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Abstract Rsum
The Niger Delta is a large, arcuate delta of the Le Delta du Niger est un delta trs tendu, de forme
destructive, wave-dominated type. A sequence of arque et de type destructif (par linfluence des vagues).
under-compacted marine clays, overlain by paralic Une squence dargiles marines sous-compactes,
deposits, in turn covered by continental sands, is recouvertes de dpts paraliques, eux-mmes sur-
present throughout, built-up by the imbricated super- monts par des sables continentaux, est prsente
position of numerous offlap cycles. Basement faulting partout; sa gnse est explique par la superposition
affected delta development and thus sediment thickness imbrique de nombreux cycles rgressifs. La fractura-
distribution. tion du socle a affect le dveloppement du delta et
In the paralic interval, growth fault associated par consquent la distribution des paisseurs des
rollover structures trapped hydrocarbons. Faults in sdiments.
general play an important role in the hydrocarbon Les hydrocarbures ont t pigs dans lintervalle
distribution. Growth faults may even function as paralique de structures de type rollover associes
hydrocarbon migration paths from the overpressured des failles de croissance. Les failles jouent en gnral
marine clays. Depositional environments of reservoir un rle important dans la distribution des hydro-
sands strongly influence well productivity as well as carbures. Les failles de croissance peuvent mme
recovery efficiency. dterminer la migration des hydrocarbures partir
des argiles marines sous-compactes. Lenvironnement
de dpt des sables rservoirs influence fortement la
productivit des puits ainsi que le taux de rcupration
des hydrocarbures.
It is stressed that this article is but a brief summary triple-junction development has been inferred for the
of some of the studies made by many Shell-BP Red Sea-East African Rift System.
geologists over a 25-year period. By Lower Albian two stable areas could be distin-
guished on either side of the Benue-Abakaliki Trough,
called respectively, the Anambra and Ikpe Platforms
2. EARLY PHASES OF DELTA (Fig. la). On the eastern flank, there were the NW-SE
DEVELOPMENT trending Ikang Trough and Ituk High, as well as the
Eket Platform, all of which persisted without significant
Pre-Santonian Basin evolution change right into the Tertiary. By contrast, the Benue-
Abakaliki Trough was filled in by over 3300 m of
It seems fairly well established that the oldest pre- Sediments of Albian to Coniacian age and then started
Tertiary sedimentary basin, the Benue-Abakaliki to close, accompanied by possible crustal sub-
Trough, originated as an arm of the triple-junction duction. ,The closure was presumably caused by
rift-ridge system that initiated the separation of South faster seafloor spreading adjacent to northwest Africa
America from Africa in the Aptian/Albian. The three than in the south Atlantic, but this has not yet been
arms of the system opened up at different times and corroborated by spreading rates from geophysical
different rates. In the South Atlantic, the opening and stratigraphical data. -
started in the mid-Aptian by crustal stretching and
downwarping accompanied by the development of
coastal evaporite basins. By Lower Albian it had Santonian-Palaeocene Basin evolution
reached the Gulf of Guinea and extended northeast
to form the Benue-Abakaliki Trough. In the North Consequent to the Campano-Santonian folding, the
Atlantic, the opening was much earlier, but slower, Benue-Abakaliki Trough was uplifted to form the
reaching Senegal by Upper Jurassic. An analogous Abakaliki High, whilst the Anambra Platform was
100 Km
Fig. 1a-Early evolution of Niger Delta Sedimentary Basin, Albian-Lower Santonian (after R. C.Murat).
--i ,.. ..--......
-- t h q o Lins
Imo Shale
Fig. lb-Early evolution of Niger Delta Sedimentary Basin, Lower Coniacian-Lower Eocene (afer R . C . Murat).
downwarped to form the Anambra Basin (Fig. lb). developed as lateral equivalents of the basinal marine
The Benin Flank basement, adjoining the Anambra shales.
