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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
2015. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1306/06181514201
Wings, mushrooms, and Christmas trees: The
carbonate
seismic geomorphology of Central Luconia, Miocene–present, offshore Sarawak, northwest Borneo
carbonate
seismic geomorphology of Central Luconia, Miocene–present, offshore Sarawak, northwest Borneo
Eduard Koša,1 Georg M. D. Warrlich,2 and Guy Loftus3
1Shell Malaysia Ltd.,
Level
24, Menara Shell, No. 211, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; present address: Shell Australia Ltd.,
Level
1, 2 Victoria Avenue, 6000 Perth, Western Australia, Australia; [email protected]
2Sarawak Shell Bhd., Locked Bag No. 1, 98009 Lutong, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia; [email protected]
3Shell Malaysia Ltd.,
Level
24, Menara Shell, No. 211, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Central Luconia is a geological province of the Sarawak Basin, offshore northwest Borneo, characterized by extensive development of Miocene to Holocene
carbonate
buildups. The buildups are up to 2-km (1-mi) thick and reveal complex seismic geomorphologies including out-building, in-building,
carbonate
-siliciclastic intercalations, and coalescence of neighboring
carbonate
bodies. Intermittent
carbonate
and siliciclastic deposition is interpreted to have been governed by frequently oscillating
sea
level
and variable siliciclastic input. Location of the buildups with respect to deltaic facies and the seismic expressions of marginal
carbonate
strata, locally known as wings, are used here to classify
carbonate
seismic geomorphologies. Buildups encompassed by deltaic topsets are said to reside onshelf and are flanked by marginal
carbonate
deposits conformable with the onlapping siliciclastics and interpreted as thin
carbonate
platforms deposited in situ over prominent erosional unconformities and flooding surfaces. Such marginal facies are described on the basis of their appearance as open wings. In contrast, buildups downlapped by prodelta foresets or bottomsets, or those draped by pelagic sediments, are said to reside offshelf and are characterized by high relief, steeply dipping marginal
carbonate
strata discordant with respect to the relatively flat-lying platform carbonates as well as the onlapping siliciclastics. These marginal strata have an appearance of closed wings and are interpreted as slope aprons composed of
carbonate
material derived from the productive platform tops and deposited off-platform in deeper water.
Carbonate
geometries range from contracting-upward pinnacles to expanding-upward platforms in onshelf settings, whereas buildups located offshelf have mostly contracting-upward or aggrading morphologies. Buildups deposited onshelf have generally maintained a similar height of depositional slopes as they evolved, reflecting rates of background siliciclastic deposition approximating those of
carbonate
growth. In contrast, depositional slopes of offshelf buildups have become progressively higher, owing to limited siliciclastic input. Observations presented here on
carbonate
geomorphology and adjacent siliciclastic stratigraphy provide important clues for the understanding of the geology of the province. Because carbonates and siliciclastics intercalate frequently, siliciclastic biostratigraphy can be used to precisely date and correlate geographically remote
carbonate
-reservoir intervals and intrareservoir depositional and diagenetic events such as marine transgressive or exposure surfaces or karst networks. Conversely, basin paleobathymetry can be measured by the size of
carbonate
clinoforms and the thickness of buildups established over flooded siliciclastic surfaces. Deposition of low-relief
carbonate
platforms over siliciclastic substrates indicates shallow-marine conditions, as opposed to the prevalent notion of kilometer-scale paleobathymetry. These interpretations have important implications for understanding of the sedimentology and lithology of the ambient basinal siliciclastics, with fundamental applications to hydrocarbon exploration.
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