Journal of African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 254274 www.elsevier.

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Central Atlantic margin basins of North West Africa: Geology and hydrocarbon potential (Morocco to Guinea)
Ian Davison
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Earthmoves Ltd., Chartley House, 3842 Upper Park Road, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2EF, United Kingdom Received 10 March 2004; accepted 18 July 2005 Available online 11 November 2005

Abstract This paper summarises the stratigraphy, structure and petroleum geology of the Central Atlantic margin of NW Africa, from Morocco to Guinea. Rifting of the margin began in Late Triassic (Carnian) times and clastic red bed sequences were deposited on both sides of the Atlantic margins. Red beds were followed by early Jurassic evaporite deposition, with three separate salt basins developed. A major magmatic event with dykes, lavas and plutons occurred along the whole Central Atlantic margin at 200 Ma during salt deposition. A carbonate platform developed along the margin in Jurassic to Early Cretaceous times. This consists mainly of carbonate ramp facies, but with rimmed-shelf carbonate platforms developed in Senegal. The deepwater sections of the margin consist of predominantly deepmarine clastic sedimentation from the Jurassic to Recent. Important deltas built out at Tan Tan, Cape Boudjour (Early Cretaceous), Nouakchott (Tertiary) and Casamance (Late Cretaceous). These delta deposits are important for oil exploration, because the rich CenomanianTuronian source rock reaches maturity for hydrocarbon generation in these areas. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Central Atlantic continental margin Africa; Stratigraphy; Hydrocarbon potential

1. Introduction The NW African Central Atlantic margin extends from the northern tip of Morocco southward to the Guinea Fracture Zone which bounds the southern margin of the Guinea Plateau (Figs. 1 and 2). There is a marked similarity in the stratigraphy along NW African Atlantic margin, with Triassic red bed rift inll, followed by Early Jurassic salt, Jurassic to Early Cretaceous carbonate platforms, and a marine clastic inll in the Cretaceous and Tertiary (Fig. 3). The margin also has a similar structural history along its length, with rifting in the late Triassic to Early Jurassic followed by oceanic spreading which initiated around 180170 Ma. NW Africa has seen a recent surge of oil exploration interest, with the discovery of the Chinguetti Field in Mauritania, and a large amount of new seismic data has
*

been recently acquired along most of the margin. This paper reviews the geological history and petroleum geology of the Atlantic margin, with a general introduction followed by a description of the basins ordered from north to south. The onshore marginal basins are briey described, but the main subject of the paper is the oshore continental margin basins (see Pique and Michard, 1989; Le Roy, 1997; Beauchamp et al., 1999; Le Roy and Pique, 2001; Pique et al., 2002; Ellouz et al., 2003; Laville et al., 2004; for reviews of the onshore Moroccan basins). 2. Central Atlantic TriassicJurassic rifting and magmatism 2.1. Rifting Rifting of the Central Atlantic margin began in Late Triassic times, at the same time as adjacent onshore rifts developed (Figs. 1 and 2). The rst oshore sedimentation is marked by the deposition of Triassic red beds (Brown,

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1464-343X/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.018

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Fig. 1. Free Air Gravity map showing the fracture zone pattern in the Central Atlantic Fracture Zone labeled A can be correlated from America to Africa and this has been used in the plate tectonic t shown in Fig. 2.

1980), followed by Early Jurassic salt in the late rifting phase. Little is known of the early syn-rift phase oshore, as it has been rarely drilled and poorly dated. Seismic data indicate a series of syn-rift half-graben are present in Morocco (Fig. 2), but these have not been observed south of the Canary Islands. Olsen et al. (1996) concluded that the rift phase in the Newark Basin on the conjugate USA margin (Fig. 1) was deposited from Carnian to Hettangian times. Up to 5000 m of red marine to uvial clastics were deposited in the onshore south Moroccan Basins (Brown, 1980; Heyman, 1989; Le Roy and Pique, 2001), and seismic evidence indicates the Triassic sequence has a similar thickness in the o shore region (Le Roy and Pique, 2001; Le Roy et al., 1997). The rifting trend closely parallels the old Hercynide fold belt on the NW African margin, and pre-existing basement structure probably controls rift orientation and style. Triassic basalts of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province have been found below and intercalated with salt in the Doukkala Basin (e.g. well DA-8 and RFE-1) (Le Roy and Pique, 2001;

Fietchner et al., 1992; Had, 1999), and the High Plateaux Basin (Coo de et al., 2003), suggesting that the salt was deposited in approximately 1 M yr around 200 Ma. The thickest salt along the NW African margin is located in the deepest half-graben formed during the rifting, and salt is absent from the footwalls of major normal faults. Downslope sliding of overburden above the salt is limited to within individual fault blocks due to the patchy nature of the salt (Tari et al., 2000, 2003). The original thickness of the salt in the oshore Morocco region probably exceeded 1.5 km judging by the size and frequency of the salt diapirs, but may have been around 1 km, in the Mauritanian and SenegalGuinea Bissau Salt Basins. Hence, salt deposition was a very rapid process which probably averaged 1 mm a1. 2.2. Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) Mesozoic dykes and sills were injected within a short space of time (ca. 1 M yr) along the whole Central Atlantic

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Fig. 2. Correlation of the two margins showing the main 200 Ma salt basins and predicted extensions of salt basins. Plate Tectonics Reconstruction by author.

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Fig. 3. Map of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province and TriassicJurassic Rifts. Ages of igneous events are from Sebai et al. (1991); Hames et al. (2000); Marzoli et al. (1999).

