Recent advances in understanding depositional environments and diagenesis of carbonate rocks provide a wealth of information regarding the nature of carbonate hydrocarbon traps. Projections of such data from control wells to unexplored areas are somewhat limited in scope because of paucity of data. This problem is particularly acute in frontier regions, where observations from only a few wells must be projected into a vast unexplored area.

The effects of eustatic sea level fluctuations on the carbonate facies are another focus of recent research. Undoubtedly, sea level fluctuations greatly influence the environmental and diagenetic stratigraphy of carbonate rocks. Additionally, the subsidence mechanisms in various types of basins profoundly control the morphology and distribution of carbonate facies.

This paper documents the various influences of synsedimentary tectonics on development of carbonate traps in various plate tectonic settings. Understanding such models allows projection of environmental and diagenetic data from a limited number of control wells into the sparsely explored areas.

End_of_Article - Last_Page 1427------------