Reservoirs of the Lower Pliocene productive series at the western flank of the South Caspian Basin

Based on the study of geophysical log diagrams and outcrops of the Lower Pliocene productive series at the western flank of the South Caspian Basin, paleofacies settings of their accumulation are interpreted. Twenty high-frequency cycles of sealevel fluctuation in the Paleocaspian Sea are identified within the major productive Kirmaki, Suprakirmaki sandy, Suprakirmaki clayey, Hiatus, and Balakhany formations. Such short-term fluctuations of the Caspian Sea level in the Early Pliocene played a crucial role in the variation of sedimentation conditions and the formation of structures of productive series (PS) reservoirs.