Fault inversion: concepts, importance for the hydrocarbon systems and a case study in the Río Guanaco region, Austral Basin, Argentina
Keywords:
Fault inversion, Austral Basin, Magallanes Basin, Patagonian Andes, structural traps, push-up structuresAbstract
Fault inversion is defined as positive when the final result is uplift, or negative, when subsidence is observed. Positive inversion plays an important role for the hydrocarbon system, creating traps and migration paths. Inversion is triggered by the orientation of the pre-existing faults in relation to a new stress field and the mechanical parameters of the fault rock. The geometrical types in positive inversion are (i) single reactivated faults producing harpoon features, (ii) reactivated master and conjugate faults (hanging wall breakthrough faults, shortcut faults, pop-up and push-up structures) and (iii) new contractional faults cutting pre-existing extensional faults. In the case of negative inversion, early thrust faults are partially reactivated as extensional faults. Examples of the role played by positive inversion in hydrocarbon systems are found in the Southern Andean basins (Cuyana, Neuquén, San Jorge, Malvinas and Austral – Magallanes), due to their extensional history during the Gondwana break-up and the subsequent compression by the Andean tectonics. Hydrocarbon fields in such basins show structural traps defined by fault propagation anticlines and push-ups. Upward propagation of inverted faults also creates migration paths. A case study, where positive inversion features are shown both in from outcrops and 2D seismic charts, in the region of Río Guanaco (Austral Basin, Argentina) is presented. Selective positive inversion of exten-sional faults is observed in outcrops, either in the form of reverse landslides on the main fault surface or conjugate faults. Indeed, most of the inverted faults in the seismic line have contraction distributed through a conjugate fault network, producing push-ups. Reactivation through conjugate inverse faults is the form of inversion more frequent in the studied area, and it is thought to be related to frictional lockup of the main fault surface as a function of the competent sin-rift section as well as the high dip angle (around 65o). In the cases in which reactivation occurred on the main fault surface, it is attributed both to gentler dip angles as well as lower friction coefficient in the fault zone.
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