Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2023, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (2): 139-153.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.2.70

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Tectono-depositional environment and prototype basin evolution in the Ordos Basin during the Early Permian

ZHAI Yonghe1(), HE Dengfa2,3,*(), KAI Baize2,3   

  1. 1. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China
    2. School of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
    3. Key Laboratory of Marine Reservoir Evolution and Hydrocarbon Accumulation Mechanism of the Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2021-08-29 Revised:2021-12-22 Online:2023-03-25 Published:2023-01-05
  • Contact: HE Dengfa

Abstract:

Major breakthroughs have been made in tight-gas sandstone exploration in the Lower Permian of the Ordos Basin with the discovery of a series of large tight-gas fields in recent years. Studying the tectono-depositional environment and prototype basins of this period is fundamental to understanding the evolutionary process of the Ordos Basin area, and is helpful for advancing oil and gas exploration in this region. Using the latest borehole and outcrop data and combining previous research results, we reconstructed the regional tectono-depositional environment in the Early Permian. Furthermore, we explored the properties and evolution of the prototype basin.The tectono-depositional environment of the Early Permian is characterized by active continental margins, impacted by subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean in the northern margin and Mianlue Ocean in the southern margin. The inherited Taiyuan Formation developed on the basis of the paleo-terrain of the Late Carboniferous, and the base plane indicates an upward paleogeography in this period dominated by a broad tidal flat and lagoon environment, with small tide-dominated delta formed in the north and south of the basin. The Shanxi period was the key period of sea-land transition in the Ordos Basin as seawater quickly retreated from the southeastern part of the basin. During the early depositional stage, the Shanxi Formation, influenced by regional compression, formed sea-land transitional system dominated by delta system, with residual tidal flat-open platform in the eastern part of the basin; in the late stage, base plane first rose and then fell, and the residual marine facies receded southward. After deposition of the Shanxi Formation, continental sedimentation began. The basin was characterized by stable subsidence in the Early Permian, with stable cratonic properties. Thus the Early Permian basin had the characteristics of an intra-cratonic depression. Peripheral tectonic environment, differential subsidence of lake basins, and development of paleo-uplift/depression had a significant impact on the evolution of sedimentary filling during this period in controlling the expansion of the deposition center to the east of the basin.

Key words: Early Permian, prototype basin, tectono-depositional environment, Ordos Basin, palaeogeography

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