Subsidence and thermal history of Queen Charlotte Basin

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Yorath ◽  
R. D. Hyndman
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Vitrinite Reflectance ◽  
Surface Profile ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Geological Evidence ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
Crustal Thinning ◽  
History Of

A tectonic model for the formation, subsidence, and thermal history of Queen Charlotte Basin is developed. Based upon regional geological and geophysical data, subsidence data from offshore wells in Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, and thermal criteria derived from present heat flow and vitrinite reflectance information, Queen Charlotte Basin is seen to have resulted from two distinct mechanisms. (1) During a period of broad regional uplift, rifting and crustal extension occurred in Queen Charlotte Sound up to about 17 Ma ago and the Queen Charlotte Islands were displaced northwards toward their present position by transcurrent motion along the Louscoone Inlet – Sandspit fault system. The rifting generated a significant thermal anomaly and a restricted deep basin as a consequence of crustal thinning and subsequent thermal cooling. (2) Beginning about 6 Ma ago, oblique underthrusting commenced along the margin, resulting in flexural uplift of the western part of the Queen Charlotte Islands and companion subsidence in Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. The underthrusting caused rapid cooling of the old rift basins. This phase of subsidence has continued at a decreasing rate until the present.The tectonically generated subsidence in the basin has been estimated by correcting the well data for sediment compaction, paleo water depth, and sediment loading effects. At the site of the Harlequin well in the Queen Charlotte Sound rift, with the termination of extension and associated volcanism, the basin was 1500–2000 m deep and contained little sediment. Model calculations show that this depth is consistent with the estimated extension of about 70 km and a resulting crustal thinning to 8–10 km.Models for the lithosphere flexure generated by underthrusting are constrained by the geological evidence for uplift and erosion of over 5 km of material from the western portion of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the exponentially slowing subsidence to a present regional basement depth of 2 km in Hecate Strait. An excellent fit to the pre-erosion surface profile onshore and pre-Skonun basement surface offshore is obtained with a model having underthrusting on a 30° thrust at a 10 mm year−1 orthogonal component of convergence. The flexure generated by underthrusting, which is particularly well documented in the Queen Charlotte region, appears to be a feature of most subduction zones.Vitrinite reflectance data, present heat flow estimates from the wells, and thermal modelling indicate that the heat flux in Queen Charlotte Basin was much higher in the past than at present, particularly in Queen Charlotte Sound. A model is proposed with high heat flow generated by rifting prior to 17 Ma ago, followed by cooling from the underthrust oceanic lithosphere.

scholarly journals OIL AND GAS MODELING GENERARION IN THE JURASSIC SEDIMENTS IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN OF THE WEST SIBERIAN PETROLEUM PROVINSE

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
Elena A. Glukhova ◽  
Pavel I. Safronov ◽  
Lev M. Burshtein
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Flow Density ◽  
Basin Modeling ◽  
Heat Flow Density ◽  
The West ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

The article presents the one-dimensional basin modeling performed in four wells to reconstruct the thermal history of deposits and reconstruct the effective values of the heat flow density.

Past hot fluid flows in limestones detected by Δ47–(U-Pb) and not recorded by other geothermometers

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 851-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Brigaud ◽  
Magali Bonifacie ◽  
Maurice Pagel ◽  
Thomas Blaise ◽  
Damien Calmels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Vitrinite Reflectance ◽  
Fluid Flows ◽  
Aqueous Fluid ◽  
Rift System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Clumped Isotope ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Rock Eval

Abstract Geothermometers are commonly used to reconstruct the diagenetic and thermal history of rocks. However, characterizing the timing, origin, and temperature of paleofluid flow remains challenging because it must be assessed indirectly through the analysis of microscopic cements that precipitate and fill intergranular spaces during fluid circulation. Here, we measure both the clumped isotope (Δ47) temperature and in situ U-Pb age of individual diagenetic calcite cements within a sedimentary section of the Paris Basin (France), whose thermal history has been previously inferred to be <60 °C. We show that cementation occurred during two stages associated with major events at the western European lithospheric scale: (1) the Bay of Biscay rifting (Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous), and (2) north-south Pyrenean compression (Eocene) followed by east-west extension during the European Cenozoic rift system event (Oligocene). Related to both events, we report unexpectedly hot fluids, up to 110 °C, contrasting with the lower temperatures inferred from other geothermometers (e.g., fluid inclusions, clay minerals, apatite fission tracks, maturity of organic matter by Rock-Eval pyrolysis, or vitrinite reflectance). These high temperatures (>70 °C) have been measured for calcite cements containing single-phase aqueous fluid inclusions, challenging the commonly accepted assertion that the absence of nucleation of a vapor phase indicates crystallization at low temperature (∼<70 °C). We suggest that the kinetics of mineralization events prevented the recording of short-lived hot fluid flows by other geothermometers.

Heat flow and thermal history of the South China Sea

2001 ◽  
Vol 126 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 211-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan He ◽  
Kelin Wang ◽  
Liangping Xiong ◽  
Jiyang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
South China Sea ◽  
South China ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
The South China Sea ◽  
The South ◽  
China Sea ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of The South

A NEW METHOD FOR ASSESSING THE THERMAL HISTORY OF SEDIMENTS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE EXMOUTH PLATEAU IN NORTHWESTERN AUSTRALIA.

1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 364
Author(s):  
Robert Alexander ◽  
Roger Marzi ◽  
Robert I Kagi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Molecular Processes ◽  
Sediment Column ◽  
Exmouth Plateau ◽  
History Of ◽  
Northwestern Australia ◽  
Geochemical Constraints

The Jupiter-l well on the Exmouth Plateau is presented as a case study to illustrate the use of a new molecular geochemical approach to assessing thermal history. This approach involves measuring the extent to which six independent molecular processes have occurred in a sediment column. The rates at which these molecular processes occur are well known from controlled laboratory studies; by measuring the extent to which each molecular process has occurred at a number of points in the sediment column, it is possible to identify a thermal history which is consistent with these geochemical constraints and the known geology of the sediment column. In the present study, this approach revealed that the heat flow which best accounts for present day temperatures and maturity involved a comparatively low heat flow of not more than 1.1 HFU until approximately 88 Ma before present, followed by an increase to 1.3 HFU which has continued until the present day.

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