Quantitative analysis of a footwall‐scarp degradation complex and syn‐rift stratigraphic architecture, Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia

Interactions between footwall‐, hangingwall‐ and axial‐derived depositional systems make syn‐rift stratigraphic architecture difficult to predict, and preservation of net‐erosional source landscapes is limited. Distinguishing between deposits derived from fault‐scarp degradation (consequent systems) and those derived from long‐lived catchments beyond the fault block crest (antecedent systems) is also challenging, but important for hydrocarbon reservoir prospecting. We undertake geometric and volumetric analysis of a fault‐scarp degradation complex and adjacent hangingwall‐fill associated with the Thebe‐2 fault block on the Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia, using high resolution 3D seismic data. Vertical and headward erosion of the complex and fault throw are measured. Seismic‐stratigraphic and seismic facies mapping allow us to constrain the spatial and architectural variability of depositional systems in the hangingwall. Footwall‐derived systems interacted with hangingwall‐ and axial‐derived systems, through diversion around topography, interfingering or successive onlap. We calculate the volume of footwall‐sourced hangingwall fans (VHW) for nine quadrants along the fault block, and compare this to the volume of material eroded from the immediately up‐dip fault‐scarp (VFW). This analysis highlights areas of sediment bypass (VFW > VHW) and areas fed by sediment sources beyond the degraded fault scarp (VHW > VFW). Exposure of the border fault footwall and adjacent fault terraces produced small catchments located beyond the fault block crest that fed the hangingwall basin. One source persisted throughout the main syn‐rift episode, and its location coincided with: (a) an intra‐basin topographic high; (b) a local fault throw minimum; (c) increased vertical and headward erosion within the fault‐scarp degradation complex; and (d) sustained clinoform development in the immediate hangingwall. Our novel quantitative volumetric approach to identify through‐going sediment input points could be applied to other rift basin‐fills. We highlight implications for hydrocarbon exploration and emphasize the need to incorporate interaction of multiple sediment sources and their resultant architecture in tectono‐stratigraphic models for rift basins.

[1]  D. Hodgson,et al.  Lateral variability of shelf-edge and basin-floor deposits, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil , 2020, Journal of Sedimentary Research.

[2]  L. Wood,et al.  Sediment dispersal and redistributive processes in axial and transverse deep‐time source‐to‐sink systems of marine rift basins: Dampier Sub‐basin, Northwest Shelf, Australia , 2020, Basin Research.

[3]  B. Barrett,et al.  Syn‐rift delta interfan successions: Archives of sedimentation and basin evolution , 2020, The Depositional Record.

[4]  B. Barrett,et al.  Axial and transverse deep‐water sediment supply to syn‐rift fault terraces: Insights from the West Xylokastro Fault Block, Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 2019, Basin Research.

[5]  K. McClay,et al.  Tectono-stratigraphy of the Dampier Sub-basin, North West Shelf of Australia , 2019, Special Publications.

[6]  R. Dorrell,et al.  Quantifying faulting and base level controls on syn‐rift sedimentation using stratigraphic architectures of coeval, adjacent Early‐Middle Pleistocene fan deltas in Lake Corinth, Greece , 2019, Basin Research.

[7]  A. Braathen,et al.  Extensional fault and fold growth: Impact on accommodation evolution and sedimentary infill , 2019, Basin Research.

[8]  Amy I’Anson,et al.  Marginal fault systems of the Northern Carnarvon Basin: Evidence for multiple Palaeozoic extension events, North-West Shelf, Australia , 2019, Marine and Petroleum Geology.

[9]  N. Kusznir,et al.  Mapping the bathymetric evolution of the Northern North Sea: from Jurassic synrift archipelago through Cretaceous–Tertiary post-rift subsidence , 2019, Petroleum Geoscience.

[10]  C. Elders,et al.  Normal fault linkage and reactivation, Dampier Sub-basin, Western Australia , 2018, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences.

[11]  D. Hodgson,et al.  Topographic Controls On the Development of Contemporaneous but Contrasting Basin-Floor Depositional Architectures , 2018, Journal of Sedimentary Research.

