Research Article

Energy Exploration & Exploitation

2019, Vol. 37(3) 992–1008
Basin evolution, configuration ! The Author(s) 2019
DOI: 10.1177/0144598719840751
styles, and hydrocarbon journals.sagepub.com/home/eea

accumulation of the South

Atlantic conjugate margins

Zhixin Wen1, Shu Jiang2 ,

Chengpeng Song1 , Zhaoming Wang1 and
Zhengjun He1

Abstract
The basins of the South Atlantic passive margins are filled with early rifting stage lacustrine
sediments (Barremian, 129–125 Ma), transitional lacustrine and marine sediments (Aptian,
125–113 Ma), and drift stage marine sediments since early Cretaceous (Albian, 113 Ma). The
South Atlantic margins can be divided into three segments by the Rio Grande Fracture Zone and
the Ascension Fracture Zone according to variations in the basin evolution history and config-
uration style. The lacustrine shale and marine shale source rocks are developed in the rift stage
and drift (post-rift) stage in the South Atlantic passive margins, respectively. The southern seg-
ment of the margins is dominated by the lacustrine sedimentary filling in the rifted stage overlain
by a thin marine sag system as a regional seal, where the hydrocarbons are mainly accumulated in
the structural-stratigraphic lacustrine reservoirs formed in the rift stage. The middle segment
developed salty rift-sag-type basins with rift and sag systems and with salt deposited in the
transitional intercontinental rift stage, where the lacustrine shale in the lower part of the
rifted lacustrine sequence and the marine shale in the lower part of the sag sequence formed
in the marine post-rift stage are high-quality source rocks. This segment in the middle is mainly
dominated by pre-salt lacustrine carbonate and post-salt marine turbidite plays. The northern
segment is characterized by sag-type basins with a narrowly and locally distributed rifted lacus-
trine system and its overlying widely distributed thick marine sag systems. Gravity-flow (mostly
turbidite) marine sandstones as good reservoirs were extensively developed in the sag stage due
to the narrow shelf and steep slope. The post-rift marine shales in the lower part of the sag

1
PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing, China
2
Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources (Ministry of Education), Faculty of Earth Resources, China
University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Corresponding author:
Chengpeng Song, PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China.
Email: songchengpeng@petrochina.com.cn

Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
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Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Wen et al. 993

sequence are the main source rocks in the northern segment and the hydrocarbons generated
from these source rocks directly migrated to and accumulated in the deep marine turbidite
sandstones in the same sag sequence formed in the drift stage. From southern segment to
northern segment, source rocks and hydrocarbon accumulations tend to occur in the strati-
graphically higher formations. The hydrocarbon accumulations in the southern segment are
mainly distributed in the rifted lacustrine sequence while that in the northern segment primarily
occur in the post-rift marine sequence.

Keywords
South Atlantic, passive continental margin basin, prototype basin, basin evolution, hydrocarbon
accumulation, giant oil and gas fields

Introduction
Passive continental margin basins have been confirmed to have the most abundant oil
and gas resources, 304 out of 877 giant oil and gas fields with 2P recoverable reserves of
greater than 500 MMboe in the world are located in passive continental margin tectonic
setting (Mann et al., 2003). Recently, the advancements in deepwater geological theories
and exploration technologies have resulted in the significant increase in the oil and gas
fields’ discoveries in deepwater passive continental margin basins. The typical example is
the South Atlantic. Along its two coasts, 25 passive continental margin basins (Figure 1)
have been explored, 80% basins are in deepwater setting； currently, a total of 111 giant
oil and gas fields with recoverable reserve of 255,878 MMboe have been discovered
along the South Atlantic Margins (Figure 1), accounting for more than 70% of the
total discovered oil and gas equivalents in the passive continental margins all over the
world. Several scholars have studied the tectonic evolution of hydrocarbon-bearing
systems and the patterns of hydrocarbon accumulation along two coasts of the South
Atlantic using analogy method (Blaich et al., 2011; Edwards and Santogrossi, 2000;
Katz and Mello, 2000; Schiefelbein et al., 2000; Szatmari, 2000). However, most of
these previous studies mainly focused on individual basins and the stratigraphy and
reservoirs of two sides of the Atlantic conjugate margins were simply correlated based
on limited seismic and drilling data. This paper systematically studies the formation and
evolution of the prototype basins and their paleogeography in the conjugated passive
continental margin basins along the coasts of the South Atlantic based on the plate
tectonic evolution and paleogeographic reconstruction, basin filling styles in each seg-
ment are characterized using updated regional geology data, seismic reflection data,
recent drilling data, and new oil and gas discoveries. The reservoir distribution in
time and space is revealed in this region. Furthermore, the paper investigates the pat-
terns of the hydrocarbon accumulation for the giant oil and gas fields and identifies the
favorable plays in these basins in different parts of the South Atlantic conjugate passive
continental margin basins. This is instrumental in understanding the petroleum geology
on regional scale, geologic control on the oil and gas accumulation, and future petro-
leum exploration potentials in different areas in the South Atlantic conjugate continen-
tal margin basins.
994 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

