Golfo San Jorge Basin

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Golfo San Jorge Basin
Cuenca del Golfo San Jorge
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Oil well near the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia
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Location of the basin in Argentina
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The Golfo San Jorge Basin is located between the North Patagonian and Deseado Massifs
Coordinates 45°00′S67°50′W / 45.000°S 67.833°W / -45.000; -67.833
Etymology San Jorge Gulf
LocationSouthern South America
Region Patagonia
CountryFlag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
State(s) Chubut, Santa Cruz
Cities Comodoro Rivadavia
Characteristics
On/OffshoreBoth
Boundaries North Patagonian Massif, Deseado Massif, Andes
Part ofSouthern Atlantic rift basins
Area170,000 km2 (66,000 sq mi)
Hydrology
Sea(s) South Atlantic
River(s) Chico River
Lake(s) Lake Musters and Lake Colhué Huapí
Geology
Basin type Rift
Plate South American
Orogeny Opening of the South Atlantic
Age Early Jurassic-Pleistocene
Stratigraphy Stratigraphy
Field(s) Cañadón León, Cerro Dragón, Diadema, El Tordillo
Photograph of the first oil well in Comodoro Rivadavia Comodoro Rivadavia - Primer pozo de petroleo.jpg
Photograph of the first oil well in Comodoro Rivadavia

The Golfo San Jorge Basin (Spanish : Cuenca del Golfo San Jorge) is a hydrocarbon-rich sedimentary basin located in eastern Patagonia, Argentina. The basin covers the entire San Jorge Gulf and an inland area west of it, having one half located in Santa Cruz Province and the other in Chubut Province. The northern boundary of the basin is the North Patagonian Massif while the Deseado Massif forms the southern boundary of the basin. The basin has largely developed under condition of extensional tectonics, including rifting. [1]

Contents

The basin is of paleontological significance as it hosts six out of 22 defining formations for the SALMA classification, the geochronology for the Cenozoic used in South America.

At the center of the basin accumulated sediments reach more than 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) of thickness. Oil was first discovered in 1907 and over the years it has become the second most productive hydrocarbon basin in Argentina after Neuquén Basin. [1]

Stratigraphy

The stratigraphy of the Golfo San Jorge Basin covers the following units: [1] [2] [3]

UnitAge
bold is SALMA type
Tectonic regime Depositional environment Thickness
(m)
Petroleum geology
Tehuelche Shingle Pleistocene Glacio-fluvial 40
Río Mayo Mayoan
Santa Cruz Santacrucian Fluvio-deltaic 200
Patagonia Shallow marine 280
Sarmiento
  Colhué Huapí Mb.
Chenque
Colhuehuapian Fluvio-lacustrine 120
Deseadan
Tinguirirican
Río Chico Koluel Kaike Divisaderan Lacustrine 42
Mustersan
Casamayor
Las Flores
Casamayoran Fluvio-lacustrine 44
Peñas Coloradas Riochican Fluvial 42
Itaboraian
Las Violetas Peligran 25
Salamanca Peligran Shallow marine-deltaic-fluvial 200 Petroleum reservoir
Tiupampan
Lago Colhué Huapí Maastrichtian
Campanian
Fluvial
Yacimiento El Trébol
Meseta Espinosa
Bajo Barreal
Laguna Palacios
Santonian
Aptian
Late sag Deltaic
Fluvio-lacustrine
4000+
Cañadón Seco
Comodoro Rivadavia
Bajo Barreal
Alluvial-fluvial-lacustrine
Mina El Carmen
Castillo
Fluvio-lacustrine
Pozo D-129
Matasiete
Early sag1500+ Source rock and petroleum reservoir
Pozo Cerro Guadal Neocomian Late rift Fluvio-lacustrine 560
Pozo Anticlinal Aguada Bandera Lacustrine 1700+ Source rock
Bahía Laura
Lonco Trapial
Cerro Carnerero Mid-Late Jurassic Early riftVolcaniclastic1300+
Early Jurassic Pre-riftShallow marine700+
Basement Paleozoic

See also

Related Research Articles

Magallanes Basin

The Magallanes Basin or Austral Basin is a major sedimentary basin in southern Patagonia. The basin covers a surface of about 170,000 to 200,000 square kilometres and has a NNW-SSE oriented shape. The basin is bounded to the west by the Andes mountains and is separated from the Malvinas Basin to the east by the Río Chico-Dungeness High. The basin evolved from being an extensional back-arc basin in the Mesozoic to being a compressional foreland basin in the Cenozoic. Rocks within the basin are Jurassic in age and include the Cerro Toro Formation. Three ages of the SALMA classification are defined in the basin; the Early Miocene Santacrucian from the Santa Cruz Formation and Friasian from the Río Frías Formation and the Pleistocene Ensenadan from the La Ensenada Formation.

Bajo Barreal Formation

The Bajo Barreal Formation is a geological formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin of Chubut and Santa Cruz, Argentina whose strata date back to the Middle Cenomanian to Late Turonian. The formation was first described by Teruggi & Rossetto in 1963. The sandstones, claystones, mudstones, conglomerates and tuff were deposited in a fluvial environment. The upper part of formation is laterally equivalent to the Yacimiento El Trébol and Meseta Espinosa Formation and the lower part to the Laguna Palacios, Cañadón Seco and Comodoro Rivadavia Formations. The Bajo Barreal Formation is a reservoir rock in the Golfo San Jorge Basin.

South American land mammal age

The South American land mammal ages (SALMA) establish a geologic timescale for prehistoric South American fauna beginning 64.5 Ma during the Paleocene and continuing through to the Late Pleistocene. These periods are referred to as ages, stages, or intervals and were established using geographic place names where fossil materials where obtained.

