A rapidly growing demand for improved understanding of the Dutch subsurface exists because of the need for alternative energy supplies, such as geothermal energy, as well as for finding and producing more oil and gas in this mature area for petroleum exploration. We use basin modeling to integrate the wealth of new data and information that are increasingly available on the Dutch subsurface. In addition, we develop different approaches to improve the basin modeling results.

Here, we present novel approaches to reconstruct the surface and bottom thermal boundary conditions for basin modeling. The first approach involves assessment of Tertiary sediment-water interface temperatures from information on local and global climate changes that was recently discovered using geobiological and geochemical techniques. The second approach involves multiple one-dimensional probabilistic tectonic heat-flow modeling to calculate the basal heat-flow history and construct paleo–heat-flow maps.

This chapter presents modeling results for the Terschelling Basin and southern part of the Dutch Central Graben that demonstrate the effect of incorporating the tectonic heat-flow boundary condition and detailed knowledge of Tertiary climate changes on source rock maturity and hydrocarbon generation. The simulation results show a marked difference in generated hydrocarbon volumes and a shift in the timing of Tertiary generation compared with simulations using a default surface temperature boundary condition based on paleolatitudes of the research area.

In the complex salt-dominated case study area, more detailed knowledge on the timing of oil generation from Jurassic source rocks and gas generation from Carboniferous source rocks is critical to evaluate prospectivity. Recently gathered, analyzed, and mapped data and information for the southern part of the Dutch Central Graben and Terschelling Basin were used as input for a full three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of the burial history, including temperature, source rock maturity, and timing of hydrocarbon generation. Simulation results show that the combination of new data, new surface and basal thermal histories, and 3-D basin modeling improved the understanding of the burial, thermal, and maturity history of the area and provided more detail on the timing of hydrocarbon generation from the Jurassic and Carboniferous source rocks. The 3-D modeling results revealed significant lateral variations in maturity and hydrocarbon generation history within each source rock related to their structural positions.