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Stratigraphic distribution and structural characteristics of the Meso-Neoproterozoic in southern Ordos Basin, China

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Abstract

With the successive discovery of large-scale Proterozoic gas reservoirs worldwide, ultra-deep Proterozoic strata have gradually become a new field of interest with great potential for gas reservoir exploration. The Ordos Basin in China has rich Proterozoic stratigraphic deposits and high gas reservoir exploration potential, but it has not been sufficiently explored. The lack of geological data has become a key shortcoming limiting its in-depth study. This study aimed to clarify the division and evidence of Meso-Neoproterozoic strata in the southern part the Ordos Basin, and clarify the stratum distribution and tectonic evolution process, which need to be prioritized before exploration. To this end, the multi-data joint research method of lithology-drilling-field outcrop-seismic data was used. The results showed that Sinian tillite, Jixianian dolomite, and Changchengian quartz sandstone developed in the Meso-Neoproterozoic strata from top to bottom. Seismic reflections from the bottoms of the Sinian and Jixianian showed weak-amplitude and medium-strong amplitude, respectively. The Changchengian strata can be divided into depression and rift layers. The rift layer presents a high-angle medium-strong amplitude reflection, and the depression layer presents a continuous medium-weak amplitude reflection. In the study area, during the early basin rift of the Changchengian, the NE-trending fault trough was filled with deposits, and the late rifting activities stopped, forming widespread depression deposits, with an angular unconformity contact between them. During the Jixian Period, the southwest continued to be depressed, and during the Sinian, the main body of the basin was uplifted, and the southwest margin was partially depressed. The strata were widely absent in the study area, and showed an “L”-shaped distribution only in the southwest margin of the study area. The depositional range is the largest in the Changchengian, followed by the Jixian, and the smallest in the Sinian. The thickness of the strata gradually thinned to the northeast. The Proterozoic strata in the Qyang paleo-uplift are covered by multiple sets of high-quality Paleozoic source rocks, and the generated oil and gas accumulate along the strata to the paleo-uplift, corresponding to an accumulation model of “multiple sources converge, and paleo-uplifts form reservoirs”. This study compensates for the lack of basic research on the Meso-Neoproterozoic strata division in the Ordos Basin, and more accurately determines the distribution pattern of the strata in the basin, which are highly relevant for the Ordos Basin and other Meso-Neoproterozoic gas reservoirs. The exploration has important reference significance.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Gang Chen, upon reasonable request.

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Li, X., Chen, G., Zhang, F. et al. Stratigraphic distribution and structural characteristics of the Meso-Neoproterozoic in southern Ordos Basin, China. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 112, 1853–1869 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-023-02322-5

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