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- Volume 22, Issue 1, 2010
Basin Research - 1, Mon Jan 18 00:00:00 UTC 2010
1, Mon Jan 18 00:00:00 UTC 2010
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Petroleum systems of Chinese nonmarine basins
Authors Wenzhi Zhao, Hongjun Wang, Xuanjun Yuan, Zecheng Wang and Guangyou ZhuAbstractThe petroleum systems of Chinese nonmarine rifted and depression basins, dominated by lacustrine strata, have distinctive source rocks, reservoir types and trap characteristics. The rifted basins are characterized by numerous faults and multiple structural salients and sags (half grabens). Sags include many subdivisions and smaller isolated sags. Most sags constitute relatively independent petroleum systems that have efficiently generated and expelled hydrocarbons, have excellent reservoir properties in a variety of sand‐body types, and have multiple traps. These attributes impart a petroliferous character to the entire sag. Depression basins (intracratonic flexural basins) developed on large cratons and hosted large lacustrine systems. They feature very gentle structure, large deltaic sand‐bodies, source rocks in extensive contact with sand‐bodies, heterogeneous low‐porosity‐low‐permeability reservoirs and large, widespread lithology‐controlled pools. In recent years, large oil and gas reserves have been discovered in these two types of lacustrine‐dominated basins, contributing significantly to the growth of reserves in onshore China, and stratigraphic oil and gas pools have become the major type of accumulation in nonmarine lacustrine basins.
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Walled sedimentary basins of China
Authors A. R. Carroll, S. A. Graham and M.E. SmithABSTRACTCentral Asia contains numerous closed geomorphic basins that are surrounded by active mountain ranges, but exhibit little internal deformation. These areas commonly coincide with sedimentary basins that record a much older history of continuous internal drainage, evidenced by lacustrine and associated alluvial deposits that date as back far as the Late Permian. We propose the new descriptive term ‘walled basin’, in recognition of the unique physiography of basins that impound sediments within peripheral orogenic walls that are maintained over relatively long geologic time scales. Walled basins are surrounded by dominantly contractional orogenic uplifts, but are themselves relatively undeformed. They typically record multiple episodes of alluvial and lacustrine sedimentation, that are often correlated with evidence for recurrent deformation of basin‐bounding uplifts. The distribution of walled basins in Asia appears to correspond to crustal heterogeneities inherited from the complex accretionary history of the continent, but actual mechanisms for maintaining stable basin interiors over periods as long as ∼250 my remain uncertain. Modern walled basins in Asia are restricted to arid or semiarid regions, due to the capacity of large rivers to defeat drainage barriers in more humid areas. Walled basins lie at lower elevations than Asia as whole, and they appear to impede rather than promote plateau growth.
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Structural controls on facies distribution in a small half‐graben basin: Luanping basin, northeast China
Authors Tim Cope, Luo Ping, Zhang Xingyang, Zhang Xuanjie, Song Jinmin, Zhou Gang and Michael R. ShultzABSTRACTLuanping basin is one of many small rift basins that developed in northeast China during mid‐Cretaceous time. It is filled by alluvial, fan‐deltaic and lacustrine strata of the Lower Cretaceous (post 130 Ma) Xiguayuan Formation. Distribution of facies and stacking patterns are controlled by position within the basin with respect to fault‐bounded basin margins. Luanping basin is bounded by a normal fault consisting of two segments that are perpendicular to each other in map view; one or both of these faults probably accommodates a component of strike‐slip. This geometry gave rise to three distinct depozones within the basin: (1) a region of maximum sediment thickness located near the intersection of these two basin‐bounding fault segments; (2) a shallower part of the basin, located near the tip of the normal fault segment bounding the basin to the north; and (3) a low‐gradient, north‐dipping ramp. The facies found in each of these settings are different. Coarse sublacustrine sediment gravity flows interfinger with profundal black shale near the basin depocentre at the intersection of the two basin‐bounding fault segments. Fan delta and shallow lacustrine sedimentation dominated in the shallower part of the basin near the northeastern tip of the master‐bounding fault. Fine‐grained shallow lacustrine sedimentation predominated along the low‐gradient ramp. The facies in Luanping basin are different from those found in basins of similar size elsewhere in the northeastern China extensional tract. Specifically, profundal, organic‐rich black shales are found in Luanping basin but are largely lacking in neighbouring basins. We suggest that this is due to higher rates of subsidence along more steeply dipping normal faults in Luanping basin, as opposed to the other basins.
