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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 101, No. 10 (October 2017), P. 1697-1713.

Copyright ©2017. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved. Green Open Access. This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license.

DOI: 10.1306/12051615176

Interrelation between surface and basement heat flow in sedimentary basins

Alban Previous HitSoucheTop,1 Daniel Walter Schmid,2 and Lars Rüpke3

1GeoModelling Solutions, Hardturmstrasse 120, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland; present address: Physics of Geological Processes, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks 1048 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway; [email protected]
2GeoModelling Solutions, Hardturmstrasse 120, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland; Physics of Geological Processes, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks 1048 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway; [email protected]
3GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Wischhofstraße 1-3, D-24148 Kiel, Germany; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The results of petroleum system models (PSM) critically depend on the computed evolution of the temperature field. Because PSM typically only resolve the sedimentary basin and not the entire lithosphere, it is necessary to apply a basement–heat-flow boundary condition inferred from well data, surface–heat-flow measurements, and an assumed tectonic scenario. The purpose of this paper is to assess the use of surface–heat-flow measurements to calibrate basin models. We show that a simple relationship between surface and basement heat flow only exists in thermal steady state and that transient processes such as rifting and sediment deposition will lead to a decoupling. We study this relationship in extensional sedimentary basins with a one-dimensional, lithosphere-scale finite element model. The numerical model was built to capture the large-scale dynamic evolution of the lithosphere and simultaneously solve for transient thermal processes in basin evolution, such as sedimentation, compaction-driven fluid flow, and seafloor temperature variations. Our analysis shows that several corrections need to be applied when using surface–heat-flow information for the calibration of basement heat flow in PSM. Not doing so can lead to significant errors of up to 30°C–50°C (86°F–122°F) at typical petroleum-reservoir and source-rock depths. We further show that resolving sediment-blanketing effects in basin modeling is crucial, with the thermal impact of sediment deposition being at least as important as rifting-induced basement–heat-flow variations.

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