Developing Regional Tectonostratigraphic Models for Hydrocarbon System Evaluation in the External Dinarides and Hellenides

The Dinarides – Hellenides are a southwest verging orogenic belt that has resulted from the subduction of two branches of the Neotethys Ocean and the continental lithosphere of Adria beneath Eurasia.

Hydrocarbon production and/or field development in Albania, Croatia and Greece, as well as analogues in Italy, prove the existence of multiple petroleum systems in the region. However, differing geological traditions across the several countries on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea mean that coherent tectonic and stratigraphic models are lacking.

In this contribution we present findings of a literature-based review into the geodynamic setting and tectonic evolution, pre-flysch stratigraphy and petroleum system elements, structural styles of the external Dinarides and Hellenides, and flysch provenance. Emphasis is placed on the regional understanding of hydrocarbon systems and their tectonic and stratigraphic framework. Syn-orogenic sediments act as regional seals above fractured carbonates as well as reservoirs. Their facies distribution and provenance are strongly linked with the tectonic evolution of the region as well as changes in source regions in the hinterland.

The results of ongoing targeted structural geological and sedimentological field work, investigating the above mentioned topics, will also be presented.