[12]  C. Eide,et al.  Revisiting morphological relationships of modern source-to-sink segments as a first-order approach to scale ancient sedimentary systems , 2018, Sedimentary Geology.

[13]  Sam A. S. Brooke,et al.  Are landscapes buffered to high-frequency climate change? A comparison of sediment fluxes and depositional volumes in the Corinth Rift, central Greece, over the past 130 k.y. , 2018, GSA Bulletin.

[14]  K. McClay,et al.  Fault-scarp degradation in the central Exmouth Plateau, North West Shelf, Australia , 2018, Special Publications.

[15]  T. J. Dodd,et al.  A depositional model for deep‐lacustrine, partially confined, turbidite fans: Early Cretaceous, North Falkland Basin , 2018, Sedimentology.

[16]  P. Cowie,et al.  Source‐to‐sink analysis in an active extensional setting: Holocene erosion and deposition in the Sperchios rift, central Greece , 2018 .

[17]  A. Bitri,et al.  Broadband, short-period or geophone nodes? Quality assessment of Passive Seismic signals acquired during the Maupasacq experiment , 2018 .

[18]  T. Alves,et al.  Footwall degradation styles and associated sedimentary facies distribution in SE Crete: Insights into tilt-block extensional basins on continental margins , 2018 .

[19]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Sedimentary environment evolution in a marine hangingwall dipslope setting. El Qaa Fault Block, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2018 .

[20]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Building up or out? Disparate sequence architectures along an active rift margin—Corinth rift, Greece , 2017 .

[21]  R. Dorrell,et al.  Novel 3D sequence stratigraphic numerical model for syn-rift basins : analysing architectural responses to eustasy, sedimentation and tectonics , 2017 .

[22]  T. Manzocchi,et al.  Introduction to the geometry and growth of normal faults , 2017, Special Publications.

[23]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Depositional systems in multiphase rifts: seismic case study from the Lofoten margin, Norway , 2017 .

[24]  G. Hampson,et al.  Sedimentology of Paralic Reservoirs: Recent Advances , 2017 .

[25]  B. Legler,et al.  Challenges in characterizing subsurface paralic reservoir geometries: a detailed case study of the Mungaroo Formation, North West Shelf, Australia , 2017, Special Publications.

[26]  J. Watson,et al.  Incipient mantle plume evolution: Constraints from ancient landscapes buried beneath the North Sea , 2017 .

[27]  R. Bell,et al.  Techniques to determine the kinematics of synsedimentary normal faults and implications for fault growth models , 2017, Special Publications.

[28]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Tectono‐sedimentary development of early syn‐rift deposits: the Abura Graben, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2017 .

[29]  A. Hartley,et al.  Palaeoecology of syn-rift topography : A Late Jurassic footwall island on the Josephine Ridge, Central Graben, North Sea , 2016 .

[30]  I. Midtkandal,et al.  Depositional processes and stratigraphic architecture within a coarse-grained rift-margin turbidite system: The Wollaston Forland Group, east Greenland , 2016 .

[31]  A. Hartley,et al.  Spatiotemporal relationships of deep-marine, axial, and transverse depositional systems from the synrift Upper Jurassic of the central North Sea , 2016 .

[32]  J. Hengesh,et al.  Transcurrent reactivation of Australia's western passive margin: An example of intraplate deformation from the central Indo‐Australian plate , 2016 .

[33]  H. Fossen,et al.  Fault linkage and relay structures in extensional settings—A review , 2016 .

[34]  W. Nemec,et al.  Gilbert‐type deltas recording short‐term base‐level changes: Delta‐brink morphodynamics and related foreset facies , 2015 .

[35]  J. Eggenhuisen,et al.  Deep-Water Sediment Bypass , 2015 .

[36]  D. Hodgson,et al.  The role of mass-transport complexes in controlling channel avulsion and the subsequent sediment dispersal patterns on an active margin: The Magdalena Fan, offshore Colombia , 2015 .