Figure 1. The distribution of passive continental margin basins and giant oil and gas fields in the South
Atlantic margins. The northern basin highlighted in white color represent the sag-type basin, the middle
basins highlighted in brown color represent the salty rift-sag-type basin, and the south basins highlighted in
pink color represent the rift-type basin. Adapted from Bradley (2008), Rüpke et al. (2010), and Torsvik
et al. (2009).

Data and methods

The data of this paper consist of a large number of compiled published documents and
geologic knowledge summary based on the data from many commercial databases and
interpretation of latest available 2D seismic data. This paper firstly studied the paleogeog-
raphy of different evolutionary stages and the basin filling characteristics of the South
Atlantic prototype passive continental margin basins. According to characteristics of the
prototype basin and the sedimentary filling of the main target formations, this article then
classified the basin filling types for the different segments of the South Atlantic passive
continental margin basins. Hydrocarbon accumulation and the play patterns in this
region were lastly summarized according to the distribution of different types of source
Wen et al. 995

rocks and reservoirs and analysis of the petroleum system elements of the large discovered
oil and gas fields.

Geologic setting
The South Atlantic conjugate passive continental margin basins from south to north include
Falkland Plateau, Colorado, Punta Del Este, Santos, Campos, Potiguar, and Guyana basins
in the west side and Outeniqua, Southwest African Coastal, Kwanza, Lower Congo, Gabon,
and Liberia basins in the east side. These basins experienced multiple tectonic evolution
stages from Mesozoic to Cenozoic. This region was located in the Gondwana continent in
the pre-rift stage in Early Mesozoic. During the Early Cretaceous, affected by the Tristan
plumes, rifting started to develop from south to north. Extension and stretching were also
initiated from the southern end of the west Gondwana continent, forming the nearly N-S
oriented rift basins. In the north, many nearly E-W oriented strike-slip faults were formed
with strike-slip faulted basins. The strata of prototype basins can be divided into three
segments: intracontinental rifting, transitional intercontinental rifting, and drifting passive
continental margin stage. Intracontinental rift sequence is lacustrine filling in the Early
Cretaceous Berriasian period, transitional intercontinental rift sequence is lacustrine and
marine sediments filling in the Early Cretaceous Aptian, and the drifting passive continental
margin stage is characterized by the marine sediment filling since the Early
Cretaceous Albian.

Basin evolution
The conjugate basins along the coasts of the South Atlantic were formed by the rifting of
West Gondwana and the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean during Meso-Cenozoic
period (Bally and Snelson, 1980; Bradley, 2008; Torsvik et al., 2009; Wegener, 1915). The
prototype basins underwent early intracontinental rifting with lacustrine sediment filling
(the Early Cretaceous Berriasian stage), transitional intercontinental rifting with lacustrine
and marine sediments filling (the Early Cretaceous Aptian stage), and a drifting passive
continental margin stage with marine sediment filling (since the Early Cretaceous Albian
stage). These basins are generally filled with lacustrine sediments in Berriasian stage, lacus-
trine, lagoonal and marine sediments in Aptian to Albian stages, and marine sediments since
Cenomanian from Cretaceous to Cenozoic (Figure 2). Controlled by the opening stage of
the South Atlantic Ocean and the paleogeomorphic environment, the sedimentary environ-
ments can be subdivided into three segments from south to north by two major transform
fault zones, the Rio Grande Fracture Zone and the Ascension Fracture Zone (Figure 2;
Moulin et al., 2010).

