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Formation of Gas Accumulation on the East African Continental Margins

  • MARINE GEOLOGY
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Abstract

At present, the continental margin of the Southeast Africa is being actively prospected. However, unlike the continental margins of West Africa, where along its entire extent, mainly liquid hydrocarbons have been discovered, in the studied region, on the whole, only gas accumulations are known. The reason is most likely formation of the Karoo Complex, dated at the Early Permian, which is widespread in the East African basins. Enormous coal reserves are hosted in the section of the Karoo Formation in different basins (Karoo Basin, SAR). The Karoo Complex stretches from southwest to northeast and little by little decreases not only in thickness, but in the content of its coal reserves. The regions where the complex decreases in northeastern Southeast Africa, oil accumulations have appeared, such as in the Lamu Basin (Kenia), Somali, etc. Large gas reserves have been discovered on the continental margin of the Southeast Africa in the Rovuma Basin, northern Mozambique, and southern Tanzania. This basin is the nearest neighbor of the Karoo Basin. Today Mozambique is becoming a gas state in the Indian Ocean.

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Correspondence to A. Zabanbark, A. I. Konyuhov or L. I. Lobkovsky.

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Zabanbark, A., Konyuhov, A.I. & Lobkovsky, L.I. Formation of Gas Accumulation on the East African Continental Margins. Oceanology 63, 413–418 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023030153

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023030153

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