Paleo-Mesozoic Development of the Reggane Basin, Southern Algeria

Key objectives include sequence stratigraphy of the Devonian basin fill, numerical modeling and basin development during the Paleozoic to Mesozoic. Total thicknesses of the Paleozoic basin fill range between 4500-5500 m. Twelve stratigraphic intervals have been analysed from 2D seismic surveys and well data. Two major pan-African structural domains in the subsurface of the Reggane Basin significantly influenced the Paleozoic basin development: the West African Craton (WAC) and the Hoggar Block (HB). Moderate to high subsidence rates persisted during the Ordovician to Silurian. Subsidence rates slow down until Eifelian and accelerated again until the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. Initial moderate to high subsidence rates in the early Carboniferous are followed by low subsidence in the late Carboniferous. Basin inversion started at approx. 200 Ma. Maximum paleotemperatures were reached at 250-240 Ma with approx. 200-220°C. Sediment pathways and dispersion widths outline a low-gradient transition from proximal upper shelf areas in the SE to outer shelf areas in the NW. Sediment flux varies strongly in time. The burial and exhumation model indicates, that the paleotemperature development was primarily controlled by regional burial, rather than by a Late Triassic heat flow event (related to Central Atlantic Magmatic Province).