Early Cretaceous Berriasian stage

In the Early Cretaceous Berriasian stage, the three segments along the two coasts are intra-
continental rift basins dominated by continental depositional systems in the rifted stage and
gradually transitioned to marine depositional systems from the southern end of the segment.
During the Early Cretaceous, extension and stretching initiated from the southern end of
the west Gondwana continent, namely, the present west coast of South Africa. Affected by
the Tristan plumes, rifting developed from south to north and was controlled by the nearly
996 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

Figure 2. Reconstruction of the prototype basins and paleogeography along the South Atlantic margins
through time. The prototype basins underwent early intracontinental rifting with lacustrine sediment filling
(the Early Cretaceous Berriasian stage), transitional intercontinental rifting with lacustrine and marine
sediments filling (the Early Cretaceous Aptian stage) and a drifting passive continental margin stage with
marine sediment filling (since the Early Cretaceous Albian stage).
Wen et al. 997

N-S oriented major faults; finally, a nearly N-S oriented long rift valley was formed, togeth-
er with many nearly E-W oriented strike-slip faults, which isolated many secondary faulted
depressions (Brownfield and Charpentier, 2006; Torsvik et al., 2009). The rift was filled with
fluvial to lacustrine sediments. Drilling data and outcrops have confirmed the rifted strata
were extensively developed in today’s continental shelf and continental slope on both shores
of the South Atlantic. Later, due to another intense extension during the Balmain stage, the
southern part of the southern segment was then connected with the Indian Ocean and
started to receive marine sediments, while the northern part was still receiving continental
sediments, and the middle part subsided rapidly and deep-lacustrine mudstone sediments
were accumulated in this segment. In the northern segment, the E-W extension was con-
verted to the nearly E-W oriented S~ao Paulo and Romanche transform faults and many
narrow, deep, and small pull-apart rifted lacustrine basins developed (Rüpke et al., 2010).

Early Cretaceous Aptian stage

In the Early Cretaceous Aptian stage, the three segments on the two sides were transitional
intercontinental rift basins. The southern segment was composed of clastic marine sedi-
ments. The middle segment was mainly characterized by the development of the lacustrine
carbonates and salt (Strozyk et al., 2017; Thompson et al., 2015). The northern segment was
dominated by clastic lacustrine rocks.
In the early to middle Aptian stage, with the narrow initial oceanic crust forming from
south to north and massively incursion of seawater from the Indian Ocean to the south, a
series of transgressive glutenite bodies formed (Torsvik et al., 2009), indicating the end of the
early rift stage and the start of the continental rift period. Accompanied by intense mag-
matic activities, the Rio Grande Rise-Walvis Ridge volcanic highland near today’s middle
segment formed in nearly an E-W direction, which provided a lateral barrier, and restricted
the seawater circulation in the narrow nearly N-S oriented depression and formed a local
lagoonal environment. In addition, due to the appearance of a narrow oceanic crust, the
geothermal gradient clearly increased, the boundary fault blocks on both sides of the inter-
continental rift tilted with thermal expansion. Without a sufficient supply of clastic rocks
and with a location close to the equator, carbonate rocks developed with an extensive
distribution (Torsvik et al., 2009). In the northern segment, controlled by the nearly E-W
oriented trans-extensional fault belt, the rift system was relatively small and closed, with
lacustrine clastic sediments. Connecting to the Indian Ocean, the southern segment had well
circulated seawater and received shallow marine clastic sediments (Rüpke et al., 2010).
In the late Aptian stage, as evaporation continued, evaporites developed in the basins in
the middle segment (Torsvik et al., 2009). The evaporites are composed of salt and anhydrite
rocks, dominated by salt, which covers a total area up to 1 million km2 and are over 4000-m
thick at a maximum (Kukla et al., 2018). Due to the limited development of the pull-apart
rift in the basins in the northern segment, the lacustrine clastic sediments remained domi-
nant, without seawater incursion from the south. The basins on the coasts of the southern
segment remained marine environment with clastic sediments.