Basin, was then invaded by the sea for the first time. Exploration effort in the early days was concentrated
There existed thus three sedimentary basins from mainly in the area fringing the Tertiary delta on the
the Campanian to the Palaeocene-the Anambra inland side, but only minor hydrocarbon shows were
Basin and the Afikpo Syncline (separated by the encountered. Some carbonate intervals are oil im-
Abakaliki High) as well as the thus far, undeformed pregnated but the reservoir characteristics are generally
Ikang Trough. The Onitsha High, a positive anomaly very poor. In addition, several oil and tar seeps have
within the Anambra Basin, could have formed at this been observed in the Coniacian and Maestrichtian
time by block faulting and tilting. around the nose and western edge of the Abakaliki
High as well as in the post Coniacian, along the
southern edge of the Ilesha Spur (Fig. 1ba-) stable
General sedimentology and hydrocarbon occurrence basement area that forms the north-western limit of
the basin.
The sedimentary fill of the various basins up to the
Palaeocene shows a remarkably similar pattern of
deltaic cycles. The regressive phases are represented by 3. EOCENE TO RECENT DELTA
coarse fluvial and fluvio-marine clastics with the
occasional development of coal horizons (in the %cene-mid-Miocene sub-deltas
Maestrichtian), whilst the transgressive phases are
mainly represented by shales and calcareous shales. In The development of Cretaceous proto-deltas was
shelf areas, less affected by clastic influx, fossiliferous terminated in the Palaeocene by a major transgression,
pelletal, oncoidal and bioclastic shoal carbonates represented by the Imo Shale. This was followed by a
212 Deltaic Deposits and Petroleum PD 4(1)
-
12303
14000
16000
VOLCANICS
P
-_/*TIME STRATIGRAP ZONE OF CONTACT
BETWEEN OCEANIC
CONTINENTAL SLOPE CHANNEL ANO CONTINENTAL
.... .. ..
* FILLS AND TURBIDITIC FANS IN
THE AKATA FORMATION,
CRUST,
regressive phase, represented by the Eocene-Recent Upper Cretaceous tectonic elements was no longer
delta (Fig. Ib). pronounced.
The thick wedge of Niger Delta Sediments can be From the mid-Miocene onwards the rate of delta
considered to consist of three units.V6 The basal unit, advance was determined by the rate of erosion of
primarily composed of marine shales, is called the newly uplifted blocks in the hinterland, particularly
Akata Formation. This unit also comprises some sand the newly emergent Cameroon Mountains. as well
beds which are thought to be continental slope as by eustatic changes in sea level. Passive subsidence
channel-fills and turbidites. The Akata Formation is also suggested by gravimetric and refraction seismic
ranges in thickness from 600 to probably over 6000 m data. These indicate that the maximum overall
(Fig. 2). thickness of Sediments in the central delta area was
The overlying paralic sequence, forming the Agbada probably accommodated by maximum down-faulting
Formation, consists of interbedded sands and shales at the junction where the delta built out from con-
with a thickness of 300 up to about 4500 m. The tinental on to oceanic crust. Negative isostatic
Abgada Formation is built up of numerous offlap anomalies of small magnitude are observed over the
cycles of which the sandy parts constitute the main central part of the delta which is in line with the
hydrocarbon reservoirs and the shales the cap-rocks. concept of a basement yielding under sediment
The topmost unit, the Benin Formation, is com- loading. Basement refractions are only recorded along
posed of fluviatile gravels and sands. This unit is the inland edges of the delta and at the southern apex
thickest in the central area of the delta (2100 m) where where the basement comes up (see Fig. 2).
there is maximum subsidence of the basement (Fig. 2). The progressive out-building of the Niger Delta is
The formations are strongly diachronous and cut illustrated by the seaward shift in the inferred positions
across the time stratigraphic units which are charac- of the coastline from the Eocene to the present (Fig. 3).
teristically S-shaped in cross-section (Fig. 2 and The landward position of the present coastline relative
Ref. 7). to the Pliocene coastline is anomalous and is due to
The important tectonic elements in the post- the post-glacial rise in sea level. As a result of this, the
Palaeocene delta were the Anambra Basin (with a continental Benin Formation extends offshore, pos-
minor sub-basin created by the axially located Onitsha sibly as far as the shelf break. Mud-filled ancient
High), the Abakaliki High, the Afikpo Syncline, the valleys off the Bonny and other est au rie^,^ and
Ikang Trough and the contact between continental drowned coral thickets have probably also resulted
and oceanic crust (Fig. Ib). These features determined from this transgression.
the directions of clastic supply, as well as the areas of
maximum deposition, and consequently the outline
of the delta front up to the mid-Miocene (Fig. 3).
