Tectonostratigraphic evolution

of the Guyana Basin

Wenxiu Yang and Alejandro Escalona

ABSTRACT
The Guyana Basin is located along the passive margin of northeastern South America. With no major oil discoveries, the region is considered by the U.S. Geological Survey the second
least explored basin in the world. We integrated approximately
3000 km (1870 mi) of industry two-dimensional seismic data
and 16 offshore wells in offshore Guyana to provide a regional
framework and its hydrocarbon potential.
Four main stratigraphic sequences from the Cretaceous to
the Pliocene were recognized.
Sequence 1 of the Cretaceous consists of shelfal sedimentation and submarine fan systems. The main Cretaceous depocenter is located in the southeastern part of the area, which
coincides with a free-air gravity low, suggesting a basement
depression inherited from Jurassic rifting.
Sequence 2 of the Paleogene consists of shelfal clastic and
carbonate deposits. Listric faults affect the shelf edge and slope,
resulting in large turbidites down the slope. The west-southwest
east-northeastoriented Waini arch developed along the northern shelf, and it may reflect a flexural long-distance effect of
the Caribbean plate convergence with the northwestern South
American plate.
Sequence 3 of the early to middle Miocene consists of
isolated carbonate platforms at the shelf edge surrounded by
siliciclastics. On the sequence top, a regional unconformity
was identified by large incised valleys. We suggest that this
unconformity was caused by the peak of the Caribbean orogeny in the Trinidad area.
Sequence 4 of the late Miocene to Pliocene shows the
largest terrigenous progradational event in the shelf, which
was built up by clear sigmoidal clinoforms. We suggest that the
large progradation pattern change is caused by paleodrainage
system changes in northern South America since the middle
Miocene and by glacioeustasy.

AUTHORS
Wenxiu Yang  International Research Institute of Stavanger, 8046 Stavanger, Norway;
wenxiu.yang@uis.no
Wenxiu Yang received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, in 2007. At present, she
works as a postdoctoral researcher for the
International Research Institute of Stavanger
and the University of Stavanger in Norway. She
is currently interpreting regional seismic and
well data on the northwestern offshore of Cuba.
Alejandro Escalona  Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Stavanger,
4036 Stavanger, Norway;
alejandro.escalona@uis.no
Alejandro Escalona received his Ph.D. in geology
from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003.
At present, he is an associate professor at the
University of Stavanger in Norway. His research
is about basin evolution of continental margins,
tectonics, regional to reservoir-scale analysis
to define petroleum systems, and sequence/
seismic stratigraphy, using workstations to interpret both two-dimensional and three-dimensional
seismic data integrated with well and core
data, GIS Arc/Info database management, and
visualization techniques.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the sponsors of the Caribbean Basins,
Tectonics and Hydrocarbons consortium for
the main economic support, Christopher Kendall
at the University of South Carolina for data
donation that made this project possible, and
Paul Mann for constructive discussions. We thank
Landmark Graphics Corporation, Schlumberger,
Zetaware, and Chesapeake Technology for software support. We thank the reviewers Mourad
M. Bedir, Jan Golonka, and Joseph J. Lambiase
for their helpful contributions.
The AAPG Editor thanks the following reviewers
for their work on this paper: Mourad M. Bedir,
Jan Golonka, and Joseph J. Lambiase.
EDITORS NOTE

Copyright 2011. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received June 18, 2010; provisional acceptance August 3, 2010; revised manuscript received
September 7, 2010; final acceptance January 3, 2011.
DOI:10.1306/01031110106

AAPG Bulletin, v. 95, no. 8 (August 2011), pp. 13391368

1339

Color versions of Figures 116 may be seen in

the online version of this article.

INTRODUCTION AND GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Guyana sedimentary basin is located along
the passive margin of northeastern South America
(Figure 1A). It includes the offshore of Guyana and
Suriname and faces the Atlantic Ocean Basin to the
northeast. According to Mann et al. (2003), continental passive margins fronting major oceanic basins form the dominant tectonic setting for hydrocarbon accumulations. In 2001, the U.S. Geological
Survey estimated that the Guyana Basin, including
the entire offshore areas of Guyana and Suriname,
held recoverable reserve potential of approximately
15.2 billion bbl oil equivalent (Ahlbrandt et al.,
2000; Campbell, 2005). Although this figure is now
considered to be overly optimistic, it still suggests
that significant potential exists.
The basin is characterized by the presence of a
world-class source rock of the Cenomanian to the
Turonian (Campbell, 2005), which was found in
wells drilled in deep water offshore close to the
Guyana-Suriname border in the Demerara Rise by
the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) (Meyers et al.,
2006). In addition, many oil and gas seeps have
been found along the present-day coastline, indicating a working petroleum system. According to
previous workers (Workman, 2000; A. Belfor,
2002, personal communication), hydrocarbons are
believed to have migrated to the southwest from
the offshore source rock in an updip direction toward onshore, where the Tambaredjo and Calcutta
fields in Suriname were discovered (Figure 1A).
Although a lot of information indicates that the
Guyana Basin has hydrocarbon potential, until now,
no major hydrocarbon fields have been found offshore. The extension of the basin is quite large, and
only 22 exploration wells have been drilled offshore
since the 1970s. Some of these wells encountered
oil and gas shows in noncommercial quantities.

PREVIOUS WORK AND OBJECTIVES OF

THIS STUDY
The Guyana Basin, covering an area of approximately 3000 km2 (1158 mi2) of the passive margin of northeastern South America, remains mostly
1340

Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

underexplored and has not yet been studied in as

much detail as the neighboring Trinidad and eastern Venezuela hydrocarbon provinces. Little has
been published on the geology of the basin, and
most of the work is only in the form of older reports by previous exploration campaigns. Research
work in the area has been mostly focused on the
macrotectonic evolution of the basin (Pindell, 1991;
Benkhelil et al., 1995; Mann et al., 1995), the
seismic geometry character of the shelf (Campbell,
2005), or the biochemistry and lithostratigraphy of
the ODP wells in the Demerara Rise (Meyers et al.,
2006).
These studies show that few structures exist in
the basin. Extensional tectonics along the Guyana
continental shelf were caused by the final drift of the
African plate from the South American plate during
the Early Cretaceous, which ceased in the Late Cretaceous, with normal cooling subsidence (Gouyet
et al., 1994). The northeast-southwest Waini arch
was interpreted in offshore Guyana by Mobil (R. H.
Kirk, 1993, personal communication), but no further studies have been done on its origin and evolutionary history. The middle Miocene unconformity is documented over the entire Guyana shelf
(Erbacher et al., 2004; Campbell, 2005; Goss et al.,
2008), but no correlation with the middle Miocene
unconformity in Trinidad (Kugler, 2001; Garciacaro
et al., 2011) has been established.
A large increase of terrigenous input and progradation occurred in the basin during the postmiddle Miocene (Goss et al., 2008). Previous
workers suggest that this rapid progradation is a
response of paleodrainage rearrangement in northern South America as a consequence of the Incaian
event (Andean uplift) during 49 to 37 Ma (Hoorn
et al., 1995; Golonka, 2002; Campbell, 2005),
but no clear correlation has been established because the basin is not sourced by any of the large
river systems (e.g., Amazon and Orinoco rivers)
but instead by localized paleodrainages (e.g.,
Corantijn River).
The presence of widespread TuronianSantonian
organic-rich source rocks is also widely acknowledged (Meyers et al., 2006), but until now, most
studies have shown that they are mostly immature
(B. Ravanas, 1990, personal communication), and

Figure 1. (A) Location of the Guyana

Basin showing wells with oil and gas
shows, oil and gas seeps and Tambaredjo
and Calcutta oil fields onshore, and
giant oil and gas fields of eastern Venezuela and Trinidad. The passive margin and Demerara Rise are also shown.
(B) Guyana onland geology map
showing the basins southeastern limit
of the outcropping crystalline Proterozoic basement of the Guyana Shield
(GEBCO, 2009) and main structural
features, indicating the location of the
northeast-southwest orientation Waini
arch. (C) Free-air gravity map from
Sandwell and Smith (2009) showing
the shelf break along the Guyana Basin, the lineament related to the Cretaceous and Jurassic oceanic crusts,
gravity lows offshore suggesting Jurassic
grabens similar to the onland Takutu
graben, and the eastern Venezuela
foreland and forebulge.

Yang and Escalona

1341

many questions remain regarding the distribution,

origin, migration paths, and maturation patterns of
the area (Erlich et al., 2003; Meyers et al., 2006;
Arndt et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the basin lies
next to the hydrocarbon-rich Eastern Venezuela
Basin with its large heavy oil accumulation that
extends toward the subsurface of the Orinoco delta
and the Trinidad Columbus Basin. In addition, little
attention has been given to the effect of the Caribbean orogeny in the Guyana Basin and the possible connection to the Venezuelan and Trinidad
petroleum systems.
The availability of two-dimensional (2-D) seismic data and well data in this area and our current
knowledge on the evolution of the oblique convergence of the Caribbean plate with northern South
America give us the opportunity to improve our
understanding of the structure and depositional
history of the Guyana Basin into a better regional
context and to evaluate the impact on its petroleum system. Specific objectives are (1) to build
up the regional tectonostratigraphic framework of
the continental shelf of the Guyana Basin, (2) to
evaluate the impact of the oblique collision of the
South AmericanCaribbean plates since the Cretaceous, and (3) to evaluate the petroleum system
and its relationship with the adjacent petroleum
systems.

REGIONAL GEOLOGIC SETTING

The Guyana Basin is located on the edge of the
central Atlantic continental margin of northeast
South America, and it lies along the continental
shelf of Guyana and Suriname (Figure 1A). The
basins southeastern boundary is limited by the
outcrop of the crystalline Proterozoic basement of
the Guyana shield (Figure 1B). The continental
margin from Guyana to French Guiana is approximately 930 km (580 mi) long and approximately
150 km (95 mi) wide, and the widest extent is
approximately 380 km (240 mi) in the area of
Demerara Rise (Figure 1A). Water depths on the
continental shelf range from 0 to approximately
200 m (660 ft), and the deep basin reaches depths
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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

of more than 3000 m (9850 ft) (Gouyet et al., 1994;

Goss et al., 2008). The free-air gravity map shows
clearly the shelf-break margin, which suggests the
different plate boundary lineaments such as the Jurassic and the Cretaceous oceanic plates (Figure 1C).
Several gravity lows can also be identified in the
shelf, suggesting graben structures similar to the
onland Takutu graben located in Guyana and Brazil
(Figure 1C). The Takutu graben was formed when
the central Atlantic Ocean opened during the Jurassic (F. D. Crawford, 1985, personal communication). West-southwesteast-northeastbending
faults affecting the basement can also be interpreted
close to the gravity high in eastern Venezuela. We
propose that this gravity high is the present-day
forebulge formed as a response to the tectonic loading of the Caribbean plate over the South American plate (Figure 1C).
The tectonic development of the Guyana Basin can be divided into three main tectonic movement phases from Late Jurassic (200 Ma) to
present (Figure 2). To illustrate the stratigraphic
distribution during the three tectonic phases, a summarized stratigraphic column of the Guyana Basin
is shown in Figure 3.
Central Atlantic Phase (200145 Ma)
The north-south rifting during the Jurassic between
South America and North America, which was initiated in the central Atlantic region, resulted in eastwest extension with a large component of dextral
shearing (Gouyet et al., 1994) (Figure 2A). This
rifting event was recorded as grabens developed
along the offshore region of the Guyana Basin and
also onshore in the east-westoriented Takutu graben (Figure 1C). The Takutu graben is the best
record of the Jurassic event in the Guyana Basin
region. In the graben, the Lower Jurassic (200 Ma)
volcanic formation of the lower Apoteri was deposited (Crawford et al., 1985) and subsequently
covered by the upper Apoteri and Pirara formations of the EarlyMiddle Jurassic (Berrang and
Dearnley, 1975) (Figure 3). These two formations
consist of halite and interbedded shale that was
regarded as a matured source rock in the graben.
The Upper Jurassic clastic rocks of the Takutu

Figure 2. Plate tectonic evolution of the Guyana Basin using the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics PLATES database and
PaleoGIS software. (A) Central Atlantic phase (200145 Ma). (B) African rifting phase (145113 Ma). (C) Passive margin phase (1130 Ma).