[37]  P. Allen,et al.  Mass-Balance Constraints On Stratigraphic Interpretation of Linked Alluvial–Coastal–Shelfal Deposits From Source To Sink: Example From Cretaceous Western Interior Basin, Utah and Colorado, U.S.A. , 2014 .

[38]  P. Allen,et al.  The Functioning of Sediment Routing Systems Using a Mass Balance Approach: Example from the Eocene of the Southern Pyrenees , 2013, The Journal of Geology.

[39]  K. Straub,et al.  Quantifying the Hierarchical Organization of Compensation in Submarine Fans Using Surface Statistics , 2012 .

[40]  C. Paola,et al.  Mass-Balance Effects in Depositional Systems , 2012 .

[41]  R. Müller,et al.  Constraining the Jurassic extent of Greater India: Tectonic evolution of the West Australian margin , 2012 .

[42]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  The linkage between fault throw and footwall scarp erosion patterns: an example from the Bremstein Fault Complex, offshore Mid‐Norway , 2012 .

[43]  Kyle M. Straub,et al.  Scale-dependent compensational stacking: An estimate of autogenic time scales in channelized sedimentary deposits , 2011 .

[44]  C. Jackson,et al.  Controls on synrift turbidite deposition on the hanging wall of the South Viking Graben, North Sea rift system, offshore Norway , 2011 .

[45]  Nicholas J. White,et al.  Transient convective uplift of an ancient buried landscape , 2010 .

[46]  M. Ford,et al.  Architecture and sedimentology of the Kerinitis Gilbert‐type fan delta, Corinth Rift, Greece , 2010 .

[47]  D. Hodgson,et al.  Evolution, architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep‐water deposits: a high‐resolution outcrop investigation from the Permian Karoo Basin, South Africa , 2009 .

[48]  P. Allen,et al.  Characterising the origin, nature and fate of sediment exported from catchments perturbed by active tectonics , 2009 .

[49]  M. Ford,et al.  Stratigraphic Architecture, Sedimentology and Structure of the Vouraikos Gilbert‐Type Fan Delta, Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 2009 .

[50]  F. Guillocheau,et al.  Depositional model and stratigraphic architecture of rift climax Gilbert-type fan deltas (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) , 2008 .

[51]  Gregory E. Tucker,et al.  Modeling fluvial incision and transient landscape evolution: Influence of dynamic channel adjustment , 2008 .

[52]  M. Ghinassi.  The effects of differential subsidence and coastal topography on high-order transgressive regressive cycles: Pliocene nearshore deposits of the Val d'Orcia Basin, Northern Apennines, Italy , 2007 .

[53]  C. Morley,et al.  Degradation of a footwall fault block with hanging-wall fault propagation in a continental-lacustrine setting: How a new structural model impacted field development plans, the Sirikit field, Thailand , 2007 .

[54]  I. Moretti,et al.  Stratigraphic architecture of the Plio-Pleistocene infill of the Corinth Rift: Implications for its structural evolution , 2007 .

[55]  B. Carrapa,et al.  Footwall drainage evolution and scarp retreat in response to increasing fault displacement: Loreto fault, Baja California Sur, Mexico , 2007 .

[56]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Sedimentology of rift climax deep water systems; Lower Rudeis Formation, Hammam Faraun Fault Block, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2006 .

[57]  G. Tucker,et al.  Investigating the surface process response to fault interaction and linkage using a numerical modelling approach , 2006 .

[58]  C. Cotterill.  A high-resolution Holocene fault activity history of the Aigion Shelf, Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 2006 .

[59]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Style and sequence of deformation during extensional fault-propagation folding: examples from the Hammam Faraun and El-Qaa fault blocks, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2006 .

[60]  J. Bhattacharya,et al.  Terminal Distributary Channels and Delta Front Architecture of River-Dominated Delta Systems , 2006 .

[61]  J. Bull,et al.  Active faulting within the offshore western Gulf of Corinth, Greece: implications for models of continental rift deformation , 2005 .

[62]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Normal faulting as a control on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine syn‐rift sequences: the Nukhul and Lower Rudeis Formations, Hammam Faraun fault block, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2005 .

