Stratigraphic Development of the Central Persian Gulf During the Neogene
Abstract
Industry seismic reflection profiles shot in the 60's and early 70's in the central Persian (Arabian) Gulf are used to map two late Tertiary unconformities, and velocity data from a centrally located well is used to convert travel time to depth to the unconformities. The deeper horizon correlates with a regional unconformity at the end of the Eocene in most wells and dips monotonically to the northeast, whereas the shallower horizon is flatter and correlates with the mid-upper Miocene section in one well. Isopach maps based on wells indicate that sedimentation was relatively uniform across the region until the middle to late Miocene. Sediments deposited since the late Miocene thicken from 100-200 m on the Arabian side of the Gulf to >1000 m near Iran reflecting deposition of sediments eroded from the rapidly uplifting Zagros fold belt. As a result of the rapid deposition, the velocity gradient in the upper 1 km decreases from tilde 4 km/sec per km near Arabia to about 2 km/sec per km on the Iranian side of the Gulf.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 07, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA341534
Entities
People
- Stephen A. Swift
Organizations
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution