Fluid migration placed into the deformation history of fold-and-thrust belts: an example from the Veracruz basin (Mexico)

The Cordoba carbonate platform (Mexico) has been studied to reconstruct the fluid flow evolution in a foreland fold-and-thrust belt. The objective is to link the deformation kinematics and thermal evolution to fluid expulsion and migration. This allows the reconstruction of a more complete picture o f the deformation history and its effect on reservoir evolution within thes e belts. Different fracturing episodes relate to tectonically induced overp ressures, while development of a flexural bulge and subsequent thrusting an d folding caused two different episodes of karstification. The role of diff erent stylolitisation episodes, i.e. bed parallel (BPS) and layer parallel shortening (LPS) stylolites, in this study is of major importance, because they allow a correlation between fluid flow and the burial and tectonic evo lution of the foreland. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.