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margin (Olsen et al., 2003, Fig. 2). This magmatism is known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) (McHone, 2000; Hames et al., 2000; Hames et al., 2003; Wilson, 1997; Wilson, 1992). The age range of the magmatic events in Mali and Morocco is 197203 Ma (Sebai et al., 1991; Fietchner et al., 1992; Knight et al., 2003), and dykes are dated between 198 and 203 Ma along the USA margin (Fig. 2, Hames et al., 2000). However, the most recent studies suggest the basaltic magmatism is restricted to a 1 M yr period centred around 200 Ma (Sebastien, 2001; Hames et al., 2003). The magma volume is estimated to be approximately 2 106 km3, which ranks as one of the largest magmatic events of the Phanerozoic, and it has been suggested it was responsible for the massive extinction at the end of the Triassic (Courtillot et al., 1996). The origin of the magmatic province is not clear, but a simple plume does not explain the complex variation in magma batches which extend in an elongate NS trending zone over 6000 km (Fig. 2). A multiple source origin, or an asymmetric sub-horizontal plume has been suggested (e.g. Oyarzun et al., 1997; McHone, 2000). The main centre of the magmatism appears to be located in Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia and southern Mali. CAMP magmatism occurred approximately 25 M yr after the initiation of rifting (Schlische et al., 2003), and an elongate zone of thinned lithosphere may have channeled plume material to follow the pre-existing rift. There is no obvious phase of uplift associated with volcanism along the zone that was later to become the Central Atlantic ocean. Evaporites occur within and above the basalts, which suggests there has not been any major uplift prior or during volcanism. 2.3. Onset of drift

ocean crust on eastern Fuerteventura. Hence, the oldest possible age of the oceanic crust would be 178.7 Ma, and the youngest would be ca. 170 Ma. The earliest phase of spreading of the oceanic crust produced seaward-dipping reectors, which are imaged along most of the N. American margin (Fig. 2, e.g. Talwani and Abreu, 2000). The seaward-dipping reectors (SDRs) reach up to 12 km in thickness in Baltimore Canyon and are interpreted to be sub-aerial basaltic ows and interbedded sediments. Jurassic carbonate platforms can be found growing directly on top of the SDRs in the Baltimore Canyon, which supports a sub-aerial spreading ridge hypothesis (Talwani and Abreu, 2000). The seaward dipping reectors have not been identied on seismic reection proles across the NW African margin. This can be explained by the mid-ocean ridge jump, where the African seawarddipping reectors became stranded on the North American plate, and now form the Blake Spur Magnetic Anomaly (Figs. 2 and 3). The southern limit of the Central Atlantic Ocean is dened by the Guinea Fracture Zone which cross cuts the gravity anomalies in the South Atlantic Ocean due to a change in opening direction (Fig. 1). 3. Drift phase During the drift phase (Jurassic to Recent) several abrupt changes in drift direction occurred which aected the African plate. These were caused by South Atlantic opening, rotation and collision of Iberia, and Tethys closure. The NW Moroccan margin was most profoundly aected by the collision of Africa and Iberia during the Rif-Betic orogeny in Oligocene to Miocene times. 3.1. JurassicCretaceous sedimentation

The exact age of the onset of ocean spreading is not well dened because the oldest oceanic crust does not contain identiable dated magnetic anomalies. Assuming a constant spreading rate in the Jurassic, a Middle Jurassic age was estimated for the southern Central Atlantic spreading based on extrapolation from the earliest magnetic anomaly M 25 (Klitgord and Schouten, 1986). Ocean spreading appears to have initiated rst in the southern part of the margin between the Western SaharaMauritania segment and the Blake PlateauBaltimore Canyon segment (Fig. 3). An older ocean fragment approximately 200 km in width is preserved here, and an eastward ridge jump of 100 km occurred, so that there is a wider ocean crust stranded on the American plate compared to the African plate (Owen, 1983; Klitgord and Schouten, 1986, Fig. 1). The earliest spreading on the NW African margin is dened by middle Aalenian to Bajocian age (169178 Ma) sediment lying unconformably on oceanic basalts on Fuerteventura Island (Steiner et al., 1998). This outcrop lies approximately 30 km westward from the estimated position of the oceancontinent boundary (Fig. 3). Using a spreading rate of 43 mm a1 at this locality (Time Trek v 4.14, 2003) the oldest ocean crust would have formed 0.7 M yr before the

Northern Mauritania was situated close to the Equator when the carbonate deposition initiated in Late Triassic times (Fig. 3). Jurassic to Early Cretaceous carbonate platforms extend over a NE-SW distance of 6000 km from Portugal in the North to Guinea Bissau in the South (Jansa, 1981). The platform becomes thicker and wider toward the south. The carbonates range from Late Triassic to Cenomanian in age on the Morrocan margin. In the shallower, most proximal sections, the carbonate platform is dominated by dolomite in the Dogger and Upper Lias, giving way to limestones, dolomites and anhydrite in the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous onshore (Fig. 4). Oshore Morocco, dolomites and anhydrites dominate the Lower and Middle Jurassic and give way to limestones in the Upper Jurassic (e.g. well ESW-1bis, Had, 1999). In deep half-graben, shales dominate over carbonates (e.g. TAT-1 well, Had, 1999). The Lower Jurassic carbonates and shales reach up to 600 m in thickness onshore in the Essaouira Basin area, and at least 2000 m oshore. Seismic proles indicate the platform is mainly a ramp type facies with occasional rimmed platform development at Cap Juby (near Tarfaya) and onshore Senegal Theis block (Petrosen, 2003).

