AAPG Memoir 68: Regional and Petroleum Geology of the Black Sea and Surrounding Region. Chapter 13: Petroleum Geology of the Southern Continental Margin of the Black Sea
The southern continental margin of the Black Sea back-arc basin is represented predominantly by a thick clastic sequence of Aptian to Recent age. Potential source, reservoir, and cap rocks are common in various stratigraphic levels of this sequence. The most prospective source and reservoir rocks appear to have been deposited in the synrift stage of the basin. During this stage, the rift trough was probably relatively shallow and restricted from free interchange with the Neotethys Ocean in the south. During the postrift stage, a thick sequence of volcaniclastic turbidites and subordinate pelagic limestones, with limited source and reservoir potential, accumulated. This accumulation was interrupted at the end of the early Eocene by compressional tectonics, which resulted from the closure of the Neotethys. The postrift sedimentation probably carried the earlier source rocks into the hydrocarbon generation window, while the Eocene compressional tectonics generated the main prospective traps.