Early Cretaceous Albian stage

Since the Early Cretaceous Albian stage, the three segments on the two margins developed
passive continental margin basins during the drift period, all of which received marine
998 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

sediments, but the sedimentary thicknesses vary (Rüpke et al., 2010). From the early Albian
stage, the seafloor with oceanic crust continued to expand, driving lithosphere movement
toward both coasts and forming a fully opened ocean. The oceanic crust on both sides
tended to become colder and subsided symmetrically from the two coasts to the mid-
ocean ridge, and finally, in the continental crust and continent to ocean zone, passive con-
tinental margin sedimentary wedges formed in this drift stage. At that time, a large amount
of transgressive seawater ended the deposition of evaporites. With the rise and fall of global
sea level, from the bottom to the top, the drift period underwent a major transgression and
regression cycle, resulting in a lower transgressive system and an upper regressive system.
The transgressive system (Albian to Maastrichtian) consisted of early shallow to late deep
marine sediments. The southern segment was dominated by marine clastic sediments. The
middle segment was deposited with shallow carbonate rocks early and clastic sediments
lately. The South American plate moved southward while it moves westward along the
transform fault, which makes the northern segment connected with the northern mid-
Atlantic Ocean. The marine clastic sediments were deposited in the northern segment
during this period. Maximum marine flooding occurred from the Cenomanian stage to
the Turonian stage, which resulted in the forming of organic-rich black shale in an
anoxic environment in the middle and northern segments. It is worth mentioning that the
gravity-flow fans occur mostly in the northern segment. Controlled by the high-angle trans-
form faults, the passive continental margins in the northern segment had a narrow shelf and
steep continental slope, and lots of sand was transported to the shelf edge by rivers. The
flood and earthquake triggered the sands to slide down the steeper slope and formed gravity-
flow (mostly turbidite) sedimentary systems. The slope was eroded vertically and laterally,
often creating parallel submarine canyons or recharge channels on the shelves and upper
slopes. Once the speed of these gravity current was slowed down, sediments were settled out
to form submarine fan groups and other gravity flow sedimentary systems on the lower
slope and continental rise (abyssal plain).
Since the Paleocene, the fall of global sea level and sufficient sediment sources from two
sides of the margins result in the prograding deltas and deepwater gravity-flow (mainly
turbidite) sedimentary systems (Figure 2). The examples are constructive large-scale
Niger, Foz do Amazonas and Pelotas deltas.

Differences in basin configuration style from southern segment to

northern segment
A comprehensive comparison of basin configuration style is based on the interpretation of
seismic and geologic data that shows different structures in the southern, middle, and
northern segments. The dominant systems of the prototype phase divide the basins into
three types: rift-type basins in the southern segment, salty rift-sag-type basins in the middle
segment, and sag-type basins in the northern segment (Figure 1). The geothermal gradients
of the rift and the sag systems (including the delta system) are approximately 4.0
C/100 m
and 3.0
C/100 m on average, respectively (Wen et al., 2016). If their thicknesses are more
than 3000 and 4000 m, respectively, the lower source rocks have entered the stage of peak
hydrocarbon generation and expulsion, which provides the resource for forming giant oil
and gas fields. Therefore, these two thicknesses are regarded as the general standards for the
Wen et al. 999

Figure 3. Seismic reflection showing the rift-type passive continental margin basins in the southern seg-
ment of the South Atlantic. The W-E oriented AA0 seismic section is located in the Argentina Colorado
basin and W-E oriented BB0 seismic section is located in the South Africa Southwest African Coast basin.
The location of these two seismic sections is shown in Figure 1.

superior prototype phase. These two thickness standards will change slightly in basins with
different paleogeothermal gradients and organic matter types.

Rift-type basins in the southern segment

The southern rift-type passive continental margin basin shows a lower rift and upper sag
structure, typically with a thicker underlying rift system (generally more than 3000 m in the
depocenter) and a thin overlying sag system (generally less than 4000 m in the depocenter;
Figure 3). Seismic data confirmed that the southern basins, except for the Pelotas Basin with
a large-scale delta, are all rift-type basins (Figure 1). The underlying rift system is extensively
developed, and the tensional faults control the structural pattern with alternate horsts and
grabens. Drilling data revealed volcanic rocks in the lower part and continental, alluvial fan,
and lacustrine sedimentary systems in the upper part of the rift (Conti et al., 2017, Contreras
et al., 2010; Franke et al., 2007) as well as a significant seaward dipping reflectors phenom-
enon. The overlying sag system shows a clear wedge feature, where faults are less developed,
and contacts the underlying strata with a regional angular unconformity. The bottom con-
tains a group of continuous strong reflections, tens of meters to a hundred meters thick,
composed of conglomerate deposits during the intercontinental rift period. The lower part
of the sag system displays weak-amplitude to blank seismic reflections and is composed of
1000 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