4. GRAVITY TECTONICS
From the Eocene to the mid-Miocene, the Niger
Delta complex progressed along three main sedi-
mentary axes-the Anambra and its subsidiary basin Growth faults
which were fed by the Niger and Benue Rivers, and the
Afrikpo Syncline which was fed by the Cross River. Rapid sand deposition along the delta edge on
Deposition by the Cross River was also along the top of under-compacted clay has resulted in the
Ikang Trough for a brief period from the Eocene to development of a large number of synsedimentary
the L. Oligocene. Sedimentation at this time was gravitational faults (Fig. 4). These so-called growth
probably rapid, since all clastic debris was transported faults are also well known from the US Gulf Coast.
to these three relatively small areas. The shape of the Their origin and shape can be explained on the basis
early deltas could therefore have been lobate, in of the theory of soil plasticity.
contrast to the arcuate shape of the present-day delta, The spacing between successive growth faults
in which local outbuilding by individual sub-deltas is decreases with an increase of depositional slope or an
prevented by strong longshore currents (Fig. 3). increase in the rate of deposition over the rate of
subsidence. Growth faults tend to envelop local
depocentres at their time of formation. Their trend is
Growth of post-mid-Miocene delta thus an indication of the prevailing sedimentological
pattern.
After the mid-Miocene, the Niger-Benue and Cross The name growth fault derives from the fact that
River delta systems merged, and the influence of after their formation the faults remain active and
214 Deltaic Deposits and Petroleum PD 4(1)
-
RECENT UNAPPRAISED DISCOVERIES AND MINOR
OIL ACCUMULATIONS OR GAS WELLS
--------__
COUNTER REGIONAL DIPPING FAULTS
Fig. &-Growth faults and known hydrocarbon accumulations (after J. Haremboure ana!F. A . Molloy).
1 0 0 Km
thereby allow a faster sedimentation in the down- (Fig. 5b). Some 70 fields are of this type. About 10
thrown relative to the upthrown block. The ratio of the additional fields are simple anticlines with one or
thickness of a given stratigraphical unit in the down- more antithetic faults (Fig. 5c).
thrown block over that of the corresponding unit in About 20 fields in the coastal region of the Niger
the upthrown block is termed the growth index Delta are much more intensely faulted than the above
which in Nigeria can be as high as 2.5. fields. Their fault pattern is of the collapsed crest
The fault throw at the level of the Akata Formation type, with a series of closely spaced growth faults and a
is often as large as several thousand feet. The enhanced series of antithetic faults (Fig. 5d). The combined
sedimentation along the growth fault causes a rota- effect of the growth faults is a strong rollover of the
tional movement which tilts the beds towards the northern flank. As a result, the upper surface of the
fault. In this way anticlinal, so-called rollover Akata Formation also becomes markedly curved and
structures are formed along the faults. Some 25 oil- gravitational instability causes the shale bulge to
fields in the Niger Delta are basically unfaulted move upward. This in turn leads to the formation of
rollover anticlines (Fig. sa). More common are fields the antithetic faults.
in which one or more additional south hading faults The close spacing of the growth faults in the coastal
intersect the structure formed by the main fault region is related to the different subsidence pattern
P D 4(1) DeItaic Deposits and Petroleum 215
S N S N
(a) SIMPLE ROLLOVER STRUCTURE (b) STRUCTURE WITH MULTIPLE GROWTH FAULTS
S N S N
NOTE: ONLY A FEW RESERVOIR SANDS ARE SHOWN IN THE SCHEMATICAL SECTIONS AND THE SAND THICKNESS HAS BEEN ENLARGED
Fig. 5-Principal types of oilfield structures in the Niger Delta with schematical indications of common trapping
configurations.
over the oceanic crust in comparison with that over The Figs. 5(a-d) also show some examples of hydro-
the zone where oceanic and continental crust meet. carbon distribution in Nigerian fields. The trapping
This latter zone is an area of weakness where the rate conditions are discussed in Section 6.
