Interaction between Strike Slip Faults & Deep-water Toe Thrust Structure in NW Sabah

The interaction of thrust faults with strike-slip faults greatly influenced the evolution and geometry of the thrust related folds within the deep-water toe thrust zone. The results presented in this work are based on the structural analysis of the outboard belt of Northwest Sabah region. The study uses a combination of 3D seismic data and well data. The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of strike-slip faults on displacement and shortening distribution of thrust-related folds along strike. From the seismic data, strike-slip faults are observed within the thrust belt and their strikes are perpendicular or oblique to the thrust front. As the thrust sheet propagated outwards and basin wards, the strike-slip faults started to segment the thrust sheets and eventually acted as lateral boundaries that separated the thrust units. The strike-slip faults may be a result of drastic lateral changes when the thrust front advanced by differential shortening of the thrust sheet. The segmentation of the thrust sheet by the strike-slip faults can result in formation of potential oil and gas traps. Understanding the nature of the interaction between the strike-slip faults and the thrust fault propagation folds may have significant impact for future deep-water exploration.