Preliminary Analysis of Seismic Risk in Taiwan Strait and Study on Feasibility of Construction of Tunnel Across the Strait

The collision between Eurasian and Pacific plates along the eastern margin of the Asian continent resulted in formation of a series of island-arcs, one of which is the Taiwan Island-arc, and the Taiwan Straits is a foreland basin in the continent-arc collision zone. The Quaternary fine-grained sediments occur evenly in the upper part of the basin, and the Pliocene deposits in the lower part. The stepped faults run in the deposits, indicating that the tectonic movement tended to weaken after the Pliocene. Strong seismic zones of Taiwan Island released large amount of plate overthrust-collision compressive stress and have their screen and prevention roles for the straits. Only the intersections between offshore NW-trending transform-like faults and seashore NE-trending faults on the southern and northern terminations of the Island are prone to strong earthquakes. The possibility of occurrence of M ≥ 6 earthquake should be very low in the area for the planned future tunnel. Moreover, the seismic intensity is rapidly attenuated from the surface downward. Thus, the seismic intensity for the tunnel under the seabed will be much lower. In seismotectonic view, the construction of tunnel is feasible.     

Determination of the tectonic evolution of the Edremit Gulf based on seismic reflection studies

The Edremit Gulf, which developed during the Neogene-Quaternary, is a seismically active graben in NW Anatolia (Turkey) surrounded by the Sakarya continent. The sedimentary deposits in the gulf overlie the bedrock unconformably and can be separated into two parts as upper and lower deposits based on similarity of their seismic characteristics, and because the contact between them is clear. The lower deposits are characterized in the seismic profiles by the absence of well defined, continuous reflectors and are strongly disturbed by faults. A tectonic map and structural model of the Edremit Gulf was derived from interpreting 21 deep seismic profiles trending NE–SW and NW–SE within the gulf. Two fault systems were distinguished on the basis of this compilation. The NNW–SSE trending parallel faults are low-angle normal faults formed after compression. They controlled and deformed the lower basin deposits. A syncline and anticline with a broad fold-curvature length resulted in folds that developed parallel to basin boundaries in the lower basin deposits. The ENE–WSW trending high-angle faults have controlled and deformed the northern basin of the Edremit Gulf. The folds developed within the northern lower deposits originated from the listric geometry of the faults. These faults are normal faults associated with regional N–S extension in western Anatolia. The Edremit Gulf began to open under the control of low-angle NNW–SSE trending faults that developed after the compression of western Anatolia in an E–W direction in the early Neogene. Subsequently, regional N–S extensional stress and high-angle normal faults cut the previous structures, opened the northern basin, and controlled and deformed the lower basin deposits in the gulf. As a result, the Edremit Gulf has not been controlled by any strike-slip faults or the Northern Anatolian Fault. The basin developed in the two different tectonic regimes of western Anatolia as an Aegean type cross-graben from the Neogene to Holocene.     

台湾海峡地区新生代的构造演化

根据采集反射剖面,结合区域地质资料,分析了晋江凹陷、九龙江凹陷、新竹凹陷、台中凹陷和台湾凹陷为半地堑结构。新竹凹陷和台中凹陷下拗,演变为前陆盆地。晋江凹陷和九龙江凹陷因岩石圈上隆,其沉积较薄。这种模式决定了在台湾海峡地区,西部的生油气层为下第三系,而东部的生油气层为下第三系和上第三系。     

Bridges, Tunnels and Their Relationship to the Economic Development on Both Sides of Taiwan Strait

The construction of bridges and tunnels plays an important role in the social and economic development of cities and local regions. The planning of the bridge and tunnel across Taiwan Straits will have a positive effect on the economic development at each stage: preplanning, engineering construction, and the completion of the project. The two sides of Taiwan Straits have the advantage of a suitable location, consanguineous relationship, and appropriate geographic conditions. Currently, there are many economic and cultural communications between both sides of the Straits. The bridge and tunnel from Xiamen to Jinmen can be regarded as the beginning of the “golden link belt.” The total capability for sustainable development of Fujian Province ranks the sixth among 31 provinces in China, which will provide powerful support for the construction of the bridge and tunnel.     