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Early Cretaceous supradetachment basins in the Hohhot metamorphic core complex, Inner Mongolia, China
Authors B. D. Ritts, A. K. Berry, C. L. Johnson, B. J. Darby and G. A. DavisABSTRACTLower Cretaceous basins of the Hohhot metamorphic core complex in the Daqing Shan of Inner Mongolia, China, formed coevally with top to the SE faulting on the Hohhot detachment, as indicated by cross‐cutting relationships between the basin and the detachment, sediment–source relationships between the exhumed footwall of the detachment and the basin, and concordant ages between cooling of the footwall and sedimentation in the basin at about 122 Ma. The basins grade through two phases of deposition, marked by distinct sedimentologic characteristics. Early, debris flow, rock avalanche and streamflow deposits in alluvial fans filled multiple structurally segmented basins. Later, a widespread, integrated basin formed and was filled by conglomeratic fluvial and sheetflood deposits supplied by drainage systems flowing to the SE, subparallel to the extension direction. Throughout deposition of the Lower Cretaceous strata, sediment was derived dominantly from the lower plate of the detachment; with progressive unroofing of the lower plate, higher grade lithologies including gneiss and mylonite provided clasts to the Lower Cretaceous conglomerate. The basin fill is thin throughout the basin (<1200 m), but is much thicker on the SE side of the core complex, where detachment faulting was longer lived. These sedimentary rocks record the progressive exhumation of the lower plate of the Hohhot detachment, folding of the Hohhot detachment, and growth of the Hohhot metamorphic core complex, a classic metamorphic core complex that formed in response to fast, large‐magnitude extension. Accordingly, the basin associated with the detachment is consistent, in terms of structural setting and sedimentary style, with the end‐member model of supradetachment basin sedimentation, and supports the applicability of the supradetachment basin concept to sedimentation in highly extended terranes. These results also illustrate the dominance of lower plate relative uplift in localizing accommodation space in the overlying basins and providing sediment supply to the syn‐extensional basins.
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Stratigraphy and sedimentation in a rift basin modified by synchronous strike‐slip deformation: southern Xialiao basin, Bohai, offshore China
Authors L.‐Y. Hsiao, S. A. Graham and N. TilanderABSTRACTThe southern Xialiao basin, Bohai, offshore China, developed during Palaeogene time as the northern arm of the North China rift system. The right‐lateral Tan‐Lu fault developed contemporaneously along the central axis of the southern Xiaoliao basin. The syn‐rift stratigraphic megasequence of the southern Xialiao basin consists of Kongdian, Shahejie and Dongying sequences, corresponding to different phases of rifting. Sedimentation kept pace with tectonic subsidence during the deposition of the Kongdian and Dongying sequences, but was outpaced by tectonic subsidence during Shahejie deposition. The initial rift Kongdian sequence consists of alluvial conglomerate near the faulted basin margins, whereas deposits of lacustrine, dry‐pan or fluvial environments dominated basin centre. The rift climax Shahejie sequence is characterized by deep lacustrine mudstone and marginal lacustrine mudstone and siltstone towards the basin centre and margins, respectively, and the latter may include sublacustrine fan or surfaces of subaerial exposure. The late rift Dongying sequence consists of upward‐coarsening deltaic deposits, indicated by large southward‐prograding clinoform complexes, overlain by fluvial strata. Syn‐rift basin structures defined a basin‐and‐range configuration, consisting of half‐grabens bounded by normal and strike‐slip faults. However, an impinging, basement‐cored, rift uplift block forced transpression and surface uplift along the Tan‐Lu fault early in basin history, partitioning the Xiaoliao system basin into subbasins. As rifting waned and the basement block subsided, the Tan‐Lu system became transtensional, sedimentation overtook subsidence and the basin became a unified depositional basin. The Dongying sequence includes higher‐order sequences related to frequent lake‐level fluctuations. In addition to tectonism, lake‐level fluctuations likely were driven by climatic cyclicity, which shaped stratigraphic facies architecture by controlling areal extent of lakes and stacking pattern of higher‐order stratigraphic sequences.