deepwater fine-grained sediments during the transgression. The middle and upper strata
display multiple sets of small-scale wedge-shape seismic reflections from the slope to the
abyssal plain and are composed of small-scale delta and gravity-flow sedimentary systems.

Salty rift-sag-type basins in the middle segment

The salty rift-sag-type basins have an underlying rift system similar to that of the rift-type
basins in the southern segment, but a different overlying sag system. The upper sag system
has distinct characteristics: (1) the whole overlying sag system is thick, more than 5000 m in
the depocenter; (2) in the lower transitional member, lagoon carbonate, and evaporate
developed from bottom to top (Chaboureau et al., 2013). The former is mainly distributed
in today’s Santos, Campos, Kwanzaa, and Lower Congo basins, more than 1000 m at the
thickest location. The latter is widely distributed in all the basins in the middle segment,
covering an area of 1 million km2 and becoming thicker toward the ocean, including over
4000 m at the thickest location; and (3) the salt structure is developed and the strong post-
salt Cenozoic wedge/lenticular reflection structures represent a deepwater sedimentary
system of many stages at a larger scale. This is consistent with the fall of the global sea
level at that time (Figure 4).

Sag-type basins with thick post-rift sediments in the northern segment

The unique structure of the sag-type passive continental margin basins in the northern
segment (Figure 5) is characterized by the following features: (1) the rift system is small
comparing to the post-rift system and only occurs in limited basins, such as the Saira Basin,
which is because the early rift was a narrow strike-slip pull-apart rift basin controlled by
steep faults; (2) the sag system is thick (>5000 m) and the gravity-flow sand bodies are well
developed since the sediments can be easily transported down from the narrow shelf and
steep slope. Additionally, the Niger and Foz do Amazonas water systems developed delta
basins, to be described later.

Hydrocarbon accumulation and distribution of giant oil and gas fields

Based on differences in the basin evolution and configuration styles and sedimentary sys-
tems of the three types of basins in the three segments and the characteristics of the discov-
ered giant oil and gas fields, the hydrocarbon accumulation and distribution patterns of the
giant oil and gas fields were investigated for the basins in the three segments.

Giant structural-stratigraphic oil and gas fields in the southern rift-type basins
The southern rift-type passive margin basins developed a giant structural-stratigraphic oil
and gas field in the rift stage (Figure 6). In this type of basins, the sedimentary systems that
developed in the sag stage are less than 4000-m thick, and the geothermal gradient is low
(generally less than 3.0
C/100 m). The marine shale has not entered the stage of peak
hydrocarbon generation and expulsion and are not effective source rocks, but this marine
shale can only act as a regional caprock. The rift system has a high geothermal gradient
(average 4.0
C/100 m) and has an overlying sag system. The northern Barremian lacustrine
shale and the southern marine shale in the rift system have entered the stage of peak hydro-
carbon generation and expulsion, providing an effective hydrocarbon source for the
Wen et al. 1001

Figure 4. Seismic reflection showing the salty-rift-sag-type passive margin basins in the middle segment of
the South Atlantic margins. W-E oriented CC0 seismic section is located in the Brazil Santos basin, W-E
oriented DD0 seismic section is located in the Congo Low Congo basin. The location of these seismic
sections is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5. Seismic reflection showing the sag-type passive margin basins in the northern segment of the
South Atlantic margins. S-N oriented EE0 seismic section is located in the Guyana Guyana basin and S-N
oriented FF0 seismic section is located in the Cote dIvoire Cote dIvoire basin. The location of these seismic
sections is shown in Figure 1.
1002 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