Formation conformably overlay the previous formations. The Takutu Formation includes the reddishbrown shale interbeds of very fine grained sandstone,
siltstone, and micritic limestone sediments developed within the fluvial and coastal facies of the
formation and could be a good reservoir (Crawford
et al., 1985).
Africa Rifting Phase (145113 Ma)
During the Early Cretaceous, South Africa and
South America started to rift apart. The rifting event
happened in the South Atlantic because of the
counterclockwise rotation of Africa relative to South
America (Pindell, 1991; Mann et al., 1995), resulting in two conjugate margins, the Guinea Rise on
the African margin and the Demerara Rise on the
South American margin (Figure 2B). Because of

complex plate rotation, a late compressional phase

resulted before final rifting and was recorded in the
Demerara Rise as northeast-southwest en echelon
folds and northwest-southeasttrending normal faults
(Gouyet et al., 1994; Goss et al., 2008).
During the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), the
basal-clastic sandstone of the Stabroex Formation
was deposited and overlain by nonmarine siliciclastic deposits of the Potoce Formation (Brouwer
and Schwander, 1988) (Figure 3). During rifting of
the South Atlantic, major erosion affected the region, resulting in a stratigraphic break throughout
the entire Guyana Basin on top of the Aptian. This
regional unconformity was then covered by a regional flooding event that resulted in the Albian to
Turonian shelf marine platform (Canje Formation)
(Lindseth and Beraldo, 1985) (Figure 3). This period correlates well with a global sea level rise event
Yang and Escalona

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1344
Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin
Figure 3. Generalized stratigraphic column showing the lithology distribution along the basin dip (left) and along the shelf (right) of the Guyana Basin.

and a global anoxic event (Erlich et al., 2003). The

Canje Formation is a black shale with average total
organic content (TOC) between 4 and 7%, with
the highest TOC concentration of 30% in the
Demerara Rise (Meyers et al., 2006; Nederbragt
et al., 2007).

Passive Margin Phase (1130 Ma)

During the Late Cretaceous, Africa drifted away
from South America, which formed the main extensional geologic regime in the Guyana Basin and
caused a general collapse of the unstable shelf edge
and slope (Figure 2C). This predominantly transcurrent movement occurred mostly from the Albian to the Eocene, but is still active at present.
Previous workers proposed the creation of a large
pull-apart basin with a gentle thermal subsidence
caused by a relatively low heat flow in this transcurrent setting (Benkhelil et al., 1995).
In the shelfal areas of the Guyana Basin, the
uppermost Cretaceous is a siliciclastic interval interpreted as littoral shelf deposits with sand and
lagoonal deposits (Lawrence and Coster, 1985) and
is found as oil-bearing sediments in the Arapaima-1
well in offshore Guyana (Figure 3). The end of the
Cretaceous is marked by an erosional unconformity
overlain by carbonate shelf deposits (Georgetown
and lower Pomeroon formations) of the Paleocene
to the Eocene (Campbell, 2005). Carbonate sedimentation ended during the middle Miocene because of an increase of clastic input into the shelf
area (mid-Corentyne Formation) followed by a
major unconformity (Erbacher et al., 2004) that
can be correlated across the entire Guyana Basin.
Above this unconformity, the entire margin became completely clastic, dominated by a rapid influx of clastic sediments of the Corentyne Formation
(Workman, 2000), with a shelf progradation of 50
to 60 km (3137 mi) toward the northeast from
the late Miocene to the Holocene. In the Demerara
Rise area, the upper Neogene interval is missing.
Erosion in this region has been suggested to be
related to glacioeustasy and closure of the Panama
Isthmus, causing global changes in ocean circulation patterns (Mosher and Piper, 2007).

DATA AND METHODOLOGY

Two-Dimensional Seismic Data
The data used in this study consist of approximately
3000 km (1870 mi) of 2-D seismic reflection
lines, which include several surveys acquired in this
region by the oil industry (Figure 4A). The data
were kindly donated by Christopher Kendall at
the University of South Carolina to the Caribbean
Basins, Tectonics, and Hydrocarbons consortium
at the University of Texas at Austin and the Department of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Stavanger in Norway. Seismic lines were
available in paper and converted to SEGY files
using Chesapeake Technologys Image to SEGY
software. Most surveys are from the 1970s and
1980s, and data quality ranges from bad to good.

Well Data
Information on 16 wells (Figure 4A; Table 1) was
used to correlate the 2-D seismic data interpretation. Eleven wells from published articles (Erlich
et al., 2003; Campbell, 2005) and well reports (T.
Doran, 1985, personal communication; B. Chevallier,
1988, personal communication; A. Noyau, 1991,
personal communication) were used to display key
geologic tops to correlate the seismic data and extend the important strata information throughout
the entire Guyana Basin. In addition, five ODP
wells (12571261, leg 207) from the Demerara
region were available and used as distal correlation
for the continental shelf (Figure 4A) (Erbacher
et al., 2004).

Methodology
The seismic framework follows the convention
proposed by Mitchum et al. (1977), in which seismic sequences are bounded by unconformities and
their correlative conformities. These seismic sequence boundaries are designated by their stratigraphic ages identified in seismic data and tied to the
wells in the basin (Figure 4B). They are correlated
Yang and Escalona

1345

Figure 4. (A) Topography and bathymetry basemap showing the seismic data and well data used. Red points represent wells used from
published sources, green points are Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) wells, red lines represent the seismic transects from published articles
that were used as a reference in the work, and the black lines represent the seismic transects that were interpreted in the work.
(B) Correlation between seismic tectonic sequences and the Arapaima-1 well. Locations are shown in (A).
1346

Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

Table 1. Wells Data Used in This Study

Well Label

Well Name

Company

Arap-1
Esseq-2
Berbice-2
OG-1
Mahai-1
Mahai-2
Abary-1
CO-1
NCO-1
GO-1
Well-A
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261

Arapaima-1
Essequibo-2
Berbice-2
Offshore-Guyana-1
Mahaica-1
Mahaica-2
Abary-1
Coronie-1
Ncoronie-1
Galibi-Offshore-1
Well-A
ODP-1257
ODP-1258
ODP-1259
ODP-1260
ODP-1261

Total
Total
Shell
Shell
Shell
Shell
Shell
Conoco
ELF
Tenneco
Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A.
Ocean Drilling Program
Ocean Drilling Program
Ocean Drilling Program
Ocean Drilling Program
Ocean Drilling Program

throughout the 2-D seismic survey and correlated

within the well sections (Figure 5). Depositional
systems were defined between flooding surfaces
and unconformities, and structural and isochron
maps were constructed from surface subtraction.
These maps represent the final interpretation for
building up the depositional history of the Guyana
Basin from the Cretaceous to the Pliocene. In addition, Zetaware software was used to build up
subsidence curves from two of the deepest wells to
establish the main subsidence events and the relationship between tectonics and sedimentation.
The burial history for three wells was completed to
analyze the source rock maturation in the basin.

