Structural controls on the positioning of submarine channels on the lower slopes of

the Niger Delta

RICHARD MORGAN
Veritas D G C Limited, Crompton Way, Crawley, W. Sussex RHIO 9QN, UK (e-mail: richard_morgan@veritasdgc.com)

Abstract: Recently acquired 2D seismic data shot over the western Niger Delta have enabled a pre-delta rift framework to be
delineated inshore of a transform fault dominated continental margin which lies beneath the later, delta sediment apron. The
delta apron has been deformed by toe-of-slope thrusting where faults have climbed from a detachment surface at or near the
top of the over-pressured Akata Formation mudstones. The overlying mixed clastic succession of the Agbada Formation has
been faulted by a broadly oceanward stepping series of NW-SE trending thrusts climbing from this detachment level. The
principal thrusts have been offset by NE-SW trending transfer zones, the positions of which have been inherited from trends
within a pre-delta rift framework that underlies part of the western delta slope.
3D seismic data partly covering the 2D grid show turbidite channel complexes at numerous stratigraphic levels within the
Agbada Formation and clustered in particular areas of the slope. Commonly, submarine channels can be seen to have cut
through the relief caused by folding at the positions of intersection with transfer fault zones. These data show the relationship
between structure and channel formation and highlight the importance of transfer fault zones in localizing channel systems
on the lower slope. Nevertheless, the 2D seismic data has provided an explanation for the location of the transfer zones
within the toe-thrust belt in the form of an underlying structural framework, and both data types have contributed to the
understanding of controls on reservoir distribution in an area where the principal sand delivery systems are perpendicular to
the main structural trend.

The discovery of a succession of major oil accumulations in the
deep water parts of the Niger Delta, e.g. Bonga, Erha, Agbami
and Akpo, have made this region one of the most prospective
deep water provinces in the world. Consequently, the search for
large fields has progressed down slope and stimulated the
acquisition of an extensive seismic dataset (Fig. 1). These data
have provided an opportunity to examine in detail the lower
slopes of the delta apron between 1500 m and 4000 m present
water depth.
Prior to 1998 very little seismic data existed in the deep and
ultra deep-water areas covering the lower slope of the Niger
Delta and models describing the structure of the sediment apron
could only draw on individual widely spaced lines of varying
vintages (Whiteman 1982; Knox & Omatsola 1989; Damuth
1994; Cohen & McClay 1996). These interpretations incorpor-
ated the mega regressional cycle model to describe the
progressive build out of the delta from Eocene times to present.
The model predicts a diachronous contact between fine-grained,
distal or basin floor sediments, broadly describing the Akata
Formation, underlying more sand-rich, slope sediments, broadly
describing the Agbada Formation (Fig. 2). In the present day
shelf and upper slope areas, this boundary is taken as the top of
the mobile shale section, although the movement of over-
pressured mud and associated faulting have led to considerable
topography on this surface and complex relationships with
overlying sediments render this boundary a problematic seismic
stratigraphic correlation. The base of the sediment apron could
not be determined with confidence in the legacy data (where the
record length was sufficient), as the top basement reflector
varies in character and visibility (Damuth 1994). Also, the
existence of any distinct seismic facies beneath the presumed
Eocene to recent delta slope deposits remained unconfirmed
until the recent data acquisition.
The database available to this study comprised an extensive
grid of 2D seismic data acquired in 1998 and 1999 covering all
of the lower slope region. The dip line spacing of data over the
western slope area is typically 4 km with strike line spacing of
10kin. These 120 fold data were acquired with a 6 k m cable
length with a 12s recording interval and processed using
Kirchhoff bent ray pre-stack time migration. Additionally, a 3D
dataset acquired in 1999, was available covering 3100kin 2 of
the western lower slope (Fig. 1). These data also have a 6 km
offset length and 12s record interval and share a similar
processing sequence. All seismic data are displayed with a
reverse (European convention) polarity where an increase in
impedance is represented by a trough. The aim of this paper is to
use evidence derived from these data to show the relationship
between the toe-of-slope thrust structures and sediment path-
ways in the setting of the lower slope.
Structural and stratigraphic setting
The Niger Delta is a regressive clastic succession 1 0 - 1 2 k m
in thickness, comprising a shelf, broad slope area and basin
floor. The lower slope area upon which this study focuses, can
be readily divided into the Agbada and Akata Formations, due
to the occurrence of a regionally consistent seismic reflection
event dividing sections of differing seismic character (Fig. 3).
This division is believed to reflect the stratigraphic transition
from the lower, mud-prone Akata Formation into the upper,
mixed clastic, Agbada Formation as recognized onshore and
on the shelf. Recent descriptions of the nearby, deep-water
Bonga Field, have given Upper Oligocene ages for the
lowermost parts of the Agbada interval, inferring the Akata
interval to be pre-Miocene in this part of the slope (Chapin
et al. 2002). The existence of older sediments underlying the
Akata Formation in the deep and ultra deep water (Fig. 3) is
apparent in the 1998, 1999 data, where sections in excess of
l km in thickness are seen preserved in half-graben rift
elements, overlain by a large sediment wedge (Morgan 2003).
This older section is presumed to include Albian to
Palaeogene age sediments as a late Aptian to late Albian
age is given for the onset of continental separation in the Gulf
of Guinea (Gradstein et al. 1995; Wagner & Pletsch 1999;
Macgregor et al. 2003). The rift elements themselves may
contain older deposits as the onset of rifting in Benue Trough
is given as Aptian (Burke et al. 1971; Petters & Ekweozor
1982), while a Berriasian-Hauterivian age is recognized for
the syn-rift Ise Formation in the Benin section of the
Dahomey Trough.

