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2002 Denver Annual Meeting (October 27-30, 2002)

Paper No. 14
Presentation Time: 5:00 PM

SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC AND SUBSIDENCE MODELLING OF A MID-TRIASSIC CARBONATE PLATFORM: THE ROSENGARTEN/CATINACCIO TRANSECT, DOLOMITES, ITALY


EMMERICH, Axel1, TSCHERNY, Robert G.2, ZÜHLKE, Rainer1, BÜKER, Carsten3, BECHSTÄDT, Thilo1 and LITTKE, Ralf2, (1)Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Univ of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, Heidelberg, D-69120, Germany, (2)Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal, Technical Univ of Aachen (RWTH), Lochnerstr. 4-20, Aachen, D-52056, Germany, (3)TGS-G, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V, Schepersmaat 2, Assen, 9405 TA, Netherlands, axel.emmerich@urz.uni-heidelberg.de

Excellent outcrops in the Dolomites of Northern Italy allow high resolution basin and stratigraphic modelling in clastic and carbonate sediments. The Rosengarten platform transect - being tectonically undisturbed and covering a platform/basin transition over a distance of six kilometres - is especially suited for combined sequence stratigraphic and subsidence (basin) modelling. Stratigraphic forward modelling quantifies sedimentary processes (sedimentation/erosion rates), reconstructs palaeogeometries of the platform and calculates the accommodation development along the transect. Subsidence/basin modelling unravels the thermal evolution of the sedimentary basin fill taking into account new thermal maturity data as calibration parameters. This novel, combined approach to basin dynamics enables the mutual validation of basin models by exchanging output data between these two numerical modelling tools. This combination allows to further constrain the uncertainties in basin analysis. The essential data sets for stratigraphic forward (PHIL) and basin modelling (PetroMod) were derived from existing studies (e.g. timing of slope progradation; Maurer, 2000, Sedim. Geol., 134, pp. 275-286) and new, detailed facies architecture and thermal maturity analyses. Our results indicate that total subsidence during times of the Rosengarten platform (Middle Triassic, 240.6-237.8Ma) was not higher than 300m/Ma. This average subsidence rate was outpaced by the production of significant amounts of carbonate sediment leading to fast progradation of the Rosengarten platform within this timeframe. Furthermore, the porosity evolution of the sediment package below the slope (sandstones and shales) mimics the pattern of the progradation. Vitrinite reflectance analyses yield 0.7-0.8%VRr. These values indicate that temperatures during maximum burial (presumably during Late Cretaceous times) cannot have been higher than 120oC. Our results from organic geochemistry also imply that strata overlying the present-day topography must be considerably thinner than previously reported in literature. Setting up a detailed thermal model of the transect with the help of further investigations e.g. fission track analyses will be the next step of our investigations.

Session No. 151

Carbonate Stratigraphy, Diagenesis, and Geochemistry
Tuesday, 29 October 2002: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 34, No. 6, September 2002, p.335
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