«Geology, geophysics and development of oil and gas fields»

Micropaleontological characteristics of the hauteriv-Lower Aptian deposits of the northern Caspian Sea

UDC: 551.763.12:561.252
DOI: -

Authors:

¹ LUKOIL-Engineering LLC, Volgograd, Russia
² All-Russian Geological Research institute of A.P. Karpinsky, Saint Petersburg, Russia
³ All-Russian Research Geological Oil Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia
⁴ LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft LLC, Astrakhan, Russia

Keywords: Northern Caspian, Hauteriv-Lower Aptian deposits, stratigraphy, foraminifers, dinocysts

Annotation:

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study of the core from wells drilled in the territory of the Caspian-Mangyshlak uplift system (Northern Caspian). Biostratigraphic and biofacial characteristics of Lower Cretaceous deposits are given for dinocysts and foraminiferas. As a result of the palynological analysis, 9 stratigraphic levels in the Hauterivian-Lower Aptian interval have been identified. The dating of the levels is based on a determination of biological events by dinocysts events in the sections of the studied wells with those in Northwestern Europe, correlate to the Ammonite zonal scale of the Lower Cretaceous. In the process of microfaunistic analysis, the poverty of microfauna saturation of the Hauterivian-Barremian deposits was established. According to the characteristic micropaleontological species, 5 foraminifera assemblages have been identified. Microbiofacial analysis showed that sedimentation in the Hauterivian to Early Aptian in in this area occurred mainly in the coastal-marine conditions of the supralithoral and littoral zones. The data obtained during the study of wells made it possible to dissect the stratigraphic sections in detail and clarify the existing correlation schemes. The conclusions drawn will be used in establishing patterns of location and conditions of formation of oil and gas fields, located in this territory.

Bibliography:

1. Atlas kharakternykh foraminifer nizhnemelovykh otlozheniy Prikaspiyskoy nizmennosti, p-ova Mangyshlak i Ustyurta / VNIGRI: sost. E.V. Myatlyuk, V.P. Vasilenko. – L.: Nedra, Leningr. otd-nie, 1988. – 261 s.
2. Dinotsisty i ikh potentsial dlya biostratigrafii nizhnego mela Severnogo Kaspiya / O.V. Shurekova, N.K. Kulikova, E.G. Raevskaya, E.S. Razumkova: v kn. Vodorosli v evolyutsii biosfery / Otv. red. S.V. Rozhnov. – M.: PIN RAN, 2014. – S. 187–205.
3. Regional’naya geologiya i neftegazonosnost’ Kaspiyskogo morya / I.F. Glumov, Ya.P. Makovitskiy, A.A. Novikov, B.V. Senin. – M.: OOO "Nedra-Biznestsentr", 2004. – 342 s.
4. Litologo-fatsial’nye osobennosti goteriv-barremskikh otlozheniy Severnogo Kaspiya / O.I. Smirnova, A.G. Alekseev, E.Yu. Baraboshkin, M.V. Smirnov // Geologiya, geofizika i razrabotka neftyanykh i gazovykh mestorozhdeniy. – 2025. – № 2(398). – S. 14–24.
5. Smirnova O.I., Alekseev A.G., Smirnov M.V. Opyt primeneniya magnitostratigraficheskikh issledovaniy dlya detal’noy stratifikatsii terrigennykh otlozheniy nizhnego mela akvatorii Severnogo Kaspiya (na primere mestorozhdeniya im. V. Filanovskogo) // Geologiya, geofizika i razrabotka neftyanykh i gazovykh mestorozhdeniy. – 2023. – № 4(376). – S. 36–41. – DOI: 10.33285/2413-5011-2023-4(376)-36-41
6. Report on the 7th International Meeting of the IUGS Lower Cretaceous Ammonite Working Group, the Kilian Group (Warsaw, Poland, 21 August 2022) / O. Szives, J.A. Moreno-Bedmar, B. Aguirre-Urreta [et al.]: State of the art on the current Standard Ammonite Zonation of the Western Tethyan Mediterranean Province // Cretaceous Research. – 2024. – Vol. 153. – Pp. 1–14.
7. Baraboshkin E.Yu., Guzhikov A.Yu. Boreal’nyy nizhniy mel Rossii: reviziya yarusnykh granits na osnove ne-paleontologicheskikh dannykh // Melovaya sistema Rossii i blizhnego zarubezh’ya: problemy stratigrafii i paleogeografii: Materialy IX Vseros. soveshchaniya 17-21 sentyabrya 2018 g., NIU "BelGU", g. Belgorod / Pod red. E.Yu. Baraboshkina, T.A. Lipnitskoy, A.Yu. Guzhikova. – Belgorod: POLITERRA, 2018. – S. 47–53.
8. Sovershenstvovanie stratigraficheskoy osnovy neftegazonosnykh kompleksov Rossii na baze sedimentatsionnogo modelirovaniya / P.N. Mel’nikov, V.V. Shimanskiy, N.V. Taninskaya [i dr.] // Geologiya nefti i gaza. – 2025. – № 1. – S. 7–30. – DOI: 10.47148/0016-7894-2025-1-7-30
9. Costa L.I., Davey R.J. Dinoflagellate cysts of the Cretaceous System // A Stratigraphic Index of Dinoflagellate Cysts / Ed. by A.J. Powell. – London: Chapman & Hall, 1992. – Pp. 99–154.
10. Duxbury S. A palynological zonation scheme for the Lower Cretaceous. – United Kingdom sector, central North Sea // Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. – 2001. – Vol. 219. – № 1-2. – Pp. 97–137.
11. Duxbury S. Berriasian to lower Hauterivian palynostratigraphy, U.K. onshore and Outer Moray Firth // Micropaleontology. – 2018. – Vol. 64. – № 3. – Pp. 171–252.
12. Duxbury S. Organic-walled marine microplankton from the Barremian and Aptian of the North Sea Region – biostratigraphy and taxonomy // Micropaleontology. – 2019. – Vol. 65. – № 3. – Pp. 173–276.
13. Duxbury S. Organic-walled marine microplankton from the Hauterivian and early Barremian of the North Sea Region – biostratigraphy and taxonomy // Micropaleontology. – 2023. – Vol. 69. – № 2. – Pp. 113–258.
14. Riding J.B., Poulse N.E., Bailey D.A. A taxonomic study of the dinoflagellate cyst Muderongia simplex Alberti 1961 and related species // Palynology. – 2000. – Vol. 24. – Pp. 21–35.
15. Heilmann-Clausen C., Birkelund T. Lower Cretaceous dinoflagellate biostratigraphy in the Danish Central Trough // Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse, Serie A. – 1987. – Vol. 17. – Pp. 1–89.
16. Nøhr-Hansen H., Piasecki S., Alsen P.A. Cretaceous dinoflagellate cyst zonation for NE Greenland // Geological Magazine Cambridge University Press. – 2019. – 35 p.
17. BioStrat Stratigraphic Consultancy. 2025. David Bailey, the BioStrat Ltd. Director. – Backbarrow, UK. (Electronic resource). – URL: http://biostrat.org.uk/LJ%202011%20events%20postcon
18. Herngreen G.F.W., Kerstholt S.J., Munsterman D.K. Callovian-Ryazanian (‘Upper Jurassic’) palynostratigraphy of the Central North Sea Graben and Vlieland Basin. – The Netherlands: Mededelingen Nederlands Instituut voor Toegepaste Geowetenshappen TNO, 2000. – № 63. – 99 p.
19. Riding J.B., Thomas J.E. Dinoflagellate cysts of Jurassic System. In: Powell A.J. (ed.) A stratigraphic index of dinoflagellate cysts // British Palaeontological Society Publications Series. – London: Chapman & Hall, 1992. – Pp. 7–97.
20. Novye dannye o granitse goterivskogo i barremskogo yarusov (nizhniy mel) v Srednem Povolzh’e / E.Yu. Baraboshkin, T.N. Gorbachik, A.Yu. Guzhikov [i dr.] // Byulleten’ Mosk. ob-va ispytateley prirody. Otdel geologicheskiy. – 2001. – № 3. – S. 31–51.