of subsidence is higher than in the coastal region The growth faults die out in the massive continental
(Fig. 2). Consequently in the coastal region, the rate of sands. Near the top of the paralic sequence the dip of
deposition is higher than the rate of subsidence which the fault planes can be as steep as 55 deg. Downwards,
leads to a narrowing of the growth fault spacing. A the slope progressively decreases, partly because of the
rapid progradation of the delta as a result of a high curvature of the fault planes and partly because of
rate of deposition relative to the subsidence will the effect of compaction.
probably cause a rapid succession of newly formed An important characteristic of Nigerian rollover
depocentres, most of which will in turn activate structures is the shift of the cresta1 position with depth
growth faults. In between the zone of collapsed crest (Fig. 5). As a result, a well drilled on the south flank
structures and that of the simpler structures further of a shallow horizon often penetrates the north flank
inland there is a transitional zone with 6 moderately of a deep culmination. The north flanks are usually
faulted fields. considerably steeper than the south flanks.
216 Deltaic Deposits and Petroleum P D 4(1)
FLUVIATILE, BACKSWAMP
AND LAGOONAL SEDIMENTS
NATURAL L E V E E
Fig. 6-Block diagram showing coastal geomorphology, cyclic sedimentation and the influence of un active growth
fault.
the absence of strong longshore currents, results in ated fluviomarine Sediments. Barrier bar andfor
sand deposition on the continental slope. It is thought fluviatile Sediments follow up to the level where
that the sands encountered in the Akata Formation another transgression truncates the offlap sequence
were mainly deposited as fluxo-turbidites in slope- (Fig. 6).
gullies and as submarine fan turbidites in front of the Besides barrier bar, point bar and distributary
gullies. channels sands, the sandy parts of the cycles can also
Little is known as yet of the distribution of these consist of tidal channel fills, river mouth bars, natural
marine sand deposits because they generally occur at levees, and shallow marine sand bars. The sands inter-
considerable depth underneath thick shale intervals. finger with clayey lagoon, marsh, oxbow lake fill and
tidal flat deposits. Thin coal intercalations are also
found in the upper part of many cycles.
Cyclic sedimentation Growth faults have a strong influence on the lateral
thickness development of the individual cycles.
The paralic sequence is built up by numerous Especially, barrier bar sands tend to thicken markedly
offlap cycles14 of a thickness of 15-100 m. Most cycles towards growth faults in the downthrown block
are less than 60 m thick. A complete cycle generally (Fig. 6).
consists of a thin fossiliferous transgressive marine The individual cycles are very extensive, especially
sand overlain by the offlap sequence which commences in a direction parallel to the growth faults and within
with a marine shale which passes upward into lamin- structural units bounded by major growth faults.
21 8 Deltaic Deposits and Petroleum PD 4(1)
Overpressures
Reservoir sands
Overpressures are encountered in the Tertiary Niger
The reservoir quality of the sands is strongly Delta as a result of rapid loading of the under-
dependent on the depositional environment and the compacted shales of the Akata Formation by the
depth. l 4 Many reservoirs consist of a single barrier sandy Agbada and Benin Formations. The Akata
bar or point bar development. Formation is in contact with the sandy paralic Agbada
Reservoir sands thicker than 15 m are usually of a Sediments in three different ways. In the first place
complex nature, consisting of a superimposition of there is the vertical transition from continuous marine
sands deposited in the same or different sedimentary shale into paralic Sediments, secondly there are lateral
environments. Commonly two or three barrier bars facies transitions and interfingering of sand and clay
develop one on top of the other without the inter- and thirdly Akata shale is in many places in juxta-
calation of a significant marine shale. position with Agbada paralic Sediments across faults.