Bridges,Tunnels and Their Relationship to the Economic Development on Both Sides of Taiwan Strait

The construction of bridges and tunnels plays an important role in the social and economic development of cities and local regions. The planning of the bridge and tunnel across Taiwan Straits will have a positive effect on the economic development at each stage: preplanning, engineering construction, and the completion of the project. The two sides of Taiwan Straits have the advantage of a suitable location, consanguineous relationship, and appropriate geographic conditions. Currently, there are many economic and cultural communications between both sides of the Straits. The bridge and tunnel from Xiamen to Jinmen can be regarded as the beginning of the “golden link belt.” The total capability for sustainable development of Fujian Province ranks the sixth among 31 provinces in China, which will provide powerful support for the construction of the bridge and tunnel.     

Potential Seismic Risk in Taiwan Strait Region

GPS observation indicates that the Fujian coastal region of China mainland, the region of Taiwan Strait and northern Taiwan island all show a generally homogenous horizontal motion with weak deformation. Historical earthquake record over more than 800 years and modern instrumental data reveal that there is potential seismic risk in and around Taiwan Strait region. After the National Seismic Zoning Map of China (2001) the expected seismic risk in northern part of the Taiwan Strait is lower than that in middle and southern part. The suggested northern route of the Taiwan Strait passage project seems to be relatively save seismically.     

Potential Seismic Risk in Taiwan Strait Region

GPS observation indicates that the Fujian coastal region of China mainland, the region of Taiwan Strait and northern Taiwan island all show a generally homogenous horizontal motion with weak deformation. Historical earthquake record over more than 800 years and modern instrumental data reveal that there is potential seismic risk in and around Taiwan Strait region. After the National Seismic Zoning Map of China (2001) the expected seismic risk in northern part of the Taiwan Strait is lower than that in middle and southern part. The suggested northern route of the Taiwan Strait passage project seems to be relatively save seismically.     

An Engineering Concept of the Taiwan Strait Tunnel

The necessity and the preliminary tentative plan for the construction of the undersea tunnel across Taiwan Strait are expounded in this atricle. The strait undersea tunnels, which have been built and investigated in the world, and their engineering characteristics and construction methods have been introduced herein briefly. Taiwan has been a part of China since ancient times and the people between the mainland and Taiwan are kindred compatriots in the extended family of the Chinese multinational country. For a long time, the people between southeast of China and Taiwan have had frequent communication in economy and culture. With the progress of times and the need of development, it has been put forward to build a safe and reliable undersea tunnel that is not affected by the environment across Taiwan Strait, and one which is also a magnificent project for the China in the long-term. Whether by using a bridge or an undersea tunnel or both across the strait is a problem worthy of further research. According to such conditions as the weather of Taiwan Strait, depth of water, undersea terrain, possibility of engineering and hydrological geology under the sea, as well as the possibility of Taiwan Strait as a main shipping passage from south to north of China and the experience of existing passage across strait in the world, the primary analysis shows that the scheme of an undersea tunnel should be considered. Therefore the concept of the undersea tunnel engineering across Taiwan Strait is introduced in detail here.     

An Engineering Concept of the Taiwan Strait Tunnel

The necessity and the preliminary tentative plan for the construction of the undersea tunnel across Taiwan Strait are expounded in this atricle. The strait undersea tunnels, which have been built and investigated in the world, and their engineering characteristics and construction methods have been introduced herein briefly.?Taiwan has been a part of China since ancient times and the people between the mainland and Taiwan are kindred compatriots in the extended family of the Chinese multinational country. For a long time, the people between southeast of China and Taiwan have had frequent communication in economy and culture. With the progress of times and the need of development, it has been put forward to build a safe and reliable undersea tunnel that is not affected by the environment across Taiwan Strait, and one which is also a magnificent project for the China in the long-term.?Whether by using a bridge or an undersea tunnel or both across the strait is a problem worthy of further research. According to such conditions as the weather of Taiwan Strait, depth of water, undersea terrain, possibility of engineering and hydrological geology under the sea, as well as the possibility of Taiwan Strait as a main shipping passage from south to north of China and the experience of existing passage across strait in the world, the primary analysis shows that the scheme of an undersea tunnel should be considered. Therefore the concept of the undersea tunnel engineering across Taiwan Strait is introduced in detail here.     