SEISMIC SEQUENCES AND STRUCTURAL

INTERPRETATION OF THE GUYANA BASIN
Four seismic sequences were identified by five key
seismic horizons in the study area illustrated on
the seismic well sequences in Figure 4B. These
horizons are top basement, top Maastrichtian, top
Oligocene, top middle Miocene, and top Pliocene.
For each sequence, we describe the most significant structural features observed on the structural
and isochron maps. The description of structures

and stratigraphic features is primarily based on their

character in map view at different depths. We include key vertical seismic reflection profiles that
support our interpreted provenance directions, fault
geometries, and unconformities on the structural
and isochron maps.
Acoustic Basement
We correlated the acoustic basement top in the
seismic data with wells in the study area (Figure 4B)
and previous regional interpretations from seismic data in the adjacent region of the Demerara
Rise (Erbacher et al., 2004; Goss et al., 2008) and
Orinoco delta and shelf (Di Croce et al., 1999).
Two different reflection styles of the basement based
on its seismic response are interpreted (Figures 6, 7A).
Single-Reflector Acoustic Basement
This type of acoustic basement is found in the
southeastern region mostly covering the largest gravity low in the basin that is interpreted as a possible
Jurassic graben (Figures 1C, 7D). The basement is
characterized by a strong reflective surface with chaotic reflections beneath it. Basement top depths range
from 1700 ms toward the mainland in the southwest to about 5000 ms in the northeast (Figure 6A).
Reflective Acoustic Basement
This type of acoustic basement is located in the
central and northwestern parts of the basin. The
seismic depth ranges from approximately 800 ms
in the central part of the basin to about 3000 ms in
the northeast basinward direction (Figure 6B).
The basement is characterized by a strong reflection on top followed by pseudoparallel reflectors
as much as 3000 ms thick, suggesting stratification.
These internal reflections pinch out in the landward direction and dip gently basinward (10 on
seismic). The basement character suggests a similar but gentler characteristic of seaward-dipping
reflections interpreted along volcanic margins
such as the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
(Diebold et al., 1999; Kroehler, 2007) or the Norwegian Sea continental margin (Mutter et al., 1982).
Its thickness is quite homogeneous over the shelf
region, but it changes basinward where it develops
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1348
Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin
Figure 5. Well cross sections in the Guyana Basin. (A) Well correlation showing the stratigraphic distribution along offshore Guyana Basin. (B) Well correlation section showing the
stratigraphic distribution along the Guyana Basin dip. The two cross sections indicate Cretaceous source rock thicknesses of as much as 550 m (1800 ft) and continuous along the
shelf. (C) Free-air gravity base map showing the location of cross sections A and B (Sandwell and Smith, 2009).

tongue shapes across the present-day shelf break

(Figure 7A).
High-angle normal faults are interpreted in both
basement types, as observed in Figures 6B and 8A.
These faults have northwest-southeast strike, which
is parallel to the shelf margin (Figure 7B). In the
single-reflector area, the faults are covered by
Cretaceous sediments of the Stabroex Formation
(Figure 6A), whereas in the reflective basement
area, one can interpret small graben structures that
are covered by the stratified basement (Figure 6B).
These faults are interpreted as Jurassic normal faults
as a result of crustal extension related to early rifting
between the African and South American plates.
Sequence 1: Jurassic
BasementCretaceous Maastrichtian
Seismic Character
The thickness of this sequence ranges from 700 ms
in the southeastern part of the basin to 2400 ms in
the northeast (Figure 6A). A clear wedge shape
with divergent reflections basinward is observed
with enhanced amplitude and continuity of seismic
reflections toward the main Cretaceous depocenter (Figure 6A). The parallel and continuous
reflectors with a high amplitude suggest that carbonate rocks and marine shales of the Canje, New
Amsterdam, and lower Georgetown formations of
the Upper Cretaceous exist (Figures 35). In the
northwestern part of the basin, the thickness ranges
from 500 ms in the southwest to about 600 ms in
the northeast (Figure 6B). The main features in
this area are parallel and continuous reflectors with
moderate to high amplitudes, suggesting an increase
in terrigenous sedimentation. In this sequence, the
source rock thickness is as much as 550 m with
TOC levels between 4 and 7% (Meyers et al., 2006)
(Figure 5).
Structural and Isochron Map Interpretation
The general structure of the Cretaceous interval
reflects a stable shelf region, slope, and basin, with
a major depocenter located in the southeastern
part of the basin (Figure 7C). This depocenter represents the area of the single acoustic basement on
top of the gravity low (Figure 7D). The interval is

