Andrea Moscariello

University of Geneva | UNIGE · Department of Earth Sciences

The current study utilizes a range of diagenetic fingerprints to differentiate between sandstone facies deposited in the Nile Delta before and during the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC), which is normally a challenging task considering the complex bio- and lithostratigraphic subdivisions of Messinian rock units. Subaerial exposure of the pre-MSC (Q...

Permo-Carboniferous graben sediments in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) include Upper Carboniferous (Stephanian) coal-measures and lower Permian (lower Autunian) lacustrine shales with high organic matter contents. Coals are probably the source for a gas accumulation in Switzerland, while the bituminous shales are potential source rocks for...

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is currently undertaking a feasibility study to build the next-generation particle accelerator, named the Future Circular Collider (FCC), hosted in a 90–100 km subsurface infrastructure in the Geneva Basin, extending across western Switzerland and adjacent France. This article represents a preli...

Mesozoic rift basins of the north Western Desert host the majority of proven oil reserves in Egypt. These basins are bounded by poorly-explored structural highs (Kattaniya high, Qattara ridge) with unknown petroleum system. The recently-discovered oil in West Wadi El-Rayan (WWER) concession in the southern part of the Kattaniya high highlighted a n...

In subsurface carbonate reservoirs, when the porosity and the permeability of the matrix is very low, natural fractures networks represent the main flow conduits. In the context of low enthalpy geothermal resource extraction from the underground, predicting these structural networks is essential. Stochastic discrete fracture network (DFN) models ar...

Groundwaters circulating in Upper Mesozoic carbonates are of great interest for geothermal heat production and storage applications in the Geneva area. This study aims at providing new insights and proposing new interpretations about the mineral-water reactions and the fluid-flow paths mechanisms across the Geneva Basin (GB). Data from previous stu...

High‐mountain lake records in semiarid foreland settings, such as the central Andes of North‐western Argentina, are highly restricted and often deprived of well‐preserved microstratigraphic information to analyze palaeoenvironmental changes and their causes, particularly for periods prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. Laguna La Salada Grande (23ºS/6...

Magmatic sills emplaced at shallow-levels are commonly associated with bending and uplift of the overburden. Such phenomena result into domed shaped structures, known as forced folds whose structural architecture is chiefly controlled by the geometry of underlying intrusions. Several models for host-rock deformation have been proposed and are based...

The deposits of the Late Ordovician glaciation have been the focus of several studies in recent years reflecting significant hydrocarbon reservoir potential in different areas of the world, most notably in Libya and Algeria but also in Saudi Arabia and Bolivia. The study area for this paper is located within the Murzuq Basin of SW Libya. This study...

Seafloor pockmarks and other erosional morphologies were discovered in deep-waters (800 - 2400 m) offshore Northern South Africa based on the analysis of a high-resolution 3D seismic reflection dataset. These non-random pockmarks have different morphologies with individuals appearing as circular, elongated, and crescentic. The pockmarks have diamet...

An extensive subsurface investigation evaluating the geothermal energy resources and underground thermal energy storage potential is being carried out in the southwestern part of the Swiss Molasse Basin around the Geneva Canton. Among this process, the evaluation of the petroleum source-rock type and potential is an important step to understand the...

Exploration activity of geothermal energy resources is being carried in Geneva Basin in the framework of the 'GEothermie2020' to cover the cold/heat water production and electricity demand of both domestic and industrial sectors. In Geneva Basin, the fracture networks in the Lower Cretaceous carbonate aquifer are proven to provide enough permeabili...

Pockmarks are pervasive geomorphologic features identified along continental margins resulting from fluid expulsion on the seafloor. However, the understanding of the underlying geological mechanism/control in relation to their evolution, distribution, and morphology is limited, especially along data-starved continental margins such as the Northern...

Poster presented on the Geothermal workshop - study of outcrop analogues in the Geneva Basin, presenting a mesoscale fracture characterization and dominant structure directions.

Glacial reservoirs have been the focus of numerous studies in various basins around the world, often with the aim of supporting hydrocarbon exploration and development. These reservoirs present a significant challenge due to their inherently complex internal architectures and significant lateral heterogeneities. This is of significant importance, n...

Gravity data from the International Gravimetric Bureau and the Gravimetric Atlas of Switzerland have been used to evaluate their application and limitations as a subsurface investigation tool to constrain key geological structures in support of the georesources exploration in the Geneva Basin (GB). In this context, the application of an effective p...

Gravity data retrieved from the Bureau Gravimétrique International and the Gravimetric Atlas of Switzerland have been used to evaluate their applicability as a subsurface investigation tool to assess key geological features in support of the geothermal exploration in the Geneva Basin (GB). In this context, the application of an effective processing...

This work interprets the pore pressure distribution and in-situ stress magnitudes in the ~ 10,600 feet thick Neogene succession of the West and South Al-Khilala gas fields, onshore Nile Delta. The Messinian incised valley-fill (IVF) fluvio-marine sediments host the principal gas-bearing zones having a 0.47 PSI/feet pore pressure gradient, as seen f...

Owing to its well‐preserved and long‐lasting archaeological record, the necropolis of Petit‐Chasseur in the Upper Rhône Valley (3100–1600 BC) showcases the economic, social, and ideological changes of 3rd and 2nd millennium BC Europe excellently. An in‐depth investigation of pottery artifacts was carried out using multiple spectroscopic and microsc...

Supplementary video S2 to "The depositional signature of high‐aggradation chute‐and‐pool bedforms: The build‐and‐fill structure", Sedimentology 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12843

Supplementary video S4 to "The depositional signature of high‐aggradation chute‐and‐pool bedforms: The build‐and‐fill structure", Sedimentology 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12843

Supplementary video S3 to "The depositional signature of high‐aggradation chute‐and‐pool bedforms: The build‐and‐fill structure", Sedimentology 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12843

Supplementary video S1 to "The depositional signature of high‐aggradation chute‐and‐pool bedforms: The build‐and‐fill structure", Sedimentology 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12843

This work quantifies the amount of erosion associated with the Cretaceous and Miocene erosional unconformities recognised in the distal part of the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), north-eastern Switzerland. To achieve this goal, the basin thermal modelling approach is applied, calibrated by two different sets of data collected in previous st...

The Eastern Dahomey Basin hosts an extensive reserve of oil sands, a significant portion of which is unexplored and located within the southwestern part of Nigeria. Here, we use detailed outcrop mapping and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to investigate the physical and geological characteristics of the oil sands and surrounding lithologica...

Chutes‐and‐pools are hybrid bedforms that occur in upper‐flow‐regime conditions, populating the stability field between antidunes and cyclic steps. Chutes‐and‐pools consist of a superimposition of a train of antidunes on a longer‐wavelength cyclic‐step instability. The presence of a hydraulic jump is more persistent in chutes‐and‐pools than the bor...

Hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ overlays a major industrial operation on the land in areas where shale and tight hydrocarbon resources can be exploited. Every aspect of the fracking operation can cause environmental damage, although the damage from any individual well is both unlikely and usually fairly limited. Such damage has been extensively...

The landscape of the Geneva Basin, located in the southwesternmost part of the Swiss Plateau between the northern end of the Prealps and the Jura, results from the long-term, continuous tectonic deformation of the Alpine Foreland and surface processes reflecting alternation of glacial and interglacial periods. The main geomorphological elements of...

Assessing cementation in fractures, which may represent important conduits for fluid migration in tight reservoirs, is a crucial matter in subsurface exploration. Our multidisciplinary study combines outcrop analogues and cores of potential subsurface reservoirs to analyze paleo-fluid properties, origins and pathways, and to provide constraints on...

Exploration of geothermal resources in sedimentary basins faces several challenges, including the prediction of temperature distribution in potential aquifers and the connectivity of fracture networks that influence permeability and therefore production efficiency. The joint characterization of fossil geothermal systems and existing ones, combined...

This work presents new apatite fission track LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) data from Mid-Late Paleozoic rocks, which form the substra-tum of the Swiss Jura mountains (the Tabular Jura and the Jura fold-and-thrust belt) and the northern margin of the Swiss Molasse Basin. Samples were collected from cores of...

The preprint full pdf is available to download at the DOI address.

A collection of 81 plugs were obtained from the Humilly-2 borehole (France), that reached the Permo-Carboniferous sediments at a depth of 3051 m. Experimental measurements of physical parameters and mineralogical analysis were performed to explore the links between sedimentary facies and seismic characteristics and provide a key tool in the interpr...

The principal reservoirs present in the Chotts and Jeffara Basins, Central Tunisia, are hosted in the Triassic, Permian and Ordovician rocks. These basins experienced the effect of the Hercynian Orogeny (HO) forming reliefs feeding the fluvial Triassic systems. The HO is also controlling the distribution of properties in the Paleozoic reservoirs. F...

The Ketch, Schooner and Topaz fields were discovered between 1984 and 1987 and produced from Upper Carboniferous, Westphalian C/D (Bolsovian/Asturian) reservoirs. Gas production began in 1996, 1999 and 2009 for Schooner, Ketch and Topaz respectively. The low net-to-gross reservoir consists of discrete, low sinuosity fluvio-deltaic channels evolving...

Submarine mass wasting plays a fundamental role in transporting substantial volumes of sediments basinward including gigantic slide blocks. However, the understanding of processes involved in block generation and their associated deformation until flow arrest remains limited, especially in data-starved deep-water settings. Here a 2D and 3D seismic...

In sedimentary basins geothermal resources may coexist alongside hydrocarbon resources. The latter can represent a risk to geothermal exploration as experienced during the drilling of the deep St. Gallen geothermal well in eastern Switzerland. In this case, the unexpected occurrence of substantial amounts of natural gas, along with other external f...

A wide range of regional-and reservoir scale subsurface evaluation activities of geothermal energy resources and underground thermal energy storage potential have been carried in the Canton of Geneva area located in the Westernmost Swiss Molasse Basin. These activities promoted since 2012 through the 'GEothermie2020' program by the Canton authoriti...

This study focuses on the interpretation of geochemical data collected at springs and at two deep geothermal exploration wells located on the edges and within the Geneva Basin (GB Canton of Geneva, Switzerland). The sampling sites have been selected across one North-South trending sections following the main groundwater flow from the recharge zone...

In the framework of the GEOTHERMICA ERA-NET co-funded project-HEASTORE, one of the main challenges related to assessing the technical feasibility and sustainability of High Temperature (~25°C to ~90°C) Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) is subsurface characterization. In this study, we aim to develop a 3-D geologically robust static model in...

A regional-scale evaluation of geothermal energy resources and subsurface heat-storage potential are being carried in the westernmost part of Switzerland and the nearby surrounding France (Haute-Savoie and Ain Departments) in the framework of the 'GEo-therme2020' and Swiss national SCCER SoE programs. These activities are promoted by the Canton aut...

This paper deals with the design, acquisition and processing of vertical seismic profiling (VSP) data collected in 2016 at the directional Thônex‐01 geothermal well, drilled in 1993 in the Geneva Canton (Switzerland). The aim of the study was to obtain additional information from existing‐abandoned well for downhole geophysical characterization of...

Pennsylvanian strata of the Breathitt Group, in eastern Kentucky, are a world-class example of complex, glacioeustatically controlled stratigraphy developed in continental to marginal marine environments of the Central Ap-palachian foreland Basin. Although the upper formations of the Breathitt are well studied, the more aerially restricted, coal-be...

Incised‐valley fills preserved within ancient coastal to shallow‐marine successions represent important archives of environmental and sea‐level change. Most current knowledge about the origin of incised valleys stems from Quaternary case studies; however, research on pre‐Quaternary examples can shed light on valley formation and evolution across lo...

Mass transport complexes (MTCs) are products of staggered episodes of margin instability forming major components of deep-water systems. However, these deposits are not well understood as most deep-water borehole penetrating them, especially in the overburden, are seldom logged since they are generally considered barren for exploration and notoriou...

In Nigeria, the quest for diversification of energy sources has stimulated exploration activities of solid mineral deposits including oil sands. This work on the Nigerian oil sands is aimed at obtaining a detailed characterization of a Cretaceous bitumen-rich sand interval in order to contribute to its ongoing and future exploitation. We designed,...

Based on seismic and well data, this study reports for the first time on the Messinian mixed siliciclastic-carbonate succession in the onshore Nile Delta, Egypt. It records a regressive-transgressive dominated siliciclastic succession followed by post-transgressive highstand carbonates accumulated prior to the Mediterranean forced regression phase...

This study focuses on the interpretation of geochemical data collected at springs and at two deep geothermal exploration wells located on the edges and within the Geneva Basin (GB Canton of Geneva, Switzerland). The sampling sites have been selected across one North-South trending sections following the main groundwater flow from the recharge zone...

n the framework of the GEOTHERMICA ERA-NET co-funded project-HEASTORE, one of the main challenges related to assessing the technical feasibility and sustainability of High Temperature (~25°C to ~90°C) Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT- ATES) is subsurface characterization. In this study, we aim to develop a 3-D geologically robust static model in...

This workflow can be replicated at any stage of a geothermal project. From the early stages when only scarce data are available, during exploration when new data will be collected and when large new investments (i.e. 3D seismic and drilling) need to be planned, and during production to monitor the reservoir and eventually design new drilling operat...

The verdine facies clay assemblages are regularly encountered in shallow marine sediments of equatorial latitudes where Fe of terrigenous origin is readily available. There, the 7 Å Fe-rich green clay (odinite) of syn-sedimentary origin commonly occurs. Previous findings suggested that odinite serves as a precursor of diagenetic chlorite whose impo...

The sedimentological and geochemical properties of the Mesozoic sedimentary sequence outcropping in the Geneva Basin have been characterized in several studies in the last decade; however, there is a lack of understanding of such properties in the subsurface. Therefore, in order to investigate the Geneva Basin subsurface, a first explorative well (...

This paper focuses on the quantitative interpretation of the existing seismic lines of the Canton of Geneva in the framework of the Innosuisse funded project GECOS (Geothermal Energy Chance of Success). The goal of GECOS is to reduce the costs and the exploration risk for geothermal exploration by integrating high-resolution data acquisitions such...

The sedimentological and geochemical properties of the Mesozoic sedimentary sequence outcropping in the Geneva Basin have been characterized in several studies in the last decade; however, there is a lack of understanding of such properties in the subsurface. Therefore, in order to investigate the Geneva Basin subsurface, a first explorative well (...

This paper focuses on the acquisition and processing of gravity data collected in the Canton of Geneva in the framework of the InnoSuisse funded project GECOS (Geothermal Energy Chance of Success). The goals of GECOS is to reduce the costs and the exploration risk for geothermal exploration by integrating high resolution data acquisitions such as g...

During the last years geothermal energy has attracted great interest in the Swiss territory. Many investments have been made in order to develop geothermal exploration throughout the country. In a context of high demand for clean generation of electricity and heating/cooling, the State of Geneva and the Services Industriels de Genève (SIG, water an...

The Messinian Qawasim and Abu Madi formations are the main hydrocarbon exploration targets in the onshore Nile Delta. Qawasim Formation constitutes prograditional deltaic system from prodelta and distal delta‐front (distal deltaic facies) to proximal delta‐front and delta‐plain (proximal deltaic facies). Abu Madi sediments on the other hand change...

Cool‐water carbonate sedimentation has dominated Mediterranean shelves since the Early Pliocene. Skeletal sand and gravel herein consist of remains of heterozoan organisms, which are susceptible to reworking due to weak early cementation in non‐tropical waters. This study documents the Lower Pleistocene carbonate wedge of Favignana Island (Italy),...

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) is a huge outstanding succession of events that has deeply modified the Mediterranean area within a short time span at the geological scale and led to the emplacement of one of the youngest and most debated salt giant on Earth. The volume 2 of the Seismic atlas of the Messinian salinity crisis markers in the Medi...

Ancient glacial sediments form major hydrocarbon plays in several parts of the world; most notably, North Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. We have described a methodology for reconstructing broad-scale paleogeographies in just such a depositional system, using an extensive subsurface data set from the uppermost Ordovician glacial sedimen...

This study provides the first high-resolution outlines of the Messinian sequence in the Nile Delta based on an integrated sedimentological, petrophysical and seismic stratigraphic approach. The distribution, pattern and architecture of the Messinian facies deposited before, during and after the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) have been investigated...

Technological advances in horizontal drilling and fracturing have greatly promoted the exploitation of hydrocarbons from fine-grained sedimentary rocks. Nowadays, the largest unconventional resources in the world are found in the Unites States spanning practically across the whole Phanerozoic, from the onset of the Paleozoic time to the Pleistocene...

Assessment of sediment redistribution by end-Ordovician ice sheets is crucial for the reconstruction of Lower Paleozoic source-to-sink patterns. Focusing on the ice-distal, deepwater Tazekka depocenter (Moroccan Meseta), we performed a provenance study that combined whole-rock geochemistry, petrography and insights from high-resolution detrital zir...

The Upper Jurassic carbonates represent important potential targeted reservoirs for geothermal energy in the Geneva Basin (Switzerland and France). Horizons affected by dolomitization, the focus of the present study, are of particular interest because they proved to be productive in time-equivalent deposits currently exploited in Southern Germany....

This study offers new insights into the origin and depositional history of the mixture of sediments infilling one of the largest offshore, northward-orientated, clinoform-structured, tunnel valleys (TVs) of Elsterian age in the southern North Sea (SNS). Specifically, the study sheds light on the provenance of TV deposits based on K-Ar dating of ill...

The Messinian sequence in the Nile Delta hosts the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs, and is therefore of great importance from the aspect of nonrenewable fuel sources exploration and development strategies. This study presents an investigation for the differential impacts of the depositional and petrophysical attributes on the hydrocarbon volum...

On January 23, 2018, a short Excursion was carried out at the geothermal exploration well in Satigny, west of Geneva. The event was organized by the services Industriels de Geneve (SIG), the University of Geneva and the SASEG. The visit was attended by around 45 students and some other interested people. At the drilling site, the excursion particip...

The Miocene infill of the Cacheuta Basin (central Argentinian foreland) comprises the Mariño and La Pilona formations, which record continental sedimentation related to the major phases of uplift of the Andean chain around 33° S over 1500. m of stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic evidence suggest the succession to represent progradatio...

Detailed analysis of two-dimensional seismic lines acquired in the NE Java basin has been performed to unravel the subsurface geology of the region around the Lusi mud eruption. This work revealed the existence of a system consisting of a complex set of faults, here called the Watukosek fault system, forming triangular deformation zones converging...