DAVIES,R. J., CARTWRIGHT,J. A., STEWART,S. A., LAPPIN,M. & UNDERHILL,J. R. (eds) 2004.3D Seismic Technology: Application to the Exploration
of Sedimentary Basins. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 29, 45-51. 0435-4052/04/$15 9 The Geological Society of London 2004.
46 R. MORGAN

Fig. 1. Seismic data coverage over the

deep/ultra deep waters of the Niger Delta
slope. Well locations show the positions
of major oil accumulations in the upper
and mid-slope areas.

The pre-Akata sedimentary section is thickest beneath the
northwestern area of the Niger lower slope, where it comprises
a major southward building sedimentary apron. The centre of
this apron is not coincident with the present Niger Delta cone
and is located to the west, offshore Lagos (Fig. 1). The Akata
Formation onlaps this earlier sediment apron (Fig. 3) with the
basal sequence boundary marking an important change in
drainage and sediment dispersal on this part of the margin at
this time. The base of the Agbada Formation marks another
change in depositional style across the region with the
appearance of a major progradational succession continuing
through until the present and forming the main body of the
Niger sediment apron (Fig. 3). The lower part of this succession
is represented by a distinct section, the Dahomey wedge, so-
called because the channel complexes within this part of the
Agbada Formation are predominantly southward directed,
sourced apparently from the Dahomey Trough region of the
Nigeria margin.

Fig. 2. Tri-partite subdivision of the main components of the Niger Delta sediment cone: The fluvio-deltaic Benin Fm., the marine shelf and slope
sand and muds of the Agbada Fm. and upwards of 6 km of marine slope muds of the Akata Fm. Over-pressuring in the Akata Fm. has rendered
the Akata structurally weak and the entire sediment cone has collapsed on intra Akata detachment faults creating extensional, faulted-diapric and
compressionai belts within the apron.
 SUBMARINE CHANNELS, NIGER DELTA 47

Fig. 3. The above section represents a highly compressed, 180 km, NW-SE profile through the lower slope region of the W Niger Delta area.
The boundary between the Agabda and Akata seismic divisions is marked a major downlap surface and the arrival of sediments that show greater
seismic reflectivity. The Dahomey wedge, which forms the lower part of the Agbada Formation comprises large channel complexes and amalgamated
basin floor fans that have prograded over the mud-dominated Akata succession. The Akata section onlaps a substantial sediment apron of presumed
Albian-Palaeocene age. This apron in turn sits partially on rifted crust of unknown affinity and extends out onto presumed oceanic crust.