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Fig. 4. Summary diagrams showing the common stratigraphic and tectonic features which are present along most of the NW African margin.

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In general, the Lower Jurassic carbonate platforms are broader than the Upper Jurassic platforms. During the Early Cretaceous a major regression took place and the carbonate platforms were drowned during the Valanginian and covered by prograding delta clastics (e.g. Boudjour and Tan Tan deltas). Lagoonal shales developed landward of rimmed carbonate platform edges and these may constitute good hydrocarbon source rocks and are believed to have sourced the Cap Juby Field in the Tarfaya Basin (Fig. 6c), which has been reported to contain up to 400 million barrels of heavy oil in place (Jarvis et al., 1999). Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous deepwater shale and sandstone turbidites (1600 m thick) are exposed on Fuerteventura Island (Steiner et al., 1998). Similar lithologies are expected in all the deepwater basins of the NW African margin. 4. Morocco 4.1. Introduction Hercynian deformation aected most of Morocco. Palaeozoic basins were folded and thrusted, with the major collision dated as late Devonian to Westphalian in age. In the south the Anti-Atlas was gently folded (Pique and Michard, 1989). The northern edge of the Moroccan salt basin is unknown, because the salt is oset by later wrench faulting and thrusting associated with the Rif-Betic orogeny (Fig. 5; Flinch, 1993; Flinch et al., 1996). The Atlas Mountains are an intracontinental fold belt, which were produced by the inversion of a previous Mesozoic Rift system (Beauchamp, 1998). TriassicJurassic pull-apart basins contain clastics, evaporites and thick carbonates up to 7 km in thickness and were formed during the Central Atlantic rifting along the High and Middle Atlas Mountain Belts. The extension direction is interpreted to be NWSE, which is oblique to the ENEWSW trend of the Atlas Mountains (Beauchamp, 1998). Bay of Biscay rifting commenced in Upper Jurassic times, accelerating with rotational drift from Albo-Aptian times onwards. This process produced anticlockwise rotation of Iberia which began to collide with the African margin from Late Cretaceous times onward. A thick Cretaceous sedimentary sequence was developed in the Atlas sedimentary trough. Inversion and right lateral shear of the Mesozoic rifts and formation of the Atlas Mountains occurred in the Early Tertiary (Morabet et al., 1998). The High Atlas Mountains reach up to 4000 m above sea level. However, the observed upper crustal shortening is estimated to reach only 36 km, and lower crustal shortening may be responsible for the large topography still present (Beauchamp, 1998). Palaeocene to Eocene marine clastics were overlain by Oligocene continental clastics associated with the Betic-Rif orogensis. Individual basins are now described from north to south in the rest of the paper.

4.2. Rharb and Pre-Rif basins The Rif Mountains were produced during the Alpine orogeny in the OligoceneMiocene period. A Miocene age foredeep is developed in the Rabat area, south of the Rharb Basin, which extends oshore into the Atlantic (Flinch, 1993; Pratsch, 1996). The arcuate fold and thrust belt extends some 450 km westward from the Straits of Gibraltar, and there is general younging of the thrust sheets westward (Fig. 5, Flinch, 1993). This basin is associated with the Rif-Betic orogeny. The Mesozoic age Central Atlantic margin is dicult to image on the seismic data, as it lies below and is involved in the thrust sheets (Flinch, 1993). 4.3. Doukkala basin The southern oshore part of this basin has also been termed the Sa Basin (Tari et al., 2003), and the northern oshore area is known as the Casablanca Oshore Basin (Morabet et al., 1998). The Mazaghan Plateau area in the north is a zone of shallow basement capped by Jurassic carbonates (Fig. 5, Ruellan and Auzende, 1985). This plateau extends westward to the edge of the salt basin, which is narrower in this area (Fig. 5). Seaward of the Jurassic carbonate bank the basin contains many salt structures with allochthonous salt sheets (Fig. 6a). Salt-cored anticlines aect most of the 45 km thick stratigraphic sequence of Jurassic to Pliocene age, and were produced during the Betic-Rif orogeny (Fig. 6a). Most of the salt basin lies in greater than 2000 m of water and no wells have been drilled in the deep oshore Doukkala Basin. 4.4. EssaouiraHana basin The EssaouiraHana Basin is the most important oilproducing basin in Morocco. Seven elds have been discovered onshore, with six producing from Jurassic, and one from Triassic reservoirs. The basin extends from the Atlantic margin eastward into the High Atlas. To the north, it is separated from the Doukkala Basin by the Sa strike-slip fault, and to the south from the Souss Basin by the Agadir Canyon system, and the South Atlasic Fault (Le Roy and Pique, 2001, Fig. 5). The continental margin becomes broader in this area, and the bathymetry and free air gravity indicate shallow basement (Ras Tafalney Plateau). Total sediment thickness reaches up to 8 km near to the present-day coastline (Fig. 6b). 4.4.1. Stratigraphy The following description refers to the onshore and shallow shelf and is based on descriptions by Brown (1980), Jansa and Weidmann (1982), Broughton and Trepanier (1993) and Had (1999). This marginal basin has a completely exposed Mesozoic sequence onshore and is the best known rift basin in Morocco. In the Argana graben (Fig. 5), the metamorphic Palaeozoic basement is disconformably overlain by up to 5 km of continental red

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Fig. 5. Tectonic map of the Moroccan Atlantic margin. Partly based on ONAREP (2003); Tari et al. (2003).

