Structural Styles, Petroleum Habitat and Traps in the Pelagian-Sirt Basins, Northern Africa: An Overview and Future Exploration Developments

Abstract

The Pelagian-Sirt platform of Northern Africa is a structurally complex area at the triple junction of three major structural domains: the Alpine thrust wedge to the northwest, the Pantelleria-Linosa-Malta grabens system to the northeast and the Sirt basin to the southeast. The Pelagian domain encompasses the easternmost foreland basins of the Atlas in the west. This position combined with variations in the lithostratigraphic assemblages result in a complex geological evolution with the sur-imposition of several tectonic events controlling the individualization of petroleum systems with different structural traps. This work aims at (1) summarizing some new developments on the structural styles as well as the major tectono-sedimentary events as they arise from new collected subsurface data and field observations from both the offshore and onshore portions of the Pelagian platform, and (2) describing the structural style of major petroleum traps in the area, combining seismic interpretations and field observations.