Slope and basin-floor reservoirs from the Miocene and Pliocene of the Veracruz Basin,southeastern Mexico

A regional study of the Veracruz Basin provided an excellent view of long-term deepwater sedimentation patterns from an evolving foreland-type basin. The regional seismic and well-log data set allows for an accurate reconstruction of slope and basin-floor depositional patterns, lithologic compositions, and paleogradients from a continuous succession of bathyal strata that span the Miocene to the lower Pliocene. Variations in Miocene and Pliocene deepwater reservoirs can be linked to prevailing slope characteristics. The Miocene basin had a high-gradient, tectonically generated slope, and the Pliocene basin had a low-gradient constructional slope. The Miocene basin owes its steep margin to the tectonic stacking of early Tertiary, Laramide-age thrust sheets. The Miocene margin shed a mixture of coarse elastic sediments (sands, gravels, and cobbles) and fines (silts and clays) that were transported into the deep basin via turbidity currents and debris flows. Channelized deposits dominate the Miocene slope, and reservoirs occur in long-lasting basement-confined canyons and shorter-lived shallower erosional gulleys. Thick and areally-extensive basin-floor fans exist outboard of the strongly channelized Miocene slope. Fan distribution is strongly controlled by synsedimentary contractional anticlines and synclines. In contrast, the latest Miocene to early Pliocene basin development was dominated by a strongly prograding wedge of shelf and slope deposits that was induced by volcanogenic uplift and increased sediment supply. During this phase, turbidite reservoirs are limited to narrow and sinuous deepwater channels that reside at the toe of the constructional clinoforms and areally limited, thinner basinal fans.     

Structural styles and tectonic evolution of the Seram Trough, Indonesia

The Seram Trough is located in the northern part of the Banda Arc-Australian collision zone in eastern Indonesia and is currently the site of contraction between the Bird's Head of New Guinea and Seram Island. It has been interpreted as a subduction trench, an intra-continental thrust zone and foredeep, and a zone of strike-slip faulting. Recently acquired 2D seismic lines clarify its tectonic evolution and relationship to the Bird's Head. Folding in the Early Pliocene formed an anticlinorium running from Misool to the Onin Peninsula of Irian Jaya and produced a newly recognised angular unconformity. The unconformity truncates sediments as old as Middle Jurassic and is an ancient topographic surface with significant relief. It was later folded and now dips south towards the trough where it is covered by up to 3 km of sediments. Initial tilting of the unconformity surface was accompanied by deposition of a transgressive sequence which can be traced into the trough. This is overlain by two sequences which prograde towards the trough. These sequences show progressive rotation of the unconformity surface, gravitational displacement of sediments into the trough, and thrusting which continues to the present day. Contraction occurred in the trough after the Early Pliocene and is younger than the previously suggested Late Miocene age. Thrust faults in the trough deform sediments deposited above the unconformity and detach at the unconformity surface. On Seram thrust faults repeat Mesozoic–Miocene sequences and probably detach at their contact with metamorphic basement. The detachment surface must cut through the Mesozoic-Miocene sequence between Seram and the trough. This work suggests the Seram Trough is not a subduction trench but a foredeep produced in response to loading by the developing fold and thrust belt of Seram, with an associated peripheral bulge to the north. The Seram Trough is interpreted to be a very young zone of thrusting within the Australian continental margin.     

台湾海峡西部海域底质柱状样中有孔虫特征及其环境意义

本文通过对台湾海峡西部海域7个柱状样计79块样品中的有孔虫分析,阐述了海峡柱样中有孔虫组合及其特征,并由此讨论台湾海峡西部海域晚更新世以来的沉积环境。     

Facies and sequential organisation of a mudstone-dominated slope and basin floor succession: the Gull Island Formation,Shannon Basin,Western Ireland

