Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY OF THE MASCARENE RIDGE, WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN

1980; Wiley; Volume: 3; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1747-5457.1980.tb00978.x

1747-5457

Maurice Kamen‐Kaye, A. A. Meyerhoff,

Geological and Geochemical Analysis

The Mascarene Ridge, more than 2,000 km long, has an arcuate shape, convex to ward the east. The ridge is interpreted here to be a relict island arc which ceased to be active in late Proterozoic or early Paleozoic time during the tectonic and orogenic events of the Panafrican tectogenesis. Precambrian granite is exposed at the northern end of the arc (Seychelles Bank) and recent volcanoes are at the southern end of the arc (Rhunion Island). Between the two extremities is a Tertiary basin with 2,432m (in the Saya de Malha no. 1 well) of Paleocene‐Pleistocene carbonate rocks, and more than 830 m of basaltic volcanic rocks of unknown age. Although drilling to date has been discouraging, the amount and depth of drilling are insufficient to determine theprospectivity of the area. At least one well should be drilled below the volcanic sequence in order to determine whether the Saya de Malha‐Nazareth Bank basin has petroleum potential.