The Tiupampan age is a period of geologic time within the Paleocene epoch of the Paleogene used more specifically with South American land mammal ages (SALMA). It is the oldest SALMA age and precedes the Peligran age.

The Peligran age is a period of geologic time within the Paleocene epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically with South American land mammal ages (SALMA). It follows the Tiupampan and precedes the Riochican age.

Itaboraian

The Itaboraian age is a period within the Early Eocene geologic time epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically with South American land mammal ages (SALMA). It follows the Riochican and precedes the Casamayoran age.

The Riochican age is a period of geologic time within the Paleocene and Eocene epochs of the Paleogene, used more specifically within the South American land mammal ages (SALMA). It follows the Peligran and precedes the Itaboraian age.

The Casamayoran age is a period of geologic time within the Early Eocene epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically within the South American land mammal age (SALMA) classification. It follows the Itaboraian and precedes the Mustersan age.

The Mustersan age is a period of geologic time within the Eocene epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically within the South American land mammal age (SALMA) classification. It follows the Casamayoran and precedes the Divisaderan age.

The Tinguirirican age is a period of geologic time within the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene epochs of the Paleogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Divisaderan and precedes the Deseadan age.

The Deseadan age is a period of geologic time within the Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene to the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It follows the Tinguirirican and precedes the Colhuehuapian age.

The Colhuehuapian age is a period of geologic time within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Deseadan and precedes the Santacrucian age.

Laguna Palacios Formation

The Laguna Palacios Formation is a Maastrichtian geologic formation of the Chubut Group in the Golfo San Jorge Basin in Patagonia, Argentina. The formation partly overlies and partly is laterally equivalent to the Lago Colhué Huapí Formation and is overlain by the Salamanca Formation of the Río Chico Group. The formation comprises tuff reworked by fluvial activity and paleosols. The Laguna Palacios Formation has provided fossilized bee nests. Dinosaur remains, such as Notoceratops, diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

Salta Basin

Salta Basin or Salta Rift Basin is a sedimentary basin located in the Argentine Northwest. The basin started to accumulate sediments in the Early Cretaceous (Neocomian) and at present it has sedimentary deposits reaching thicknesses of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft). The basin contains seven sub-basins: Tres Cruces, Lomas de Olmedo, Metán, Alemanía, Salfity, El Rey, Sey and Brealito. The basin environment has variously been described as a "foreland rift" and an "intra-continental rift". The basin developed under conditions of extensional tectonics and rift-associated volcanism.

North Patagonian Massif

The North Patagonian Massif or Somún Cura Massif is a massif in northern Patagonia located in the Argentine provinces of Río Negro and Chubut. The massif is a plateau surrounded by sedimentary basins. The North Patagonian Massif covers an area of approximately 100,000 square kilometres (39,000 sq mi). The massif rises 500 to 700 metres above the surrounding topography reaching a maximum of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) above sea level. Compared to neighboring areas, the North Patagonian Massif has thicker continental crust.

Lago Colhué Huapí Formation

The Lago Colhué Huapí Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation of the Chubut Group in the Golfo San Jorge Basin in Patagonia, Argentina. The formation, named after Lake Colhué Huapí, is overlain by the Salamanca Formation of the Río Chico Group and in some areas by the Laguna Palacios Formation.

Collón Curá Formation

The Collón Curá Formation is a Middle Miocene fossiliferous geological formation of the southern Neuquén Basin in northwestern Patagonia and the western Cañadón Asfalto Basin of central Patagonia, Argentina. The formation crops out from the southern Neuquén Province, the western Río Negro Province to the northern Chubut Province.

Cañadón Asfalto Basin

The Cañadón Asfalto Basin is an irregularly shaped sedimentary basin located in north-central Patagonia, Argentina. The basin stretches from and partly covers the North Patagonian Massif in the north, a high forming the boundary of the basin with the Neuquén Basin in the northwest, to the Cotricó High in the south, separating the basin from the Golfo San Jorge Basin. It is located in the southern part of Río Negro Province and northern part of Chubut Province. The eastern boundary of the basin is the North Patagonian Massif separating it from the offshore Valdés Basin and it is bound in the west by the Patagonian Andes, separating it from the small Ñirihuau Basin.

Colorado Basin, Argentina

The Colorado Basin is a sedimentary basin located in northeastern Argentina. The basin stretches across an area of approximately 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi), of which 37,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) onshore in the southern Buenos Aires Province and the easternmost Río Negro Province extending offshore in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Los Adobes Formation

Los Adobes Formation is an Early Cretaceous (Aptian) geologic formation in Chubut Province, in the Cañadón Asfalto Basin of central Patagonia, Argentina. The formation belongs to the Chubut Group and represents the Early Cretaceous K1 megasequence in the basin, unconformably overlying the Late Jurassic Cañadón Calcáreo Formation and is overlain by the Albian Cerro Barcino Formation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sylwan, Caudio A. (2001). "Geology of the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina". Journal of Iberian Geology . 27: 123–157. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  2. Raigemborn et al., 2010, p.243
  3. Cortés, 1986, p.49

Bibliography

General
Cretaceous

Paleogene

Andesitas Huancache Formation
Bororó Formation
Casamayor Formation
Las Flores Formation
Koluel Kaike Formation
Peñas Coloradas Formation
Río Chico Group
Salamanca Formation

Neogene

Río Mayo Formation
Sarmiento Formation & Colhué Huapí Member

Further reading