Petroleum Exploration and Development (Dec 2022)
Geological structure and dynamic mechanism of the Termit rift basin in West African rift system
Abstract
Based on seismic and drilling data in the study area, the geological structure and kinematic process of the Termit rift basin were studied using seismic profile interpretation and balanced restoration to find out the dynamic mechanism of the basin. (1) The geological structure of the Termit Basin is represented as a narrow rift basin, with development of series of structural styles in extensional, extensional strike-slip and compressional stress setting. On plane, it is narrow in the north and wide in the south, and transitions from graben to half-graben from north to south; it features a graben controlled by the boundary faults in the north and a fault-overlapped half-graben in the south. (2) Before the Cretaceous, a series of hidden faults developed in the West African rift system, which laid the foundation for the development location and distribution direction of the Termit Basin; during the Cretaceous to Paleogene periods, the basin experienced two phases of rifting in Early Cretaceous and Paleogene, which controlled the initial structure and current structural shape of the basin respectively; during the Neogene to Quaternary, the basin was subjected to weak transformation. (3) In the Precambrian, the Pan-African movement gave rise to a narrow and long weak zone within the African plate, which provided the pre-existing structural conditions for the formation of the Termit Basin. In the Early Cretaceous, affected by the South Atlantic rifting, the Pan African weak zone was reactivated, resulting in the first stage of rifting and the basic structural framework of the Termit Basin. In the Paleogene, affected by the subduction and convergence of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, the African-Arabian plate extended in near E-W trending, and the Termit Basin experienced the second stage of rifting. The oblique extension in this period caused intense structural differentiation, and the current structural pattern of alternate uplifts and depressions took shape gradually.
