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Evolution of deepwater sedimentary environments and its implication for hydrocarbon exploration in Qiongdongnan Basin, northwestern South China Sea

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Abstract

Over the past several years, a number of hydrocarbon reservoirs have been discovered in the deepwater area of Qiongdongnan Basin, northwestern South China Sea. These oil/gas fields demonstrate that the evolution of the deepwater sedimentary environment are controlling the formation and distribution of large-scale clastic reservoirs. Integration between seismic and borehole data were necessary to best clarify the distribution and quality of these deepwater reservoirs. Geochemical and paleobiological evidence from discrete samples was also applied to document specific information regarding the sedimentary environment. Results show that the Qiongdongnan Basin has existed as a thriving marine environment since Oligocene, when several rifting depressions developed throughout the entire Qiongdongnan Basin. Triggered by the faults activities, several distinct provenances supplied the coarse sediments, transporting and depositing them in deep parts of the rifting depressions. A fan delta system then formed nearby the source in the deeper area of these rifting depressions. The sedimentary environment of Qiongdongnan gradiationally became deepwater since early Miocene. Consequently, abundances of sediments were transported from Hainan Island and Southern Uplift, and then sunk into the basin center. The submarine fans revealed by many boreholes in this area verified them as good reservoir. Because the area reached its lowest sea level at late Miocene and the Southern Uplift subsidenced under sea level, not providing any sediment, so that the carbonate mesa and biorhythms characteristic of this area also developed during this period. In the west part of Qiongdongnan Basin, sediments transported from Vietnam increased in response to the Tibetan Uplift. Consequently, a central canyon developed along the center of Qiongdongnan Basin, which has been confirmed by several boreholes as a favorable hydrocarbon reservoir. The clarification of the deepwater sedimentary environment’s evolution is potentially highly beneficial to future hydrocarbon exploration in the deepwater area of Qiongdongnan Basin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhanjiang Branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Limited, Zhanjiang, 524057, China

    Zhenfeng Wang, Daojun Zhang, Yahui Wang, Qianmei Zuo & Weijun He

  2. Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources of Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Tao Jiang

  3. Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kochi, 783-8502, Japan

    Tao Jiang

Authors
  1. Zhenfeng Wang
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  2. Tao Jiang
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  3. Daojun Zhang
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  4. Yahui Wang
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  5. Qianmei Zuo
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  6. Weijun He
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Correspondence to Tao Jiang.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Science and Technology Major Project of China under contract No. 2011ZX05025-002-02; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41476032 and 41372112.

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Wang, Z., Jiang, T., Zhang, D. et al. Evolution of deepwater sedimentary environments and its implication for hydrocarbon exploration in Qiongdongnan Basin, northwestern South China Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 34, 1–10 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0645-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0645-4

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