Thermal maturation, potential source rocks and hydrocarbon generation in Mesozoic rocks, Lougheed Island area, Central Canadian Arctic archipelago

Significant oil and gas accumulations occur in and around Lougheed Island, Arctic Canada, where hydrocarbon prospectivity is controlled by potential source rock distribution and composition. The Middle to Upper Triassic rocks of the Schei Point Group (e.g. Murray Harbour and Hoyle Bay formations) contain a mixture of Types I and II organic matter (Tasmanales marine algae, amorphous fluorescing bituminite). These source rocks are within the oil generation zone and have HI values up to 600 mg HC/g Corg. The younger source rocks of the Lower Jurassic Jameson Bay and the Upper Jurassic Ringnes formations contain mainly gas-prone Type II/III organic matter and are marginally mature. Vitrinite reflectance profiles suggest an effective geothermal gradient essentially similar to the present-day gradient (20 to 30°C/km). Maturation gradients are low, ranging from 0.125 to 0.185 log%Ro/km. Increases in subsidence rate in the Early Cretaceous suggest that the actual heat flow history was variable and has probably diminished from that time. The high deposition rates of the Christopher Formation shales coincide with the main phase of rifting in Aptian-Albian times. Uplift and increased sediment supply in the Maastrichtian resulted in a new sedimentary and tectonic regime, which culminated in the final phase of the Eurekan Orogeny. Burial history models indicate that hydrocarbon generation in the Schei Point Group took place during rifting in Early Cretaceous, long before any Eurekan deformation.