Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.

AAPG Memoir

1 REAPPRAISAL OF THE TECTONIC STYLE OF THE TALARA-

2 TUMBES FOREARC BASIN: REGIONAL INSIGHTS FOR
3 HYDROCARBONS EXPLORATION.

4 Stéphane Brusset, Université Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse,

5 stephane.brusset@get.omp.eu
6 Nicolas Espurt, Université Aix-Marseille, CEREGE, espurt@cerege.fr
7 Mayssa Vega, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, mayssavega@gmail.com
8 Patrice Baby, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse,
9 patrice.baby@ird.fr
10 Jean-Claude Soula, Université Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, jean-
11 claude.soula@get.obs-mip.fr
12 Martin Roddaz, Université Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse,
13 martin.roddaz@get.omp.eu
14 Gérôme Calvès, Université Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse,
15 gerome.calves@get.omp.eu
16 Ysabel Calderon, Perupetro, ycalderon@perupetro.com.pe
17

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

18 ABSTRACT

19 Forearc basins are areas under explored by academic or industrial research. They are not considered as

20 potential area by the industry because only three giant oil field belongs to this type of basin. One of them

21 is located in the northern Peruvian forearc system: the Talara basin, which is the subject of our research.

22 The aim of this work is to provide for oil industry skills about the tectonic style and the tectonic-

23 sedimentation relationships within this basin in order to decipher its petroleum potential, using surface

24 and subsurface data (seismic lines, well-logs). On a tectonic view point, we demonstrate that the basin

25 structure is not a pull-apart basin but an accretionary prism built by deep-seated north-verging thrusts

26 reworked by shallow gravitational normal faults. A tectonic model is developed corresponding to the

27 north-westward propagation of thrust-related culminations bounded by south-east facing normal faults

28 since Eocene times. This tectonic model renews our perception about the whole Peruvian forearc and

29 suggests that anticline traps, which have never been explored, should become a new target for future HC

30 exploration.

31 INTRODUCTION

32 Forearc basins (Dickinson, 1995) have long been under-explored by academic or industrial research.

33 However, forearc basins have recently been subjected to reevaluation by hydrocarbon industry as being

34 potential reserves of gas for the future. One from the three giant oil fields of this type which have been

35 considered as potential areas by the industry, the Talara basin, is located in the northern Peruvian forearc

36 system. Surprisingly, one of the less explored of these forearc basins is the Tumbes basin, adjacent to the

37 Talara basin, which has produced oil and gas since the late 19th century. In this basin, unexplored

38 resources remain very important (Mathalone and Montoya, 1995; Higley, 2002).

39 Our study is concerned with the forearc area including both the north of the Talara basin and the Tumbes

40 basins. The relationship of the Talara basin with the Tumbes basin has yet never been studied because

41 HC-exploration blocks have been studied separately. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

42 between these basins and those between the basins and the structural highs bounding them, in the

43 geodynamic context of the whole forearc. The structural style and the evolution of the sedimentation from

44 one basin to the other will be studied by the way of the construction of two crustal scale sections,

45 supported by 250 days of field investigation and analyses of subsurface data (2D and 3D seismic surveys

46 and well data, by courtesy of Perupetro).

47 GEOLOGICAL SETTING

48 The Tumbes-Talara-Lancones (Tumbes, Talara, and Lancones) forearc basin has developed between the

49 Peru-Chile subduction zone and the Western Cordillera volcanic arc (Figure 1). The large scale structural

50 architecture of this system is underlined by N45E-trending structural highs, which are the Peru Bank, the

51 Zorritos-Carpitas high, and the Amotapes-Païta massifs (Shepherd and Moberly, 1981; Seranne, 1987;

52 Mourier et al., 1988, a, b; Carozzi and Palomino, 1993; Deniaud et al., 1999; Jaillard et al., 2005; Fildani

53 et al., 2008; Daudt et al., 2010; Hessler and Fildani, 2015). These highs are bounded by south-east facing

54 normal faults.

55 The entire area is characterized by normal faults well apparent in the upper part of the seismic and field

56 sections (Shepherd and Moberly, 1981; Deniaud et al., 1999; Witt et al., 2006; Witt and Bourgois, 2010).

