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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 102, No. 5 (May 2018), P. 913-938.

Copyright ©2018. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1306/0711171623017125

Petroleum-generation timing and source in the northern Longmen Shan thrust belt, Southwest China: Implications for multiple oil-generation episodes and sources

Xiang Ge,1 Chuanbo Shen,2 David Selby,3 Jie Wang,4 Liangbang Ma,5 Xiaoyan Ruan,6 Shouzhi Hu,7 and Lianfu Mei8

1Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Arthur Holmes Building, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom; [email protected]
2Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; [email protected]
3Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Arthur Holmes Building, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom; [email protected]
4Wuxi Institute of Petroleum Geology, Sinopec, Wuxi 214151, China; [email protected]
5Wuxi Institute of Petroleum Geology, Sinopec, Wuxi 214151, China; [email protected]
6Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; [email protected]
7Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; [email protected]
8Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The temporal evolution of hydrocarbons (∼500 million bbl) and its relationship to the orogenic events of the Longmen Shan thrust belt have been extensively debated. The hydrocarbons occur as solid bitumen, as dykes and/or coatings within/along faults/fractures, and as present-day oil seeps. Here, utilizing organic geochemistry, we demonstrate that all of the bitumen exhibit similar organo-geochemical characteristics, and were sourced from the upper Neoproterozoic–lower Cambrian Doushantuo and Qiongzhusi Formations. In contrast, the organic geochemistry of the present-day oil seeps are distinct from that of the bitumen, and suggest that the source is the Permian Dalong Formation.

Bitumen Re-Os data indicate that the upper Neoproterozoic–lower Cambrian Doushantuo and Qiongzhusi Formations underwent two temporally distinct oil-generation events; initial oil generation occurred during the Late Cambrian/Early Ordovician prior to the Caledonian orogeny, and secondly during the Jurassic (∼165 Ma) coinciding with the Indosinian-Yanshan orogenies. In contrast, the Re-Os data of the present-day oil seeps are too similar to yield a meaningful age, although the source is considered to have undergone hydrocarbon maturation between the Triassic and Jurassic. The temporal hydrocarbon evolution in the Longmen Shan thrust belt also provides an understanding of the hydrocarbon evolution and future exploration of the adjacent petroliferous Sichuan Basin.

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