The Sierra Leone-Liberia Emerging Deepwater Province* Joan F. Flinch 1, José L. Huedo 1, Hernán Verzi 1, Héctor González 1, Ricardo Gerster 1, Abdul K. Mansaray 1, L. P. Painuly 1, Leticia Rodriguez-Blanco 1, Adela Herra 1, Ignacio Brisson 2, and Jean Gerard 2 Search and Discovery Article #10224 (2009) Posted December 23, 2009 *Adapted from oral presentation at AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 7-10, 2009 1 West Africa Exploration, Repsol, Madrid, Spain (jfflinch@repsolypf.com) 2 Geological Disciplines, Repsol, Madrid, Spain Abstract The offshore West African margin located between Guinea Conakry and Ivory Coast is a frontier area. The neighboring offshore regions of Sierra Leone and Liberia have had only a few exploration wells drilled on the continental shelf. Exploration focused on the classical Aptian-Albian tilted block play that produces in the Baobab, Espoir, Lion, and Tano fields of Ghana and Ivory Coast. The deep-water areas of this steep morphological margin are undrilled, and the details of its history remain largely unknown. The main play in the slope is Upper Cretaceous turbidites, consisting primarily of amalgamated channel-levee complexes, pinching-out towards the steep continental slope in stratigraphic traps. Post-rift Albian and Cenomanian-Turonian shales constitute the main potential source rocks of the deep-water part of the margin. The structure of the margin is the result of Early Cretaceous low-angle extensional tectonics, and gravitational extension and related toe-thrusting associated with Late Cretaceous to Tertiary uplift on the shelf. Petroleum systems modeling of this margin is a major challenge due to many unknowns, including: (1) the complex structural evolution related to the role of transform and extensional faults during the Tertiary, (2) the location of the continent-ocean boundary and its implications for heat-flow through time, and (3) the dating of the deep-water stratigraphy section due to the lack of deep-water wells. Copyright AAPG. Serial rights given by author. For all other rights contact author directly.
References Grillot, L.R., P.W. Anderton, T.M. Haselton, and J.F. Dermargne, 1999, Case History 2: Three-dimensional seismic interpretation: Espoir Field area, Offshore Ivory Coast, in AAPG Memoir 42 and SEG Investigations in Geophysics, no. 9 (sixth edition), p. 326-329. MacGregor, D.S., J. Robinson, and G. Spear, 2003, Play fairways of the Gulf of Guinea transform margin, in T.J. Arthur, D.S. MacGregor, and N.R. Cameron, eds., Petroleum geology of Africa New themes and developing technologies: Geological Society, London, Special Publication 207, p. 131-150. McKenzie, D., 1978, Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 40, p. 25 32. Waples, D.W., 2002, A new model for heat flow in extensional basins: Estimating radiogenic heat production: Natural Resources Research, v. 11, no. 2, p. 125-133.
Emerging Global Deepwater Plays AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition Colorado Convention Center Denver, Colorado USA The Sierra Leone - Liberia Emerging Deep-Water Province J. F. Flinch, J. L. Huedo, H. Verzi, H. González, R. Gerster, A. K. Mansaray, P. Painuly, L. Rodriguez- Blanco and A. Herra. West Africa Exploration Team and I. Brisson and J. Gerard, Geology Department. Repsol Exploración S. A. Madrid, Spain. 1
Emerging Global Deep-Water Plays 2
Emerging Worldwide Deep-Water Plays Pre-Salt Play Sub-Salt Play Supra - Salt Mini - Basins Allochthonuos Salt Autochthonuos Salt Post - Salt Pre - Salt Pre - Salt Post - Salt Salt Sag deposis Synrift Salt Sag deposis Synrift Supra - Salt Supra - Salt Salt Sub - Salt Salt Sub - Salt Folded Belt Play Stratigraphic Pinch-out Play 10.3 9.1 10.3 9.1 9.26 10.3 9.1 9.2 6 13.6 1 0.3 23.8 10.3 1 3.6 2 3.8 2 3.8 2 3.8 9.26 10.3 23.8 D e e p R e fle c 3
The Classical versus the Emerging Deep-Water Play Along the West Africa Transform Margin 4
Transform Tectonics along the South-Central Atlantic 1000 Km 5
West Africa Transform Margin Classical Play Espoir Field (Ivory Coast) B N-S Seismic cross-section through East Espoir B A1-X B B Structural Map Espoir Field 1 Oligocene Unconformity TWT (sec) 2 Lower Senonian Unconformity Albian Unconformity 3 Grillot et al, 1999 6
The West Africa Transform Margin Emerging Play With Permission of The Geological Society of London MacGregor et al. 2003 7
The Classical versus the Emerging Play Classical Play : Aptian-Albian tilted blocks. Emerging Play: Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic pinch-outs Odum 2008 Post. Rift MCU Tweneboa Sin Rift Jubilee 2007 2009 Lion Espoir Baobab 1980 2001 Pre Rift Neogene Paleogene Campanian-Maastrichtian Cenomanian-Turonian Albian Aptian MCU : Mid Cretaceous Unconformity 8
