Three-dimensional analyses of syndepositional faults and synkinematic sediments, Niger Delta, Nigeria

关于同沉积三角洲断裂和断控三角洲沉积认识的几个重要问题尚未完全理解，包括：1)对三角洲断裂的形成、维持和放弃的解释；2)研究了大型三角洲同沉积断裂（生长断裂）时空变化的控制机制，主要表现为断层随时间向上盘地形扩展或三角洲断裂向下盘区域后退；3)圈定了控制三角洲断裂再活化的参数。本研究通过对尼日尔三角洲近海浅水地区（3D地震区块，129口井）的大规模、最先进的工业数据集进行详细的构造和地震地层学分析，解决了上述问题，该数据集将为与生长结构成像相关的运动历史的增量定量恢复奠定基础，同时详细地开发地下地层学。这种构造学和沉积学相结合的尼日尔三角洲研究方法的结果有望包括：1)为大型三角洲生长断层的“生命周期”提供普遍适用的定量端元模型；2)描述和量化相关的生长地层；3)增加对同沉积断裂对三角洲沉积的影响（或依赖？）的基本理解。

Several important issues concerning the understanding of synsedimentary deltaic faulting and fault-controlled deltaic sedimentation are yet not fully understood, including 1) the explanation of the initiation, maintenance, and abandonment of deltaic faults, 2) the controlling mechanisms for the often diverse spatial and temporal development of synsedimentary faults (growth faults) in large deltas that is characterized either by fault propagation through time into hanging-wall terrain or by the backstepping of deltaic faults into footwall areas, and 3) the delineation of the parameters controlling the reactivation of deltaic faults. This study tackles the above issues by applying a detailed tectonic and seismicstratigraphic analysis to a large-scale, state-of-the-art industry dataset of the shallow-water offshore Niger Delta (3D seismic block, 129 wells) that will form the base for an incremental, quantitative restoration of the movement history associated with growth structures imaging at the same time the development of the subsurface stratigraphy in great detail. The results of this combined tectonic and sedimentological Niger-Delta research approach are expected to 1) comprise generally applicable, quantitative end-member models for the “life-cycle” of growth faults in large deltas, 2) describe and quantify the associated growth stratigraphy, and 3) increase the fundamental understanding of the influence (or dependence?) of synsedimentary faulting on delta sedimentation.