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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biogeochemistry
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1515497
This article is part of the Research Topic Quantitative Reconstruction of Marine Carbonate Production: From Modern to Deep-Time Oceans View all 5 articles

The geometry of carbonate platform in the southwestern part of Tarim Basin, China: Evidence from sequence stratigraphic analysis and seismic forward modeling

Provisionally accepted
Jie Li Jie Li 1*Zicheng Cao Zicheng Cao 2Feng Geng Feng Geng 2Suju Yang Suju Yang 2Xuguang Sha Xuguang Sha 2Mingjie Lan Mingjie Lan 2Shenghou Wang Shenghou Wang 3Yongchao Lu Yongchao Lu 1Yangbo Lu Yangbo Lu 1Daqing Tang Daqing Tang 1Zhao Zhang Zhao Zhang 4Fang Hao Fang Hao 5
  • 1 China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China
  • 2 Sinopec Northwest Oil Field Company, Urumqi, China
  • 3 Geophysical Research Institute, China Oilfield Services Ltd., Tianjin, China
  • 4 School of Petroleum Engineering, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, China
  • 5 School of Geoscience, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Deciphering the evolution of spatial geometry of carbonate platform in deeply buried successions is still a challenge due to the low-resolution of seismic data and the scarcity of constraints by drilling wells. In this study, combining seismic forward model, we systematically delineated the external morphology and internal architecture of seismic reflection and established the depositional model of carbonate platform. The Lower Paleozoic strata display the high-amplitude reflection in the Lower-Middle Cambrian interval and low-amplitude reflection in the Upper Cambrian-Middle Ordovician interval.The high-amplitude reflection interval thins or wedges out towards the center of the present Southwest Depression section, and thickens to the north and south. Inside of the highamplitude interval, the seismic reflection terminated at the top reflector. Seismic forward modeling was performed to examine the validity of possible hypothetic models in the studied area. The modeling results show that simulated stratigraphic patterns are comparable to a geometry of ramp or depression which is well fit to the characteristics of actual seismic reflections. Such a ramp or depression geometry is built upon the changes of sea level and climate during the Cambrian period. This study emphasizes the potential of the integration of sequence stratigraphic analyses and seismic forward modeling as a seismic workflow for retrieving the stratigraphic architecture and platform geometry.

    Keywords: Ultra-deep, wedge, Retrogradation, Reflection Termination, Cambrian, Ordovician

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Cao, Geng, Yang, Sha, Lan, Wang, Lu, Lu, Tang, Zhang and Hao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jie Li, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.