affected by Miocene listric faults that detach in the

Upper Cretaceous shales (New Amsterdam and
Canje formations) (Figure 8A). These listric faults
have a northwest-southeast strike, are parallel to
the paleoshelf edge (Figures 7C, 8A), and reflect
instability of the Tertiary prograding wedge.
During the Cretaceous, large amounts of sediments were deposited mostly in the southeastern
region. More than 2000-ms thick sediments were
deposited in the main depocenter by a large canyon system fed by the proto-Berbice and protoCorantijn rivers in the southern region (Figure 9A).
In this area, the shelf progradation reflects a large
clastic input (Figure 9B), whereas in the central and
northern parts of the basin, the shelf is aggradational, reflecting less clastic input and more carbonate sedimentation.
Sequence 2: Cretaceous
MaastrichtianPaleogene Oligocene
Seismic Sequence Character
Sequence 2 is Paleogene in age and 100 to 600 ms
thick. The seismic character of this unit consists of
high-amplitude and subparallel reflections in the
inner region of the shelf break and changes to highamplitude and discontinuous reflections in the outer
region of the shelf break. The base of the sequence
is defined by the Cretaceous unconformity with
clear onlaps, whereas the top of the Oligocene unconformity is defined by truncations and channel
incisions. Basinward, the correlative top of the sequence is defined by Miocene downlapping on top
(Figure 8B). Based on well data, the sequence is
composed of the middle-upper Georgetown and
lower-middle Pomeroon formations. Carbonate deposition that dominated the shelfal regions supports
the high-amplitude reflections and terrigenous deposition toward the Orinoco delta area. Along the
shelf edge, steeper clinoform and mounded shapes
indicate the development of carbonates in this area
(Figure 8B).
Structural and Isochron Map Interpretation
The structural map of the top of the Paleogene
(Figure 10A) clearly shows progradation of the
shelf margin relative to the Cretaceous structural
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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

Figure 7. (A) Regional isochron map showing the distribution of the two different types of basement interpreted. The black dashed line
represents the boundary between the two different basements. (B) Regional structural map of the top of the acoustic basement. The purple
line represents the basement shelf edge. (C) Regional structural map of the top of the Cretaceous. Purple line represents the Cretaceous
shelf edge, and the dashed black line represents the basement shelf edge showing that the Cretaceous shelf edge moved basinward.
(D) Interpreted Cretaceous depocenter on the top of the free-air gravity, suggesting that the Cretaceous depocenter developed on the top of
an inherited Jurassic graben (Sandwell and Smith, 2009).

map (Figure 7C). Most of the progradation occurred on top of the Cretaceous depocenter in the
southeastern part of the basin by 60 km (37 mi);
whereas in the center and northern parts of the
study area, progradation was minimal, reflecting a
low accommodation space. Similar to sequence 1,
listric faults of the Miocene affected this interval,
causing collapse of carbonate buildups and sandstones, resulting in turbidite and debris-flow de-

position in the toe of the slope and deep basin

(Figure 8B). This regional faulting along the Paleogene shelf edge is expressed in the top of the Paleogene as a tilted structure (Figure 8B).
The Cretaceous to Paleogene isochron map
(Figure 10B) shows that the southeast depocenter
continued to be the main area of deposition, and
that another localized depocenter started to develop to the north, in the area next to the Orinoco

Figure 6. (A) Uninterpreted seismic line and interpreted seismic line showing the main tectonosequences. The depth of the basement
top increases rapidly from 1700 ms in the southwest to about 5000 ms in the northeast. (B) Uninterpreted seismic line and interpreted
seismic line showing that the depth of the basement top is 800 ms in the southwest and changes to approximately 3000 ms in the
northeast. A strong parallel reflector can be observed within the basement. This reflection is dipping in a seaward direction and
thickening basinward from 500 ms to 1300 ms. Location of the lines are shown on Figure 4A.
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Figure 8. (A) Uninterpreted seismic line and

interpreted seismic line
showing the Jurassic and
Miocene fault families.
(B) Uninterpreted seismic
line and interpreted seismic line also showing
listric faults affecting the
Pliocene to Cretaceous
intervals. Paleogene carbonate buildups along the
shelf edge formed largescale collapse forming toeof-slope turbidites. Locations of the lines are
shown in Figure 4A.

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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

platform and Columbus Basin region. A main

feature revealed in the map is major thinning of
this sequence in the central part caused by westsouthwesteast-northeast regional uplift and formation of the Waini arch across the entire shelf
(R. H. Kirk, 1989, personal communication). On
seismic data, the Waini arch can be identified by
onlapping of Upper Cretaceous to lower Miocene
rocks against its axis on both sides, indicating its
syndepositional uplift character since the Late Cretaceous (Figure 11A).
Sequence 3: LowerMiddle Miocene
Seismic Sequence Character
Sequence 3 is approximately 100 to 750 ms thick.
The sequence includes high-amplitude continuous
parallel to subparallel coherent reflections in the
continental shelf reflecting continuous progradation of the shelf. The base of the sequence is the
Oligocene unconformity, and the top of the sequence is defined by regional erosion with widespread incised channels in most of the shelf and
by downlap of the upper Miocene to Pliocene sequence in the slope and basin (Figure 11B). The
sequence is composed of the upper Pomeroon and
lower Corentyne formations of the early and middle Miocene. According to well data (Figure 5), the
interval consists of shelfal clastics with isolated
carbonate rocks toward the shelf edge. Toward the
Demerara Rise, the sequence sedimentation becomes more carbonate rich (Figure 5).
Structure and Isochron Maps Interpretation
The structural map of sequence 3 shows a similar
behavior to the previous sequence, with aggradation and not much sedimentation of the shelf edge
relative to sequence 2 (Figure 12A). Thinning of
this sequence toward the Waini arch is also interpreted (Figure 11A). Listric faults affecting the
lower sequences were formed during this sequence
time, and most of them end toward the top of the
sequence at the middle Miocene unconformity
(Figures 8A, 12A).
The isochron map of sequence 3 shows that
thickness ranges from 100 to 750 ms, with the
main depocenter located in the southeastern part

of the basin as it was within sequences 1 and 2

(Figure 12B). Continuous deposition in the southeastern depocenter suggests that this region experienced continuous subsidence and was connected
to main onland paleoriver systems. The central and
northwestern parts of the basin were affected by
the uplifted Waini arch, exposing the paleoshelf,
and allowing sediments to bypass toward the deep
basin. Unfortunately, we do not have seismic data
available in the deep-water part of the basin to corroborate this observation, but the fact that incised
channels are observed on top of this unit suggests
large accumulations of clastic sediments in the deep
basin.
Sequence 4: Upper MiocenePliocene
Seismic Sequence Character
The thickness of sequence 4 is between 200 and
2000 ms, and its seismic character consists of moderate to poor coherency reflections in the innershelf region (Figure 8A). Along the shelf break
region, reflections become low amplitude and chaotic to discontinuous (Figure 11B), with large clear
sigmoidal clinoforms, suggesting mostly terrigenous
input. This sequence is composed mainly of the
upper Corentyne Formation. According to well correlations (Figure 5), most sedimentary rocks are
thick shelfal sandstones interbedded with thin
shale on the shelf, and thick shaly sandstone close
to the southeast depocenter of the basin. The sequence is not present in the Demerara Rise area
(Figure 5).
Structural and Isochron Maps Interpretation
The structural top of sequence 4 (Figure 12C) is
characterized by a broader and more stable shelf
than previous sequences, by the development of a
structural depression toward the Orinoco delta
and Columbus Basin, indicating the development
of the Caribbean-related foreland basin, and by an
elongated depocenter off of and parallel to the shelf
edge (Figure 12D). Shelf-edge migration basinward
during this time is as much as 60 km (37 mi) to
the northeast, indicating a large influx of terrigenous sediments (Figures 6B, 8B). Two main fault
families are affecting this sequence: (1) listric faults
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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