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262 I. Davison / Journal of African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 254274 Fig. 6. (a) Cross section of the Doukkala Basin. Based on industry seismic data. (b) Cross section of the AgadirEssaouiraHana Basin. Based on sections from Had, 1999. (c) Schematic cross section of the Tarfaya Basin extrapolated out to Fuertaventura. Based on section in ONAREP (2003).

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conglomerates, sandstones and claystones of Late Triassic age (Tixeront, 1973; Brown, 1980). In the main Essaouira Basin, the most complete stratigraphy of the Triassic was encountered in well JRP-1 (Fig. 6b). CAMP basalts have been found below, within, and above the Triassic evaporite sequence (Fig. 6b, Had, 1999), which dates the salt as Early Jurassic at 200 1 Ma. Reefal limestones overlie and internger with the Argana red beds. This transitional transgressive sequence (Amsittene Formation) is mid to Late Liassic age and corresponds to the Iroquois Formation in the conjugate Scotian Basin. The Amsittene Formation is overlain by 220 m of conglomerate, red sandstone, claystone and dolomite of early to mid-Dogger age (Ameskhoud Formation). A carbonate platform developed in middle to late Jurassic time (Imouzzer Formation) which reaches up to 800 m in thickness. Regressive sequences of red beds and evaporites are present in the Late Jurassic, with 2000 m of sediments deposited in the Neknafa syncline. Clastic sedimentation dominated in the early Cretaceous associated with regional tectonic uplift of the Atlas. Fine-grained marine clastics predominate through the early Cretaceous, with the exception of regressive red beds in the mid-Hauterivian. Silty marls and thick oyster beds, reaching 1100 m in thickness, were deposited in the Albian to Cenomanian period (Addouz Formation). Black shales, micritic limestone and cherts of the Turonian age Imi Mekki Formation overly the Addouz Formation and attain a thickness of 130 m. Regression followed in the Coniacian to Santonian period with 300 m of shell beds, marls, and deltaic sandstones. A nal Cretaceous transgression took place in the Campanian to Maastrichtian with marls, dolomites, limestones and chalk (Aouine Formation) reaching 500 m in thickness. Phosphatic sandstones are found at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Palaeocene and Eocene sedimentation is represented by marl and sandstone passing up into dolomite, sandstone and red marl of Eocene age (Imi nTanout Formation). This is overlain by a thin disconformable conglomerate of Upper Oligocene age (Agadir Formation). The conglomerate marks the onset of the Betic-Rif orogeny. The OligoMiocene uplift was accompanied by important erosion, and as much as 3 km of Jurassic and Cretaceous section have been removed from the southern margin of the basin. Pliocene shallow-marine marl and sandstone complete the stratigraphic succession (El Mhasseur Formation). 4.4.2. Source rocks Onshore oil elds are believed to be sourced by Oxfordian shale, Carboniferous coals, and Silurian shales (Broughton and Trepanier, 1993). The Oxfordian shales are Type II sapropelic kerogen and are richer in the Neknafa syncline, reaching up to 4.3% total organic carbon (TOC) over at least a 10 m thick interval. This shale is mature for oil generation in the centre of the syncline. Peak liquid generation of hydrocarbons began around 100 40 Ma. Carboniferous and Silurian source rocks are thought to source the highly mature gas in the eastern part

of the basin, which also contains signicant nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide. The CenomanianTuronian interval also contains good source rocks (Wiedmann et al., 1982). 4.4.3. Reservoir rocks Jurassic (Upper Oxfordian) fractured sandy dolomites are the main reservoir target onshore, which have been deformed by salt diapirism, or karstied along horst blocks along the oshore carbonate shelf edge. Deepwater turbidites of Palaeogene and Cretaceous age are the main target in deeper water (Truempy, 2001). 4.4.4. Structural history Two main episodes of tectonic evolution occurred in the Essaouira Basin; an initial phase of rifting during the Late Triassic to Jurassic followed by compressional tectonics from the Late Cretaceous to the Plio-Quaternary. The rift faults onshore are mainly eastward dipping (Fig. 6b; Had, 1999, 2000; Had et al., 2000). Early Jurassic salt reaches its maximum thickness in this basin. An important ENE WSW branch of the salt basin extends onshore in this area and continues in to the Middle Atlas and Tunisian TriassicJurassic basin trend (Figs. 2 and 5). Large diapirs and allochthonous salt sheets have been imaged oshore in the water depths greater than 500 m (Fig.6b, Had, 1999; Tari et al., 2000). Attractive fold structures are present in the deepwater, with thick synclines of Cretaceous strata deposited between the salt structures (Fig. 6b). Salt is thin or absent on the shallow oshore shelf. Detachments with listric faults occur in the CenomanianTuronian interval probably associated with the main source rock interval. The oshore extension of the South Atlasic Fault has produced a series of important positive ower structures. One unsuccessful well has been drilled on such a structure (AGM-2, Heyman, 1989), but other prospective structures may be present along this trend in deeper waters. 4.5. TarfayaAaiun Basin The TarfayaAaiun (Laayoune) Basin in Morocco is the northern continuation of the DakhlaLaayouneTarfaya Basin and stretches from Tarfaya to Ifni along the western margin of the Sahara. 4.5.1. Stratigraphy The syn-rift sediments are Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic red beds and evaporites, and thin bedded shales and carbonates. These were probably deposited in continental to restricted marine conditions, and reach up to 3 km in thickness in the Chebeika well (Fig. 6c, El Khatib, 1995).The evaporites are thin onshore, and then become thicker and diapiric oshore. The Jurassic sequence contains carbonates and lagoonal restricted shales, which provide good source rocks, and are believed to have sourced the Cap Juby Field. The Lower Cretaceous rests unconformably on the Upper Jurassic carbonates, and is up to 1300 m thick in

