SUBSIDENCE, SEDIMENTATION AND PETROLEUM SYSTEMS

Analysis of a number of petroleum provinces has emphasised the importance of sedimentary factors as well as subsidence processes. Subsidence appears to depend on a small number of mechanisms ‐ tectonics, heat flow and gravity. Taking into account thegeodynamic context in which these processes develop, it is possible to compile a classification of subsidence types which is distinct from the usual classifications in terms of basins. The type of subsidence influences the deposition rate, which determines both the potential and the habitat of petroleum. Moreover, existing statistics sho w that the number of “giant”fielako, r thep otential of a petroleum province largely depend on the types of subsidence and subsequent tectonic processes. However, it is also important to consider the history of a basin in terms of flows: geothermal flows from the mantle and crust; and water and hydrocarbon flows through the sedimentary volume. For these flow transfers, climatic and sedimentary factors, as well as variations in sea level, play a role which is as important as subsidence and uplift in controlling the distribution of non‐deposition areas, unconformities, seals and reservoirs. For example, periods of generalized transgression are favorable to both the development of carbonate platforms, and the formation of impervious horizons, seals and source rocks capable of sealing pre‐existing rifts. Therefore, a petroleum province can be considered as the final result of an organized set of geological events (in space and in time) that can be called apetroleum system. In such a system, thesequence ofsubsidencemovements and associatedflows isjust asdecisiveas lithological and geometric factors in the formation of a group of pools. This concept of the succession of geodynamics and sedimentary processes which affect petroleum potential is developed, and specific examples of petroleum systems from the North Sea, the Arabian Platform and the Congo Basin are presented.