A field trip focusing on Cretaceous rudist-bearing carbonates, which represent important reservoirs worldwide, from the Middle East through the Mediterranean and North Africa, to the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Day 1 - Introduction to the field-trip.

Day 2 - Lower Cretaceous. Internal organization and margin geometries of the Barremian-Lower Aptian rudist-bearing unit, discussing the architecture of the depositional system. Stratal patterns and geometries of well preserved shelf bank deposits composed by aragonite shelled rudists.

Day 3 - Mid Cretaceous. Features of the Upper Aptian-Cenomanian rudist-bearing unit. Seismic to sub-seismic scale geometries of the margin-to-basin transition and of the Mid-Cretaceous rudist shelf system, visiting the two different types of high energy facies.

Day 4 - Upper Cretaceous. Ramp geometries of the Turonian-Maastrichtian rudist-bearing units. The recovery of the carbonate deposition after a long-term emersion of the top of the platform, with hiatus and karst and bauxite soils. Different scales of the typical depositional dynamics of carbonate ramps: large shifting of facies belts forming progradational and retrogradational stratal patterns, punctuated by drowning unconformities and hardgrounds

Day 5 - Conclusions. Lecture and recall of the issues raised during the field trip

A field trip focusing on the application of seismic and sequence stratigraphy principles to carbonate systems. A geological and geophysical database will be used to illustrate and discuss principles of sequence stratigraphy and their application to real-world examples.

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Day 1 - Introduction to the field-trip.

Day 2 Sequence stratigraphy in the inner platform setting

Objectives:

 Sequence Stratigraphy: TR Cycle boundaries, Transgressive Phase, Peak Transgression.

• Depositional setting: inner to open platform, karst.

 Key Points:

• Regional context of the Parnassus Platform.

• TR Cycle boundaries in the inner platform setting

• Inner platform facies

• Platform emersion and bauxites

• Recovery of the shallow water deposits and drowning succession

Day 3 - Sequence stratigraphy in the platform margin setting

Objectives:

• Depositional setting: platform margin, open shelf.

• Sequence Stratigraphy: TR Cycle boundaries, transgressive phase, regressive phase.

 Key Points:

• Sequence boundaries in platform margin facies.

• Facies distribution and heterogeneities at the reservoir scale.

• Different types of margins along the same shelf.

• Platformward and basinward progradation of rudist-bearing sand apron.

Day 4 - Depositional architectures, geometries and sequence stratigraphy in the platform margin to basin transition.

Objectives:

• Regional Geology: initiation, evolution and demise of the Parnassus Platform.

• Depositional setting: platform margin to basin transition.

• Sequence Stratigraphy: seismic scale signature of Transgressive and Regressive Phases and their key surfaces.

KeyPoints:

• Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous TR Cycles.

• Large-scale geometries of prograding and backstepping architectures

• Basinal expression of sequence stratigraphic key surfaces

• Platform drowning.

Day 5 - Lecture and recall of the issues raised during the field trip

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Amazing outcrops associated with the petroleum system elements in the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea. A rich and diversified documentation from published subsurface data is provided, in order to give insight on hydrocarbon discoveries and producing fields associated with topics observed on outcrops.

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Day 1 – Introduction to the field-trip.

Day 2 - Depositional architecture and potential petroleum system elements of the inner platform setting
Objectives:

• Mesozoic Carbonates equivalent to the (Sub-) thrusted oil-bearing Mesozoic Carbonates offshore

• Reservoir rocks – Cretaceous rudist bearing facies

• Source Rocks – Cretaceous shales & marls

Key Points:

• Depositional architecture of Lower to Upper Cretaceous shallow water limestones of the Apenninic Platform

• Miocene unconformity

• Internal characteristics and heterogeneities of Rudist-bearing facies and comparison with the reservoirs of the Val d’Agri fields

• Organic rich deposits formed on shallow intra-platform basins

Day 3 – Petroleum system elements associated with the syn- and pre-orogenic evolution of the Central Apennines
Objectives:

• Mesozoic Carbonates equivalent to the (Sub-) thrusted oil-bearing Mesozoic Carbonates offshore

• Source Rock; Triassic shales

• Tectonic inversion structures within thrust belts

Key Points:

• The Gran Sasso shortcut structure.

• Depositional characteristics of the slope succession of the Apenninic Platform.

• Facies and sedimentological characteristics of Triassic bituminous shales of the Camicia Mt. euxinic basin and comparison with the Triassic-Liassic source rocks of the Adriatic

Day 4 – Petroleum system elements associated with the deformed internal portion of the Apulia Platform
Objectives:

• Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonates equivalent to the (Sub-) thrusted oil-bearing Carbonates offshore

• Cretaceous escarpment bounded platform margin and base-of slope deposits;

• Oil–bearing reservoir in Oligo-Miocene carbonate ramp;

• Transition from carbonates to clastic succession;

• Tectonic inversion structures within thrust belts.

Key Points:

• Depositional evolution of a carbonate platform margin, from erosional to prograding.

• Hydrocarbon impregnation related to different porosity types (fractures and biocalcarenites)

Day 5 - Lecture and recall of the issues raised during the field trip