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the Puerto Cansado well (Fig. 6c). It is predominantly composed of ne-grained continental clastics. The Upper Albian to Lower Cenomanian sequence consists of claystone, marl, siltstone and dolomitic limestone (Wiedmann et al., 1982). The Upper CenomanianTuronian and Coniacian strata contain deeper-water shale and limestone, followed by shallower-water oyster shell beds present in the Santonian. An erosional unconformity truncates all the Palaeocene, Upper Cretaceous and part of the Lower Cretaceous at the shelf edge (Fig. 6c). This erosion probably took place in Santonian to Palaeocene times. Thin Eocene and Oligocene units are overlain by a thicker Miocene sequence which reaches up to approximately 1 km in thickness. 4.5.2. Source rocks The Cap Juby MO-2 and MO-8 discoveries are believed to be sourced by restricted carbonate Liassic rocks (ONAREP, 2002). The Tan Tan 1 well had 60 m of Jurassic source rocks with TOC varying from 1.47-2.5 %, and hydrogen index greater than 200. Jurassic source rocks matured during early Cretaceous times in the oshore area. AptianAlbian source rocks are also present (Morabet et al., 1998; Tissot et al., 1980). However, details of their quality are not known. CenomanianTuronian source rocks are present onshore and are approximately 50 m thick, with TOC varying from 6% to 10% (Wiedmann et al., 1982; Herbin et al., 1986; Kuhnt et al., 1990). 4.6. Canary islands This chain of volcanic islands probably developed in the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary. The onset of volcanism cannot be easily dated as the oldest igneous rocks are deeply buried under younger lavas. The oldest sub-aerial lavas which have been dated are approximately 22 Ma on Fuerteventura. These lie unconformably on submarine lavas which may be as old as Cretaceous. Previous workers have suggested that the Canaries may be situated on continental crust (Dietz and Sproll, 1970), but more recent studies shows Jurassic age deep-water sedimentary rocks lie unconformably on basaltic ocean crust on Fuerteventura (Fig. 6c, Steiner et al., 1998). The geochemistry of the basalts does not indicate any crustal contamination, suggesting that the Canaries were erupted onto Jurassic ocean crust (Thirlwall et al., 2000). There is no set pattern of ages through the islands, so they are not a simple hot spot trail. 4.7. DakhlaLaayouneTarfaya 4.7.1. Introduction The onshore DakhlaLaayoune (Aaiun)Tarfaya Basin and its oshore extension of the West Saharan Marginal Basin extends from the Mauritania border in the south to the Canary Islands in the north. Total sediment thickness ranges up to 9 km in the northern part of the basin onshore, and decreases southward to Ad Dakhla, where

only 1 km of sediment is present onshore (Fig. 7). The broadest part of the margin is located between Boujdour and Ad Dakhla, where the shelf reaches up to 150 km wide in water depths less than 200 m. Two DSDP wells (site 369 and 397) were drilled NW of Cape Boujdour (Fig. 7). Three wells have reached total depths in Lower Cretaceous strata oshore and sixteen wells have been drilled in the onshore basin (Ranke et al., 1982; Heyman, 1989). 4.7.2. Stratigraphy Correlation across the Atlantic indicates that the Georges Bank Basin contains syn-rift Early Jurassic salt which is located farther south than the mapped salt basin, oshore Morocco (Fig. 2). If the syn-rift salt can be expected on both conjugate margins of similar width, then salt may be present in the deepwater DakhlaLaayoune Tarfaya Basin (Fig. 2). Salt has been previously indicated between Ad Dakhla and Boudjour (Uchupi et al., 1976; Brown, 2003). However, Von Rad and Wissmann (1982) have also suggested that mud diapirs are present. A small salt basin has been described farther south on the USA conjugate margin in the Baltimore Canyon Trough, which correlates with the conjugate Ad Dakhla to Pointe Noir segment of the Western Saharan margin (Figs. 2 and 7a). Syn-rift deposits have been penetrated in several wells in the central onshore LaayouneTarfaya Basin. These are conglomerates, red shales and sandstones, evaporites and volcanics (Ranke et al., 1982). Lower to Middle Jurassic strata are only present in the northern part of the basin near Tarfaya. JurassicEarly Cretaceous carbonates (Puerto Cansado Formation) reach up to 12 km in thickness. However, the carbonate bank is only sporadically developed in this basin, approximately along the 200 m isobath (Fig. 7a). During the early Cretaceous 14 km of continental to marine deltaic sediments were deposited on the shelf (Von Rad and Wissmann, 1982; Ranke et al., 1982, Fig. 7b). A large Lower Cretaceous fan occurs oshore Cape Boudjour, which developed because of uplift and erosion of the Reguibat Shield and Anti-Atlas Mountains at this time. Carbonates are present in the Upper Cretaceous and Palaeocene on the shelf. The maximum thickness of Upper Cretaceous marine rocks reaches approximately 1 km in the region of well Spansah 51A-1 (Fig. 7b). A marked erosion surface is present in the northern part of the basin between Cap Juby and Cap Boujdour which has removed most of the Upper Cretaceous and Early Tertiary. Thin Palaeogene (Samlat Formation) overlies the Cretaceous, and consists of marine siliceous chalk. The Eocene Gueran Member is mainly clastic and is exposed over large areas in the onshore basin (Fig. 7). The Oligocene Morcba member of the Samlat Formation reaches up to 300 m in thickness and is mainly continental sandstone and conglomerate. The Oligocene is missing in the north due to erosion during a regressive period. In the centre of the onshore LaayouneTarfaya Basin the Palaeogene reaches a maximum thickness of 1000 m, and

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Fig. 7. (a) Map of the AaiunTarfaya Basin. Based on ONAREP (2003). (b) Cross section of the AaiunTarfaya Basin. From Heyman (1989).