[63]  R. Müller,et al.  Late Jurassic rifting along the Australian North West Shelf: margin geometry and spreading ridge configuration , 2005 .

[64]  P. Allen,et al.  Landscape evolution at extensional relay zones , 2003 .

[65]  A. Nicol,et al.  The growth and propagation of synsedimentary faults , 2003 .

[66]  S. Stewart,et al.  Geomorphology of kilometer-scale extensional fault scarps: factors that impact seismic interpretation , 2003 .

[67]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Numerical modelling of depositional sequences in half‐graben rift basins , 2003 .

[68]  C. E. Gill,et al.  The rise and fall of the Faroe–Shetland Basin: evidence from seismic mapping of the Balder Formation , 2002, Journal of the Geological Society.

[69]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Architecture and evolution of syn‐rift clastic depositional systems towards the tip of a major fault segment, Suez Rift, Egypt , 2002 .

[70]  M. Leeder,et al.  Tectono‐sedimentary processes along an active marine/lacustrine half‐graben margin: Alkyonides Gulf, E. Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 2002 .

[71]  John R. Underhill,et al.  Fault-propagation folding in extensional settings: Examples of structural style and synrift sedimentary response from the Suez rift, Sinai, Egypt (vol 112, pg 1877, 2000) , 2000 .

[72]  C. Paola,et al.  Interpreting avulsion process from ancient alluvial sequences: Guadalope-Matarranya system (northern Spain) and Wasatch Formation (western Colorado) , 2000 .

[73]  Mike R. Leeder,et al.  Tectono‐sedimentary evolution of active extensional basins , 2000 .

[74]  J. Underhill,et al.  Propagation history and passive rotation of mesoscale normal faults: implications for synrift stratigraphic development , 2000 .

[75]  Patience A. Cowie,et al.  Implications of fault array evolution for synrift depocentre development: insights from a numerical fault growth model , 2000 .

[76]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Sedimentary Responses to Forced Regressions , 2000 .

[77]  A. Gartrell.  Rheological controls on extensional styles and the structural evolution of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Australia , 2000 .

[78]  R. Dorsey,et al.  Tectonic and eustatic controls on sequence stratigraphy of the Pliocene Loreto basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico , 2000 .

[79]  Gupta,et al.  Role of fault interactions in controlling synrift sediment dispersal patterns: Miocene, Abu Alaqa Group, Suez Rift, Sinai, Egypt , 1999 .

[80]  M. Richards,et al.  Submarine-fan systems i: characterization and stratigraphic prediction , 1998 .

[81]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Effects of variations in fault slip rate on sequence stratigraphy in fan deltas: Insights from numerical modeling , 1998 .

[82]  P. Hodgson,et al.  Implications of Fault Scarp Degradation for Brent Group Prospectivity, Ninian Field, Northern North Sea , 1997 .

[83]  M. Leeder,et al.  Axial–transverse fluvial interactions in half-graben: Plio-Pleistocene Palomas Basin, southern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA , 1996 .

[84]  P. Renne,et al.  Rapid subsidence and stacked Gilbert-type fan deltas, Pliocene Loreto basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico , 1995 .

[85]  N. Dawers,et al.  Displacement-length scaling and fault linkage , 1995 .

[86]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Sequence stratigraphy in active extensional basins: implications for the interpretation of ancient basin-fills , 1994 .

[87]  S. Stiros,et al.  Quaternary uplift and tilting of Amorgos Island (southern Aegean) and the 1956 earthquake , 1994 .

[88]  G. Nichols,et al.  Sequence stratigraphy of (?)Pliocene ― Quaternary synrift, Gilbert-type fan deltas, northern Peloponnesos, Greece , 1994 .

[89]  J. Jackson,et al.  Drainage systems and the development of normal faults: an example from Pleasant Valley, Nevada , 1994 .

[90]  M. Richards,et al.  Turbidite Systems in Deep-Water Basin Margins Classified by Grain Size and Feeder System , 1994 .

