Structural Architecture of the Kura Foreland Fold-and-thrust Belt Using Seismic Reflection Profile, Georgia

Abstract

Our study is focused on the structural geometry of the western part of Kura foreland fold-and-thrust belt (KFFTB) disposed in the central part of the Caucasus. Structural architecture of the Georgian part of the KFFTB has been interpreted using seismic reflection profile. Building of structures of the Kura foreland basin was formed by Greater Caucasus basement wedge propagation along detachment horizons within the cover-generating thinskinned structures represented by Neogene shallow marine and thick continental sediments. Based on the structural style of deformation, two seismicstructural complexes were identified in seismic profiles: an upper and a lower complex. Seismic reflection data reveal the presence of south-vergent thrusts, north-vergent backthrusts, and duplex. The deformations in the KFFTB structures were controlled by the multi-level detachments. The Didi Shiraki thrust-top basin has a bivergent geometry and is filled by Pliocene-Pleistocene syn-kinematic sediments.

Eocene Volcaniclastics in the Kartli Basin, Georgia: A Fractured Reservoir Sequence

“…The most common fracture orientations are NW-SE and NE-SW with subordinate N-S, and E-W trends. These fractures were probably formed during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, reflecting late shortening episodes in the area (Alania et al, 2018(Alania et al, , 2019(Alania et al, , 2020aGusmeo et al, 2021). This underlines the need to better understand the 3D geometry and temporal evolution of fracturing in the prominent surface anticlines around Tbilisi, which could then be used to serve as analogues for the structures at Samgori field.…”

“…Organic-rich claystones within this unit are the most important source rocks in the basin (Robinson et al, 1997;Sachsenhofer et al, 2018a,b;2021 this issue). Relatively deep-water sedimentation and continuing subsidence occurred throughout the Late Eocene and Oligocene and is attributed to a combination of diminishing post-rift subsidence and the beginning of shortening along the northern edge of the Achara-Trialet thrust-fold belt (Banks et al, 1997;Alania et al, 2017Alania et al, , 2018Alania et al, , 2019. The shales and claystones of the thick Oligocene to Lower Miocene Maikop sequence (1700-2700 m), as in many other parts of the Paratethys, provide an extensive source rock (e.g.…”

Validating far-field deformation styles from the Adjara-Trialeti fold-and-thrust belt to the Greater Caucasus (Georgia) through multi-proxy thermal maturity datasets

“…Mosar et al, 2010;Nemčok et al, 2013;Saintot et al, 2006;Sosson et al, 2016). General agreement exists on the nature of a thin-skinned south-verging thrust system in the western portion of the Kura Basin to the south of the eastern Greater Caucasus, where HC exploration and production are ongoing (Alania et al, , 2018Pace et al, 2019;Pupp et al, 2018).…”

“…In this region, geometric and genetic relationships between areas affected by positive inversion and moderate to high exhumation, and areas where thin-skinned thrust tectonics develops with higher shortening and less exhumation, are not consistently described (Adamia et al, 2010;Alania et al, 2017Alania et al, , 2018Alania et al, , 2020Mosar et al, 2010;Nemčok et al, 2013). Different seismic interpretations and scarcity of detailed structural surveys have led to contrasting structural interpretations (Adamia et al, 2010(Adamia et al, , 2011bAlania et al, 2020;Banks et al, 1997;Forte et al, 2010Forte et al, , 2013Forte et al, , 2014Nemčok et al, 2013;Tibaldi et al, 2017Tibaldi et al, , 2018.…”

Using the tectophase conceptual model to assess late Triassic–Early Jurassic far-field tectonism across the South-central Barents Sea shelf

“…It is important to note, however, that the tectophase model and cycle are used as tools to provide tectonostratigraphic and flexural interpretations that tie lithostratigraphic composition to simultaneous compressional responses in the adjacent orogen. Hence, this study does not aim to provide a traditional structural analysis, as the use of seismic (e.g., Alania et al, 2018) or numerical modeling (e.g., Garcia-Castellanos et al, 1997) would do, but rather to show how the use of tectophase concepts can provide helpful and, most importantly, easy observation of far-field effects in the stratigraphy generated by compressional tectonics.…”