The lower part of the Carboniferous Shannon Basin of Western Ireland contains a deep-water succession which exceeds 1200 m in thickness that comprises five lithologically different units deposited within a confined, relatively narrow basin: (i) a calciclastic debris-flow and turbidite unit formed by resedimentation from nearby carbonate platforms, (ii) a siliciclastic black shale succession with former source potential which onlaps basin margins (Clare Shales), (iii) a sandstone-dominated turbidite formation, controlled by ponded accommodation and deposited axially in the basin (Ross Formation), (iv) a mudstone-rich turbidite-bearing succession, which onlaps basin margins (lower Gull Island Formation), and (v) a mudstone-dominated prograding slope succession (upper Gull Island Formation and lower Tullig Cyclothem), which grades transitionally upwards into deltaic deposits. The top unit records progradation at a time when basin differential subsidence had diminished significantly and local basin topography did not control deposition. The two upper mudstone-dominated units are different in terms of both sandstone content and their genetic significance within the overall basin-fill, and their potential relevance as reservoir analogues.The lower part of the Gull Island Formation contains three principal facies associations: (a) shallow turbidite channels and sheets representing channel margin and levee deposits, (b) mud-rich slumps, and (c) less than 1 m thick, rare, hemipelagic shales. More than 75% is deformed by soft-sediment deformation, but only to a smaller degree affecting sandstone units. The turbidites record transport to the ENE, along the axis of the basin, while the slumps were derived from an unstable northern slope and transported transversely into the basin towards the southeast. The distribution of turbidite sandstone and slumps is inversely proportional. Sandstones decrease in importance away from the basin axis as slumps increase in number and thickness. The lower part of the Gull Island Formation is interpreted to record progressive fill of a deep basin controlled by local, healed slope accommodation with onlap/sidelap of the basin margins. The instability resulted from a combination of fault-controlled differential subsidence between basin margin and basin axis, and high rates of sedimentation.The upper part of the Gull Island Formation is entirely dominated by mudstones, which grade upwards into siltstones. It contains rare, up to 15 m thick, isolated channels filled by turbidites, showing transport towards the east. The upper part records easterly progradation of a deep-water slope genetically tied to overlying deltaic deposits, and controlled by regional accommodation.The contrasts between the lower and upper parts of the Gull Island Formation show that onlapping/sidelapping turbidite successions have reservoir potential near basin axes, but that prograding deep-water slopes are less likely to have reservoir potential of significance. A suggested regional downlap surface between the two parts is a significant break and marker in terms of reservoir potential.     

Tectono-sedimentary control on modern sand deposition on the forebulge of the Western Taiwan Foreland Basin

Whether the formation of the isolated sand body deposition in the forebulge area of a foreland basin system is structure- or deposition-controlled has puzzled geologists for decades, although sand body deposition is generally believed to be indicative of the position of the flexural forebulge in a foreland basin. The formation of a modern sand body in the forebulge area is thus examined by multi-scale geophysical observations based on combined reflection seismic profiles and compressed high-intensity radar pulse (CHIRP) profiles across the sand deposition along the forebulge of the Western Taiwan Foreland Basin (WTFB), which is a Late Miocene-present foreland basin in the overfilled stage. These profiles suggest that the accumulation of the sand deposits along the forebulge of the WTFB is not directly associated with forebulge faultings. The relief map of the forebulge deposit substratum shows a northwestward tilting slope, and the isopach of the forebulge sand body indicates that a large part of the sand body accumulated along the axis of the Taiwan Strait and the subdued forebulge of the WTFB. The difference between the prevailing directions of tidal currents between the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea reflects the probable sedimentary influence of the cratonward migrating fold-thrust belt within a foreland shelf. We suggest that the formation and distribution of the sand deposits along the forebulge of the WTFB are generally controlled not only by the transverse downslope sedimentation but also longitudinal hydrodynamic processes at distal parts of the foreland basin. Our explanation provides a plausible tectono-sedimentary cause of the sand body deposition in the forebulge area in an overfilled foreland basin. The sedimentary dynamics of the sand body in the Taiwan Strait may be applicable for understanding the formation of isolated sand bodies in the distal part of the Cretaceous Western Interior Foreland Basin.     

Formation and evolution of the tertiary carbonate reefs in the Madura Strait Basin of Indonesia

Analysis of 2 D seismic data over 4 500 km in length from the Madura Strait Basin in the East Java Sea reveals seismic re?ection characteristics of reefs and associated sedimentary bodies, including asymmetrical or symmetrical dome re?ections, slope progradational re?ections, chaotic re?ections and discontinuous strong re?ections inside the reef, which onlap the ?ank of the reef. It is concluded that the developmental paleo-environment of most reefs is mainly conducive to shallow marine carbonate platform facies and platform margin facies, based on well core data, variations in seismic facies and strata thickness.The formation and evolution of all reefs are primarily in?uenced by the tectonic framework of the Madura Strait Basin. Platform margin reefs are principally controlled by two types of structures: one is a series of E-W trending Paleogene normal faults, and the other is an E-W trending Neogene inversion structures. In addition, wave actions, tidal currents and other ocean currents play an accelerated role in sorting, rounding and redeposition for the accumulation and evolution of reefs. Tertiary reefs in the MSB can be divided into four types: 1) an open platform coral reef of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, 2) a platform margin coral reef controlled by normal faults in Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, 3) a platform margin Globigerina moundreef controlled by a "hidden" inversion structure in Early Pliocene, and 4) a platform margin Globigerina mound-reef controlled by thrust faults in the early Pliocene. Patterns of the formation and evolution of reefs are also suggested.     

