MASCLE, ALAIN, Institut Francais du Petrole, Rueil-Malmaison, France; PHILIPPE BOUYSSE, Bureau de Recherche Geologique et Minieres (BRGM), Orleans-LaSource, France; and ALAIN LE BRAS, Compagnie Generale de Geophysique, Massy, France

ABSTRACT: Petroleum Plays around the French Lesser Antilles (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy)

The Lesser Antilles island arc is an active Tertiary intraoceanic volcanic arc at the eastern edge of the Caribbean, resulting from the westward subduction of the Atlantic crust at a very slow rate. Reflection profiles have shown the presence of relatively thick sedimentary basins around the volcanic islands. Shallow platforms and moderate water-depths (100-1000 m) predominate around St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and Guadeloupe, whereas greater depths are rapidely reached around Martinique. These basins are virtually unexplored with the exception of the Saba Bank to the northwest of the arc where two wells drilled in 1977 and 1982 encountered small oil and gas shows. Some reservoirs and immature source-rocks intervals have however been reported in Eocene and Oligocene carbonates and volc noclastics sandstones. Similar plays could still be attractive around St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and Guadeloupe as heat flows higher than on the Saba Bank have recently been measured. They could have significantly enhanced the maturation of any Paleogene potential source-rocks according to geochemical modeling. Some different plays may exist around Martinique. In the absence of any reference well, and from seismic data and dredge samples only, we can infer the presence of foundered carbonate platforms below younger hemipelagic covers, or the pinch-out of basinal turbidites towards the volcanic arc.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.