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then decreases seaward to 200 m at DSDP site 369 (Ranke et al., 1982). Neogene is generally thin (<100 m) and is only exposed onshore in the western part of the basin. Sandy limestone and oyster beds are the main lithologies. Much of the continental shelf break is dissected by submarine canyons, which reach up to 900 m in depth (Von Rad and Wissmann, 1982). 4.7.3. Source rocks Restricted carbonate source rocks of Early Jurassic age are thought to be present in the area between Ad Dakhla and Pointe Noir. The Cenomanian to Turonian interval contains oil-prone sources farther south in Mauritania, but in the Western Sahara this interval is predicted to be less organic rich (Tissot et al., 1980). However, this may be due to dilution of organic material by clastics in deltaic areas. 4.7.4. Reservoirs The Jurassic carbonate bank is a possible reservoir. However, no structural closures have been documented at this level. Lower Cretaceous age sandstones may be expected in a deep-water fan located o Cape Boujdour (Ranke et al., 1982; Von Rad and Sarti, 1986; Fusion Oil, 2003). 4.7.5. Structure The shallow shelf area is fairly unstructured (Fig. 7b). Some Albian roll-over structures have been described as generated by listric faulting and these will constitute the main exploration targets (Morabet et al., 1998; Heyman, 1989). Seals will be a problem in the northern part of the basin as the Lower Cretaceous sequence is sand rich. 5. Mauritania 5.1. Introduction

5.2. Stratigraphy Late Triassic to Early Jurassic salt and clastics are present in the basin. However, these have only been imaged on the seismic data and have not been drilled. An unconformity separates the overlying Jurassic carbonates from the underlying rift sequence. The carbonates reach up to several kilometers in thickness (Fig. 8b). These are followed by Cretaceous shales with shallow marine sandstones on the shelf grading to deep water shales farther oshore. Early Cretaceous clastics were encountered in the Autruche-1, OCT-1B and OCT-2 wells. The later Aptian to Early Albian section in Autruche-1 well consisted of a carbonate bank. Oshore in Loup de Mer-1 and MT-2 this interval consists of condensed marine shales (Ministere de Mines et de lIndustrie, Mauritanie, 2000). Fine-grained clastic deposition persists throughout the late Cretaceous and Tertiary with turbidite sandstones expected in the deepwater. Prominent unconformities have been identied on the shelf in the Maastrichtian and the OligoceneMiocene. This part of the margin was situated in a humid climate for most of the Cretaceous and Early Tertiary period. High rates of sedimentation occurred in Oligocene to Recent period in Central Mauritania to produce the Nouakchott delta, and in the Cretaceous in the Ras Al Beida area (Fig. 8a). 5.3. Source rocks The DSDP well 368 encountered a 100 m thick interval of high quality source in the CenomanianTuronian interval. The Turonian source was early mature at 3500 m in V1 well (Ministere de Mines et de LIndustrie, Mauritanie 2000). Early Jurassic Type 2 kerogen has been tested in V-1, and Coppolani-1 with good source potential up to 27 kg/t (Reymond and Negroni, 1989). These source rocks may be important for the shelfal carbonate play. 5.4. Reservoirs

The Mauritanian Basin extends from the southern tip of the Mauritanian salt basin to the Ras Al Beida High (Fig. 8). This high produces an important gravity anomaly, which extends EW out to 200 km from the Mauritanian coastline. The Mauritanian Salt Basin extends 300 km in a NS direction and is approximately 60 km wide (Fig. 8a). Salt may be present on the platform below the Jurassic-carbonate platform, but this has not been drilled yet. Two wells were drilled in 2001 by Woodside Petroleum (Chinguetti-1 and Courbine-1) with the former being a light oil discovery, and the latter having a small gas column. Several development wells have now been drilled on Chinguetti and it is now a commercially viable oileld. Subsequently, Woodside discovered the Banda and Tiof Fields in Tertiary sandstones, and the Pelican discovery contained gas in Upper Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs. Many similar structures are present in the Mauritanian Salt Basin.

Principal reservoirs are Miocene age to Late Cretaceous turbidites sealed by deepwater shales. Most of these plays lie in greater than 500 m of water depth. Shallow marine and uvial sandstones of Albian age, and the Jurassic carbonates may also constitute a reasonable reservoir on the shallow shelf. 5.5. Structure The most prominent structures are created by salt movement and downslope sliding with toe thrusts and compressional anticlines detached on the salt (Fig. 8b). Compressional structures are also created by sliding on a detachment at the Turonian source rock level (Fig. 8b). Lack of migration pathways, or lack of maturity from the late Cretaceous source can be a problem in some fold traps.

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267

Fig. 8. (a) Map of the Mauritanian Salt Basin. Based on BRGM (1968) and Tari et al. (2003). (b) Cross section through the central Mauritanian Salt Basin. From Fusion Oil Website (2003).

