Deep Structure of Azerbaijan and Its Relationship with Hydrocarbon Reserves

The complexity of Azerbaijan’s territory’s geological structure stems from its location in the Alpine-Himalayan tectonic belt (AHTB). The NE part of Azerbaijan is a fragment of the Pre-Caucasian foreland filled with Cenozoic terrigenous sediments. A heterogenic Nakhchivan folding system is in the SW part, where Paleozoic carbonate strata and Cenozoic magmatic formations are mixed. At the mega-anticlinorium of the Greater Caucasus, stratified Cenozoic and Mesozoic thick (predominantly sedimentary) strata are presented. The prevalence of Mesozoic magmatic formations is typical of the mega-anticlinorium of the Lesser Caucasus. The Kur mega-synclinorium, dividing the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, is characterized by an accumulation of thick (up to several kilometers) Cenozoic terrigenous sediments. The Talysh anticlinorium is located on the SE flank of the Kur depression, where Paleogene magmatic associations are widely distributed. The frequently changing geological associations on Azerbaijan territory’s vertical and lateral axes are typical. The geological structure complicates multifarious folds, fault structures, and regional and local metamorphism. All these factors make the development of reliable physical-geological models of these media sufficiently complex. The deep structure of Azerbaijan was studied using seismic methods and seismological models, gravity (satellite-derived and surface observed), magnetic (3D combined gravity-magnetic), thermal, and electromagnetic data.