Browsing by Subject "Taranaki Basin"
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Item Distribution and development of Middle Miocene submarine fans, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand(2011-08) Mohammed, Renas Ismael; Fisher, W. L. (William Lawrence), 1932-; Steel, Ronald J.; Horton, Brian K.The Taranaki Basin was formed as a consequence of multiple geologic events. From the Cretaceous period until present, it went through rifted margin, passive margin, foreland basin, and back-arc phases. A dominantly sandy unit, the Moki Formation, was deposited during the Middle Miocene within the Taranaki Basin offshore the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The study area covers about 1600 km2 of the southern part of the north Taranaki graben, an area covered by a 3D seismic volume. The Moki Formation is interpreted as a basin floor fan deposit that accumulated during basinward migration of the shelf edge with supplied sediments sourced from the SSE. Seismic profiles revealed that the mound-shape reflectors of Moki fan deposits situated between continuous reflectors of underlying Oligocene carbonates and hemipelagic muds of the overlying Manganui Formation. The reflections of the Moki sandy fan deposits locally grade laterally into interlobal deposits of hemipelagic muds. Correlation between wells Witiora-1, Taimana-1, and Arawa-1 verified the seismic interpretation, which shows an overall thickness variation of fan deposits that range from a greater thickness in the middle part of the sand lobe accumulation towards diminished thicknesses on the flanks. Gamma ray facies show clear progradation then aggradation motif that confirm the results from the seismic analyses. Depending on seismic attribute maps, paleochannels associated with the sand bodies sharing a SE to NW flow direction can be distinguished. Due to the volcanic activity in the eastern mobile belt, no paleochannels or significant stratigraphic features were recognized within the studied interval of the seismic data. Generally, in the study area, the fan deposits represent sand rich deposits that developed and prograded from south to north with variations in lateral extent driven by three major shifts in sediment pathways as the feeder channel orientations changed.Item The impact of shelf margin geometry and tectonics on shelf-to-sink sediment dynamics and resultant basin fill architectures(2014-05) Salazar, Migdalys Beatriz; Wood, Lesli J.This dissertation focuses on understanding the relative importance of external (eustacy) versus local tectonic and sedimentary processes in controlling continental-margin depositional architectures and their implications for sediment distribution. The emphasis of this study is the interpretation of clinoform geometries and stratigraphic relationships observed on 3D and 2D seismic reflection data in the Taranaki Basin, which is characterized by a variety of clinoform architectures on its Pliocene-Recent margin (Giant Foresets Formation). I combined seismic stratigraphic interpretations and biostratigraphic studies using a dataset that consists of 1,700 km2 of 3D seismic lines, 4,000 km of 2D regional seismic lines, and data from six wells. The study was divided into three sections. First, three major stages of clinoform evolution were identified based on their architectural and geomorphological characteristics. Isochron maps were generated to identify correlations between stratigraphy and paleostructures, and seismic attribute maps were elaborated to identify and characterize geological features and depositional elements. In the second phase of the study, 2D stratigraphic forward modeling techniques were applied in an effort to quantitatively determine the relative importance of the mechanisms acting in the basin (eustacy, tectonism and sediment supply). Finally, a similar approach was applied using clinoform morphologies in the eastern Trinidad margin where the tectonic configuration of the basin was completely different to the one in the Taranaki Basin. The objective was to compare the results in a region with different a tectonic setting to validate the applicability of the methodology in other basins worldwide. The results of this research indicate that the methodology that was developed for the quantitative analysis of clinoform architectures in the Taranaki Basin is applicable to other basins worldwide and that the work flow provides a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence continental margin development. Generic observations of this research showed that (1) underlying structures in the shelf and slope area can play an important role in influencing the location and morphology of the shelf edge area and controlling sediment distribution; (2) high sediment supply, along with accommodation, play a key role in the construction of high-relief clinoforms and earlier dispersal of sediments into deep water; and (3) lateral variations associated with high sediment discharge sources (e.g. paleo Orinoco shelf-edge delta) can generate important changes in continental-scale clinoform architectures alongstrike in continental margins influence sediment distribution patterns in the deep-water component of the basin.