In the lower slope region, the Niger Delta sediment apron
has been deformed by toe-of-slope thrusting and in the western
area the detachment surface for this faulting occurs at the top of
over-pressured, Akata Formation mudstones. The causes of
faulting in the Niger Delta have been extensively discussed
(Whiteman 1982; Knox & Omatsola 1989; Damuth 1994) and
are generally attributed to the extensional collapse of the
thickest parts of the apron above the over-pressured Akata muds.
Transport of the detached section comprising the entire Agbada
interval has been ocean-ward and directed radially around a
broadly arcuate trend. In the lower parts of the slope,
displacement passes back up through the section in the form
of a toe-thrust complex (Fig. 4). On close examination the toe-
thrust complex takes the form of a number of zones of thrusting
with differing characteristics such as, trend, level of basal
detachment, size of imbricated blocks and incidence of back-
thrusts. The western parts of the toe-thrust belt are discussed
here and the role of the resulting structures on sediment
dispersal on the lower slope examined.
Fault framework and depositional architecture from
2D seismic data
In the western lower slope the mixed clastic succession of the
Agbada seismic facies has been faulted by a series of broadly
ocean-ward stepping, N W - S E trending thrust faults, climbing
from an uppermost Akata detachment level (Fig. 4). The 2D
seismic database has enabled the principal thrusts to be mapped
(Fig. 5). These N W - S E trending faults are extremely linear in
strike, a characteristic that serves to emphasise abrupt lateral
terminations and a number of step-wise offsets that occur along
their length. The outermost expression of thrusting in the
western delta area is marked by a complex fore-thrust/back-
thrust zone, and in contrast to the faulting higher up the slope
this zone appears to be spatially related to deeper fault
antecedents (Fig. 4). The fore-thrust/backthrust zone also
displays step-wise offsets typically of the order of 5 - 1 0 k m
and these structures, when linked to offsets and fault
terminations up-slope, express the positions of N E - S W
trending transfer zones (Fig. 5). In section, the transfer zones
are characterized by steep to vertical, N E - S W trending faults
with evidence of both extensional and compression movements
(Fig. 6). These faults compartmentalize the toe-of-slope thrust
zone and appear to have a c c o m m o d a t e d differences in
displacement within the detached sediment pile. Changes in
seismic character and growth of section across the transfer faults
at depth within the pre-Akata succession demonstrate that a
number of these fault zones were active prior to the formation of
the delta apron (Fig. 6). The fact that some transfer faults pass
through the semi-regional detachment surface and are linked to
deeper structures reveals the tram-line like control these faults
have had in the partitioning of the thrust belt. Similarly, the
outer-most thrust/backthrust zone is linked spatially if not
implicitly to parallel trending rift elements in the basement such
that the pre-delta structural framework has had an overriding
influence on the position and trend of the outermost expression
of thrusting. The fact that thrusting due to the extensional
collapse of the sediment apron up-slope, has inherited elements
of an earlier structural fabric created by the underlying rift
framework helps to explain the linear form, abrupt terminations
and changes in trend seen in the geometry of the toe-thrust belt.
Depositional processes within the upper parts of the Agbada
seismic facies are dominated by large c h a n n e l - l e v e e systems
48 R. MORGAN

Fig. 4. Profile through the toe-of-slope thrust zone in the W Niger Delta area. A difference in general seismic reflectivity describes the characterization
of the Agbada and Akata seismic divisions, while older sediments lie in a normal faulted setting beneath the Akata section. The detachment of the
Agbada section towards the top of the Akata seismic interval and is demonstrated by thrust geometries inboard of the outermost thrust zone. However,
the outermost thrust zone is a complex backthrust structure formed by the underthrusting of the detached sediment apron. The backthrust zone directly
overlies a parallel zone of faulting affecting the basement and older section. The older faults may have acted passively as seed points off which
backthrust ramps formed from the detachment surface.

