Análise quantitativa da subsidência tectônica na Bacia Potiguar

Abstract

The quantitative analysis of the tectonic subsidence sheds light on basin-forming mechanisms, since tectonic plate motions play the main role in the genesis of sedimentary basins. The Potiguar Basin, located in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, presents an evolution related to a complex rifting process, implemented during the Atlantic Ocean opening in the Jurassic/Cretaceous. Different driving mechanisms were responsible for the onset of an aborted onshore rift and an offshore rift, which evolved to crustal rupture and formation of a continental transform margin. Therefore, we applied the backstripping method to quantify the tectonic subsidence during the rift and post-rift phases of the Potiguar Basin and to analyze the spatial variation of subsidence during the two successive and distinct tectonic events responsible for the basin evolution. The parameters required to apply this methodology were extracted from 2D seismic lines and exploratory well data. The tectonic subsidence curves present periods with moderate subsidence rates (up to 300 m/My), which correspond to the evolution of the onshore Potiguar Rift (~141 to 128 Ma). From 128 to 118 Ma, the curves show null subsidence rates in the onshore Potiguar Basin, whereas high subsidence rates (over 300 m/My) occurred in the offshore rift. The post-rift phase had begun at ca. 118 Ma (Aptian), when the tectonic subsidence drastically slowed down to less than 35 m/My, probably related to thermal subsidence. The tectonic subsidence rates in the various sectors of the Potiguar Rift during the different rift phases indicate more intense faulting in the southern portion of the onshore rift, along the main border faults, and in the southeastern portion of the offshore rift. During the post-rift phase, the tectonic subsidence rates increased from onshore to the offshore portion until the continental slope. The highest rates of post-rift subsidence (up to 35 m/My) are concentrated in the central region of the offshore portion, and may be related to lithospheric processes related to the continental crust rupture and oceanic seafloor spreading. The variation in subsidence rates and the pattern of subsidence curves allowed us to interpret the tectonic signature recorded by the sedimentary sequences of the Potiguar Basin during its evolution. In the onshore rift, the curves presented subsidence rates up to 300 m/My during a long-term rift phase (13 Ma), which confirmed an extensional regime in this portion. In the offshore rift, the curves presented high subsidence rates over 300 m/My in a shorter period (5 to10 My), typical of basins formed in a transtensional regime.