of the upper Miocene, similar to those that affected

previous sequences (Figure 8A); and (2) Pliocene
shelf-edge shallow northwest-southeaststriking normal faults that parallel the shelf break, formed by
rapid sediment loading and instability of the slope
(Figures 8B, 12C).
The shelf edge and upper slope depocenter
contain as much as 1600-ms-thick prograding clastic
sediments. Large amounts of clastic sediments were
transferred from inland drainage systems across the
shallow shelf toward the slope and basin, where
large deep-water fans are inferred.

DISCUSSION
Plate Movement Effect on the Guyana
Continental Shelf

igneous sequence that is produced when crustal

accretion occurs at the subaerial spreading axis
during the earliest phase of ocean-basin genesis. A
similar case is the magmatic basalt province observed
by Hames et al. (2000) on the North American
margin and the Carolina Trough, offshore southeastern United States, where flood basalt developed during the Jurassic rifting between the African and North American plates (Oh et al., 1995).
The observation of a reflective basement in the
central and northern parts of the Guyana Basin
supports the idea of seaward-dipping reflectors
formed by subaerial basaltic floods during the Late
Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting between the African and South American plates. Well Arapaima-1
drilled gneiss rocks on the upper part of the reflective basement. This gneiss may be the result of
metamorphosed basalt, which correlates with Deep
Sea Drilling Project wells 353 and 354 drilled close
to the central ridge of the Atlantic Ocean (Supko
et al., 1977). Basalt flows over the Jurassic basement cover graben structures as evidenced by highangle faults interpreted from seismic data.

The Guyana continental shelf and basin have developed as passive margins since the Late Jurassic
to Early Cretaceous. However, several tectonic
events seemed to have affected this region, resulting in the development of subtle regional structures, unconformities, and variations in the depositional patterns. Two different plate tectonic
elements seem to be related to the disturbances
observed on the basin that include oblique rifting
with the African plate during the Early Cretaceous
and oblique convergence of the Caribbean plate
with northern South America since the Late Cretaceous. In this section, we provide a plausible explanation of the possible causes of the main events
observed in the Guyana continental shelf.

Origin of the Waini Arch

The Waini arch was interpreted by Mobil (R. H.
Kirk, 1989, personal communication) in the Pomeroon block of offshore Guyana, but there have
been no further studies on its origin. The arch has a
west-southwesteast-northeasttrending fold axis
formed from at least the Late Cretaceous until the
early Miocene (Figure 11A). Possible tectonic
events that could have formed the arch include the
following:

Single-Reflector Versus Reflective Basement

The origin of seaward-dipping reflectors has been
discussed by Mutter et al. (1982) based on the
observation of wedge-shaped basinward reflections
within the basement off the Norwegian Sea margin. Mutter et al. (1982) suggested that this seismic
response in the basement is caused by a layered

1. Early Cretaceous rifting between the South

American and African plates that created a shear
zone, resulting in en echelon folding on the
Demerara Rise with a northeast-southwest axis
(Gouyet et al., 1994; Goss et al., 2008). This
direction is similar to the Waini arch axis, indicating a similar stress condition. However, the

Figure 9. (A) Regional isochron map of sequence 1 (Cretaceous). The map shows that the main depocenter developed in the
southeastern Guyana Basin. A main canyon connects this depocenter with onland paleodrainage systems. (B) Uninterpreted seismic line
and interpreted seismic line showing seismic canyon fill facies into the Cretaceous depocenter in the southeastern region of the basin.
Location of the line is shown in Figure 4A.
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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

age of this event, Early to Late Cretaceous, does

not fit with the syndepositional growth observed
on both flanks of the Waini arch from the Late
Cretaceous to the early Miocene.
2. CaribbeanSouth American oblique convergence
is suggested to be a possible mechanism for the
formation of the Waini arch from the Late Cretaceous to the middle Miocene (Lugo and Mann,
1995) (Figure 13A, B, C). The timing and syndepositional growth of the Waini arch and formation of the middle Miocene unconformity
correlates with timing of the west to east migration of oblique convergence between the Caribbean and South American plates. The longdistance development of the arch relative to the
migration of the Caribbean plate may be the result of flexural response of the continental crust
caused by loading, similar to forebulge development, which has been previously proposed
by Pindell and Erikson (1994) along the entire
margin, in the Maracaibo Basin during the Eocene (Escalona and Mann, 2003), and in the
Guarico Subbasin during the Oligocene (Perez
De Armas, 2005), among others. These previous interpretations of paleoforebulges have orientation axes similar to the Waini arch.
Middle Miocene Unconformity
A regional middle Miocene unconformity is interpreted from seismic and well data across the
entire Guyana continental shelf and has been previously interpreted in the region by Erbacher et al.
(2004), Goss et al. (2008), and in the Trinidad
and Venezuelan regions (Di Croce et al., 1999;
Garciacaro et al., 2011).
We attribute the development of the middle
Miocene unconformity to the main Caribbean
orogeny in the Trinidad region as the Caribbean
plate continuously moved eastward before strain
partitioning in the area (Escalona and Mann, 2011)
(Figure 13C). This main tectonic event reactivated west-southwesteast-northeast Jurassic nor-

