study, relationships between fracture patterns, lithology, thickness, diagenetic processes and grain size are evaluated within Cretaceous sediments in two sections of Dizlu and Kolah Ghazi of Isfahan. This study area was selected based on its outcrops of different rock units and its well-developed tectonic fractures. The fracture patterns within stratigraphic units of these sections are studied using geometrical and statistical analyses. This study finds that variable fracture spacing and fracture spacing ratios can be affected by lithology, thickness, grain size of sediments and diagenetic processes. A study of fracture stratigraphy based on fracture pattern evaluation within different cropped-out sedimentary rocks can be used to improve understanding of the same types of sedimentary rock units below the surface or throughout other sedimentary basins. Consequently, this could improve information regarding storage and fluid flow pattern throughout sedimentary rocks in different regions, even for subsurface purposes.
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