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Fig. 8 (continued)

6. Senegal and Gambia 6.1. Introduction The Senegal Basin is part of a continuous basin that runs southward from Cap Verte (Dakar) in Senegal into Guinea Bissau and to the Guinea fracture zone in the south (Fig. 9). Seismic data and well analysis have also revealed the presence of a potentially important Palaeozoic Basin underlying the thick Meso-Cenozoic strata (Fig. 9). The Palaeozoic Formations crop out in southeastern Senegal and in the Bove Basin in Guinea and Guinea Bissau (Petrosen, 2003). Since 1953, a total of 144 wells have been drilled in the Senegal Sedimentary Basin. Forty nine of these wells are located oshore. The majority of the exploratory wells are concentrated in two main areas, the Cap-Vert Peninsula and Casamance Oshore (Fig. 9). The remainder of the Senegal Basin remains under-explored, and there has been no deep-water drilling to date. The CasamanceBissau sub-basin has been lightly explored since the 1960s. A total of 16 wells have been drilled in the shallow water part of the sub-basin, resulting in three discovery wells and 5 wells with signicant shows. The

Dome Flore and Dome Gea discoveries have been identied as signicant oil accumulations within the basin, with possibly over a billion barrels in place (Brown, 2003; Fig. 10a). However, reservoir is shallow, the oil is mostly biodegraded and heavy, but smaller volumes of light oil have also been discovered, and the elds still await development. Petroleum exploration activity in Senegal has concentrated primarily on the MesozoicCenozoic Basin, while the Palaeozoic Basin remains essentially unexplored. Several wells have been drilled in Guinea Bissau on salt diapirs, but no commercial hydrocarbons have been discovered to date.

6.2. Stratigraphy The most complete pre-rift Palaeozoic sections in the Senegal Basin have been identied in the DM-1 and KO-1 wells, where Ordovician to Devonian Formations have been penetrated. The syn-rift section (including the salt section) does not crop out in the Senegal Basin and salt has been encountered only where wells have been drilled into diapirs.

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269

Fig. 9. Map of the Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau Atlantic margin. Salt structures modied from Tari et al., 2003. Onshore geology taken from Ministere des Travaux Publiques etc. (1962).

A Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform, a Cretaceous clastic wedge, and Tertiary carbonates and shales constitute the post-rift section of the Senegal Basin (Fig. 10). The middle/late Cenomanian to early Turonian Banc du Large Formation consists of alternating shales, limestones, clays and sandstones, while the Early Turonian Brikama Formation comprises bituminous shales (Herbin et al., 1986). Cenomanian sediments have been encountered in wells CM-2 and CM-4, where glauconitic white limestones, ne-grained sandstones and green to grey clays predominate. Turonian deposits in the wells consist mainly of shales with a pelagic fauna. An important magmatic event occurred in the Cape Vert Peninsula and the Theis Plateau to the east of Dakar from

Miocene (35 Ma) to Pleistocene (0.8 Ma) (Goumbo Lo et al., 1992). This probably succeeds pulses of magmatism in the area during the early Cretaceous and late Cretaceous. The age of the Cayar Sea Mount is probably midCretaceous, as Maastrichtian sands sit unconformably on metamorphosed Lower Cretaceous carbonates above the intrusion (Goumbo Lo et al., 1992). 6.3. Source rocks The most notable hydrocarbon occurrences within the Senegal Sedimentary Basin are located in the Casamance oshore and Cape Vert peninsula onshore. The CenomanianTuronian and AlbianAptian sediments in the

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Fig. 10. (a) Cross section AB of the Senegal Basin. From Fusion Oil Website (2003). (b) Cross section CD of the Guinea Plateau. Locations shown in Fig. 9.

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271

Casamance oshore present the best source rock potential. Albian age source rocks were detected in the uppermost 100 m of the Jammah-1 well in Gambia (Fig. 9) with TOC averaging approximately 2%. The Cenomanian Turonian shales north of the Dakar Peninsula have hydrocarbon source potential ranging from 3 to 21 kg/t and thicknesses up to 350 m. South of Dakar the CenomanianTuronian source is very rich in the CM-4 and CM-1 wells. Excellent source rocks in the Cenomanian were proven in the DSDP well at Site 367 with a Turonian interval over a 30 m thick, and TOC levels averaging over 20 % (Herbin et al., 1986). The Late Cretaceous source rocks probably reached the oil window in the late Tertiary (Reymond and Negroni, 1989). Lower Jurassic to Eocene intervals have poor to moderate organic matter contents. The Jurassic interval is believed to have a restricted carbonate-shale sequence which may contain oil-prone source rocks. In deep water, the Lower Cretaceous may contain shales with oil prone sources. However, the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous source rocks may be generating gas in northern Senegal due to their burial depth. Within the Senegal Palaeozoic Basin, the Silurian shales are the best regional source rock. These shales have organic matter content (TOC) of 13% and are relatively mature (Vo proles between 0.95 and 1.3). Geothermal gradients determined from wells from the Mesozoic have been extrapolated to the Bove Basin. Oil generation commenced from 350 to 125 Ma and continues to the present. The burial history models suggest that Silurian source rocks are generating oil (Petrosen, 2003). 6.4. Reservoirs Wells that have penetrated the JurassicLower Cretaceous carbonate platform demonstrate locally good porosities in the dolomites (23%), and fair porosities (10%) in the limestones. Reefal targets on the shelf edge remain to be tested, but attractive structures are identied on seismic data (Petrosen, 2003). The Casamance River has been the main input point for Albian uvial and deltaic sandstones into southern Senegal, and the Senegal River is the main input point north of the Dakar Peninsula (Fig. 9). Thick Maastrichtian sandstone intervals with 2030% porosity were encountered in the Diam Niadio and Dome Flore Fields. The sandstone intervals become much thinner at the shelf break, and over the crests of salt structures. Porous carbonate sandstones are found in the PalaeoceneEocene, and good Oligocene foraminiferal limestone reservoirs are present in the Dome Flore Field due to shoaling on top of growing salt domes (Reymond and Negroni, 1989). Turbidite sandstone reservoirs may occur locally within the Miocene, and these will be best developed in lows between the salt structures and toe thrusts. The Senegal Palaeozoic Basin contains abundant sandstone reservoirs and they are located in the following stratigraphic units: (a) Well-cemented quartzite sandstones

