ANALYSIS OF TECTONIC EVOLUTION AND TRAPS FORMATION AT

MAFIA DEEP OFFSHORE BASIN.

INTRODUCTION
The Mafia Deep Offshore basin (MDOB) of southern Tanzania is one of several East African
basins that resulted from the break-up of the Gondwana continent from the Middle Jurassic
onwards (Figs. 1,).

The basin occupies an area of some 75,000 sq km developed between the Tanzanian
continental shelf edge and the Davie Fracture Zone 200 km east of the coast. The water depth
ranges from approximately 500 m to a maximum of 3,300 m in the southeast of the basin.

Fig(1)
Geological history.
The mafia deep offshore basin (MDOB) has developed along a transform plate margin formed
after the break-up of Gondwanaland during Bajocian times. The transform element, now
represented by the Davie Fracture Zone, acted as a zone of dextral displacement of the
Madagascar block with respect to Africa, probably until the Neocomian. At the close of the
Early Jurassic tectonism along bounding faults became less intense, and a shallow marine
transgression followed during the Middle Jurassic as a result of continued subsidence and
tilting. An overall regression, associated with a number of tectonically influenced sea level
fluctuations is remarkable from the early part of Cretaceous. A major regional unconformity is
recognized at the base of the Aptian and Lower Albian. Activities at this time may be related to
the continuous wrench faulting which lead to the southward movement of Madagascar. The
Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary was a period of tectonic stability, while significant tectonic
reactivation began in the Late Palaeogene and continued into the Neogene. These movements
were related to the development of the modern East Africa Rift system, which resulted in
massive structural inversions and intensified eastward tilting of the present onshore areas,
where they were accompanied by rapid subsidence and deposition. The development of
offshore basins such as the Mafia and Zanzibar channel is believed to have taken place at this
time.

Problem statement
The extrapolation of well data from this coastal area in combination with the stratigraphic and
structural interpretation of the MDOB has facilitated the definition of its petroleum potential.
Also there
where there are known onshore oil seeps and subsurface gas discoveries, despite of all
indications there is no commercial discovery of hydrocarbon in Mafia Basin.

Main objective
Identify the structure styles and traps formed due to tectonic movements.
Specific objective

1)To identify the main structure styles and structures formed from the seismic data. (wrench
faulting) as observed is seismic section from Rufiji delta to mafia.

2)Analysis of possible traps observed in seismic data

i) Conventional drape anticlines (Fig.2)

ii) Inversion-related anticlines (Fig. 3)
iii) Fault-bounded traps in inversion structures. (Fig.4)
iv) Stratigraphic traps in channel-fill sediments (Fig5.)