The South Angola Source-to-Sink Project - Characterization of the Cretaceous to Cenozoic Clastics Produced on the Onshore Erosion Surfaces

The source-to-sink (S2S) concept focuses on the quantification of the components of clastic sedimentary systems from initial sediment production in the source areas (i.e. onshore margin) through to their deposition within sedimentary sinks (i.e. offshore margin, Somme et al. 2016, Bhattacharya et al. 2016). Clastics provenance analysis provides fundamental information about source and catchment areas as well as the sedimentary budget marking the offshore margin domain. Clastics production on the margin is governed by the mechanical erosion and/or the chemical weathering of the onshore substrate. The intensity of the onshore erosion processes is mainly controlled by the lithology of the substrate, the rate of tectonic uplift, and the type of paleoclimate (hot humid climate favoring weathering versus cold dry climate favoring mechanical erosion). The main objective of the South Angola margin S2S project is to characterize (1) the factors controlling the intensity of the onshore erosional processes and (2) the volume and nature of the Cretaceous to Cenozoic clastics produced in the South Angola onshore domains and delivered to the offshore margin.