Abstract

The Cambay rift basin in the northwest Indian shield has opened a new frontier for hydrocarbon exploration due to the presence of thick Mesozoic sediments beneath the Deccan traps. The present paper details the current understanding of crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the basin with the help of seismically constrained potential modeling. The maximum thickness of the Trap is in the Mehasana-Ahmedabad basin and is estimated to be about 2-3 km. The Traps appear to be thinner/absent towards the Sanchor-Patan basin. Further, the comparison of 2-D crustal models from different parts of the basin suggest that the crust is thinner underneath Mehasana-Ahmedabad basin, and is associated with high-density magmatic bodies (3.0 gm/cc) at a depth of 24-25 Km.