Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.18, No.3, pp. 267- 288, 1995

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

VOLCANOGENIC AND VOLCANICLASTIC RESERVOIR ROCKS IN MESOZOIC-CENOZOIC ISLAND ARCS: EXAMPLES FROM THE CAUCASUS AND THE NW PACIFIC

L. E. Levin*

* All-Russia Research Institute of Geology of Foreign Countries (VZG), Novocheryomushkinskaya St 69B, 117 418 Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

Subduction of the Tethys oceanic plate beneath the Lesser Caucasus island arc in the Late Cretaceous-- Eocene produced conditions favourable for the generation and accumulation of hydrocarbons. Subduction of crust in the Transcaucasus Massif led to the formation of various types of trap. Also, geothermal gradients here were high, resulting in the generation of hydrocarbons in shallow-water sediments on the margins of the Massif, and their accumulation in both sedimentary and volcanic lastic reservoirs (e. g. in the Samgori-Patardzeuli and Muradkhanly fields).