Continental margins as global oil-accumulation belts: The Gondwana belt

Most present-day petroliferous basins are localized in one of the five global oil and gas accumulation belts confined to continent—ocean transition zones that existed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The Gondwana belt is formed by basins developed on continental margins of the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic (Konyukhov, 2009). All of them are riftogenic in nature and were formed during either the Late Paleozoic (basins on continental margins of the Indian Ocean) or the Late Mesozoic (basins in peripheral zones of the South Atlantic). During the most part of geological history, they were located in zones dominated by the humid climate, which determined the prevalent role of terrigenous rocks in their sedimentary cover.