Open AccessThe structure and tectonics of the Guyana Basin
Author(s) -
James Trude,
Bill Kilsdonk,
Tim Grow,
Bryan Ott
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
special publication - geological society of london/geological society, london, special publications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.673
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 2041-4927
pISSN - 0305-8719
DOI - 10.1144/sp524-2021-117
Subject(s) - geology , rift , paleontology , seafloor spreading , structural basin , graben , passive margin , basement , continental margin , tectonics , transform fault , continental crust , geomorphology , civil engineering , engineering
The Guyana Basin formed during the Jurassic opening of the North Atlantic. The basin margins vary in tectonic origin and include the passive extensional volcanic margin of the Demerara Plateau in Suriname, an oblique extensional margin inboard at the Guyana-Suriname border, a transform margin parallel to the shelf in NW Guyana, and an ocean-ocean margin to the northeast which morphed from transform to oblique extension. Plate reconstructions suggest rifting and early seafloor spreading began with NNW/SSE extension (∼190-160Ma) but relative plate motion later changed to NW/SE. The fraction of magmatic basin floor decreases westwards and the transition from continental to oceanic crust narrows from 200km in Suriname to less than 50km in Guyana. The geometry and position of the onshore Takutu Graben suggest it formed a failed arm of a Jurassic triple junction that likely captured the Berbice river during post-rift subsidence and funneled sediment into the Guyana Basin. Berriasian to Aptian shortening caused crustal scale folds and thrusts in the NE margin of the basin along with minor inversions of basin margin and basin segmenting faults. Stratigraphically trapped Liza trend hydrocarbon discoveries are located outboard of inverted basement faults, suggesting a link between transform margin structure and their formation.