Structural and tectonic conditions for the development of the Bering Sea sedimentary basin

Introduction. In order to characterize the oil and gas potential of any area under exploration, its structural and tectonic evolution should be studied. In this paper, a structural and tectonic modelling of the Bering Sea is carried out.
Aim. To identify the structural and tectonic characteristics of the Bering Sea by interpreting the results obtained during a geodynamic analysis of sedimentary basin formation, based on the tectonic and geodynamic paleoreconstructions and sedimentary basin modelling of the Bering Sea.
Materials and methods. A structural and tectonic modelling of the Bering Sea sedimentary basins was carried out using contemporary methods of basin analysis and numerical geological modelling (PetroMod software, Schlumberger). Three-dimensional time-spatial structural-tectonic models of the Bering Sea were formed using the bottom structural maps of Pliocene-Quaternary deposits, near the Lower Miocene and Oligocene tops and along the acoustic basement bottom. Maps were digitalized and converted to grids (with a 500-m step), in which the discrepancies (intersections) were removed taking into account the available geological and geophysical data (seismogeological sections). The contemporary surface of sedimentary basins was constructed by the connection of bathymetric and topographic maps. The beginning and end time of sedimentary accumulation periods was determined in accordance with the international stratigraphic scale.
Results. The performed study identified the sufficiently continuous development areas of the oceanic or suboceanic crust of deep-water (back-arc) basins, aged from the Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous to the Cenozoic and repeatedly affected by the subsequent phases of the tectonic and magmatic activation; development belts of the Cretaceous-Cenozoic block-magmatic basement of island arcs, locally including reformed basement blocks of an older, Paleozoic or Cimmerian, consolidation; extensive depth-differentiated alpine/newest (syn-oceanic) shelf platforms, occassionally partially destroyed due to the latest destruction, including blocks or large blocks of Pre-Cambrian or Paleozoic relatively rigid massifs in the structure of their base.
Conclusion. The modelling results indicate the deeply submerged West Anadyr, East Anadyr and Central Anadyr basins to be possible depocentres with their own hydrocarbon generation centres.

1. Atlas of geological and geophysical maps. Bering Sea. Ed. Gramberga I.S. Leningrad, 1992.

2. Beliaev I.V., Borshcheva N.A., Butkov V.P., Bychkov IU.M., Gladenkov IU.B., Dundo O.P., Lopatin B.G., Markovskii B.A., Oradovskaia M.M., Radchenko V.G., Rotman V.K., Sei I.I., Ustinov N.V. Geology of the Bering Sea and its continental framing. Leningrad: Science, 1985, 127 p.

3. Vorobyov Yu.M. and others. Report “Integrated reconnaissance geophysical research in the area of the Bering and Chukchi Seas” // VPO Sakhalinmorneftegazprom, Okha. 1984.

4. Golubev V.M. Bottom geology, geodynamics and oil and gas potential of the Bering Sea region. Abstarct of the dissertation of cand. geol.-min. sciences. St. Petersburg, 1997. P. 27.

5. Guliyev I.S., Kerimov V.Yu., Osipov A.V., Mustaev R.N. Generation and accumulation of hydrocarbons at great depths under the earth’s crust // SOCAR Proceedings. 2017. No. 1. P. 4—16.

6. Zakrevsky K.E. Workshop on 3D geological modeling. Building a test model in Petrel. 2009. Moscow, 2010, 110 p.

7. Kerimov V.Yu., Leonov M.G., Osipov A.V., Mustaev R.N., Hai V.N. Hydrocarbons in the Basement of the South China Sea (Vietnam) Shelf and Structural–Tectonic Model of their Formation // Geotectonics. 2019. No. 53(1). P. 42—59.

8. Kerimov V.Yu., Bondarev A.V., Sizikov E.A., Sinyavskaya O.S., Makarova A.Yu. The conditions of formation and evolution of hydrocarbon systems in Sakhalin shelf, the Sea of Okhotsk // Neftyanoe Khozyaystvo. Oil Industry. 2015. No. 8. P. 22—27.

9. Kerimov V.Yu., Gordadze, G.N., Mustaev R.N., Bondarev A.V. Formation conditions of hydrocarbon systems on the Sakhalin shelf of the sea of Okhotsk based on the geochemical studies and modeling // Oriental Journal of Chemistry. 2018. No. 34(2). P. 934—947.

10. Lavrenova E.A., Gorbunov A.A., Malishev N.A., Obmetko V.V., Borodulin A.A. Tectonic and paleogeographic conditions of Anadyr trough petroleum systems // 7th EAGE Saint Petersburg international conference and exhibition: understanding the harmony of the Earth’s resources through integration of geosciences, Saint Petersburg, 2016. P. 369-373.

11. Mustaev R.N., Hai W.N., Kerimov V.Yu., Leonova E.A. Generation and conditions formation of hydrocarbon deposits in Kyulong basin by simulation results hydrocarbon systems. // Geomodel 2015 — 17th ScientificPractical Conference on Oil and Gas Geological Exploration and Development. P. 212—216.