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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 92, No. 12 (December 2008), P. 1639-1653.

Copyright copy2008. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/07300808011

Hydrocarbon migration detected by regional temperature field variations, Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin, Canada

Zhuoheng Chen,1 Kirk G. Osadetz,2 Dale R. Issler,3 Stephen E. Grasby4

1Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 3303-33rd Street, NW Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7, Canada; [email protected]
2Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 3303-33rd Street, NW Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7, Canada; [email protected]
3Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 3303-33rd Street, NW Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7, Canada; [email protected]
4Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 3303-33rd Street, NW Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7, Canada; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The regional Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin temperature field is characterized using data collected from drill-stem tests and bottom-hole temperature logs. We recognize two thermal anomalies, each of which is associated with a specific geological setting. Elevated temperatures are observed in (1) the western Beaufort Sea, where post-Eocene erosion removed Cenozoic strata and folding is common in a contractional tectonic regime, and (2) along fault zones where upward flow transports heat by advection. Depressed temperatures are observed in Eocene and post-Eocene rapidly subsiding depocenters, with overpressure developed below 3000 m (9843 ft). Older strata along the southeast rifted margin are characterized by a more normal thermal regime. Evidence from anomalously high temperatures in both map and cross-sectional views suggests that fault zones and major regional aquifers accommodate the upward expulsion of fluids from deep overpressured zones. Many significant petroleum discoveries occur in areas where anomalously high temperatures are observed, suggesting that petroleum migration occurs along the same flow networks. Identifying anomalies in the temperature field may therefore be a useful exploration technique.

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