occur within the Ordovician. While these sandstones have no primary porosity, they are intensely fractured and therefore constitute good secondary reservoirs. (b) Fine-coarse grained sandstone units occur in the Devonian, with porosities ranging between 15% and 20%. 6.5. Structure In the eastern part of the Senegal Basin the faulted preMesozoic basement dips gradually towards the west. This structure is complicated by horsts and folds near Dakar, whereas in the south it is dominated by a prominent line of salt diapirs in the Casamance oshore, and folds developed in deep water. The Lower Jurassic salt penetrates the Tertiary Formations in the northern part, and the Maastrichtian in its southern part. An important unconformity has developed at the shelf break and Upper Cretaceous strata lie directly on Jurassic strata (Chanut and Micholet, 1988; Petrosen, 2003) (Fig. 10). This unconformity represents a scarp slope on the shelf which was bypassed by sediment for a long period in Mid-Cretaceous to Early Tertiary times. 7. Guinea Bissau and Guinea 7.1. Introduction The Casamance salt Basin extends southward into Guinea Bissau and appears to terminate against the BissauKidiraKayes Shear Zone (Fig. 9). The main feature in oshore Guinea Bissau is a large marginal plateau clearly seen on the free air gravity and bathymetry maps, termed here the Guinea Plateau (Figs. 9 and 10). The northern half of the Plateau lies in Guinea Bissau and the southern half in Guinea. Several wells have tested salt domes in this area (Figs. 9 and 10b). Well PGO-3 recovered a small amount of 33 36 API oil from two Albian sandstones, and Sheepshead-1 also encountered good oil shows. Premier Oil drilled two holes on the Sinapa diapir in 2002 and 2004, and the second well encountered sub-commercial hydrocarbons. Only one well (GU2 B-1) has been drilled oshore Guinea, which reached the Barremian (Bungener, 1995). 7.2. Stratigraphy A thick syn-rift section of Triassic-early Jurassic sediments is predicted (Dombrowski et al., 2002). The Guinea Plateau comprises a thick sequence of carbonates and clastics (Fig. 10b). An unconformity truncates 12 km of strata from the outer margin of the bank (Dombrowski, 2002; Dombrowski et al., 2002). A delta with gravitational tectonics is present within a WNW-ESE trending bathymetric high outboard of the carbonate bank, and the structures appear to indicate a N vergence of thrusting that may indicate that the sediment source of the delta was from the south (Dombrowski et al., 2002; Fig. 9). The delta onlaps

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the Jurassic carbonate bank and the structuring predates the Santonian unconformity, and therefore the delta is believed to be Early Cretaceous in age. 7.3. Source rocks TuronianCenomanian sources are expected (Bungener, 1995). The depth to the oil window is about 22.5 km on the shelf. The Turonian source rock is probably too shallow to be mature over most of the Guinea Plateau, and an Albian or deeper source would be required to generate hydrocarbons. 7.4. Structure The Guinea Plateau is a major continental promontory, which is estimated to be underlain by 20 km thick continental crust (gravity modelling Mark Longacre, pers. comm. 2003). A large magmatic zone of Late TriassicEarly Jurassic age (200 Ma) is expected to extend oshore from Conakry. There is not much structuring of the Late Cretaceous to Recent strata over the shallow part of the Plateau, but at the shelf break there is a zone of compressional folding along the Guinea Fracture Zone (Fig. 10b). At least eight salt domes have been mapped in the oshore Guinea Bissau (Fig. 9). The salt structures appear to be similar to the examples in Casamance. They cut through the layered Cretaceous section with very little disturbance, and there is no marked rim syncline development. 7.5. Hydrocarbon potential The salt structures in Guinea Bissau have the best potential for hydrocarbon traps in folds or drapes over salt diapirs with Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs. The Guinea Plateau does not have any obvious structural traps. 8. Conclusions There is a marked similarity in the stratigraphy of the NW African Central Atlantic margin, with the Triassic red bed rift inll, followed by Early Jurassic salt, Jurassic to Early Cretaceous carbonate platforms, and a marine clastic inll in the Cretaceous and Tertiary (Fig. 4a). The whole margin also has a similar tectonic history with rifting occurring in the late Triassic to Early Jurassic around 225 200 Ma, followed by basaltic magmatism and salt deposition at 200 Ma, and oceanic spreading starting around 180170 Ma (Fig. 4b). Oil exploration is in its infancy still, but there have been several notable hydrocarbon discoveries at Cap Juby (Morocco), Chinguetti, Banda Pelican and Tiof (Mauritania), Dome Flore and Dome Gea (Senegal). Acknowledgements I would like to thank Matthew Taylor, Pedro Baptista, and Mark Longacre, for useful discussions on NW Africa

and for help with preparing diagrams. Nick Cameron and Roger Key made useful editorial and reviewers comments. Laurie Brown kindly provided Fig. 8b. References
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