Relationships between magmatism and tectonics in a continental rift: The Pantelleria Island region (Sicily Channel, Italy)

Field geological data of the Pantelleria Island, a large Late Quaternary volcano located in the Sicily Channel rift zone, integrated with offshore geophysical information, are used to derive the structural setting of the Island and the surrounding region, and to analyse the relationships between tectonics and magmatism. Field work shows that the principal faults exposed on the Island fall into two systems trending NNE–SSW and NW–SE. Mapped faults from offshore multichannel seismic profiles show similar trends, and some of them represent the offshore extension of the Pantelleria Island structures. The NW–SE faults bound the Pantelleria Graben, one of the three main depressions formed since the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene within the African continental platform, which compose the Sicily Channel rift zone. A 3-D Moho depth geometry, derived from inversion of Bouguer gravity data, shows a significant uplift of the discontinuity up to 16–17 km beneath the westernmost part of the Pantelleria Graben and beneath the Pantelleria Island; it lows rapidly to 24–25 km away from the graben north-eastward and south-westward. The Moho uplift could explain the presence of a shallow magma chamber in the southern part of the Island, where processes of magmatic differentiation are documented. Geological and geophysical data suggest that the northwestern part of the Sicily Channel is presently dominated by a roughly E–W directed extensional regime. Crustal cracking feeding the Quaternary volcanism could be also related to this extensional field that would be further responsible for the development of the N–S trending volcanic belt that extends in the Sicily Channel from Lampedusa Island to the Graham Bank. This mode of deformation is confirmed also by geodetic data. This implies that in the northwestern part of the Sicily Channel, the E–W extension replaced the NE–SW crustal stretching that originated the NW-trending tectonic depressions constituting the rift zone.     

Miocene to recent Cariaco basin, offshore Venezuela: Structure, tectonosequences, and basin-forming mechanisms

The Cariaco basin, located ∼40 km off the central part of the coast of Venezuela, is the largest (∼4000 km²) and bathymetrically deepest (1400 m BSL) Neogene fault-bounded basin within the right-lateral strike-slip plate boundary zone that separates the Caribbean and South American plates. Using subsurface geophysical data, we test two previously proposed tectonic models for the age, distribution and nature of east-west-striking, strike-slip faults, and basin-forming mechanism for the two main depocenters of the Cariaco basin. The earliest interpretation for the opening of the twin Cariaco depocenters by Schubert (1982) proposes that both depocenters formed synchronously by extension along transverse (north-south) normal faults at a ∼30-km-wide rhomboidally-shaped pull-apart basin between the right-lateral, east-west-striking, and parallel San Sebastian and El Pilar fault zones. A later model by Ben-Avraham and Zoback (1992) proposes that both depocenters formed synchronously by a process of ”transform-normal parallel extension”, or rifting in a north-south direction orthogonal to the east-west-striking and parallel strike-slip faults.We use more than 4000 km of 2D single- and multi-channel seismic data tied to 11 wells to map 5 tectono-stratigraphic sequences and to produce a series of structural and isopach maps showing how the faults that controlled both Cariaco depocenters evolved from Paleogene to the present. Comparison of fault and isopach maps for dated horizons from Paleogene to late Neogene in age show three main phases in basin development: 1) from middle Miocene to Pliocene, the West Cariaco basin formed as a rhomboidally-shaped pull-apart at a 30-km-wide stepover between the northern branch of the San Sebastian fault and the El Pilar fault zone; 2) during the early Pliocene, a new strike-slip fault transected the West Cariaco basin (southern branch of the San Sebastian fault) and caused extension to cease; and 3) during the early Pliocene to recent, a “lazy-Z” shaped pull-apart formed along the curving connection between the southern branch of the San Sebastian and El Pilar fault zones.     

关于台湾海峡分界的探讨

台湾海峡介于台湾岛与大陆之间,是东海与南海的通道.关于台湾海峡范围的划分,海峡之东常以台湾岛两端（北为富贵角,南为鹅銮鼻）为界;海峡之西以大陆的平潭岛等为北界,东山岛或南澳岛为南界.为了更客观和准确地划分台湾海峡范围,本文根据海洋地理学中＂海峡＂的概念及对世界海峡类似实例的分析,并按照台湾海峡区域地形、地质等特征进行了分界.作者认同台湾海峡北口位于福建省平潭岛至台湾富贵角,但认为其南口应位于广东南澳岛至台湾曾文溪河口南岸.在此南、北口之间为台湾海峡范围.台湾海峡地形、地质等特征明显,与台湾及大陆紧密关联,并具有东海延伸入内的特点.而北口之北的闽东北海底,海峡特征明显消失.此南口为东海与南海的交汇处,其南属于南海的台湾浅滩及其外缘,其地形、地质特征也与海峡的显著不同.本研究结果对于更准确地划分台湾海峡范围及区域海洋研究与实践等方面都具有多方面的意义.     