mal bending faults in the eastern Venezuela region

(Taboada, 2009) (Figure 1C). We propose that the
Caribbean convergence and the development of
the middle Miocene unconformity in Trinidad
were propagated toward the Guyana Basin area as
a regional uplift that exposed most of the continental shelf, forming incised river systems and
bypass of sediments toward the slope and deep
basin. Interestingly enough, continuous folding of
the Waini arch seems to end during this period,
suggesting the ending of southeast-directed convergence of the Caribbean plate over South America
in the Trinidad margin.
Pliocene Progradation
As interpreted, a long-distance progradation of the
shelf caused large accumulations of sediments and
increased in sediment load over the platform during the Pliocene (Figure 12C). Similarly, a large
progradation is also observed south of the study
area, in the Foz dos Amazonas and northern Brazilian margin basins (Campbell, 2005). This largescale basin infilling along the eastern South American plate boundary indicates a regional process.
A possible mechanism for the large increase of
terrigenous influx and progradation of the Guyana
continental shelf may include the paleodrainage
system reorganization of northern South America.
Before the Oligocene, most paleodrainage systems
were north directed and captured into the protoMaracaibo river system (Escalona and Mann, 2011).
Sediments were mostly sourced by the Brazilian
and Guyana shields and the central and western
Cordillera of Colombia (Hoorn et al., 1995; Xie
et al., 2010). During the middle and late Eocene,
the increase in Andean uplift in western South
America (Incaian event of Pindell and Tabutt, 1995)
and emplacement of the Lara nappes in northern
South America produced major denudation and
deflection of north-directed paleo-drainages toward the east (Hoorn, 1993, 1994; Golonka, 2002;
Escalona and Mann, 2011).

Figure 10. (A) Regional structural map of the top of sequence 2 (Paleogene). The purple line represents the Paleogene shelf edge, and
the dashed black line represents the Cretaceous shelf edge showing shelf edges progradation in the southeastern region. (B) Regional
isochron map of sequence 2. Two Paleogene depocenters are interpreted toward each end of the basin and separated by a westsouthwesteast-northeast regional uplift developed in the central region of the basin (Waini arch).
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Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

During the middle Miocene, a major episode

of Andean tectonic activity and complete blocking
of north-directed paleodrainage systems formed
the first west to east transcontinental system of the
Amazon and Orinoco river systems (Hoorn et al.,
1995; Dobson et al., 2001; Escalona and Mann,
2011) (Figure 13C). During the Pliocene (53 Ma),
the Andes experienced the most rapid uplift (Hoorn,
1994; 1995), and both the Amazon and Orinoco
fluvial systems captured other large drainage systems in the area, acquiring their present appearance, and provided large amounts of sediments into
the Atlantic Ocean (Dobson et al., 2001; Latrubesse
et al., 2010) (Figure 13D).
The large margin progradation and increase
of terrigenous influx on the Guyana continental
shelf have been influenced by the tectonic evolutionary history between the Andean uplift and
the Caribbean collision, which has modified the
paleo-drainage systems in northern South America
since the Eocene (Figure 13). In addition to this
process, glacioeustasy plays an important role in the
Pliocene shallow-marine continental shelf of the
Guyana Basin. Large eustatic sea level fluctuations
from the late Miocene to the present most likely
exposed the shelf region and allowed large basinward progradation.

2.

3.

Tectonic Phases from Subsidence Analysis

Two wells (Arapaima-1 and Essequibo-2; Figure 4A)
drilled close to basement with excellent stratigraphic records were used to build subsidence analysis to understand the relation between accommodation space and basin fill (Figure 14). The
subsidence pattern on both wells can be divided
into five phases:
1. Rifting and passive margin development. During the Early Cretaceous, the Guyana continental shelf shows a gradual passive margin

4.

5.

subsidence followed by an abrupt uplift that

resulted in the Aptian breakup unconformity.
This event corresponds to drifting of the African
plate away from South America. The Albian to
Coniacian rapid subsidence is a result of crustal
cooling that affected the region. The increase in
water depth led to major flooding of the basin
along with global anoxic conditions that deposited world-class marine source rocks during
the Turonian (Erlich et al., 2003) (Figure 5). The
subsidence rate during this period increased
faster in the shallow shelf area (Arapaima-1)
than in the deep shelf region (Essequibo-2).
Initial Caribbean convergence in western South
America. This interval covers the period from
the Santonian to the Campanian of the Late
Cretaceous and is characterized by a decrease
in subsidence (Arapaima 1 well, Figure 14A)
and uplift (Essequibo 2 well, Figure 14B). This
change in subsidence pattern matches the initial formation of the Waini arch.
Quiescence and basin fill. This phase covers the
period from the Late Cretaceous to the middle
Miocene. During the Campanian to the Maastrichtian, it is characterized by rapid subsidence
representing a main pulse of clastic sedimentation in the Cretaceous platform. This main pulse
of basin subsidence could have led to major
maturation of Cretaceous source rocks. During
the Paleogene to the early Miocene, a decrease
in the subsidence rate is characterized by carbonate sedimentation in the continental shelf
and continuous uplift of the Waini arch.
Caribbean orogeny. This phase is characterized by regional uplift, resulting in shelf subaerial exposure and development of the middle
Miocene unconformity. This event correlates
with the main Caribbean orogeny in the Trinidad area.
Passive margin. This phase is characterized by
continuous passive margin subsidence in the
continental shelf of Guyana. The subsidence rate

Figure 11. (A) Uninterpreted seismic line and interpreted seismic line showing the eastern flank of the Waini arch. Pinch-out against the
arch is Lower Cretaceousmiddle Miocene. (B) Uninterpreted seismic line and interpreted seismic line showing the character of the middle
Miocene unconformity, showing incised valleys that erode large parts of sequence 2. Locations of the lines are shown in Figure 4A.
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1360
Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin
Figure 12. (A) Regional structural map of the top of sequence 3 (lower and middle Miocene). Purple line represents the middle Miocene shelf edge, and the dashed black line represents
the Paleogene shelf edge showing slight basinward progradation. (B) Regional isochron map of sequence 3 showing thinning toward the Waini arch and continuous development of
depocenters at both flanks. (C) Regional structural map of the top of sequence 4 (Pliocene). Purple line represents Pliocene shelf edge, and the dashed black line represents the middle
Miocene shelf edge showing considerable progradation of sequence 3. (D) Regional isochron map of sequence 4 showing that the main depocenters are located off the shelf edge.

