Slope Tectonics on the Mozambique Margin and the Implications for Development of Cretaceous and Tertiary Clastic Systems

Offshore Mozambique has been an area of substantial industry interest over the last decade due to major gas discoveries in the Rovuma basin. The remainder of the Mozambique basin including the Angoche basin, south of Rovuma is still relatively little explored. The Rovuma discoveries have their reservoirs in passive margin fan and channel sands. The question remains how this trend of clastic, passive margin sedimentation continues south into the Angoche basin. WesternGeco, in collaboration with the National Petroleum Institute of Mozambique (INP) have recently acquired 15,000km2 of 3D broadband seismic data over the Angoche area. This dataset forms the basis for this study. We present a model of the structural evolution of the Angoche margin with particular focus on the relationship between slope failure styles, the effects of mechanical stratigraphy and lithologically varied deformation and the relationship between structuration and syn-kinematc sediment influx. On a basin-scale, structural framework and the implications for Angoche prospectivity are analysed and considered in the context of the existing Rovuma, Tertiary and Cretaceous play concept.