Evolution and petroleum geology of Amlia and Amukta intra-arc summit basins, Aleutian Ridge

Amlia and Amukta Basins are the largest of many intra-arc basins formed in late Cenozoic time along the crest of the Aleutian Arc. Both basins are grabens filled with 2–5 km of arc-derived sediment. A complex system of normal faults deformed the basinal strata. Although initial deposits of late Micocene age may be non-marine in origin, by early Pliocene time, most of the basinfill consisted of pelagic and hemipelagic debris and terrigenous turbidite deposits derived from wavebase and subaerial erosion of the arc's crestal areas. Late Cenozoic volcanism along the arc commenced during or shortly after initial subsidence and greatly contributed to active deposition in Amlia and Amukta Basins.Two groups of normal faults occur: major boundary faults common to both basins and ‘intra-basin’ faults that arise primarily from arc-parallel extension of the arc. The most significant boundary fault, Amlia-Amukta fault, is a south-dipping growth fault striking parallel to the trend of the arc. Displacement across this fault forms a large half-graben that is separated into the two depocentres of Amlia and Amukta Basins by the formation of a late Cenozoic volcanic centre, Seguam Island. Faults of the second group reflect regional deformation of the arc and offset the basement floor as well as the overlying basinal section. Intra-basin faults in Amlia Basin are predominantly aligned normal to the trend of the arc, thereby indicating arc-parallel extension. Those in Amukta basin are aligned in multiple orientations and probably indicate a more complex mechanism of faulting. Displacement across intra-basin faults is attributed to tectonic subsidence of the massif, aided by depositional loading within the basins. In addition, most intra-basin faults are listric and are associated with high growth rates.Although, the hydrocarbon potential of Amlia and Amukta Basins is difficult to assess based on existing data, regional considerations imply that an adequate thermal history conducive to hydrocarbon generation has prevailed during the past 6-5 my. The possibility for source rocks existing in the lower sections of the basins is suggested by exposures of middle and upper Miocene carbonaceous mudstone on nearby Atka Island and the implication that euxinic conditions may have prevailed during the initial formation of the basins. Large structures have evolved to trap migrating hydrocarbons, but questions remain concerning the preservation of primary porosity in a sedimentary section rich in reactive volcaniclastic debris.     

Structural controls on Quaternary deepwater sedimentation, mud diapirism, and hydrocarbon distribution within the actively evolving Columbus foreland basin, eastern offshore Trinidad

Eastward migration of the Caribbean plate relative to the South American plate has caused lithospheric loading along the northern margin of South America, which is recorded by an 1100-km-long foreland basin which is oldest in the west (Maracaibo basin, 65-55 Ma) and youngest in the east (Columbus basin, eastern offshore Trinidad, 15-0 Ma). The Orinoco River has been the primary source of sediment for the basin since early Miocene. We have integrated approximately 775 km of deep-penetration 2D seismic lines acquired in the area of eastern offshore Trinidad as part of the 2004 “Broadband Ocean-Land Investigations of Venezuela and the Antilles arc Region” (BOLIVAR) project, 8000 km² of shallow industry 3D seismic data, and published industry well data from offshore eastern Trinidad. Active mud diapirism in the Columbus basin is widespread and is related to overthrusting and tectono-sedimentary loading of upper Miocene-lower Pliocene age mud. Analysis of the shallow 3D seismic data reveals the presence of extensive gravity-flow depositional elements on the Columbus basin slope and the deepwater area. These stacked gravity-flow deposits are characterized by mass-transport deposits at the base, turbidite frontal-splay deposits, leveed-channel deposits, and capped by fine-grained condensed-section deposits. Exploration targets in the deepwater area are located towards the center of the Columbus basin, where northeast-trending fault-propagation folds are important Plio-Pleistocene trap-forming elements. Deep basin wells drilled in recent years have proven that turbidites were transported into the deepwater Columbus basin during the Plio-Pleistocene. Analysis of these well results suggests that a deeper oil charge is present within the deepwater Columbus basin area. The primary uncertainty for this variable hydrocarbon system is whether fault or diapiric pathways connect or divert the petroleum charge at depth with shallower reservoir rocks.