Origin of the Gharnyaregh and Neftelijeh mud volcanoes in Gorgan plain, Iran

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi Mashhad University, Mashhad, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Geology Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi Mashhad University, Mashhad, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi Mashhad University, Mashhad, Iran

4 Ph.D. Student, Khazar Oil Exploration and Production Company (KEPCO), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Mud volcanoes are natural phenomena that provide an essential source of information about subsurface sediments and deep structures. The phenomenon is usually associated with hydrocarbon accumulations in deep-seated strata. More than 30% of all mud volcanoes in the world are concentrated in the South Caspian Basin. Gorgan plain, as a part of the south Caspian lowland, is a transition zone between uplifting zones of the Alborz and Kopet Dagh and the subsiding basin of the south Caspian. Four active mud volcanoes in the western parts of the Gorgan Plain have extrusion of gas and mud. The existence of the possible hydrocarbon contents in this plain caused a reflection seismic survey and exploratory wells were performed in this area by the National Iranian Oil Company. In this paper, we used 2-D reflection seismic data and well top data for the investigation of stratigraphy and structural setting of the Neftlijeh and Gharnyaregh mud volcanoes. According to the Well Report, the area sediments are composed of the Tertiary to Quaternary sediments of the SCB and underlying pre-Tertiary sequence of the Kopet-Dagh basin and a missing Oligocene, Eocene, Paleocene and upper Cretaceous deposition are observed in the well. The interpretation of the seismic section shows that the Caspian basin deposits reveal a partial deformation and increasingly sloping toward the depocenter, while the sequence of Kopet Dagh is folded.
    The Neftlijeh and Gharnyaregh mud volcanoes occurred on subsurface anticline axes of the Kopet Dagh and a cluster of conjugate normal faults developed into the Cenozoic formations above the hinge zone of these anticlines. The subsidence pattern is observable at the summit of the anticlines. The structure suggests the presence of a chamber within the crest of the anticline. It seems extrusion and material removal from this chamber caused subsidence and forming of the structure. The Oligo-Miocene Maykop Formation is the significant source of both the extruded mud and the petroleum in the south Caspian basin, which is not observed in the studied well due to later regional erosion. However, the Cheleken and Apsheron deposits, known as reservoir rocks, have a large thickness in the area. The Kashafrud Formations are considered as the main source rock for the Kopet Dagh basin and the Mozduran and Tirgan formations are known as reservoir rocks. The occurrence of the Late Eocene compressional tectonic phase and following the folding of the Mesozoic sedimentary created structural traps at the strata. In addition, continued diapirism and uplifting of the deep-seated strata led to the growth of extensional faults and fractures over the hinge zones. These structures provide effective pathways for gas and fluid ascent from deep reservoirs to the surface. Generally, the results suggest that these mud volcanoes have a spatial and genetic relationship with buried folds. It seems the location of Gharenyaregh and Neftelijeh mud volcanoes is controlled by subsurface anticlines and their feeding source originated from both the Tertiary (SCB) and Pre-Tertiary (Kopet Dagh) units.

Keywords

References

صفری، ح.، رضادوست، م.، رقیمی، م.، 1399، تعیین جایگاه زمین‌ساختی گلفشان­های غرب استان گلستان به کمک تکنیک­های زمین­اطلاعاتی: زمین­شناسی کاربردی پیشرفته، 3، 421-435.
فصل­بهار، ج.، پورکرمانی، م.، فصل­بهار، ش.، 1389، بررسی زمین­شناسی گلفشان­های حاشیه جنوب خاوری دریای خزر: فصلنامه علوم زمین، 77، 75-82.
مهرابی، ب.، مازینی، آ.، فرهادیان، م.، پلودتکینا، ا.، اینگواگیاتو، س.، 1396، منشاء گازهای هیدروکربوری در گلفشان­های جنوب شرق دریای خزر (دشت گرگان) بر اساس ترکیب مولکولی و ایزوتوپی کربن و هیدروژن: پژوهش­های دانش زمین، 29، 87-102.
 
