Pliocene and Holocene Mass Transport Deposits of the West Nile Delta, Egypt

Peter J. Butterworth¹, Amin Moursy¹, Ibrahim Ramadan¹, Bryn Austin², Peter Cook¹, David Cowper¹, Tim Dodd¹, Roger Moore³, Stephen Thomas³, Nat Usher¹, Denys Brunsden^4
1 BP Egypt, Cairo, Egypt
² BP Sunbury, England
³ Fugro
⁴ Independant Contractor

Delineation and development of Pliocene slope channel reservoirs in the West Nile Delta are directly impacted by the paleo-slide scars and the resultant mass transport deposits that are frequent, repetitive events during the Pliocene. The distribution of reservoir channel sands is, in part, directly influenced by paleo-topography within mud-rich Mass Transport Complexes (MTD's). Seal capacity and column heights are also directly impacted by the presence (or otherwise) of a MTD top seal and lateral seal. The genetic relationship of MTD's and their associated slide scars tied to the sequence stratigraphic framework is critical to understanding the Pliocene play in the West Nile Delta.

The late Pleistocene-Holocene fill of the West Nile Delta slope system provides a spectacular analogue for the Pliocene MTD's. Ultra high resolution (UHR) 2D seismic and highly resolute Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) data over a swath of the West Nile Delta slope system provide valuable insights into the seismic scale geomorphology of MTD's. This includes large (km) scale MTD's, slide blocks with lateral shears, debris flows and channel bank collapse features in the modern Rosetta canyon-channel system. Insights from these shallow analogues have significant implications for the future appraisal and development of Pliocene gas fields from the West Nile Delta.