[91]  J. M. Hurst,et al.  Transfer zones in extensional basins: their structural style and influence on drainage development and stratigraphy , 1993, Journal of the Geological Society.

[92]  A. Miall.  Tectonics and Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy , 1993 .

[93]  James Jackson,et al.  The interaction between normal faulting and drainage in active extensional basins, with examples from the western United States and central Greece , 1993 .

[94]  G. Papadopoulos,et al.  The large 1956 earthquake in the South Aegean: Macroseismic field configuration, faulting, and neotectonics of Amorgos Island , 1992 .

[95]  Bilal U. Haq,et al.  Exmouth Plateau Revisited: Scientific Drilling and Geological Framework , 1992 .

[96]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Tectono-sedimentary development of an extensional basin: the Neogene Megara Basin, Greece , 1991, Journal of the Geological Society.

[97]  A. L. Evans.  Miocene sandstone provenance relations in the Gulf of Suez; insights into synrift unroofing and uplift history , 1990 .

[98]  L. C. Wood,et al.  The limits of resolution of zero-phase wavelets , 1982 .

[99]  M. B. Widess.  HOW THIN IS A THIN BED , 1973 .

[100]  A. Gartrell,et al.  Variable inversion of polyphase rift basins impacts the Triassic sequence architecture of the NW Shelf, Australia , 2019 .

[101]  D. Hodgson,et al.  Lateral variability of shelf-edge, slope and basin-floor deposits, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil , 2019 .

[102]  B. Cronin,et al.  Rift-Related Coarse-Grained Submarine Fan Reservoirs; the Brae Play, South Viking Graben, North Sea , 2018 .

[103]  J. Bhattacharya,et al.  Estimation of Source-To-Sink Mass Balance By A Fulcrum Approach Using Channel Paleohydrologic Parameters of the Cretaceous Dunvegan Formation, Canada , 2017 .

[104]  J. Torres,et al.  Mesozoic rift onset and its impact on the sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Northern Carnarvon Basin , 2016 .

[105]  T. S. Olsen,et al.  Characterizing and producing from reservoirs in landslides: challenges and opportunities , 2007 .

[106]  I. Longley,et al.  The North West Shelf of Australia — a Woodside Perspective , 2003 .

[107]  N. Dawers,et al.  Syn-rift evolution and resulting play models in the Snorre-H area, northern North Sea , 2000, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[108]  J. Underhill,et al.  Processes and products of footwall degradation, northern Brent Field, Northern North Sea , 1999 .

[109]  A. Roberts,et al.  The Zeta Structure: a footwall degradation complex formed by gravity sliding on the western margin of the Tampen Spur, Northern North Sea , 1999 .

[110]  I. Metcalfe.  Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion : IGCP 321 final results volume , 1999 .

[111]  C. Powell,et al.  Neogene Deformation of the North West Shelf, Australia , 1998 .

[112]  R. Steel,et al.  Architecture of marine rift-basin successions , 1998 .

[113]  K. Tindale,et al.  Structural Evolution and Charge History of the Exmouth Sub-Basin, Northern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia , 1998 .

[114]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Neotectonics, drainage and sedimentation in central Greece: insights into coastal reservoir geometries in syn-rift sequences , 1995, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[115]  J. Bradshaw,et al.  Petroleum Systems in West Australian Basins , 1994 .

[116]  H. Stagg,et al.  The Structural Foundations of the Northern Carnarvon Basin , 1994 .

[117]  G. Yielding,et al.  Tectonic and bathymetric controls on stratigraphic sequences within evolving half-graben , 1993, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[118]  G. Yielding,et al.  The structural evolution of the Brent Province , 1992, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[119]  A. E. Cockbain.  THE NORTH WEST SHELF , 1989 .

[120]  J. Walsh,et al.  Analysis of the relationship between displacements and dimensions of faults , 1988 .

[121]  J. Totterdell,et al.  Palaeogeographic Evolution of the North West Shelf Region , 1988 .

[122]  R. Gawthorpe,et al.  Sedimentary models for extensional tilt-block/half-graben basins , 1987, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.