Fig. 5. Time structure at base Agbada

Formation, contour interval is 100 ms,
red high, blue low. The positions of the
main thrust faults can be seen in this
surface, and demonstrate the linearity of
strike of the toe-of-slope thrust belt and
the positions of offset of the faults along
strike. Despite the continued prograda-
tion of the sediment apron, with the
deposition of over 3 km of sediment
above this horizon, recently formed
deepwater channels have followed the
transfer zones through the cross-cutting
sea-bed topography created by the
thrusting.
 SUBMARINE CHANNELS. NIGER DELTA 49

Fig. 6. NE-SW trending transfer/tear faults within a transfer zone showing steep to vertical geomet~, fault termination at the semi-regional detachment
level at base Agbada Formation and also through-going linkage to deeper levels. The deep-rooted transfer faults offsetting the detachment level
demonstrate the influence of basement structure on faulting within the collapsed delta apron. Note the clustering of high-amplitude, channelized
packages around the transfer fault.

and debris-flow units (Fig. 6) and clustered or amalgamated
channel-fill packets are visible throughout the Agbada interval.
The lower parts of the interval include large base-of-slope fan,
lobe forms and these are particularly well developed immedi-
ately above the Akata-Agbada seismic event boundary (Fig. 4).
The correlation of subsurface channel packets line to line is
problematic without well-based stratigraphic control. However,
the most recent channels expressed at sea bed can be mapped
from 2D seismic data down the slope and out onto the rise,
outboard of the outer-most thrust zone (Fig. 5). These are
composed of discrete, multiple-phase channel corridors
bounded by large levees. Evidence of channels branching and
overbank splay events are not seen inboard of the outer thrust
zone on the 2D data. The position of these channel systems on
the slope correlates closely with the position of the transfer
zones as determined by offsets in the trend of the toe-of-slope
thrusts (Fig. 5), and suggests a causal link. Whilst the 2D seismic
grid has been sufficient to determine the general down-slope
orientation of the recent channel systems, the complexity of the
subsurface, stacked, channel complexes is beyond the resolution
of these data. Consequently the interaction between the
depositional systems and the palaeo-sea bed relief formed by
folding above thrust ramps is unclear from the 2D seismic alone.
The relationship of structure to deep-water channel
formation in 3D seismic data
3D seismic data (Fig. 1) have enabled a more detailed inter-
pretation of surface and sub-surface channel morphology, and
the controls exerted on these features by faulting and folding
within the toe-of-slope thrust zone. Stacked channels with
sinuous geometries are contained within larger, low sinuosity,
channel complex corridors flanked by large levees. Profiles
through recent channel corridors (Fig. 7) show levee walls in
excess of 300 m in height, flanking aggradational channel fills
with relatively little erosion of underlying units (Kolla et al.
2002). Although these channel complexes appear to be self-
confining through erosion, the actual mode of confinement has
been the development of levees that have aggraded in unison
with channel formation, building far more rapidly than
deposition of the channel fill.
The 3D data show the channel complexes to occur at
numerous stratigraphic levels within the Agbada Formation, and
in the upper half of the Agbada section the channels also tend to
be clustered in particular areas of the slope. Channel complexes
have been deflected by sea floor relief caused by the growth of
hangingwall anticlines above toe-thrusts (Fig. 8) but, equally
channels are seen to have cut through the relief caused by
folding, commonly at the positions of intersection with transfer
fault zones where the fold axis is offset and relief is reduced.
Ponding of sediment brought down in the channels on the up-
slope or the down-slope sides of the relief created folding is not
evident in this region of the slope. This may have resulted due to
the effectiveness of the levees in containing the sediment flow
within the channels and the fact that, although the thrusting
has created sea bed relief, this has not led to the development
of mini-basins within the lower slope area. Rather the slope
environment depositional setting has been maintained through
the toe-of-slope thrust belt. The apparent ease with which the
50 R, MORGAN

Fig. 7. Channel-levee relationships in the near surface. Note the difference in size of the channel fill packets and the levees. The amount of
erosion caused by the formation of the channels is relatively small and was followed by aggradation and lateral migration during the early part of
levee growth.