Figure 6. The sedimentary filling and hydrocarbon accumulation model show the distribution of reservoir
giant oil and gas fields in the rift-type passive margin basins in the southern segment of the South Atlantic
margins. Kudu giant gas field is located in this segment and its discovered plays are structural-stratigraphic
and mainly distributed in the rift system. Adapted from Mello et al. (2012).

formation of giant oil and gas fields. Currently, the giant offshore KUDU gas field in
Southwest Africa has proven that the source rock is the Barremian lacustrine shale
(Mello et al., 2012) with an average TOC of 10%, a hydrogen index up to 600 HC/gTOC,
and a hydrocarbon potential from 9–11 to a maximum of 57 mg HC/g. Both the Logigo and
the Sea Lion gas fields in the North Falkland Basin off the coast of South America have
Barremian marine shale as source rock. These source rocks entered hydrocarbon-generating
windows at the end of the Paleogene (Bushnell et al., 2000). The hydrocarbon migrated
vertically along faults to the gravity-flow or transgressive sandstones at the top of the rift
system and finally accumulated as giant structural-stratigraphic plays such as Kudu and
Sea Lion.

Giant oil and gas fields producing from pre-salt carbonate rock and post-salt gravity-flow
fan sandstone in the middle salty rift-sag-type basins
The salty rift-sag-type basins in the middle segment contain giant oil and gas fields produc-
ing from pre-salt lacustrine carbonate and post-salt marine gravity-flow fan sandstone
reservoirs (Figure 7). A total of 47 giant oil and gas fields have been discovered, of which
26 are located in the Santos, Campos and Espirito Santo Basins off the east coast of Brazil,
and 21 in the Lower Congo, Kwanzaa and Gabon Basins. The underlying carbonate rocks
are primary reservoirs in the pre-salt fields, and the gravity-flow sandstones provide primary
reservoirs in the post-salt fields.
The formation conditions of the giant pre-salt oil and gas fields are very similar. This is
because the basins on the two conjugate margins were in a similar environment ranging from
a narrow and closed intracontinental rift lake basin to an intercontinental lagoon in one
basin. The main source rocks are lacustrine shales formed during the intracontinental rift
stage (Beglinger et al., 2012). In the Campos Basin, the source rocks were proven to be
Wen et al. 1003

Figure 7. The schematic diagram shows the hydrocarbon accumulation of giant oil and gas fields in the salty
rift-sag-type passive margin basins in the middle segment of the South Atlantic margins. The deeper pink
halite and pink salt divided the strata into two parts and the discovered plays are classified into two types.
One type is pre-salt carbonate play distributed in the rift system, and the other is post-salt turbidite sands
distributed in the sag system. Adapted from Mello et al. (2012).

Lagoa Feia black lacustrine calcareous shales deposited during the Early Cretaceous rifting
period (Guardado et al., 2000), with type I kerogen, a TOC from 2% to 6%, a hydrogen
index as high as 900 mgHC/gTOC, and a hydrocarbon potential of more than 10 mg HC/g.
The shales were well developed in many grabens in the two conjugate margins, generally
with thickness of 100–400 m (Harris, 2000). The 1D modeling study reveals the critical
moments for the maturation of source rocks in South Atlantic basins, e.g. Campos basin
span from Early to Late Cretaceous (Marcano et al., 2013). The source rocks reached peak
oil generation at approximately the Miocene, and most are still in the oil window under the
influence of heat insulation by overlying thick salt rock. If salt windows were undeveloped,
hydrocarbon would migrate vertically through the rift system and then laterally along the
transgressive unconformity to the overlying Aptian carbonate rocks and accumulate in the
anticlinal structural traps. These anticlines are usually paleo-highs between rifts or isolated
carbonate platforms on horsts, where two types of high-quality reservoirs were developed,
ostracod and microbial carbonates. Currently, nine giant oil and gas fields are located in the
Santos Basin and three in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil, and three in the Kwanzaa
Basin in West Africa have been found to produce from the pre-salt carbonate reservoirs.
Additionally, there was another field discovered in the Gabon Basin. The regional caprocks
are very thick (100–2500 m) and widely distributed salt rocks (approximately 1 million km2)
directly overlie the carbonate or conglomeratic sandstone.
In the post-salt oil and gas fields on the two conjugate margins, the reservoirs are primary
gravity flow fan sandstone and a small amount of carbonate rocks. The cap rocks are all
transgressive shales, but the source rocks are not exactly the same. As the post-salt strata in
the depression stage on the two margins belonged to two separate basins and were affected
by the different sediment supplies, the depositional thicknesses varied greatly between the
1004 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