57 According to Witt et al. (2006), the direction of these normal faults are NE-SW; NW-SE and N-S. The

58 most important of them is landward-facing with a NE-SW trend, sub-parallel to the coast line. A major

59 NE-SW- trending strike slip fault (“Puna-Santa Clara fault system”), originally sinistral and now dextral,

60 would have been at the origin of the formation of the basins in the early Pleistocene, by accommodating

61 the northward escape of the North Andean Block. Most of the authors cited above interpreted the area as a

62 pull-apart basin. Witt and Bourgois (2010) proposed a special type of pull-apart basin they termed “pull-

63 apart escape basin” in which they integrate the so-called northern escape of the North-Andean block.

64 The Tumbes basin infill is composed of Oligocene to Holocene siliciclatics, which range from turbiditic

65 channels and base-of-slope deposits to coastal and deltaic environments. This progadational sequence set

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

66 attains ~ 8 km of total vertical thickness. The Talara basin infill consists of an Early Eocene

67 progradational sequence set completed by a retrogradational sequence set deposited till the late Eocene.

68 The maximum vertical thickness of the Talara basin infill is ~ 8 km (Seranne, 1987; Carozzi and

69 Palomino, 1993; Fildani et al., 2008; Daudt et al., 2010; Hessler and Fildani, 2015).

70 REGIONAL CROSS-SECTIONS

71 Two crustal scale cross-sections illustrate the structural complexity of the forearc of northernmost Peru

72 (Figure 1). They crosscut the basin systems (Talara, Tumbes, and Lancones basins) and the basement-

73 cored culminations separating these basins (Amotapes, Carpitas-Zoritos highs), and the Peru Bank. The

74 overall structure is controlled by a northwest-vergent basement thrust wedge branched onto the Nazca

75 subduction plane. The Peru Bank, at the toe of this thrust wedge, constitutes the present-day sedimentary

76 accretionary prism overlying the Alvarado ridge which commenced subducting at ~ 2 Ma (Lonsdale,

77 2005).

78 The Zorritos section (A-A’)- (Figure 2)

79 The onshore geometry of the successive sequences appears as a north-westward dipping homocline. This

80 homocline is cut by southeast facing normal faults. These normal faults are onlapped by the transgressive

81 upper Miocene Cardalitos formation. The sequence set downlaps the metamorphic basement of the

82 Amotapes massif. The depocenter is located offshore, to the north-west of the Zorritos high. Normal

83 listric faults are the most apparent structural features. This extensional fault system develops ramps in the

84 upper Miocene-Pleistocene sedimentary pile and branches onto a décollement located in the shales of the

85 lower Heat Formation. This results in roll-over anticlines at the hanging-wall of which the Plio-

86 Pleistocene formations display growth stratal patterns. In the middle of the depocenter a complex fault-

87 propagation anticline merges to the surface. It is formed by thrusts with opposing dips giving rise to a

88 pop-up structure (McClay, 1991). Thickness changes and the stratal termination against the fold limb

89 indicate that compressional folding had occurred during the deposition of late Miocene formations.

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

90 Afterwards, the forethrust of this pop-up has been reactivated and deforms the sea floor. The western end

91 of the Tumbes basin is constituted by a fault propagation fold inverted by gravitational normal faulting.

92 South-eastward progradation reflections in the latest Miocene-Pliocene deposits suggest that

93 compressional activity is restricted to this period. In front of the Tumbes basin, the Peru Bank, which

94 represents a Pleistocene sedimentary accretionary prism.

95 The Carpitas section (B-B’)- (Figure 3)

96 Onshore, this cross-section includes the Cretaceous Lancones basin (Andamoyo, 2008) and the northern

97 prolongation of the Talara basin. These basins are separated by the Amotapes basement-cored thrust fold

98 culmination. This thrust fold had transported the Lancones basin westward as a piggy-back basin. This

99 basin is deformed by northwest-vergent thrusts locally reactivating the onlap surface of the Cretaceous

100 strata against the Amotapes basement. The Talara basin is the frontal depocenter of the Amotapes thrust

101 fold. It develops southeast of the Carpitas high and pinches-out against the Amotapes. The extensional

102 geometry is controlled by southeast-facing leading normal listric faults and minor antithetic faults. The

103 Talara basin growth strata show that extensional features propagated southeastward during the Eocene

104 whereas the lower Miocene strata onlap the leading normal faults.