Yang and Escalona

1361

Figure 13. Proposed long-distance effect of the Caribbean plate on the Guyana Basin. (A) In the Late Cretaceous (80 Ma), the Caribbean plate started to move eastward and collided
with South America. The Guyana shield supplied sediments to the Atlantic Ocean during this period. (B) During the end of the Paleogene (30 Ma), continuous west to east Caribbean
collision with northern South America caused uplift of the Cordillera de la Costa and flexural loading, resulting in uplift of the Waini arch. (C) During the early and middle Miocene (14
Ma), major convergence in the Trinidad region produced regional uplift that affected the Guyana Basin region. (D) During the Pliocene (5 Ma), rapid uplift of the Andean mountains,
development of major paleodrainages, and east-directed erosion of the uplifted Guyana Shield resulted in a large progradation on the Guyana Basin.

1362
Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin
Figure 14. Subsidence analysis on wells of Arapaima-1 (A) and Essequibo-2 (B) showing the main tectonic phases in the Guyana continental shelf.

Yang and Escalona

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Figure 15. Burial history analysis of well (A) Arapaima-1, (B) Essequibo-2, and (C) CO-1.

Figure 16. (A) Map showing

potential reservoir and traps in
the Guyana Basin. These traps
include the Cretaceous canyon,
Paleogene turbidites, Waini
arch, middle Miocene incised
valleys, and Pliocene sand bodies. (B) Cross section showing
the petroleum system along the
Guyana Basin dip. Matured oil
of the deep Cretaceous depocenter could have migrated updip along listric faults and infilled deep-water toe of slope
turbidites, shelf-break carbonate
buildups, and Miocene incised
channels in the shelf. (C) Cross
section showing the petroleum
system along the shelf margin.
The Waini arch acts as a structural and stratigraphic trap
for hydrocarbons migrating from
the Guyana, eastern Venezuela,
and Trinidad areas. Reservoirs
can represent sandstone pinchouts of both flanks of the arch
and carbonate buildups.

1364

Tectonostratigraphic Evolution of the Guyana Basin

is larger in the shallow shelf part (Arapaima-1 well

area) than in the deep shelf break (Essequibo-2).

PETROLEUM SYSTEM OVERVIEW OF THE

GUYANA BASIN
Source Rock and Maturation
The main source rocks in the Guyana continental
shelf are world-class Turonian to Campanian organicrich shale rocks drilled by industry and ODP wells
and are uniformly distributed over the entire region
(Figure 5A, B). However, these rocks are mostly
immature in most of the study area (Erbacher et al.,
2004; Meyers et al., 2006). Subsidence and burial
history analysis using information from existing
wells show that the main pulse for source rock
burial is during the Late Cretaceous (Figures 14,
15). During the Late Cretaceousmiddle Miocene,
Caribbean collision with northern South America
caused a reduction of the subsidence rate and uplift, which affected source rock maturation negatively in most of the shelfal region (Figure 14).
Nevertheless, Cretaceous source rocks seemed to
be matured in the southeastern depocenter of the
Guyana Basin.

Reservoirs, Traps, and Migration Patterns

Based on well correlations and seismic interpretation (Figure 5), a clear evidence of reservoir rocks
exists in the Guyana Basin from the Cretaceous to
the Pliocene. Based on our regional interpretation,
we classify them as structural and stratigraphic
traps (Figure 16A).
Structural Traps
Structural traps are limited to rollover anticlines
and footwall blocks formed by listric faults along the
paleoshelf edge and upper slope and the southwestnortheasttrending anticlinal structure formed by
the Waini arch in the northeastern part of the shelf.
Listric faults may be key migration paths from mature source rocks in the deep basin toward the shelf
edge and shelf (Figure 16B), but more detailed

interpretation of these structures and basin modeling are needed to corroborate this assumption.
The Waini arch may play a more important role
both as a structural and stratigraphic trap. Late
Cretaceous to lower Miocene sediments pinch out
in both directions of the arch and also form anticlinal traps on top of the arch (Figure 16C). Hydrocarbons could have accumulated by stratigraphic
migration from the northwest, from the Eastern
Venezuelan and Columbus basins, and/or from the
southeast in the Guyana Basin, similarly to the
Venezuelan heavy oil belt. More exploration and
drilling in this area are required to test this play.
Stratigraphic Traps
These are probably the most common and attractive types of trap in the basin. They consist of Cretaceous canyons in the southeastern part of the
basin, Cretaceous to Miocene debris flows and
turbidites in the toe of the slope, Paleogene carbonate buildups in the shelf edge, middle Miocene
incised valleys, and shelfal Pliocene sandstones.
We speculate that the presence of hydrocarbon
seeps and oil fields along the Guyana and Suriname
coastlines (Figure 1A) are caused by updip migration through Late Cretaceous and middle Miocene canyons and incised valleys from the Cretaceous depocenter and deep basin. If this is true,
open possibilities for stratigraphic traps within the
shelf and slope of the basin exist.

CONCLUSIONS
The main results of this study follow:
1. Four tectonic sequences from the Cretaceous
to the Pliocene are interpreted.
2. Three normal fault families are interpreted in
the basin: (1) Jurassic high-angle normal faults
that developed on top of the basement as part
of the opening of the central Atlantic; (2) middle Miocene listric normal faults that developed
on the outer-shelf region and detached in the
Upper Cretaceous shales; and (3) Pliocene listric
faults that formed in the shelf edge.
Yang and Escalona

1365

3. We propose that the Late Cretaceous to middle

Miocene uplift of the Guyana Basin is related to
oblique convergence between the Caribbean
and South American plates.
4. Main source rocks are Late Cretaceous shales
widely distributed in the basin. In most of the
basin, the rocks are immature, with the exception of the southeastern depocenter.
5. Canyons and incised-valley systems of the Cretaceous and middle Miocene act as good reservoir rocks in the basin, but also are the best
migration pathways.
6. The Waini arch acts as a potential trap for hydrocarbons that have migrated toward its flanks
both from the hydrocarbon-rich provinces of
eastern Venezuela and Trinidad to the north
and from the Guyana Basin to the south.
7. Most potential reservoirs are stratigraphic traps
such as carbonate mounds with seal along the
shelf edge, incised channels on the shelf, and
deep-water slope and deep-basin turbidites.

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