Course Elective 2 - Structural Geology and Tectonics:
Fold and Thrust Belts as Oil and Gas Exploration Targets.

Staff involved:

A.Prof Patrice Rey (The University of Sydney).

Background:

Fold and thrusts belts mainly form in foreland basins adjacent to major orogens. Shortening is accommodated by a combination of reverse faults, thrusts and folds. Oil and gas exploration focussing largely on fold and thrusts belts as hydrocarbons - derived from buried organic matter - migrate upward into traps formed by anticlinal closures. Understanding of the structural and thermal evolution of fold and thrusts belts is fundamental to hydrocarbon exploration. The northern margin of Australia is a prime target for the oil and gas industry and Sydney hosts some of the biggest players in the oil and gas Industry involved in exploration in Souteast Asia.

Module Objectives:

This course aims to introduce experienced field geologists, apprentice structural geologists, and geophysicists to the modern approach of fold and thrusts belts. We will review their internal architecture, kinematic and geometric evolution. We will assess the role of basement structures in the geometry of fold and thrusts belts and we will familiarise with cross-section balancing as a method to constraint the hidden internal structure of fold and thrust belts.

Module contact person and coordinator:

• A.Prof P.F. Rey
• School of Geosciences, Division of Geology and Geophysics
• The University of Sydney
• NSW 2006, Australia
• Phone: 61 2 9351 2067
• Fax: 61 2 9351 0184
• E-mail: patrice.rey@sydney.edu.au