Abstract
Mapping based on the interpreted seismic data covering the Abu Gharadig Basin in the northern Western Desert has revealed that the deposition of the Upper Cretaceous succession was controlled by dextral wrench tectonics. This dextral shear accompanied NW movement of the African Plate relative to Laurasian Plate. Structural depth maps of the Cenomanian Bahariya Formation and the Turonian-Coniacian D and A members of Abu Roash Formation display a clear NE-SW anticline dissected by NW-SE normal faults. This anticline represents one of the en echelon folds characterizing the wrench compressional component. The interpreted normal faults reflect the extensional T-fractures associated with the wrenching tectonics. The interaction between the aforementioned NE-SW anticline with the NW-SE extensional faults further confirms the effect of the Upper Cretaceous dextral wrench tectonic. However, the influence of this wrench tectonics was gradually diminishing from the Cenomanian up to the Coniacian times. The NW-SE compressional stress of the dextral wrench compressional component during the Cenomanian up to Coniacian age was greater in NW direction than the SE direction. Three mapped structural closures which are predicted to be potential hydrocarbon traps belonging to the Bahariya Formation and Abu Roash D Member, and are recommended to be drilled in the study area, with potential reservoirs. The regularity of the en echelon array of both anticlines and normal faults within the wrench zones suggests additional closures may be located elsewhere beside the study area.
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Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to The Khalda Petroleum Company and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) for providing the data presented in this article. The author is grateful to Dr. Ahmad Shalaby, lecturer in Geology Department, Faculty of Science at Mansoura University, for the fruitful discussion during the preparing the manuscript of this work. Many thanks for Prof. Dr. Farouk M. El-Fawal, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science at Port-Said University, Egypt, for his critical review and valuable comments on the initial manuscript. The manuscript is also benefited from the English editing of Dr. Richard Collier, Senior Lecturer of Tectonic and Sedimentation, School of Earth and Environment, Faculty of Environment at Leeds University, UK.
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Sarhan, M.A. Wrench tectonics of Abu Gharadig Basin, Western Desert, Egypt: a structural analysis for hydrocarbon prospects. Arab J Geosci 10, 399 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3176-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3176-9