different basins of the two margins and even the different units in the same basin, thus
affecting the distribution of effective source rocks. In the drift stage, wedge-shaped sags
developed, and the zone below the slope break was deposited in the thickest units, generally
more than 4000 m. The Cenomanian-Turonian transgressive shale in the lower section has
type II kerogen and a TOC of 2–5%, with a maximum of 10%, and it experienced peak
hydrocarbon generation and expulsion (Harris, 2000), which provides the hydrocarbon
source for giant oil and gas fields. In the Lower Congo Basin, with abundant sediment
source transported by the Congo River, sediments were deposited up to a maximum of 6000
m since the Oligocene. Besides the lower Cenomanian-Turonian marine shale, the local
Oligocene marine shales in the upper section also entered the hydrocarbon generation
threshold, with primary type II kerogen and a TOC of up to 14.4%, and providing high-
quality source rock conditions. However, thin systems deposited during the sag period may
also provide good conditions for the development of giant oil and gas fields. In the Campos
Basin, for example, due to later strong activities of the mobile salt, hydrocarbons migrated
upward to the marine gravity-flow sandstone deposited during the drift period through salt
windows. The hydrocarbon might migrate a long or short distance in the vertical direction,
the shortest to the post-salt Lower Cretaceous strata (the Albian stage), and the longest to
the Miocene strata. Since salt tectonics occurred before and after the formation of gravity
flow sandstones, two types of traps were formed: stratigraphic traps of submarine fan above
salt and composite traps with lithological pinch-out and fault components. Since the gravity
flow sandstones were formed in many stages and the faults affected the migration and
sealing conditions, a giant oil–gas field usually has multiple oil–water contacts and the
relationship between oil and water is extremely complicated.

Giant oil and gas fields producing from gravity-flow fan in the northern sag-type basins
The sag-type basins in the northern segment developed giant oil and gas fields with reser-
voirs of marine gravity-flow fan or turbidite sandstone formed in drift stage (Figure 8). The
lower pull-apart rift is narrow, deep and distributed over a limited area. The upper sag
system formed during the drift period is very thick (greater than 5000 m) and mainly consists
of clastic sediments, and the gravity flow sandstones are widely developed.
The Côte d’Ivoire Basin is used as an example to illustrate the characteristics of this kind
of large oil and gas fields. Before 2007, there were 39 oil and gas fields discovered in the Côte
d’Ivoire Basin, with small- and medium-sized reserves. However, with the increasing drilling
depth, the scale of the oilfields was also found to be larger. In May 2007, Well M-1, in a
maximum water depth of 1322 m, discovered the largest Jubilee oilfield (1166 MMbbl),
where the Turonian composite gravity-flow sandstones are reservoirs with an effective thick-
ness of 97.25 m, a single layer thickness of 2–36 m, and an average porosity of 22%. In May
2010, Well Teak-1, drilled in the northeastern high of the Jubilee oilfield, discovered a
gravity-flow sandstone play with a total reservoir thickness of 71.7 m. The well drilled
into Turonian gravity-flow fan reservoirs and Campanian gravity-flow sandstone reservoirs.
In the drift stage, the deepwater marine system was deposited quickly and was very thick.
The lower Cenomanian-Turonian marine shale deposited during the global ocean anoxic
event has now entered the peak period of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion, and
hydrocarbons can migrate to and accumulate in the stratigraphic gravity-flow sandstone
traps with the marine shales as both source rock and cap rock, or migrate upwards through
faults or unconformities to the shallow gravity-flow fan bodies. Seismic data showed that
Wen et al. 1005

Figure 8. The schematic diagram showing the hydrocarbon accumulation of giant oil and gas fields in the
sag-type passive margin basins in the northern segment of the South Atlantic margins. Controlled by the
tectonic evolution and narrow shelf, the thick sediments are filled in the sag system and the discovered plays
are distributed in the turbidite sands in the sag system.

the entire sag system developed multistage skirt-shaped submarine fans from the bottom to
the top in the base of the slope. Following the discovery of the largest Turonian Jubilee
oilfield in the Tano Subbasin in 2007, more discoveries were made in the deepwater Upper
Cretaceous gravity-flow fans in the Liberia Basin to the north and the Guyana Basin on the
opposite margin. The deepwater Liza discovery in the Guyana Basin provides recoverable
reserves of 12  108 bbl. All these have proven that the gravity-flow fans in the sag-
type passive continental margin basins in the northern segment are the most favor-
able reservoirs.

