by
Richard I. Gibson
Gibson Consulting
Presented at Soc. Exp. Geoph. meeting in Moscow, July 1992
Published magnetic maps of the former USSR provide a comprehensive starting point for tectonic analyses that are useful in planning hydrocarbon exploration, as well as for deriving analogs to existing production and assisting with play generation. The data in this presentation were originally published in 18 sheets at 1:2,500,000 scale in 1977 (dated 1974; Z.A. Makarova, general editor), as composite maps compiled from diverse original surveys. The contours on the published maps were digitized and re-displayed in 1990 as part of a detailed, comprehensive basement tectonic interpretation for hydrocarbon exploration. Most of the original data were acquired at 2-km line spacing and 300-400 meters above ground, so the data set is, in general, of very high quality. All of the land area of the former USSR (all 15 republics) is covered, together with some marginal seas (Caspian & Black Seas, Sea of Okhotsk, Anadyr' Gulf). Few data are present in this assembly offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
Tectonic terranes are readily defined using these magnetic data. In areas of relatively straightforward tectonics, considerable detail can be derived. Examples include Triassic normal faults in the West Siberian Basin, Triassic-Jurassic faults in the Turgay Basin, suture zones in Central Asia and East Siberia, and cratonic aulacogens in the Eastern European Platform. Many of the giant oil and gas fields of the former USSR have direct expression in the magnetic map, even at 1:2,500,000 scale. The Triassic rifts of West Siberia and some of the aulacogens of the East European Platform are analogous in their magnetic expression to the Central North America Rift System, with basalt-filled grabens producing magnetic highs. Adjacent uplifts are magnetic lows because basalt is absent.
The poster will display the magnetic map of the former USSR together with interpreted major tectonic features and selected oil and gas fields, including Urengoy, Samotlor, Tengiz, Romashkino, and others.
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