Late Jurassic Rifting in the Southern Central Graben - A Complex Story Simplified

In order to be able to predict the distribution of reservoir sands and of grainsize and porosity trends in a hydrocarbon province, it is essential to understand the basin evolution in detail. In this study, an attempt is made to reconstruct the complex basin evolution of the southern Central Graben area by careful correlation of sedimentary successions from the different structural elements. The Late Jurassic rift phase is complex: a change in tectonic regime occurs, subsidence varies dramatically through time and space and former depocenters may become sources for erosion. In this paper a break down is proposed for the basin evolution in three discrete steps, each of which is closely related to changes in the tectonic regime. The basin fill of the southern Central Graben area is displayed in Wheeler type of diagrams, showing the facies relationships between the various parts of the basin.