Seismic Characteristics and Development of the Upper Jurassic Carbonate Buildups from the Miechów Trough (Southern Poland)

Abstract

The presented study is devoted to the subsurface Upper Jurassic carbonate buildups and surrounding stratified inter-buildup deposits in the hitherto less recognized area, in comparison with other parts of the northern Tethyan shelf in Poland and Europe. The study area is located within the present-day Miechów Trough, almost entirely covered by thick Cretaceous and younger deposits. This paper shows results of the interpretation of 2D seismic data, calibrated by data from deep wells. Investigation of various elements of the Upper Jurassic carbonate depositional system in the Miechów Trough is supported by seismic facies and attribute analysis. The four distinctive seismic facies—(A) bedded, (B) mound-shaped, (C) contorted-chaotic, and (D) chaotic—were assigned to the main Upper Jurassic sedimentary facies, represented by (1) bedded facies, (2) massive facies (carbonate buildups) and (3) deposits of gravity mass-flows. The results of this study were used to construct a depositional model for the Upper Jurassic succession, that focuses on the initiation, growth and demise of the large carbonate buildups in this part of the basin. This paper also presents the more extensive distribution of the Upper Jurassic carbonate buildups than was previously proposed for the Miechów Trough.