105 Offshore, the Tumbes basin is the frontal depocenter of the Carpitas thrust sheet and is transported on the

106 back of the Peru Bank. At the base of the Tumbes basin, a smaller scale thrust-fold is onlapped by upper

107 Eocene strata and sealed by Oligocene strata. Southeast, normal faults affect the Eocene and branches

108 onto the upper flat of the Carpitas thrust fold. This and the steep dip of the basement top indicate that

109 those faults were rotated as a result of the propagation of the forelimb of the Carpitas thrust fold.

110 On the whole, it appears that the thickness of the Mio-Pliocene decreases toward the Carpitas high. The

111 most apparent structures are gravitational syn- and antithetic normal faults, and associated rollovers. At

112 the rear of the Peru Bank, compressional folds crosscut by extensional faults are likely to be the southern

113 equivalents of the inverted fault-propagation fold of the Zorritos section. The Peru Bank appears as a

114 duplex in which are involved distal equivalents of the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene strata observed

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

115 onshore. This duplex is linked to the subducting Alvarado ridge. It covered with Plio-Pleistocene deposits

116 strongly affected by gravitational sliding.

117 STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION

118 The overall structure described above may be interpreted to be a result of a break-forward thrust

119 propagation sequence. Normal fault structures are two types: (i) younger normal faults have resulted from

120 gravitational sliding induced by thrust uplift. These are found in the Oligocene and younger strata of the

121 Tumbes basin, and in front of the Peru Bank; (ii) older normal faults resulted from the accommodation by

122 the continental basement and the Cenozoic cover of the flexure of the Nazca plate caused by thrust-

123 loading. These are found in the Eocene of both the Talara and Tumbes basins.

124 The thrust sequence commenced in the southeast with the propagation of the Amotapes thrust-fold

125 (‘Amotapes high’) as recorded by the onlap of the upper Cretaceous strata over the basement. In this area

126 the Eocene unconformably rests over the thrust-folded Cretaceous and Paleozoic strata. To the northwest,

127 in the forelimb and the footwall of the Amotapes thrust-culmination, the Eocene is deposited in

128 extensional sub-basins created by the flexure of the subducting Nazca plate.

129 Then, the en-échelons Carpitas and Zorritos thrust-folds propagated north-westward during the early

130 Oligocene (‘Carpitas and Zorritos highs). Both thrust-folds renewed propagating in the middle Miocene

131 and the Pliocene.

132 At 2 Ma, the subduction of the Alvarado ridge (Lonsdale, 2005) created a relief in the overlying crust,

133 which was at the origin of duplexing, thus constituting the Peru Bank accretionary prism. Then, the thrust

134 wedge propagates north-westward to the present-day Peru-Chile trench.

135 BASIN DYNAMICS

136 The study above enables us to propose a tectono-stratigraphic evolution at the scale of the entire forearc

137 basin from the Eocene to present day.

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

138 (1) The initial configuration is shown in the Lancones basin and the southern Talara basin. It consists in a

139 Late Cretaceous piggy back basin transported by the Amotapes thrust sheet in the former, and a marginal

140 basin, likely representing a frontal depocenter, in the latter. The Late Cretaceous strata are pinching out

141 northward in the northern Talara basin, and are lacking in the Tumbes basin. The Paleocene is absent in

142 the entire North-Peruvian forearc basin.

143 (2) During the early Eocene, the inward propagating normal faults formed in front of the Amotapes thrust

144 fold in response to increasing thrust loading. At this time (Figure 4A), the deposits issued from the

145 cordillera had been trapped in the non-marine part of the basin (Hessler and Fildani, 2015; Daudt et al,

146 2010) while shallow marine sediments had deposited to the west and the south (Fildani et al., 2008).

