Late Cretaceous transgression in the Muglad Basin of Central Africa and its implication for oil and gas exploration

Hong XIAO, Meijun LI, Dingsheng CHENG, Jiguo LIU, Jin LI, Xiangrong XING

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Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2024, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (3) : 352-359. DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.6.19

Late Cretaceous transgression in the Muglad Basin of Central Africa and its implication for oil and gas exploration

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Abstract

The global transgression during the Late Cretaceous was previously believed to have primarily affected the northern African continent, with the Muglad Basin in the central African region thought to have been unaffected by this event. Within the basin, only one set of organic-rich source rock was known to have formed, namely the lacustrine mudstone of the Lower Cretaceous Abu Gabra Formation. This study collected mudstone samples from both the Upper Cretaceous Darfur Group and the Lower Cretaceous Abu Gabra Formation. Analysis revealed that the mudstones from the Upper Cretaceous Darfur Group exhibit a distinct distribution of dinosteranes and tricyclic terpanes compared to the lacustrine source rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Abu Gabra Formation, showing an abundance of dinosteranes and C23 tricyclic terpanes, which are likely products of transgression. This study suggests that the mudstones from the Upper Cretaceous Darfur Group were influenced by seawater from the Neo-Tethys Ocean, indicating that the global transgression in the Late Cretaceous extended into the Muglad Basin in Central Africa. Furthermore, the presence of organic-rich marine mudstones in the Darfur Group suggests that the basin not only accumulated the lacustrine source rock of the Abu Gabra Formation but also potentially deposited a set of marine source rock. The discovery of marine oil in the K-1 well further confirms the hydrocarbon generation potential of marine source rock in the Darfur Group, pointing to new prospects for petroleum exploration in the Muglad Basin in the future.

Key words

transgression / Late Cretaceous / molecular fossils / dinosteranes / tricyclic terpanes / marine oil

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Hong XIAO , Meijun LI , Dingsheng CHENG , et al . Late Cretaceous transgression in the Muglad Basin of Central Africa and its implication for oil and gas exploration. Earth Science Frontiers. 2024, 31(3): 352-359 https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.6.19

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