Multi-scale constraints of sediment source to sink systems in frontier basins: a forward stratigraphic modelling case study of the Levant region
Résumé
Recent scientific work has highlighted the presence of an up to 12 km thick Cenozoic siliclastic and
carbonate infill in the Levant Basin. Since the Late Eocene, several regional geodynamic events
affecting Afro-Arabia and Eurasia (collision and strike slip deformation) induced marginal uplifts.
The initiation of local and long-lived regional drainage systems in the Oligo-Miocene period (e.g.,
Lebanon, Arabia and Nile) provoked a change in the depositional pattern along the Levant region
from carbonate-dominated to mixed clastic-rich systems. Herein, we explore the importance of mul-
ti-scale constraints (i.e., seismic, well and field data) in the quantification of subsidence history, sedi-
ment transport and deposition of a Middle to Upper Miocene “multi-source” to sink system along
the northern Levant frontier region. Through a comprehensive 4D forward stratigraphic modelling
workflow, we suggest that the contribution to basin infill is split between proximal and more distal
clastic sources as well as in situ carbonate and hemipelagic deposition. The results show that single-
source scenarios could not reasonably satisfy the basin-scale constraints. The worldwide application
of such new multi-disciplinary workflows in frontier regions highlights the additional data con-
straints that are needed to de-risk highly uncertain geological models in the hydrocarbon exploration
phase.