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Burial History PDF
Burial History PDF
Burial History PDF
Objective Construct a simple burial history diagram and use it to make some
predictions about the source and reservoir.
Introduction In this exercise, you are given the stratigraphic column at a single location.
From this, you will construct a very simple burial history diagram. Then you
will predict:
1 0 Ma 150 m 50 m
2 10 Ma 150 m 150 m
3 18 Ma 150 m 250 m
4 29 Ma 150 m 300 m
5 38 Ma 100 m 300 m
1
Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued
Step Action
Complete the chart showing how each unit has been buried with
time. For now we will assume each unit has its present-day
thickness back through time, i.e., no compaction.
2
Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued
Thermal For divergent (pull-apart) continental margins, we can infer the thermal
History and history from burial history diagrams. In a simplistic fashion, here is what we
Source do.
Properties For this type of margin, the depth to basement is controlled by two factors:
(1) thermal subsidence caused by the cooling of extended (thinned)
continental crust and (2) the weight (load) of the sediment deposited on top
of basement. Again for simplicity, we assume a 1-D loading correct is
adequate, i.e., no flexure. Given the sedimentary column, we can estimate
the subsidence due to sediment loading. We subtract the loading component
from total subsidence to obtain an indication of the subsidence due to the
cooling of thinned continental crust - the thermal component.
Figure 2 shows the burial history diagram with (1) a sea level curve (2)
sediment compaction effects, and (3) the components of subsidence –
loading and thermal. Note in Figure 2 that thermal subsidence is close to
zero from 68 to 60 million years ago. At 60 Ma the rate of thermal
subsidence (slope) is large and subsequently the rate slows exponentially.
This is what we would expect if some type of heating event occurred 60 Ma,
e.g., a phase of rifting or nearby volcanism.
Figure 3 shows the thermal component of subsidence (thick, solid line) and
some theoretical subsidence curves calculated for continental crust that has
been thinned 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% (rifting to the point of
emplacement of oceanic crust). Comparing the thermal component to these
curves, we interpret this location is on continental crust that has been thinned
about 50%.
This enables us to predict heat flow through time at this location. There is a
certain level of background heat flow (e.g., from radiogenic sources). We
add the heat flow associated with a 50% rifting event at 60 Ma (bottom of
Figure 3). Then we can use basin modeling software to predict the thermal
history for all stratigraphic units, e.g., the source and reservoir.
3
Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued
Step Action
3. When did the base of the source interval pass from the
oil to the gas window?
Reminder: These answers are valid only for the single location
we have been modeling. Further basinward crustal thinning would
have been more than 50%, heat flow would have been higher, and
the source would have started generating oil earlier. Further
landward the source would have started generating oil later, if at
all.
4
Exercise 12a: Burial History, continued
Reservoir We can also model the properties of the reservoir unit. We assume that the
Properties porosity at the time of deposition was 38%. We then predict how porosity
decreased with burial (depth + time) due to mechanical compaction and
diagenetic effects.
Step Action
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