The Sierra Leone Liberia Segment of the West Africa Transform Margin 9
The Sierra Leone Liberia Segment of the Margin 1000 Km Free Air Gravity 10
Geologic Map of Sierra Leone & Liberia Rokelide Belt Liberian-Leonian Craton 11
Regional Section : West African Craton to Central Atlantic Ocean SSW Passive Margin Section Rockelide Folded Belt NNE Panafrican 0 Km 5 10 MOHO Pliocene - Pleistocene Miocene Oligocene LEGEND Paleocene - Eocene Pliocene - Pleistocene Basement/Continental Crust Precambrian/Paleozoic SDR Oceanic Crust Cambrian G t Blt Basement/Continental Crust Precambrian/Paleozoic 0 40 km Miocene Oligocene SDR Oceanic Crust Next Slide Paleocene - Eocene Upper Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous Jurassic Cambrian Greenstone Belt Precambrian Granited Precambrian 12
Sierra Leone-Liberia Passive Margin Section SW NE 0 Km 5 10 MOHO Pliocene - Pleistocene Basement/Continental Crust Miocene SDR Oligocene Pliocene - Pleistocene Miocene Oligocene Paleocene - Eocene Upper Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous Jurassic Oceanic Crust Basement/Continental Crust SDR Oceanic Crust 10 Km 0 10 Km Paleocene - Eocene Upper Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous Jurassic 13
Sierra Leone-Liberia Chrono-Stratigraphic Sketch SE NW Oceanic Crust SDRs 190 Ma 14
2D Sections Location Map Rokelide Belt D C Liberian-Leonian Craton B A 15
Line-Drawing Section A 0 1 Pliocene - Pleistocene Miocene Oligocene TWT (sec) 2 3 Paleocene - Eocene Upper Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous 4 5 6 10 Km 16
Line-Drawing Section B 0 1 2 TWT (sec) 3 4 5 6 10 Km 17
Line-Drawing Section C 0 1 2 TWT (sec) 3 4 5 6 7 10 Km SDRs 18
Line-Drawing Section D 0 1 2 TWT (sec) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Km 19
Structural Evolution of the Sierra Leone Liberia Margin Jurassic Mantle Plume / Strong Thinning CAMP event Basalts Gabbros Panafrican Suture Aptian-Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Rifting / Low-angle Extension SDRs Low-Angle Detachment Upper Cretaceous Transform Fault Activity Differential Uplift SDRs Transform Faults Paleogene-Neogene Transform Faults SDRs 20
Petroleum System Elements of the Emerging Deep-Water Play 21
Thermal History Hypothesis + - Thermal doming Delamination Rift Neocomian rift: Gentle cooling from a short maximum heat flow after rifting end. (based on McKenzie, 1978) No satisfactory calibration Late Jurassic thermal doming + Aptian crustal delamination: Long high heat flow plateau, maximum at rifting followed by abrupt drop due to strong reduction in crustal radiogenic contribution. (based on Waples, 2002) Preferred thermal history, good calibrations 22
Main Deep-Water Reservoirs Drowned Deltaic Systems Canyon Fills Channel-Levee Complexes ( Slope-Fans ) Basin Floor Fans 23
Distribution of Deep-Water Reservoirs Canyon Fills Drowned Deltaic Systems Continental Slope Channel-Levee Complexes ( Slope-Fans ) Basin Floor Fans Basin Floor 24
Petroleum System Elements of the Pinch-out Play Source Rock: It can be located laterally or below the reservoir in a Basinal position. Mostly Cenomanian-Turonianshale encountered by DSDP wells. Timing-Migration: Positive for Cretaceous - Early Tertiary age Reservoir(s) that were deposited before Generation and Migration took place. Trap: Stratigraphic, Deep-water beds onlap unconformity, Tilted toplap surface, truncation below unconformity. Channel-fill features. Seal: Top- or lateral-seal flooding surfaces. Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene deep-water shale. Reservoir Presence: Turbidites and drowned deltaic systems of mostly Late Cretaceous Age. 25
Conclusions The Sierra Leone-Liberia Margin represents an example of deep-water stratigraphic pinch-out play, which constitutes an Emerging Deep-water Play along the West Africa Transform Margin. Main reservoirs of the Deep-water System include Canyon Fills, Drowned Deltaic systems, Slope and Basin Floor Fans. Key risks of the Petroleum System are the Lateral and Top Seals. Angular unconformities, associated with continuous uplift -- with sea level changes (Tectonically Enhanced Sequence Boundaries), control the geometry of these traps. Structural Evolution, including Jurassic Crustal Thinning or Mantle Plume followed by Rifting & Low-angle Extension during Aptian time, affect the thermal evolution and therefore the maturity of the expected Source Rocks. 26