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Geoscience ›› 2021, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (06): 1818-1829.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2021.191

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Structural Detachment Layer Distribution Variation and Trap Controls Along Foreland Thrust Belts in Northern and Southern Tianshan

HOU Xiaoxiao1,2(), NENG Yuan3(), QI Jiafu1, LI Kuayue2, HU Jianning2, FU Yonghong2, LI Yuan3, GUO Man3   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
    2. College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
    3. China University of Petroleum (Beijing) at Karamay, Karamay,Xinjiang 834000, China
  • Received:2021-05-10 Revised:2021-06-20 Online:2021-12-10 Published:2022-02-14
  • Contact: NENG Yuan

Abstract:

The foreland thrust belts in northern and southern Tianshan have strong differential deformation characteristics. The detachment layer variations have great influence on the oil-gas trapping patterns in these belts, and are thus important for oil and gas exploration in both northern and southern Tianshan. Based on seismic data interpretation, fault distance measurement, shortening statistics, and balanced section restoration, we conclude that: (1) properties of the detachment layer in the foreland thrust belts in northern and southern Tianshan are different. The Paleogene gypsum-halite constitutes the detachment layer in the Kuqa foreland thrust belt, and the layered deformation characteristics are significant. Deep faults in the foreland thrust belt on the southern margin of Junggar Basin mostly crosscut the detachment layers with poor stratification; (2) Difference of Cenozoic deformation in the foreland thrust belts in northern and southern Tianshan, with the average shortening rate of 12.1% and 9.93% in the foreland thrust belts at Kuqa and on the southern margin of Junggar Basin, respectively, showing that the deformation intensity of the former was higher; (3) Affected by the detachment layer variations, the average distance between the upper and lower detachment layers of the foreland thrust belts at Kuqa is larger than that of on the southern margin of Junggar Basin. Shortening of the Kuqa foreland thrust belt shows a complex multiple-peak pattern, which is absent for the foreland thrust belt on the southern margin of Junggar Basin. This indicates that the plasticity and delamination ability of foreland thrust belt detachment layers at Kuqa are stronger than that on the southern margin of Junggar Basin; (4) Based on the different fault activity and detachment layers in the northern and southern Tianshan foreland thrust belts, the latter is mainly composed of lithologic and structural composite traps, whereas the former is dominated by large structural traps beneath the halite sequence and supplemented by lithologic-structural traps. Lithologic-structural traps controlled by detachment layers such as the Jurassic-Triassic coal seams and mudstone in the deep foreland thrust belt on the southern margin of Junggar Basin and Kuqa foreland thrust belts are favorable targets for future oil and gas exploration.

Key words: southern and northern Tianshan, structural difference, detachment layer, trap type

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