The Malvinas Basin (Spanish: Cuenca de Malvinas) is a major sedimentary basin in the Argentine Shelf offshore southern Patagonia. The basin borders to the west with the Río Chico-Dungeness High that separates it from the Magallanes Basin.[1] The southern boundary is formed by the Scotia plate boundary.[2] Contrary to the neighbouring North Falkland and Magallanes Basins, the Malvinas Basin is not known to have commercial hydrocarbon reserves.[3]

Malvinas Basin
Cuenca de Malvinas
Map showing the location of Malvinas Basin
Map showing the location of Malvinas Basin
Coordinates51°30′S 63°30′W / 51.500°S 63.500°W / -51.500; -63.500
EtymologyIslas Malvinas
LocationArgentine Shelf, Southern Atlantic
RegionPatagonia
Country Argentina
 United Kingdom
State(s)Santa Cruz Province
Falkland Islands
Characteristics
On/OffshoreOffshore
BoundariesRío Chico-Dungeness High (W)
Scotia-South American plate boundary (S)
Part ofCircum-Atlantic basins
Area~180,000 km2 (69,000 sq mi)
Hydrology
Sea(s)Southern Atlantic Ocean
Geology
Basin typeRift basin
OrogenyBreak-up of Pangea
AgeEarly Jurassic-Holocene
StratigraphyStratigraphy
Field(s)non-commercial

Tectonic history

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The Malvinas Basin started to form with the break-up of Pangea since the Early Jurassic.

Stratigraphy

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Though poorly understood due to the lack of well data, several formations were identified in the basin on the basis of 2D seismic, of which some also crop out in onshore Patagonia and the Austral Basin:[4]

Age Formation Lithologies
Neogene undefined Claystones and sandstones
Paleogene Arenas Glauconíticas & Magallaniano Formations Sandstones and claystones
Late Cretaceous Margas Verdes & Arroyo Alfa Formations Claystones and sandstones
Early Cretaceous Springhill & Pampa Rincón Formations Claystones and sandstones
Late Jurassic
Middle Jurassic Tobífera Formation Volcanics and claystones
Early Jurassic Hiatus
Paleozoic Basement Quartzites and shales

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gallardo, 2014, p.51
  2. ^ Foschi & Cartwright, s.a., p.42
  3. ^ Baristeas et al., 2013
  4. ^ Foschi & Cartwright, s.a., p.44

Bibliography

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  • Baristeas, N.; Anka, Z.; di Primio, R.; Rodríguez, J.F.; Marchal, D.; Dominguez, F. (2013), "New insights into the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Malvinas Basin, offshore of the southernmost Argentinean continental margin", Tectonophysics, 604: 280–295, Bibcode:2013Tectp.604..280B, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.06.009, retrieved 6 September 2018
  • Foschi, Martino; Cartwright, Joseph Albert (2016), "South Malvinas/Falkland Basin: hydrocarbon migration and petroleum system", Marine and Petroleum Geology, 77: 124, Bibcode:2016MarPG..77..124F, doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.06.002, retrieved 6 September 2018
  • Gallardo, Rocío E (2014), "Seismic sequence stratigraphy of a foreland unit inthe [sic] Magallanes-Austral Basin, Dorado Riquelme Block, Chile: Implications for deep-marine reservoirs" (PDF), Latin American Journal of Sedimentology and Basin Analysis, Asociación Argentina de Sedimentología, 1221: 49–64, retrieved 6 September 2018