Peacock, Sheila et al. (1999): Seismic evidence for overpressure and fluid migration within the Barbados accretionary complex

Leg/Site/Hole:
ODP 156
ODP 156 949
Identifier:
2003-008264
georefid

Creator:
Peacock, Sheila
University of Birmingham, School of Earth Sciences, Birmingham, United Kingdom
author

Hayward, Nathan
author

Westbrook, Graham K.
author

Identification:
Seismic evidence for overpressure and fluid migration within the Barbados accretionary complex
1999
In: Anonymous, IUGG 99; abstracts
IUGG, [location varies], International
99, Week A
98
Seafloor sediments involved in subduction are subject to a rapid increase in lithostatic stress due to forced burial, and to tectonic stress. The clay rich sediments at Barbados are overpressured because of low permeability and release of bound water from clays. Drilling and logging in accretionary complexes are difficult so seismic techniques are used to map porosity and fluid pressure and deduce the likely escape paths of the porewater. At our site the toe of the Barbados accretionary complex consists of an upper accreted zone of stacked thrust slices, then a thin decollement zone, then an undisturbed zone of sediments riding down (at 20mm/year) with the subducting plate. A 3-D seismic reflection survey has been shot over this area and vertical seismic profiles and P waves from ocean bottom shots recorded in ODP borehole 949C within the 400-m thick accreted zone. We deduced velocity-porosity-overpressure relations from well logs to produce porosity and overpressure sections. These show a continuous zone of overpressure (lambda-pore pressure/overburden pressure-up to 0.9) in the basal 80 m of the accreted sediments, above the decollement. The zone has low S-wave velocity and high Poisson's ratio (up to 0.477), probably indicating loss of cohesion. Above that, the thrust faults seen in the seismic section appear to act as barriers to flow, dividing the accreted sediments into packets of distinct pore pressure. Reflections from the decollement zone are modeled by a 12.5-m thick low velocity zone indicating porosity about 55% but the anisotropy seen in cores was not resolved.
English
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:15.3213
West:-58.4252East: -58.4251
South:15.3210

Hydrogeology; Applied geophysics; accretionary wedges; Antilles; Atlantic Ocean; Barbados; Caribbean region; decollement; faults; fluid dynamics; geophysical methods; geophysical profiles; geophysical surveys; hydrodynamics; Leg 156; Lesser Antilles; marine sediments; North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP Site 949; overpressure; plate tectonics; porosity; pressure; reflection methods; sediments; seismic methods; seismic profiles; stress; subduction; surveys; thrust faults; velocity; West Indies;

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