Fig. 8. A perspective view of the sea-

bed in the lower slope region. The linear
ridges created by underlying thrusts are
clearly visible, as is the offset created by
a transfer zone. The recently active
channel processes have partially tracked
the transfer zone down-slope and
exploited the offset in the ridge to reach
the outer slope/rise area. A partly buried
thrust anticline further up-slope termi-
nates abruptly against the transfer zone
to create a lateral ramp (see Fig. 9).
Offsets of channel corridors against the
up-slope sides of the ridges created by
the thrust anticlines can be seen, but
these deflections do not appear to have
led to sediment ponding at this level.

Fig. 9. A chair cut or box section

(looking inside the box), showing the
superimposition of a recent channel
complex above an older, sub-surface
example, influenced by the same transfer
fault. The effect of the fault can be seen
in the termination of steeply dipping
events on the SE side. Also note that the
fault continues across the central thrust
anticline, over which the sub-surface
channel complex is folded. Therefore the
transfer fault pre-dates the thrust and
shows evidence of continued movement
following cessation of growth on this
thrust.
 SUBMARINE CHANNELS, NIGER DELTA
submarine channel processes have dissected the sea-floor relief
is somewhat misleading as channel and levee formation were
coeval with fold growth and the development of the channel/le-
vee systems have to a large degree kept pace with uplift of the
fold axis.
The general o c e a n - w a r d stepping sequence of faults
climbing from the semi-regional detachment horizon can be
seen in the greater degree of burial of the resulting hangingwall
folds in more up-slope positions (Fig. 8). These folds became
dormant as displacement was transferred via the ocean-ward
propagating detachment horizon, onto faults further down-slope.
In the example shown, although the up-slope fault ceased to
move first and translation of the sediment pile continued on the
detachment surface with this displacement taken up on a thrust
fault climbing up through the section further down the slope.
The transfer faults are seen to cut to sea-floor or near the sea-
floor across the slope (Fig. 9), demonstrating that these faults
continued to accommodate displacement differences in parts of
the slope where the thrusts had become dormant. This is because
the transfer fault zones continued to accommodate differences in
displacement between different sections of the detachment
surface after the thrust front had m o v e d down-slope, It appears
likely that this repeated activity on the transfer fault zones rather
than c u m u l a t i v e d i s p l a c e m e n t has m a d e these structures
influential in the positioning of submarine channels in this part
of the slope. Both recent and sub-surface channel complexes
follow transfer faults down the slope and have exploited the
offsets created in the thrust related sea-floor relief to reach
the base of the slope (Fig. 9). Repeated channel development in
the vicinity of the transfer fault zones have led to the clustering
of channel complexes around these structures seen in both 2D
and 3D seismic data. It is this association that makes the transfer
fault zones important to hydrocarbon exploration as the channel
fill sediments are expected to contain the highest quality
reservoirs in this part of the slope.
Conclusions
A combination of 2D and 3D seismic data has provided
important insights into the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the
western lower slope of the Niger Delta. The structure of the toe-
of-slope thrust belt has been shown to contain transfer zone/tear
fault elements that partition belt. The investigation into the
effects of thrust and transfer zone structures on contempora-
neous deposition, specifically the formation of slope channel/
levee complexes, has highlighted the relative importance of
transfer zones to slope channel localization.
Only one significant transfer zone occurs within the 3000 km 2
footprint of the 3D survey area available to this study and the
detection of the location and frequency of the transfer zones has
required a more regional perspective than even a large 3D dataset
is able to provide. The 2D seismic data has provided sufficient
resolution to locate the main transfer zones within the toe-thrust
belt and has allowed these faults to be placed in context with
underlying rift elements that occur along the margin.
Both 2D and 3D seismic data have contributed to the
understanding of controls on reservoir distribution in an area
where the principal sand delivery systems are orthogonal to the
main structural trend, The observation of structure and
depositional systems at a number of different scales has been
necessary and provides a good example of the important and
51
cost-effective role of 2D seismic data in placing the detail
available in 3D data in a regional context.
Access to the Veritas, Nigerian seismic database is gratefully acknowl-
edged. Thanks are also extended to S. Thompson and T. Zaki for help
with seismic imaging and to referees M. Grove and S. Mitchell for
improvements to the manuscript.
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