Permo-Triassic Evaporites of Southeastern Europe-a new context for hydrocarbon prospectivty

Permo-Triassic evaporites in southeastern Europe are usually treated as a neglected child of regional geology. Sometimes they are only briefly mentioned as a possible decollement of the complex tectonics of this area, but rarely as a basinal product worth of primary interest as a distinctive petroleum system. With the advent of a new seismic processing techniques, the key regional lines were recently reprocessed using the wave equation layer replacement method. Not only were seismic images significantly improved, but a new model of the Permo-Triassic evaporite deposition was also defined, pointing to a basin-central evaporite model type of deposition. A regional geophysical analysis of the central and northeastern part of the Adriatic Basin has been integrated with an evaluation of the seismo-stratigraphy of the Permo-Triassic evaporites to provide a geological framework for the basin setting definition. In addition, this study recognizes that the marginal evaporitic units record Permo-Triassic salt tectonics which is characterized by reverse faults associated with the regional salt ridges. This new tectonic model proposed here for the northeastern edges of the Permo-Triassic evaporites of the Adriatic Basin, as an alternative to thrust faults previously suggested, has important implications for hydrocarbon migration and trapping. The study suggestes that the salt repositining and tectonic evolution of the salt basin margin during the Tertiary have the key implications for hydrocarbon prospectivity. At this stage of study the size of the northwestern part of the Permo-Triassic Basin extends across 300x600 km. However, if the circum-Ionian region (Albania and Greece) is included, the size of the basin could be easily twice as large. For the future petroleum exploration of such an enormous and complex basin the prime issue will be the application of innovative seismic tools and further refinement of evaporite stratigraphy.