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Tectonostratigraphic units and stratigraphic sequences of the nonmarine Songliao basin, northeast China
Authors Feng Zhi‐qiang, Jia Cheng‐zao, Xie Xi‐nong, Zhang Shun, Feng Zi‐hui and Timothy A. CrossABSTRACTThrough tectonostratigraphic analysis of the nonmarine, intracontinental Songliao basin in northeast China, four episodes of deformation are recognized: mantle upwelling, rift, postrift thermal subsidence and structural inversion. The episodes are related to regional geodynamics and plate motions. Each episode is associated with a specific stratigraphic signature. The first period of deformation occurred during the Middle and Late Jurassic when asthenospheric upwelling heated, thinned and stretched the lithosphere. These events may have been caused by the narrowing of the Okhotsk Sea through subduction. This deformation is characterized by doming, extension, widespread volcanism and intrusion, and erosion. Volcanics interfinger with alluvial fan and alluvial plain facies systems tracts. The second rifting episode began in the latest Jurassic and continued into the Early Cretaceous. It resulted in the formation of a large number of isolated, NNE‐trending fault blocks of ‘basin‐and‐range’ style. Rifting may have been caused by the formation and subduction of the Izanagi and Pacific Plates. Coal‐bearing fluvial, floodplain, lacustrine and fan‐delta strata and widespread volcanic rocks filled the fault‐block basins. Volcanic strata hundreds to several thousand meters thick in the Huoshiling and Yingcheng Formations record multiple intrusive events during the rifting stage in the basin. These events were concurrent with episodes of intrusion and volcanic eruption in northeast China. The third phase of regional postrift deformation and subsidence, which began with the Lower Cretaceous Denglouku Formation, was caused by lithospheric cooling and extension, modulated by multiple compressional events. Subsidence in the Songliao basin permitted accumulation of thick postrift deposits, in contrast with other Cretaceous basins in Mongolia and northeast Asia. Three compressional episodes, which episodically interrupted the long‐term cooling subsidence, originated from development of the Okhotsk suture and subduction of the Pacific plate. In the Early Cretaceous, pronounced compression originated from closure of Okhotsk Sea, forming the mountain ranges of Daxinganling, which provided sediment to the northern part of the basin. In the Late Cretaceous, the intensity of compression from the Pacific margin increased through time, causing westward migration of depocentres and uplift in the east until the end of Cretaceous. Postrift strata, typically 3000–4000 m thick with a maximum thickness of 6000 m, extend beyond the rift blocks and onlap the basin margins to form a large uniform basin. Early thermal subsidence strata include alluvial fan, fluvial, floodplain, shallow lacustrine and delta facies tracts, overlain by large deltaic and lacustrine facies. Late postrift environments featured by large lakes in the basin centre rimmed by delta, fluvial and floodplain environments. Reflection seismic profiles show that strong structural inversion, including folding and uplift, began at the end of the Nenjiang Formation and culminated at the end of the Cretaceous. The main compressional stress field changed from NW to NWW at the end of the Cretaceous, which caused changes in the direction of folding. During the rifting stage, several sets of gas‐bearing reservoirs formed in association with coal‐bearing source rocks in fluvial and deltaic strata with reservoir‐quality volcanics and fluvial and fan‐delta sandstone. Thick, widespread mudstone deposited in deep lakes during the postrift stage contains abundant organic matter, and is an important source rock and regional cap rock. Good reservoirs occur in deltaic and fluvial strata. Because of the episodic compressional events that alternately caused subsidence and uplift, reservoirs are sandwiched between source rocks, providing direct fluid communication from source to reservoir.