Differences in the petroleum system and hydrocarbon accumulation in three types

of basins
The hydrocarbon accumulation patterns were summarized according to the structural style,
sedimentary fill architecture, and petroleum system elements in three types of basins in three
segments. In the southern rift-type basins, the hydrocarbons are mainly accumulated in the
rift system, the sandstones at the top of the rift system are the main reservoirs, with primary
sources from the rift system and its overlying marine shale formed in the drift stage acts as
high-quality regional caprock. For the salty rift-sag-type basins in the middle segment, the
hydrocarbon systems are separated by the thick salt, in the pre-salt, the hydrocarbons sourced
from the source rock in the rift system were trapped in the early transitional lagoon carbonate
and sealed in the overlying salt; above the salt, the hydrocarbons are sourced from both the
source rock in the rift system and its overlying post-salt marine shale in the sag system. These
1006 Energy Exploration & Exploitation 37(3)

hydrocarbons are accumulated in the marine gravity-flow sandstones in the sag system. In the
northern sag-type basins, the hydrocarbons sourced from the marine shale in the post-rift sag
system are mainly accumulated in the gravity-flow reservoirs in the same sag sequence. The
gravity fan reservoir is in a shirt shape at the base of slope.

Conclusions
1. The passive continental margin basins on the two margins of the South Atlantic are
conjugate in nature, associated with the separation of South America and Africa and
the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. All the basins experienced early intracontinen-
tal rifting (the Early Cretaceous Berriasian stage, 129–125 Ma), transitional interconti-
nental rifting (the Early Cretaceous Aptian stage, 125–113 Ma), and drifting passive
continental margin stage (since the Early Cretaceous Albian stage, 113 Ma).
2. Based on the basin evolution, structural differences, sedimentary characteristics, and
basin configuration styles, the basins in the South Atlantic margins can be divided into
three types of passive continental margin basins in the three segments along the margins.
The southern segment is characterized by the rift-type basins with well-developed rift
systems. The middle segment consists of transitional salty rift-sag-type basins with both
rift and sag systems developed. The northern segment contains sag-type basins with well-
developed sag systems and less-developed rift.
3. The structural and sedimentary filling differences in the three types of basins in three
segments determine that the hydrocarbon accumulation patterns of the giant oil and gas
fields are clearly different. In the southern rift-type basins, oil and gas are accumulated in
giant structural-stratigraphic reservoirs at the top of the rift sequence. The primary
sources are from the rift system and the caprock is from the upper marine shale
formed in the drift stage. In the middle salty rift-sag-type basins, if salt windows were
not developed, the hydrocarbons from the source rock in the rift system were sealed in the
early transitional lagoon carbonate by the overlying salt; above the salt, the hydrocar-
bons are sourced from both the post-salt marine shale in the sag system and its underlying
lacustrine source rock in the rift system. Some hydrocarbons generated from the rift
source rocks are accumulated in the pre-salt carbonate in the rift sequence and some
vertically migrated up via faults and then through the salt window, and finally accumu-
lated in marine gravity-flow sandstones in the sag system. In the northern sag-type basins,
the hydrocarbons sourced from the marine shale in the sag system directly charged the
composite gravity-flow fan reservoirs distributed in a shirt shape at the base of slope and
led to the giant oil and gas accumulations in the drift stage.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to ION and Spectrum for providing 2D seismic data and to IHS for providing wells and
oil and gas field data in this research project.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Wen et al. 1007

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: This research was funded by the National Science and Technology Major
Project Foundation of China (No. 2016ZX05029-001), National Science and Technology Major
Project Foundation of China (No. 2017ZX05001-005) and the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (41728004).

ORCID iD
Shu Jiang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6272-7649
Chengpeng Song http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8249-4264

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