Use of the Digital Elevation Model for Offshore Morphotectonic Regionalization, in the Central East-North Cuba Sector

Abstract

The tectonic regionalization of the marine territories for exploring oil and gas is a very current research problem. From the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 90 × 90 m, in its residual variant at 500 m, the morphotectonic regionalization, offshore, in the Central East-North Cuba sector is performed. Four regions were identified (A, B, C, and D), where the tectonic environments of Platform (Remedios–Bahamas), Foreland Basin, and Thrust Belt are generally recognized. This regionalization was compared to the sismogeological scheme for the easternmost region of the area, serving as a general validation, even though with a greater degree of structural detail. It provides a terrestrial gravimetric regionalization scheme, which allows proposing a scheme of tectonic zonation of the territory, from its integration with the morphometric data. The results allow establishing a comparison between the anomalies derived from the seismic interpretation and the positive residual geomorphic anomalies of different amplitude, revealed by the residual DEM at 500 m. For the southeast of region C, the presence of small geomorphic anomalies with amplitudes between −40 and −10 m is established, and a smaller group with positive values in the first tens of meters. Correspondence with seismic anomalies is around 50%. In region D, the amplitudes 10–25 m predominate, with approximately 63% correspondence with the interpreted seismic anomalies. An evaluation of the degree of similarity between the section of the morphotectonic scheme belonging to the easternmost block and the section of the morphotectonic scheme corresponding to the Seboruco–Varadero, most productive sector of the North Cuban Oil Strip, is carried out. This allowed arguing, by simple analogy in the geological and morphometric data, the gasopetroliferous perspective of the most eastern sector of Cuba. It reaffirms the potential of the DEM (90 × 90 m) as a preliminary exploratory method that provides a rapid and effective form of research for offshore oil and gas.