Paper Summary
The Eastern Black Sea Basin (EBSB) is situated between the Great Caucasus mountian ranges to the north and the Eastern Pontides to the south. The basin is widely interpreted to have formed by back-arc extension behind the Pontides magmatic arc as a result of the northwards subduction of the Neotethys Ocean below the Eurosian Plate (Alpine Orogeny) during Jurassic to Paleogene time (e.g. Gorur, 1988; Monteleone et al., 2019). Based on the interpretation of new long offset 2D seismic data, acquired in 2018, covering the Turkish sector of the EBSB, we have found that the basin is rather profoundly dominated by fold and thrust belts which suggest that the basin has formed as a foredeep basin. However, a pre foredeep sedimentary sequence found within the Arkhangelsky and Andrusov Ridges characteristically demonstrates apparent syn-rift structures with grabens and half-grabens with normal faulting and rift-flank uplifts along the strike direction of the ridges. Volcanoes and high magnetic anomalies within the basement of the foredeep setting additionally indicate a complex geological history of the EBSB.
Moderate hydrocarbon exploration has been carried out in the Western Black Sea Basin (WBSB), whereas only three exploration wells have been drilled to date in the Turkish sector of the EBSB despite sharing the widespread Kuma and Maykop source rocks. Geological interpretation of the new data has led to a revised understanding and the identification of play concepts. There are large potential hydrocarbon traps and variety of potential reservoirs pointing towards substantial hydrocarbon potential in the EBSB.