Abstract: The Vercors and Chartreuse Massifs at the Leading Edge of the Alpine Thrust Belt: Tectonic History and Petroleum Assessment

Eric Deville, Alain Mascle, Yann Philippe, Jerome Mondin

The Vercors and Chartreuse Massifs are located at the leading edge of the Western Alps Thrust Belt. They developed in late Miocene-Pliocene times above a major decollement hosted in late Triassic evaporites and/or Liassic marls. The uplift of both massifs led to the oblique and partial inversion of the previous Mesozoic margin of the Southeasten basin, the thickest onshore sedimentary basin in France.

Both massifs are unexplored. The regional geology of eastern France and the results of ten wells located in the near foreland suggest that source rocks are present in late Paleozoic and late Liassic strata, and that fractured sandstones and/or limes tones of Triassic/Jurassic age could act as reservoirs.

A nonexclusive seismic survey has been shot in 1991 by CGG allowing the first well constrained balanced sections to be drawn across both massifs. They have been used in turn to model the forward kinematics of thrust propagation, and the source rock maturation history, using the "Thrustpack" software developed by IFP and partners.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90956©1995 AAPG International Convention and Exposition Meeting, Nice, France