 
Afshar-Harb, A., 1979, The stratigraphy, tectonics and petroleum geology of the Kopet Dagh region, northern Iran (Ph.D. Thesis). Imperial College London (University of London)
Allen, B. M., Vincent, S. J., Ismail-zadeh, A., Simmons, M., and Anderson, L., 2002, Onset of subduction as the cause of rapid Pliocene–Quaternary subsidence in the South Caspian basin: Geology, 309, 775–778.
Brunet, M. F., Korotaev, M. V., Ershov, A. V., and Nikishin, A. M., 2003, The South Caspian Basin: A review of its evolution from subsidence modeling: Sedimentary Geology, 156, 119–148.
Devlin, W. J., Cogswell, J. M., Gaskins, G. M., Isaksen, G. H., Pitcher, D. M., Puls, D. P., Stanley, K. O., and Wall, G. R. T., 1999, South Caspian Basin; Young, cool, and full of promise: GSA Today, 9, 1–9.
Farhadian Babadi, M., Mehrabi, B., Tassi, F., Cabassi, J., Pecchioni, E., Shakeri, A., and Vaselli, O., 2020, Geochemistry of fluids discharged from mud volcanoes in SE Caspian Sea Gorgan Plain, Iran: International Geology Review, doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2020.1716400.
Fedynsky, V. V., Fomenko, K. E., Garkalenkov, J. A., Goncharov, V. P., Khrychev, B. A., Malovintsky, Y. P., Milashin, A. P., and Neprochov, J. P., 1972, The Earth’s crust of the inland seas and continental depressions of the west Tethys region: 24th International Geological Congress, Montreal, P. Q., Section 3: Montreal, Canada, International Union of Geological Sciences, 51–57.
Fowler, S. R., Mildenhall, J., Zalova, S., Riley, G., Elsley, G., Desplanques, A., and Guliyev, F., 2000, Mud volcanoes and structural development on Shah Deniz: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 28, 189-206.
Guliyev, I. S., Feizullayev, A. A., and Tagiyev, M., 1997, Isotopic–geochemical characteristics of organic matter (source rocks), oil and gas in the south Caspian basin, in Lerch, I., Ali-Azdeh, A., Guliyev, I., Bagirov, E., Nadirov, R., Tagiyev, M., Feizullayev, A., eds., South Caspian Basin: Stratigraphy, Geochemistry and Risk Analysis: Institute of Geology of Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences (Baku), 90–152.
Hollingsworth, J., Jackson, J., Walker, R., and Nazari, H., 2008, Extrusion tectonics and subduction in the eastern South Caspian region since 10 Ma: The Geological Society of America, 36, 763–766, doi:10.1130/G25008A.1.
Huseynov, D. A., and Guliyev, I. S., 2004, Mud volcanic natural phenomena in the South Caspian Basin: geology, fluid dynamics and environmental impact: Environmental Geology, 46, 1012–1023.
Inan, S., Namik Yalcin, M., Guliev, I. S., Kuliev, K., and Feizullayev, A. A., 1997, Deep petroleum occurrences in the Lower Kura Depression, South Caspian Basin, Azerbaijan: an organic geochemical and basin modeling study: Marine and Petroleum Geology, 14, 731-762.
Jackson, J., Priestley, K., Allen, M., and Berberian, M., 2002, Active tectonics of the south Caspian basin: Geophysic Journal International, 148, 214-245.
Jones, R. W., and Simmons, M. D., 1997, A review of the stratigraphy of Eastern Paratethys (Oligocene-Holocene), with particular emphasis on the Black Sea, in Robinson, A., ed., Regional and Petroleum Geology of the Black Sea and Surrounding Region: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 68, 39–52
Katz, B., Richards, D., Long, D., and Lawrence, W., 2000, A new look at the components of the petroleum system of the South Caspian Basin: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 28, 161-182.
Kavoosi, M., Lasemi, Y., Sherkati, S., and Moussavi-Harami, R., 2009, Facies analysis and depositional sequences of the Upper Jurassic Mozduran Formation, a carbonate reservoir in the KopetDagh Basin, NE Iran: Journal of Petroleum Geology, 32, 235–259.
Knapp, C. C., Knapp, J. H., and Connor, J. A., 2004, Crustal-scale structure of the South Caspian Basin revealed by deep seismic reflection profiling: Marine and Petroleum Geology, 218, 1073-1081.
Milkov, A. V., 2000, Worldwide distribution of submarine mud volcanoes and associated gas hydrates: Marine Geology, 167, 29–42.
Moussavi-Harami, R., and Brenner, R. L., 1992, Geohistory analysis and petroleum reservoir characteristics of Lower Cretaceous (Neocomian) sandstone, eastern portion of Kopet-Dagh basin, northeast Iran: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 76, 1200–1208.
