Analysis of geologic structures in the Chacoparanense basin based on the application of potential methods

Abstract

A preliminary geological-geophysical analysis of the Chacopampeana area of north-eastern Argentina is presented from the application of potential field methods. The study area is located mostly in the north-east of the province of Santiago del Estero, and partly in north-west of the province of Chaco, between latitudes 25° S and 27° S and longitudes 61° W to 63° W. We obtained approximately 1,000 new gravity points, that were added to the database of the Instituto de Física de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario and of the Instituto Geofísico Sismológico Volponi, National University of San Juan. A Bouguer anomaly map has been prepared from these data. The map was processed and filtered, and a cortical model produced, confirming the residual Bouguer values and indicating the presence of a structure located in upper crust. The study area has geological characteristics appropriate for the presence of hydrocarbons, although geological structures of economic interest have not yet been discovered. A positive gravity anomaly, without superficial expression, could be interpreted as a geological structure with economic potential.