About This Item
- Full text of this item is not available.
- Abstract PDFAbstract PDF(no subscription required)
Share This Item
The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Houston Geological Society Bulletin
Abstract
Abstract: Interpretation of a New Regional Seismic Survey,
Offshore Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea Margin,
Arctic Canada: Illuminating a Pivotal Piece of
the Arctic Puzzle
ION-GX Technology
The new regional 2D BeaufortSPAN seismic survey acquired in four phases from 2006 to 2010 in the Beaufort Sea provides a broad, deeper view of basins and crustal structure of the Meso-Cenozoic Canadian Arctic passive margin. The 40-km deep PSDM seismic profiles cover 22,160 km from inner shelf to over 2000 m water depth and include areas previously unsurveyed due to sea-ice limits. The survey area extends from the U.S. border and offshore Mackenzie Delta north to latitude 74° N off Banks Island. The clastic sedimentary prism attains a thickness up to 17 km and has a well-documented petroleum system that has yielded 48 oil and gas discoveries in Cretaceous- Oligocene sandstones of the delta region. A basin-scale geological interpretation of the seismic data is tied to exploratory wells in the Beaufort-Mackenzie basin and reveals significant variations in the crustal architecture of the continental margin.
Three segments of the passive margin are recognized and defined
by orientation and structural styles, displaying variations from
typical passive margin geometry along Banks Island, to wrench
structures along the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, to a compressional
foldbelt west of Mackenzie Bay. Outboard seismic profiles image
the continent-ocean boundary (COB), oceanic crust, and the
inferred extinct spreading center of the Canada basin. The COB
is interpreted using gravity data supported by deep seismic
reflectors. Together, the geophysical
data support the rotational
model of the opening of the Canada basin in early Cretaceous
time. The regional deep imaging of the distinct tectonic architecture,
structural sequence, and tectonostratigraphy of each segment are
major results of this project, and advance the understanding of
the geological framework of known and potential petroleum
basins of the Arctic margin of Canada.