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Lacustrine turbidite channels and fans in the Mesozoic Songliao Basin, China
Authors Feng Zhi‐qiang, Zhang Shun, Timothy A. Cross, Feng Zi‐hui, Xie Xi‐nong, Zhao Bo, Fu Xiu‐li and Wang Cheng‐shanABSTRACTThe Songliao Basin is a large Mesozoic nonmarine petroliferous basin in northeastern China. Based on an analysis of high‐resolution three‐dimensional seismic data, a large‐scale lacustrine turbidite channel and fan system is identified within the lacustrine mudstone of the Nenjiang Formation in the central depression. The system was fed by a delta complex and extends to the south along the Daqing anticline. This system is composed of three trunk channels and four tributary channels, with a maximum length of about 71 km. Changes in channel patterns, specifically bifurcations and terminations into fans, are associated with gradient changes along the palaeoslope, which vary from 0.13 to 0.02°. Interpretation of geophysical well logs and core indicate that channel sand bodies are oil charged. The widest channel sandstone body is about 600 m with an average around 300 m, and the maximum thickness of sandstone is more than 6 m with an average of about 3 m. The sandstone bodies of the turbidite system, which are encased within organic‐rich source rocks, provide a new target for hydrocarbon exploration and development.
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Shallow‐lacustrine sand‐rich deltaic depositional cycles and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China
Authors Zou Caineng, Zhang Xingyang, Luo Ping, Wang Lan, Luo Zhong and Liu LiuhongABSTRACTShallow‐lacustrine delta deposits of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation form the most important petroleum reservoir sandstone units in the Ordos Basin, China. Recent hydrocarbon exploration and outcrop studies demonstrated that shallow‐lacustrine sand‐rich deltas developed extensively along the gentle flanks and central part of the basin. The vertical succession of facies indicates that the Yanchang Formation records the entire lacustrine life cycle of the Late Triassic Ordos Basin. Four third‐order transgressive–regressive cycles and two larger shallow‐lacustrine deltaic cycles have been recognized. A process‐based depositional model, derived in part from the modern Ganjiang delta in Poyang Lake, China, is used to infer the origins of the sand‐rich lacustrine delta deposits. Slow basin subsidence, abundant sediment supply, autocyclic processes and a hydrologically open (overfilled) lake setting were the four main controls on the development of basin‐wide sand‐rich deltaic sequences. Recognition that inter‐connected delta‐plain sand bodies lying above the lower sequence boundary of the Yanchang Formation act as important migration pathways for oil, gas and other basin fluids, aids in exploration for stratigraphic and diagenetic traps in the delta plain area.
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Detrital zircon geochronology and its provenance implications: responses to Jurassic through Neogene basin‐range interactions along northern margin of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China
Authors Zhong Li and Shoutao PengABSTRACTPreviously published research from the Kuqa Subbasin along northern margin of the Tarim Basin shows five tectonic‐depositional phases from Triassic to Neogene time. In order to reveal additional detailed information on the nature of provenance terrains and tectonic attributes since late Mesozoic time, five typical sandstone samples from Jurassic–Neogene strata were collected for U–Pb dating of detrital zircons. Geochronological constitution of detrital zircons of the Middle Jurassic sample is essentially unimodal and indicates major contributions from the South Tian Shan even Yili–Central Tian Shan, wherein most 370–450 Ma zircons probably resulted from tectonic accretion events between the Yili–Central Tian Shan block and South Tian Shan Ocean during Silurian and Devonian time, with sandstone provenance tectonic attributes of passive continental margin. The Lower Cretaceous sample shows a complicated provenance detrital zircon signature, with new peak ages of 290–330 Ma as well as 370(or 350)–450 Ma showing evident arc orogenic provenance tectonic attribute, probably reflecting a new provenance supply that resulted from denudation process whthin the South Tian Shan and South Tian Shan suture. There are no obvious changes within age probability spectra of detrital zircons between the Cretaceous and early Paleogene samples, which suggests that similar provenance types and basin‐range framework continued from Cretaceous to Early Paleogene time. However, unlike the Cretaceous and early Paleogene samples, an age spectra of the Miocene sample is relatively unimodal and similar to that of the Pliocene sample, with peak ages ranging between ∼392 and ∼458 Ma older than the comparable provenance ages (peak ages about 370–450 Ma) of the Middle Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous samples. Therefore, we conclude that the South Tian Shan was rapidly exhumated and the southern South Tian Shan had become the main source of clastics for the Kuqa Subbasin since the Miocene epoch.
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Volume 36 (2024)
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