147 (3) At the end of the early Eocene (Late Ypresian-Early Lutetian, Fildani et al., 2008), the basin polarity

148 changed from SSW to NW (Daudt et al., 2010). Renewed tectonic loading caused the non-marine deposits

149 issued from the Amotapes high (Fildani, 2015) to be succeeded by marine slope deposits representing

150 delta front shales (Talara shales). In the late Eocene, an advance of the Amotapes thrust fold led to

151 renewed erosion and coeval sedimentation of turbiditic deposits in the Tumbes basin (Daudt, 2010) In the

152 latest Eocene, thrust front propagated toward the sedimentary accretionary prism constituted at this time

153 by a single thrust fold now situated on the edge of the Tumbes basin, at the rear of the Peru Bank.

154 (4) During the Oligocene, the advance of the thrust wedge is recorded by the propagation of the Carpitas-

155 Zorritos thrust folds, and the end of the propagation of the single-fold accretionary prism (Figure 4B). The

156 propagation of the Carpitas thrust fold caused tilting and/or inversion of the early Eocene extensional

157 structures on its forelimb, and renewed extension on its backlimb. During the early Oligocene the

158 Zorritos-Carpitas high constitutes the frontier between the south-eastern non-marine and the north-

159 western marine parts of the Talara-Tumbes basin. The non-marine part is filled with the Mancora

160 formation while the marine part is filled with base-of-slope and delta front deposits. In the late Oligocene

161 and early Miocene (Heat formation), thrust loading had been responsible for an overall subsidence of the

162 basin. At this time, an anoxic piggy-back sub-basin formed on the backlimb of the Zorritos-Carpitas

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

163 thrust fold, whereas marine fines rich in organic matter are suspected to have deposited in the distal

164 frontal basin. In the middle Miocene, the continued north-westward propagation of thrusting was

165 responsible for the progradation of deltaic systems (Zorritos formation) over the crest of the Zorritos-

166 Carpitas thrust fold and in the Tumbes basin. In the late Miocene the Cardalitos shally formation was

167 deposited above a well-marked erosion surface cutting the Zorritos formation. To the southeast of the

168 Zorritos-Carpitas high the Cardalitos formation filled valleys incised in the Zorritos formation. In the

169 marine Tumbes basin, the surface is likely to be due to erosion by deep-sea processes (bottom currents or

170 turbiditic flows). Then, the deltaic systems of the Tumbes formation prograded north-westward. In the

171 middle/late Miocene the acretionary prism is constituted by the synsedimentary fault-propagation fold

172 described in the Zorritos section (Figure 2).

173 (5) In the Pliocene, the thrust front reached the rear of the future Peru Bank. The Pliocene sediments (Mal

174 Pelo formation) are observed in the Tumbes basin and inferred on the top of the future Peru Bank (Figure

175 4C).

176 (6) At ~2 Ma, the volcanic Alvarado ridge commenced subducting under the Eocene to Pliocene

177 sediments continuously deposited in the trench-slope basin, and their crustal basement. The growth of the

178 Peru Bank separated the Tumbes basin from the Peru-Chile trench basin (Figure 4D). As a result, the

179 Tumbes basin became bounded by two opposite-dipping marginal faults. This, and high sedimentation

180 rates enhanced gravitational sliding, forming variously oriented normal listric faults (Perupetro report,

181 2005).

182 IMPLICATIONS FOR HC EXPLORATION

183 In the northernmost forearc the Tumbes basin constitutes the kitchen of the petroleum system where deep-

184 seated Cenozoic source rocks (Fildani, 2005; Fildani et al., 2008; Hessler and Fildani, 2015) are

185 sufficiently buried to attain maturity, at least during Miocene (Perupetro, 2005). Thrust propagation

186 controlled the deposition of marine fines (seal and/or source rocks) during the loading period, and the

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

187 deposition of sands capable of forming reservoirs during fold growth. The present configuration of the

188 Tumbes basin offshore and attendant gravitational structures are strongly controlled by the growth of the

189 Peru Bank duplex since 2 Ma. The complex fracture pattern so created will reduce the size and extent of

190 shallow plays and complicate across-fault relationship and sealing capacity.

191 On another hand, the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene involved in the Peru Bank may contain alternating

192 reservoirs and seals preserved from gravitational fracturing. It should be thought that present day HC

193 migration has been capable of filling these structural traps in spite of their age.