Neprochov, Y. P., 1968, structure of the Earth’s crust of epicontinental seas: Caspian, Black and Mediterranean: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 5, 1037–1043.
Omrani, H., and Raghimi, M., 2018, Origin of the mud volcanoes in the South East Caspian Basin, Iran: Marine and Petroleum Geology, doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.05.017.
Oppo, D., Capozzi, R., Nigarov, A., and Esenov, P., 2014, Mud volcanism and fluid geochemistry in the Cheleken peninsula, western Turkmenistan: Marine and Petrolium Geology, 57, 122-134.
Oppo, D., and Capozzi, R., 2015, Spatial association of mud volcano and sandstone intrusions, Boyadag anticline, western Turkmenistan: Basin Research, 28, 827-839.
Planke, S., Svensen, H., Hovland, M., Banks, D. A., and Jamtveit, B., 2003, Mud and fluid migration in active mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan: GeoMarine Letters, 23, 258–268.
Radfar, A., Rahimi Chakdel, A., Nejati, A., Soleimani, M., and Taati, F., 2018, New insights into the structure of the South Caspian Basin from seismic reflection data, Gorgan Plain, Iran: International Journal of Earth Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-018-1659 x.
Ranjbaran, M., and Sotohian, F., 2015, Environmental impact and sedimentary structures of mud volcanoes in southeast of the Caspian Sea basin, Golestan Province, Iran: Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, 13, 391-405.
Reynolds, A. D., Simmons, M. D., Bowman, M. B. J., et al., 1998, Implications of outcrop geology for reservoirs in the Neogene Productive Series: Apsheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 82, 25–49.
Rezvandehy, M., Aghabaei, H., and Tabatabaee Raissi, S. H., 2011, Integrating seismic attributes in the accurate modeling of geological structures and determining the storage of the gas reservoir in Gorgan Plain (North of Iran): Journal of Applied Geophysics, 73, 187-195.
Ritz, J. F., Nazari, H., Ghassemi, A., Salamati, R., Shafei, A., Solaymani, S., and Vernant, P., 2006, Active transtension inside central Alborz: A new insight into northern Iran–southern Caspian geodynamics: Geology, 34, 477–480, doi:10.1130/G22319.1.
Robert, A. M. M., Letouzey, J., Kavoosi, M. A., Sherkati, S., Müller, C., Vergés, J., and Aghababaei, A., 2014, Structural evolution of the Kopeh Dagh fold-and-thrust belt (NE Iran) and interactions with the South Caspian Sea Basin and Amu Darya Basin: Marine and Petroleum Geology, 57, 68-87.
Seyed-Emami, K., 1975, Jurassic–Cretaceous Boundary in Iran, AAPG Bull, 59, 231–238.
Smith-Rouch, L. S., 2006, Oligocene-Miocene Maykop/Diatom total petroleum system of the south Caspian basin province, Azarbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan: Bulletin 2201-I, U.S. Geological Survey.
Soleimani, M., Aghajani, H., and Heydari-Nejad, S., 2018, Structure of giant buried mud volcanoes in the South Caspian Basin: Enhanced seismic image and field gravity data by using normalized full gradient method: Interpretation, 6(4), 443p.
Stewart, S. A., and Davies, R. J., 2006, Structure and emplacement of mud volcano systems in the South Caspian Basin: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 90, 771–786.
Torres, M. A., 2007, The petroleum geology of western Turkmenistan: The Gograndag-Okarem province, in P. O., Yilmaz, and G. H., Isaksen, eds., Oil and Gas of the Greater Caspian area: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Studies in Geology, 55, 109–132.
Vernant, P., Nilforoushan, F., Hatzfeld, D., et al., 2004, Present-day crustal deformation and plate kinematics in the Middle East constrained by GPS measurements in Iran and northern Oman: Geophysical Journal International, 157, 381–398.
Yusifov, M., and Rabinowitz, P. D., 2004, Classification of mud volcanoes in the South Caspian Basin, offshore Azerbaijan: Marine and Petroleum Geology, 21, 965–975.
Yusifov, M. Z., and Rabinowitz, P. D., 2003, Seismic interpretation and classification of mud volcanoes of the South Caspian Basin, Offshore Azerbaijan: The Offshore Technology Conference.
 
Iranian Journal of Geophysics
Volume 17, Issue 1
March 2023
Pages 238-243

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics