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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

(Begin page 2017)

AAPG Bulletin, V. 85, No. 11 (November 2001), P. 2017-2043.

Copyright ©2001. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Sequence architecture, depositional systems, and controls on development of lacustrine basin fills in part of the Erlian basin, northeast China

Lin Changsong,1 Kenneth Eriksson,2 Li Sitian,3 Wan Yongxian,4 Ren Jianye,5 Zhang Yanmei6

1Department of Geological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061; permanent address: Department of Energy Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People's Republic of China; email: [email protected]
2Department of Geological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061; email: [email protected]
3Department of Energy Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People's Republic of China
4China National Petroleum and Gas Cooperation, Beijing, 100083, People's Republic of China
5Sedimentary Basin and Mineral Resource Institute, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
6Department of Computer Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People's Republic of China

AUTHORS

Lin Changsong is a professor of geology in the Department of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences in Beijing. He received his M.S. degree in 1984 and Ph.D. in 1988 from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing. His research interests include sedimentology, basin analysis and basin process modeling. His recent work has focused on the sequence stratigraphy and basin-filling dynamics of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins in northeast and west China.

Kenneth Eriksson is a professor of geology at Virginia Tech. He received his B.Sc. (honors) and M.Sc. degrees and Ph.D. (1977) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. His current research interests include Precambrian tidal rhythmites, Precambrian eolianites, controls on siliciclastic diagenesis, Carboniferous climate change, and tectono-stratigraphic evolution of Mesozoic and Cenozoic rift basins.

Li Sitian is director of the Institute of Sedimentary Basin and Mineral Research at China University of Geosciences in Beijing. He is an active member of AAPG and a member of the American Geophysical Union. He has long been engaged in sedimentology, basin analysis, and coal geology, particularly in the integrated analysis of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic hydrocarbon-bearing basins in eastern China. His recent interests are in the study of the geodynamics of sedimentary basins.

Wan Yongxian is director of the Reserve Department of the Petrochina Exploration and Production Cooperation. He received his B.S. degree in petroleum geology in 1984 from the Petroleum University in China and his M.S. degree in 1987 from the Petroleum Exploration and Development Science Institute in China. His research interests include petroleum geology, basin analysis, and petroleum reserve prospecting.

Ren Jianye is a professor of geology at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan. He received his M.S. degree in 1986 and Ph.D. in 1996 from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing. His research work is mainly concerned with basin dynamics, sedimentology, basin structures, and basin-filling processes. More recently, he has focused on sequence stratigraphy and basin dynamics of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins in east China.

Zhang Yanmei received her B. S. degree in computer programming from the Beijing College of Computer Sciences in 1982. She works now as a computer scientist in the Department of Computer Application, China University of Geosciences in Beijing. Her recent interests are in quantitative analysis and the visualization of geological processes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Northeast China Rift Basin Exploration Corporation and the Erlian Basin Exploration Corporation for their support and for permission to carry out this study. The China Scholarship Council is thanked for supporting the exchange program with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. We thank Li Zhen, Yanrong, Chen Xiaojun, and Li Huijun for their participation in the initial research, and Liu Jingyan for her help with some of the figures. A. Carroll, T. E. Ewing, and D. B. Spear are thanked for their informative and constructive reviews.

ABSTRACT

Sequence architecture and depositional systems of a Jurassic-Cretaceous lacustrine rift succession in the Wuliyashitai subbasin, and Erlian basin in northeastern China were investigated using seismic profiles, complemented by well logs and cores. Five second-order or composite sequences are identified on the basis of basin-scale unconformities. Constituent third-order sequences are defined by unconformities along the basin margins and correlative conformities within the central basin. Lowstand-transgressive and highstand systems tracts are separated by major lake flooding surfaces. Depositional systems identified in the basin include alluvial fan, incised valley, fan delta, braid delta, and sublacustrine fan. Three types of lacustrine sequences, consisting of distinctive depositional systems, formed during different tectonic stages: (1) alluvial-shallow-lacustrine sequences (type A) developed during the initial rifting stage; (2) shallow-lacustrine to deep-lacustrine sequences (type B) formed during the early and late periods of rifting; and (3) deep-lacustrine sequences (type C) developed in response to rapid tectonic subsidence during the middle, maximum-rifting stage.

Uplift following each rifting episode related to changes in the paleostress field appears to have been the major control on the formation of high-order sequence boundaries (second-order and some third-order sequences). Block rotation, coupled with lake level fluctuations, controlled the formation of most third-order sequence boundaries. Forward simulation modeling suggests that development of different lacustrine sequence types can be related to a balance between tectonic subsidence and sediment input.

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Deltaic sandstone bodies and incised valley fills along the hinged margins within the shallow-lacustrine and deep-lacustrine sequences and sublacustrine-fan sandstones in the central basin are the economically most important reservoir sandstones in the basin. Fan-delta deposits along the escarpment margin constitute another potential reservoir type.

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