194 CONCLUSION

195 (1) This study show that thrusting is the driving process in the formation and the evolution of the forearc

196 basin system of north-western Peru. Extensional structures, although well apparent, are in fact

197 consequences of the forward propagation of a crustal thrust wedge since at least the early Eocene. Eocene

198 normal faults had formed in the continental crust in front of the propagating wedge as a consequence of

199 the flexure of the subducting Nazca plate as a result of thrust loading. Normal faults in the Oligocene and

200 younger strata have been consequences of thrust uplift generating gravitational sliding, which explains the

201 varying orientations of these faults.

202 (2) The so-called Talara, Tumbes, and Lancones sub-basins are parts of a same forearc basin

203 compartmentalized by thrust fold culminations. Forward thrust fold propagation toward the present-day

204 position of the Peru-Chile trench has been responsible for the outward migration of the depocenters. The

205 onset of thrust propagation is recorded by a basin-scale subsidence with shally sedimentation. Continued

206 fold growth partitioned the sedimentation into a piggy-back non-marine and a frontal deltaic to deep-

207 marine depositional areas.

208 (3) Similarly, the outward migration of the accretionary prism is effected by the migration of single-fold

209 accretionary prisms until the Pleistocene subduction of the Alvarado ridge. This subduction of the

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

210 Alvarado ridge causes the accretionary prism to be formed of a duplex instead of single fault-propagation

211 folds.

212 (4) Because of its antiformal structure and of potential reservoirs and seals it contains, the Peru Bank

213 duplex should be a good candidate for a future exploration.

214 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

215 This research project was conducted thanks to the IRD-PERUPETRO S.A agreement. Midland Valley is

216 acknowledged for providing academic agreement to the Université Paul Sabatier. The research leading to

217 these results has received funding from the IRD, the Institut Carnot ISI-FOR (France).

218 REFERENCES (USE HEADING 1 STYLE)

219 Andamayo K., 2008, Nuevo estilo estructural y posibles sistemas petroleros de la cuenca Lancones. Tesis

220 de ingeniería geológica. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú, 152 p.

221 Carozzi, A.V., and Palomino, R., 1993, The Talara forearc basin, NW Peru: depositional models for oil

222 producing Cenozoic clastic systems, Journal of Petroleum Geology, 16, p. 5-32

223 Daudt, J.A.B., Pozo, E.G., Torres, K.M., Ore J.L., 2010, Evoluçao estratigráfica, arcabouço estrutural e

224 potential remanescente das unidades produtoras da Bacia de Talara (noroeste do Peru) na área do Lote X

225 (Stratigraphic evolution, sructural framework and remaining potential of Talara Basin production units

226 (NW Peru) in Block X area), Boletim de Geociências da Petrobras,18, 1, p.69-95

227 Deniaud, Y., Baby, P., Basile, C., Ordoñez, M., Montentegro, G., and Mascle, G., 1999, Ouverture et

228 évolution tectono-sédimentaire du Golfe de Guayaquil : bassin d’avant arc néogène et quaternaire du sud

229 des Andes équatoriennes, Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, 238, p. 181-187

230 Dickinson, W.R., 1995, Forearc basins. In: Tectonics of Sedimetary basins (Ed. by C.J. Busby and R.V.

231 Ingersoll) p. 221-261, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

232 Fildani, A., Hanson, A., Zhengzheng, C., Moldowan, J.M., Graham, S., and Arriola, P., 2005,

233 Geochemical characteristics of oil and source rocks and implications for petroleum systems, Talara basin,

234 northwest Peru. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bullettin, 89, 11, p. 1519-1545

235 Fildani, A., Hessler, A.M., Graham, S.A., 2008, Trench-forearc interactions reflected in the sedimentary

236 fill of Talara basin, northwest Peru, Basin Research, 20, p.305-331

237 Hessler, A.M., and Fildani, A., 2015, Andean forearc dynamics, as recorded by detrital Zircon from the

238 Eocene Talara basin, northwest Peru, Journal of Sedimentary Resarch, 85, p. 646-659

239 Higley, D., 2002, Assesment of undiscovered oil and gaz resources of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Total

240 Petroleum System, Talara Basin Province. In: INGEPET, 5, Lima, Peru

241 Jaillard E., Bengtson P., Annie V. Dhondt., 2005 Late Cretaceous marine transgressions in Ecuador and

242 northern Peru: A refined stratigraphic framework, Journal of South American Earth Sciences 19, pp. 307-

243 323

244 Lonsdale, P., 2005, Creation of the Cocos and Nazca plates by fission of the Farallon plate,

245 Tectonophysics, 404, p. 237-264

246 Mathalone, J. M. P., and Montoya R., M., 1995, Petroleum geology of the sub-Andean basins of Peru, in

247 A. J. Tankard, R. Suárez S., and H. J. Welsink, Petroleum basins of South America: American

248 Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 62, p. 423–444.

249 McClay, K.R., 1992, Glossary of thrust tectonics terms, in McClay, K.(ed.): Thrust tectonics, Chapman

250 and Hall, London, p. 419-433.

251 Mourier, T., Laj, C., Mégard, F., Roperch, P., Mitouard, P., and Farfan Medrano, A., 1988a, An accreted

252 continental terrane in northwestern Peru. Earth, Planetary Science Letters, 88, 182-192

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253 Mourier, T., Megard, F., Rivera, L., Arguedas, A.P., 1988b, L’évolution mésozoique des Andes de

254 Huancababa (nord Pérou-sud Equateur) et l’hypothèse de l’accrétion du bloc Amotape-Tahuin. Bulletin

255 de la Société Géologique de France, 4, p. 69-79

256 Perupetro S. A, 2005, Tumbes and Talara basins Hydrocarbon Evaluation, Internal report (Basin

257 Evaluations Group, Exploration Department: Martinez, E., Fernández, J., Calderon, Y., Hermoza, W., and

258 Galdos, C.), Perupetro technical archives,130 p.

259 Sage, F., Collot, J.-Y., and Ranero, C.R., 2006, Interplate patchiness and subduction-erosion mechanisms:

260 evidence from depth-migrated seismic images at the Central Ecuador convergent margin, Geology, 34,

261 997-1000

262 Seranne, M., 1987, Evolution tectono-sédimentaire du bassin de Talara (nord-ouest du Pérou), Institut

263 français des études andines, XVI (3-4), p. 103-125

264 Shepherd, G.L., and Moberly, R., 1981, Coastal structure of the continental margin, NW Peru and SW

265 Ecuador. Geological Society of America Memoir, 154, 351-391

266 Vega Guzman M., 2009, Architecture tectonique et stratigraphique du bassin d’avant-arc de Tumbes

267 (Nord Pérou) : conséquences stratégiques pour l’exploration des hydrocarbures, PhD thesis, université

268 Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, 209 p.

269 Witt, C., Bourgois, J., Michaud, F., Ordoñez, M., Jiménez, N., and Sosson, M., 2006, Development of the

270 Gulf of Guayaquil (Ecuador) during the Quaternary as an effect of the North Andean block escape.

271 Tectonics, 25, TC3017, doi:1029/2004TC001723

272 Witt, C., and Bourgois, J., 2010, Forearc basin formation in the tectonic wake of a collision-driven,

273 coastwise migrating crutal block: the example of the North Andean block and the extensional Gulf of

274 Guayaquil-Tumbes Basin (Ecuador-Peru border area), Geological Society of America Bulletin, 122, 89-

275 108, doi: 10.1130/B26 386.1

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 Petroleum Basins and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. AAPG Memoir

276 FIGURE CAPTIONS

277 Figure 1: A- Geodynamic setting of the Talara-Tumbes basin (contoured in white). SATF: SubAndean

278 Thrust Front. B- Geological map and offshore bathymetry of the study area. A-A’: Zorritos section; B-B’:

279 Carpitas section. Thick red lines: major faults; thin red lines: minor faults.

280 Figure 2: Zorritos section. Trench infill after Sage et al., 2006. Internal structure not represented.

281 Figure 3: Carpitas section. Trench infill after Sage et al., 2006.

282 Figure 4: Schematic sequential evolution of the Talara-TuMiddle Eocembes basin along the Carpitas

283 section. A: Middle Eocene. The extensional sub-basins formed in the west of the propagating Amotapes

284 thrust fold in response to thrust loading, are sealed by the deltaic sequence (Talara shales). B: Oligocene.

285 The propagation of the Carpitas thrust fold caused tilting and/or inversion of the early Eocene extensional

286 structures on its forelimb. C. Pliocene. After a Miocene progradation of the deltaic systems to the west of

287 the Zorritos-Carpitas thrust fold, the thrust front reached the rear of the future Peru Bank. D. Pleistocene.

288 The subduction of the Alvarado ridge provoked a duplexing of the distal Eocene to Miocene strata, and

289 gravitational sliding within the Tumbes basin and along the trench slope.

290

13
 B
45
00
00
A
000

ench
9 650

le tr-4500

50
00
00
-Chi
Peru

55
00
00
Depth (km)

-5 -4 -3

Recent- Alluvial
Pleistoc.
Cardalitos Fm (Mc)
Cenozoic

Miocene Zorritos Fm (Mz)

Heat Fm (O-Mh)
Olig. Mancora Fm (Om)
Talara/Verdun/Chira/
Eocene Mirador Fms (Etvc)
Salinas-Mogollon Fms (Esm)
Redondo/Tablones Fms (LKt)
Cretaceous

Encuentros Fm (LKe) Intrusive

Upper Jahuay Negro Fm. (LKjn)
Huasimal Fm (LKh)
Muerto/Lancones Fms (EKm-l)
9 500 000
Lower Pananga/Gigantal Fms (EKp-g) 20 km
Paleozoic Amotapes undiff. basement (P-Tb)
 ) N154 N135 N117

Peru Bank Zorritos Amotapes

Tumbes basin high high Lancones basin
0 km 0 km
5 km

10 km
Nazca plate Alvarado ridge 10 km
15 km

Pleistocene Oligocene Lower Heat Fm 20 km

Pliocene Oligocene Mancora Fm
Miocene Tumbes Fm Eocene
Miocene Cardalitos Fm Undifferentiated Eocene to 30 km
Miocene Zorritos Fm Miocene of Peru Bank 0 25 50 km
Miocene Heat Fm Triassic-Paleozoic basement
40 km
 * N177 N135 N117 N130

Peru Bank Carpitas Amotapes

Tumbes basin high high Lancones basin
Talara basin
0 km 0 km

5 km
10 km
Nazca plate Alvarado rid 10 km
ge
15 km
Pleistocene
Pliocene Oligocene Lower Heat Fm 20 km
Miocene Tumbes Fm Oligocene Mancora Fm
Miocene Cardalitos Fm Eocene
Miocene Zorritos Fm Cretaceous of the Lancones B. 0 25 50 km 30 km
Miocene Heat Fm Triassic-Paleozoic basement

40 km
 A Middle Eocene
0 km

5 km
10 km
15 km Middle Eocene deltaic systems
Lower Eocene Mogollon Fm
Triassic-Paleozoic basement Cretaceous of the Lancones B.

0 25 50 km

Approximate scale
 B Oligocene
0 km

5 km
10 km
15 km

Oligocene Lower Heat Fm

Oligocene Mancora Fm
Eocene 0 25 50 km
Triassic-Paleozoic basement Cretaceous of the Lancones B.
Approximate scale
 C Pliocene
0 km

5 km
10 km
15 km

Pliocene
Late Miocene (Tumbes-Cardalitos-Zorritos Fm) 0 25 50 km
Miocene Heat Fm
Oligocene Lower Heat Fm
Approximate scale
Oligocene Mancora Fm
Eocene
Triassic-Paleozoic basement Cretaceous of the Lancones B.
 D Pleistocene
0 km

5 km
10 km
15 km
Pleistocene
Pliocene
Late Miocene (Tumbes-Cardalitos-Zorritos Fm)
Miocene Heat Fm 0 25 50 km
Oligocene Lower Heat Fm
Oligocene Mancora Fm Approximate scale
Eocene
Triassic-Paleozoic basement Cretaceous of the Lancones B.