Combining Regional Geology and Gravity Data – Input to Different Exploration Phases and Scales in North Africa

Understanding the regional events that configured present-day North Africa is a basic step in any hydrocarbon exploration programme. The generalised term of “cratonic basins”, as these basins are often referred to, masks a vast geological history with a sedimentary record that goes back to the Neoproterozoic, i.e. 1000 m.y. ago. Since then, dramatic geological events have alternated with long periods of quiescence that have resulted in basin architecture and hydrocarbon occurrence at present day. Given three outstanding peak periods of this geological history such as the Pan-African Orogeny (1), the Hercynian to Tethys transitional events (2) & the Alpine cycle (3); surface geology, potential data and regional sections can shed light on key exploration issues at different stages of basin exploration.