Abstract: The deepwater turbidite sandstone in northern Gabon Basin of West Africa has become a very important oil and gas storage medium, which consists of turbidite channel, slump turbidite sandstone, turbidite lobe and some other elements. However, this kind of turbidite sandstone reservoir is distributed limitedly, and is difficult to be predicted. The author analyzed and summarized the sedimentary model based on the feature of the sedimentary geology, did some research on the seismic forward modeling, and set up the seismic reflection recognition model of the turbidite channel and the slump turbidite. The former seismic reflection has a protruding top and a concave bottom, which form a trough-shaped appearance, with a clear border and a weak internal reflective structure. The latter has a wedge-shape appearance, a better seismic reflection continuity of axis between top and bottom, strong amplitude, and a weak internal reflective structure. In addition, the author analyzed the multiple seismic attributes, optimized the sensitive parameters, and used the amplitude, phase and the attributes of strata body to predict the distribution of the sandstone. Furthermore, by gathering the accumulation characteristics of oil and gas and analyzing the potential of the oil and gas resources in different turbidite sand body, the author cleared the significance of the turbidite sands in oil and gas exploration

Key words: turbidite sands, seismic identification, seismic attribute, trap, oil and gas resources, West Africa, northern Gabon Basin