Carboniferous Black-shales and Shale-gas Potential
20th- 21st May 2015 (Post-Conference, 2 days)
This field trip will address the shale-gas potential of Carboniferous units in southern Portugal. Most of the trip will be along wild coastal cliffs and beaches of the Southwest Coast Natural Park (PNSACV). We will look at deep marine turbiditic sequences, containing black-shales, affected by the variscan orogeny and low-grade metamorphism.
Maturation and deformation issues will be discussed. We will also look at the Mesozoic cover, namely the spectacular Carboniferous-Triassic unconformity (Telheiro beach) and Jurassic limestones (Carrapateira beach) which may eventually act as potential reservoir units for the Paleozoic gas. The trip will end with a short stop at Ponta da Piedade, with karstic cliffs, natural grottoes and arches.
- Carboniferous turbiditic sequences
- Carboniferous black-shales - Cabo Sardão; Arrifana beach; Amoreira beach
- Mesozoic cover and potential reservoirs
- Triassic red-beds (Telheiro beach)
- Jurassic dolomites (Carrapateira beach)
Itinerary: Lisboa-V.N.Milfontes (2.5 h) » Cabo Sardão » Arrifana » Carrapateira » Vila do Bispo or Sagres (overnight) » Castelejo » Telheiro » Sagres » Lagos » Lagos-Lisboa (3 hours)
Includes: light lunch in Arrifana beach, dinner and accommodation in Sagres, light lunch in Luz beach, visit to Cabo São Vicente and Ponta da Piedade (Lagos).
Difficulty Grade 3 – Stop and walk along narrow paths or pebbly beaches.
