Evolution and geometries of gravitational collapse structures with examples from the StatfJord Field, northern North Sea

Hesthammer, Jonny; Fossen, Haakon

doi:10.1016/s0264-8172(98)00071-3

Cited by 70 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Bladon et al, 2015) substantiates that extension was regional, and that the northwest-extension observed in the Sarnoo Hills was not locally derived from, for example, gravityinduced footwall collapse (e.g. Hesthammer & Fossen, 1999). Incorporation of rift-oblique faults generated during early rift-oblique extension, into the evolving fault systems during the main, riftorthogonal Barmer Basin rift event (e.g.…”

Section: Northwest-southeast Extensionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Geology and regional significance of the Sarnoo Hills, eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, NW India

et al. 2015

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The Barmer Basin is a poorly understood rift basin in Rajasthan, northwest India. Exposures in the Sarnoo Hills, situated along the central eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, reveal a sedimentary succession that accumulated prior to the main Barmer Basin rift event, and a rift-oblique fault network that displays unusual geometries and characteristics. Here, we present a comprehensive study of Lower Cretaceous sedimentology on the basin margin, along with a detailed investigation of riftoblique faults that are exposed nowhere else in the region and provide critical insights into Barmer Basin evolution. Lower Cretaceous sediments were deposited within a rapidly subsiding alluvial plain fluvial system. Subsequent to deposition, the evolving Sarnoo Hills fault network was affected by structural inheritance during an early, previously unrecognised, rift-oblique extensional event attributed to transtension between India and Madagascar, and formed a juvenile fault network within the immediate rift-margin footwall. Ghaggar-Hakra Formation deposition may have been triggered by early rifting which tectonically destabilised the Marwar Craton prior to the main northeast-southwest Barmer Basin rift event. The identification of early rifting in the Barmer Basin demonstrates that regional extension and the associated rift systems were established throughout northwest India prior to the main phase of Deccan eruptions. Inheritance of early oblique fault systems within the evolving Barmer Basin provides a robust explanation for poorly understood structural complications interpreted in the subsurface throughout the rift. Critically, the presence of syn-rift sedimentary successions within older oblique rift systems obscured beneath the present-day Barmer Basin has significant implications for hydrocarbon exploration. INTRODUCTIONDespite being a significant structure within the West Indian Rift System (Fig. 1a), and an important hydrocarbon province (Dolson et al., 2015), the structural geology and evolution of the Barmer Basin rift remains relatively poorly understood. The current understanding of rift evolution is based predominantly upon subsurface data sets, where an abundance of complex structures and rift-oblique faults are variably imaged on seismic data throughout the rift (Bladon et al., 2015; Fig. 1b). However, the origin of these structures remains elusive, and limited exposure of the structure and stratigraphy of the rift at outcrop has restricted outcrop-based studies. This work characterises a rift-oblique fault network that is apparent nowhere else in the region, and is exposed on the eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, in the Sarnoo Hills. Detailed sedimentological and structural analyses are used to clarify the origin of similar rift-oblique faults imaged in the Barmer Basin subsurface, and subsequently to place the findings within the wider context of northwest India. Sediments were deposited in a maturing fluvial system within a rapidly subsiding continental alluvial plain environment. The expos...

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Section: Northwest-southeast Extensionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Geology and regional significance of the Sarnoo Hills, eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, NW India

et al. 2015

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“…(Jamison & Stearns 1982); rift settings (Fisher & Knipe 2001); around salt structures ; above shale diapirs, around thrusts and reverse faults (Cashman & Cashman 2000); glaciotectonic settings (Hooke & Iverson 1995); areas of gravity-driven collapse (Hesthammer & Fossen 1999). …”

Section: Classification Of Deformation Bands By Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deformation bands in sandstone: a review

Fossen

Schultz

Shipton

et al. 2007

JGS

584

344

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Deformation bands are the most common strain localization feature found in deformed porous sandstones and sediments, including Quaternary deposits, soft gravity slides and tectonically affected sandstones in hydrocarbon reservoirs and aquifers. They occur as various types of tabular deformation zones where grain reorganization occurs by grain sliding, rotation and/or fracture during overall dilation, shearing, and/or compaction. Deformation bands with a component of shear are most common and typically accommodate shear offsets of millimetres to centimetres. They can occur as single structures or cluster zones, and are the main deformation element of fault damage zones in porous rocks. Factors such as porosity, mineralogy, grain size and shape, lithification, state of stress and burial depth control the type of deformation band formed. Of the different types, phyllosilicate bands and most notably cataclastic deformation bands show the largest reduction in permeability, and thus have the greatest potential to influence fluid flow. Disaggregation bands, where non-cataclastic, granular flow is the dominant mechanism, show little influence on fluid flow unless assisted by chemical compaction or cementation.

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“…The stratigraphic signature of the Tarbert Formation is punctuated transgression, demonstrating that the rate of sediment supply equalled, and locally exceeded, the rate of tectonic subsidence. Although the Humber Group is mud-prone, sand-rich successions are recorded; these are sourced from local footwall degradation (Hesthammer and Fossen, 1999) (McLeod and Underhill, 1999) and, significantly, from erosion of the Snorre structure in the north. Footwall uplift raised the Snorre structure above sea level in the Kimmeridgian-Ryazanian, the erosion of exhumed pre-rift sediments supplying a proximal shoreface and detached turbidite system (Dahl and Solli, 1993).…”

Section: Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

The propagation and linkage of normal faults: insights from the Strathspey–Brent–Statfjord fault array, northern North Sea

McLeod¹,

Dawers²,

Underhill³

2000

Basin Research

103

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Through examination of the scaling relations of faults and the use of seismic stratigraphic techniques, we demonstrate how the temporal and spatial evolution of the fault population in a half-graben basin can be accurately reconstructed. The basin bounded by the >>62 km long Strathspey-Brent-Statfjord fault array is located on the western flank of the Late Jurassic age northern North Sea rift basin. Alongstrike displacement variations, transverse fault-displacement folds and palaeo-fault tips abandoned in the hangingwall all provide evidence that the fault system comprises a hierarchy of linked palaeo-segments. The displacement variations developed while the fault was in a pre-linkage, multi-segment stage of its growth have not been equilibrated following fault linkage. Using the stratal architecture of syn-rift sediments, we date the main phase of segment linkage as latest Callovian -Middle Oxfordian (10-14 M.yr. after rift initiation). A dense sub-population of faults is mapped in the hangingwall to the Strathspey-Brent-Statfjord fault array. The majority of these faults are short, of low displacement and became inactive within 3-4 M.yr. of the beginning of the extensional event. Subsequently, only the segments of the proto-Strathspey-Brent-Statfjord fault and a conjugate array of antithetic faults located 3.5 km basinward continued to grow to define a graben-like basin geometry. Faults of the antithetic array became inactive approximately 11.5 M.yr. into the rift event, concentrating strain on the linked Strathspey-Brent-Statfjord fault; hence, the basin evolved into a half-graben. As the rift event progressed, strain was localised on a smaller number of active structures with increased rates of displacement. The results of this study suggest that a simple model for the linkage of 2-3 fault segments may not be applicable to a complex multi-segment array.

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Evolution and geometries of gravitational collapse structures with examples from the StatfJord Field, northern North Sea

Cited by 70 publications

References 30 publications

Geology and regional significance of the Sarnoo Hills, eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, NW India

Geology and regional significance of the Sarnoo Hills, eastern rift margin of the Barmer Basin, NW India

Deformation bands in sandstone: a review

The propagation and linkage of normal faults: insights from the Strathspey–Brent–Statfjord fault array, northern North Sea

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