How the Presence of Intrabasinal Highs and the Different Time Activity of the Former Thrust Influence the Quality of the Potential Deep Marine Clastic Reservoirs in the Pindos Foreland, Greece

By

John Vacalas¹, A. Zelilidis¹

(1) University of Patras, Patras, Greece

 The thickest sediments in Pindos foreland, characterized by sub-marine fans, were accumulated in the central part of the basin and especially close to the former Pindos thrust, where the potential reservoirs could be sandstone lobes, thick slumped deposits and channelized conglomerates. This central part of the basin formed during early Oligocene to late Miocene when the northern one already formed and filled up, from early Eocene to early Oligocene, and the southern one started its development during early Miocene. Moreover, intrabasinal basement highs started to form due to internal thrusting producing gradually a linear geometry of the basin. Due to the above, coarse-grained sediments trapped close to the former thrust, and only fine-grained deposits bypassed the highs mostly through subsided areas due to transfer fault activity. So, most of the sediments accumulated during this period, from early Oligocene to late Miocene, sourced from both ends, north and south, and distributed axially, towards the deeper parts situated in the central part of the foreland basin. From the northern part, thick pre-existing sandstone lobes slumped in the basin and from south, thick channelized conglomerates were developed. Both are characterized by good porosity and permeability. The main source of the new accumulated sandstone lobes was the pre-existing deposits in the northern part and so they are characterized by fine-grained sand, with fair good porosity and permeability.