Tectonic Evolution of the Kattaniya High & El-Gindi Basin (Western Desert, Egypt) and Their Hydrocarbon Potentialities

Abstract

Detailed study of borehole and seismic data was carried out to analyze the tectonic evolution and the hydrocarbon potentialities of the study area. This area encompasses the El Kattaniya inverted Jurassic I Lower Cretaceous basin and the El Gindi Tertiary basin. According to the penetrated stratigraphic sections, the area can be subdivided into three stratigraphic provinces. These are from north to south, the Kattaniya, El Sagha and Wadi El Rayan Provinces. Both folds and faults are dominant in the study area. Most of the folds have NE-SW orientation. Some of them are, however oriented NNE-SSW especially in the Wadi El Rayan platform in the southern part of the study area. The fault system of the study area belongs to three main sets. The first set is oriented ENE-WSW to E-W and is common in the northernmost and southernmost parts of the study area. These faults have apparent normal slip, but somewhere have reverse slip as a result of Late Cretaceous reactivation. The second fault set is represented by NE-SW oriented reverse faults that are common in the El Sagha trend and Wadi El Rayan platform areas. These reverse faults were formed during the Late Cretaceous inversion movement. The third fault set is oriented NW-SE and includes predominantly normal faults that have been active from the Early Cretaceous through Late Cretaceous and during the Early Miocene time. Detaited study of the structures and basin configuration indicates that the tectonic evolution of the study area was affected mainly by three phases of deformation. These are an early rift phase during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times, a Late Cretaceous inversion phase and an Early Miocene rejuvenation phase. The first deformation led to the development of a northwestward dipping half graben that was filled by Jurassic I Lower