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High resolution seismic data and newly acquired logging data reveal the presence of gas hydrates in the deep-water area in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSRs) appear at 430 ms beneath the seafloor, with the features of typical gas hydrates reported elsewhere except for some discontinuity. The BSR distribution is closely related to the position of anticline structures and turbidite channels. Anticlines provide conduits for the upward migration of gases from deeper intervals, while the turbidite sands within channels act as reservoirs for gas hydrate accumulation. High sedimentation rates in the Bengal Fan were generally favorable to produce a great amount of methane gas, providing favorable preconditions for the formation of gas hydrates. The discovery of gases in adjacent area indicates the contribution of the biogenic gas to the formation of gas hydrates. Meanwhile, seismic sections provide the evidence for the potential thermogenic gas kitchen in deep intervals. The anticline structures and the associated vertical fractures may constitute vertical fluid flowing conduits, which hydraulically connect the two deeper thermogenic petroleum systems (i.e., rifting and Eocene — Oligocene source rocks) with the turbidite reservoirs and thus facilitate the fluid migration from the sources to the reservoirs, generating favorable conditions for gas-hydrate accumulation in such foreland setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of 3D seismic data and well log data from the Rovuma Basin in East Africa reveals the presence of a late Eocene channel-lobe complex on its slope. The first two channels, denoted as channel-1 and channel-2, are initiated within a topographic low on the slope but come to a premature end when they are blocked by a topographic high in the northwest region of the basin. New channels migrate southeastward from channel-1 to channel-6 due to the region's sufficient sediment supply and stripping caused by bottom currents. The primary factors controlling the development of the channel complex include its initial paleo-topographic of seafloor, the property of gravity flows, the direction of the bottom current, and the stacking and expansion of its levees. The transition zone from channel to lobe can also be clearly identified from seismic sections by its pond-shaped structure. At a certain point, thest systems record a transiton from erosive features to sedimentary features, and record a transition from a confined environment to an open environment. Channels and lobes can be differentiated by their morphologies: thick slump-debris flows are partly developed under channel sand sheets, whereas these slump-debris flows are not very well developed in lobes. Well log responses also record different characteristics between channels and lobes. The interpreted shale volume throughout the main channel records a box-shaped curve, thereby implying that confined channel complexes record high energy currents and abundant sand supply, whereas the interpreted shale volume throughout the lobe records an upward-fining shape curve, thereby indicating the presence of a reduced-energy current in a relatively open environment. Within the Rovuma Basin of East Africa, the average width of the Rovuma shelf is less than 10 km, the width of the slope is only approximately 40 km, and the slope gradient is 2°–4°. Due to this steep slope gradient, the sand-rich top sheet within the channel also likely contributes to the straight feature of the channel system. It is currently unclear whether the bottom current has any effect on its sinuosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of 2D seismic data over 4 500 km in length from the Madura Strait Basin in the East Java Sea reveals seismic reflection characteristics of reefs and associated sedimentary bodies, including asymmetrical or symmetrical dome reflections, slope progradational reflections, chaotic reflections and discontinuous strong reflections inside the reef, which onlap the flank of the reef. It is concluded that the developmental paleo-environment of most reefs is mainly conducive to shallow marine carbonate platform facies and platform margin facies, based on well core data, variations in seismic facies and strata thickness. The formation and evolution of all reefs are primarily influenced by the tectonic framework of the Madura Strait Basin. Platform margin reefs are principally controlled by two types of structures: one is a series of E-W trending Paleogene normal faults, and the other is an E-W trending Neogene inversion structures. In addition, wave actions, tidal currents and other ocean currents play an accelerated role in sorting, rounding and redeposition for the accumulation and evolution of reefs. Tertiary reefs in the MSB can be divided into four types: 1) an open platform coral reef of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, 2) a platform margin coral reef controlled by normal faults in Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, 3) a platform margin Globigerina moundreef controlled by a "hidden" inversion structure in Early Pliocene, and 4) a platform margin Globigerina mound-reef controlled by thrust faults in the early Pliocene. Patterns of the formation and evolution of reefs are also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]