Laterally many reservoirs are heterogeneous. A In each of these cases fluids expelled from the over-
common occurrence is a barrier bar cut by a distrib- pressured Akata shales may inflate the pressures in
utory channel fill at the same stratigraphic level. This the adjacent sands. Consequently overpressures are
lateral heterogeneity is especially striking in the larger often encountered before the Akata shale is reached.
fields where the change of the depositional environ- Drilling through a major growth fault at consider-
ment with respect to the position of the coastline able depth is particularly hazardous because one may
becomes apparent within each cycle. drill from a hydro-pressured interval directly into a
P D 4(1) Deltaic Deposits and Petroleum 219
strongly overpressured section. In the downthrown thousand feet of overpressured shale against paralic
blocks a more gradual transition from hydro- to Sediments in the downthrown block. A plausible
overpressure is often experienced. The overpressures migration path may thus be from the overpressured
within a given fault block are usually stratigraphically shale into and through the fault zone (Fig. 7). The
controlled. The levels at which overpressures can be sands juxtaposed against overpressured formations are
expected are now known over a large part of the delta. the only downthrown block reservoirs which occasion-
ally have hydrocarbon accumulations trapped against
growth faults. From the conductive fault zones the
hydrocarbons appear to flow into the downthrown
6. OIL MIGRATION AND TRAPPING blocks only. This may be related to the effect of the
specific gravity of the hydrocarbons which tends to
Source rock bring them into that part of the fault zone which is
adjacent to the downthrown blocks. A study of the
The main source rock is thought to be the shale of relationship between the level where hydrocarbons are
the Akata Formation. A delta-wide study of shale found and the throw of the growth faults indicates that
samples indicated that, except for the most eastern the vertical conductivity of the fault zones for oil
part of the delta, the upper part of the Akata Forma- probably ceases when the throw drops below 150 m.
tion can be considered as a mature source rock. The Apart from the along-fault migration, other migra-
Akata shale has been deposited under anoxic con- tion routes from the Akata Formation shales must not
ditions on the continental slope in front of the delta be ruled out. In this respect the most likely migration
where the nutrient supply for planktonic organisms path is along regional flanks, i.e. from a seaward
must have been plentiful. facies change updip into the south flank of a rollover
Although many shale samples from the lower part structure.
of the paralic sequence also have source rock charac-
teristics, a recent study has shown that most of these
shales are immature. Trapping
0WATER
Fig. 7-Schematic section of Nigerian feld to show the principal features of the proposed accumulation model
(after R. G . Precious).
Both structural and fault trapping are well docu- 2. E. STONELEY, Geel. Mag., 1966,103(5),385-397.
mented, but the various possibilities of stratigraphic 3. $ f ~ N ~ ~ $~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ;~ ~ ~ ~: ~ r ~ ~ $ . ~ )
trapping in the delta are still being studied. 541-576.
4. T. D. ALLAN, Earth Sci. Rev., 1969, 5(4), 217-254.
5. K. C. SHORT and A. J. STUBLE, Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol.
Geol., 1967, 51(5), 761-779.
Acknowledgement 6. E. J. FRNKL and E. A. CORDRY, Proc. 7th Wld.
Petrol. Congr., 1967, Vol. 2, 196-209.
7. P. J. MERKI. African Geoioav., -. 1970, University Ibadan,
The authors wish to thank the Shell-BP Petroleum Nigeria, 635-646.
8. R. C. MURAT, African Geology, 1970, University Ibadan,
Development Company of Nigeria Limited for per- Nigeria, 251-266.
mission to publish this paper. Furthermore they stress 9. J. R. L. ALLEN, Marine Geol., 1964,1,289-332.
that much of the ideas presented in the article have 10. D. MALKIN CURTIS, Deltaic Sedimentation, Modern
and Ancient, 1970, Soc. Econ. PaleontologistsMineralogists,
been contributed by other geologists for whose co- Spec. Publ. 15, Tulsa, 293-308.
operation they are very grateful. 11. J. HOSPERS, The Geology of the East Atlantic Con-
tinental Margin, Pt. 4, Africa; Great Britain Inst. Geol.
Sci., Rept. 70/16, 1971, 121-142.
12. J. R. MASCLE, B. D. BORNHOLD and V. RENARD,
References Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol., 1973, 57(g), 1672-1678.
13. K. C. BURKE. Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol., 1972, 56(10),
1975-1983.
1. K. C. BURKE, T. F. J. DESSAUVAGIE and A. J. 14. K. J. WEBER, Geol. Mijnbouw, 1971,50(3), 559-576.
WHITEMAN, African Geology, 1970, Univ. Ibadan, 15. J. R. L. ALLEN, Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol., 1965, 49(5),
Nigeria, 187-205. 547-600.