Basin Evolution in the Gulf of Çandarlı Through Seismic Mapping, Aegean Sea, Offshore Türkiye

Abstract

Early Miocene lacustrine deposits possessing source rock and reservoir properties are characterised by seismic mapping in the Foça-Çandarlı Basin of the Turkish sector of the Aegean Sea. A similar petroleum system has also been recognised in the adjacent onshore Gediz and Bakırçay grabens. In this study, 800 km of seismic data acquired in 1975 and 1985 have been interpreted. Miocene and Pliocene horizons were mapped, and possible hydrocarbon traps were identified. In this context, the tectonic evolution of the Foça-Çandarlı Basin has been determined. The Foça-Çandarlı Basin opened under NE and SE extension during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. The tectonic regime shifted to a transpressional state due to the westward tectonic escape of Anatolia during its collision with the Aegean Block. As a consequence of this tectonic reversal, we observe a clockwise rotation in the compressional deformation along the southern margin of the basin. In contrast, the change may have involved a counterclockwise rotation in the north since the end of the Early Miocene. Faults at the basin boundaries were inverted, and the basin began to close from the west during the Mid-Late Miocene and Pliocene. The seismic mapping accurately demonstrates all these changes. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.