Tectonostratigraphy and sedimentary architecture of rift basins, with reference to the northern North Sea

A tectonostratigraphic model for the evolution of rift basins has been built, involving three distinct stages of basin development separated by key unconformities or unconformity complexes. The architecture and signature of the sediment infill for each stage are discussed, with reference to the northern North Sea palaeorift system. The proto-rift stage describes the rift onset with either doming or flexural subsidence. In the case of early doming, a proto-rift unconformity separates this stage from the subsequent main rift stage. Active stretching and rotation of fault blocks during the rift stage is terminated by the development of the syn-rift unconformity. Where crustal separation is accomplished, a break-up unconformity commonly marks the boundary to the overlying thermal relaxation or post-rift stage. Tabular architectures, thickening across relatively steep faults, characterize the proto-rift stage. Syn-rift architectures are much more variable. Depending on the ability of the sediment supply to fill the waxing and waning accommodation created during rotation and subsidence, one-, two- or three-fold lithosome architectures are likely to develop. During the post-rift stage, an early phase with coarse clastic infilling of remnant rift topography often precedes late stage widening of the basin and filling with fine-grained sediments.     

南海西北部琼东南盆地深水沉积环境演化及其油气勘探意义

Over the past several years, a number of hydrocarbon reservoirs have been discovered in the deepwater area of Qiongdongnan Basin, northwestern South China Sea. These oil/gas fields demonstrate that the...     

西非海岸盆地群油气勘探成果及勘探潜力分析

西非海岸盆地群包括塔尔法亚、塞内加尔、尼日尔三角洲、杜阿拉、里奥姆尼、加蓬、下刚果、宽扎、奥兰治、科特迪瓦、贝宁等11个主要沉积盆地,它们是冈瓦纳大陆裂解和中大西洋、南大西洋及赤道大西洋张开和漂移的结果,包括被动大陆边缘盆地和转换边缘盆地两种类型沉积盆地。通过利用IHS数据库资料,在系统总结西非海岸盆地群油气勘探成果基础上,划分其为早期勘探（1953年前）、储量快速增长（1954～1973年）、储量缓慢增长（1974～1994年）和深水勘探（1995年至今）四个油气勘探阶段,认为研究区油气发现主要与盆地勘探程度、油气勘探技术进步、资源国政治形势和全球经济有关;尼日尔三角洲和下刚果等重点盆地大油气田的发现直接推动了西非海岸盆地群油气储量和产量的增长;深水区是西非海岸盆地群今后寻找大发现的潜力区,而大陆架和陆上则是重点挖潜地区。     

Classification of rifted sedimentary basins of the Pannonian Basin System according to the structural genesis, evolutionary history and hydrocarbon maturation zones

We apply the concept that sedimentary basins can be classified according to their structural genesis and evolutionary history to the Tertiary rifts of the Pannonian Basin of Eastern Europe.We have approached the classification by breaking the basins down into the cycles or stages that they comprise. This approach helps us to understand the basin evolution better and allows us to compare the basins more easily. The drivers that define the cycles of basin history are (1) basin-forming tectonics, (2) sedimentary processes, and (3) basin-modifying tectonics.We link common elements of petroleum systems and plays to these natural cycles or stages in basin evolution to improve the prediction of which plays could be expected to occur in a particular basin or region.This concept is constructed through several steps. These steps are (1) to identify standard evolutionary patterns related to geodynamic drivers, (2) to group the basins with similar tectono-stratigraphic evolution and correlate these with petroleum system development, (3) to relate basin trap types to basin history and (4) to calculate characteristic hydrocarbon maturation zones by thermal modeling.We present an application to the Pannonian Basin System of Eastern Europe, an area formed by Miocene back-arc extension and affected by compressional reactivation during its late-stage evolution. The sub-basins of the Pannonian Basin System appear to have experienced comparable magnitudes of deformation, to have developed similar trap types and to have experienced a characteristic hydrocarbon maturation history in a way that supports play prospectivity.     

Miocene facies associations and sedimentary evolution of the Southern Transylvanian Basin (Romania): Implications for hydrocarbon exploration

The Transylvanian Basin is a mature hydrocarbon province of Romania characterized by two petroleum systems: Mesozoic (thermogenic) and Miocene (biogenic). An extensive outcrop-based sedimentological and micropaleontological study correlated to seismic and well data discusses the elements of the Miocene petroleum system. The facies associations are indicative of alluvial, fandelta, shallow- and deep-marine settings. These are grouped into four different depositional systems (evaporite, mud-carbonate, sand-mud and sand-gravel). Their evolution in time and space shows large differences between various parts of the basin that have important consequences for exploration.     

A well-preserved 250 million-year-old oil accumulation in the Tarim Basin,western China: Implications for hydrocarbon exploration in old and deep basins

A giant oilfield (YM-2) with an estimated reserve of close to one billion bbl was recently discovered in an Ordovician carbonate reservoir at a burial depth of 5800–6200 m in the northern Tarim Basin, western China. Biomarker and isotope geochemistry of the hydrocarbons indicate that the oil was derived from Ordovician marine source rocks at early to peak oil generation. Authigenic illite (K–Ar) dating, fluid inclusion analysis, fluid inclusion PVTx and thermal history modeling indicate that the accumulation is of primary in origin, and the original charge occurred in the Permian during the Late Hercynian Orogenic Stage, approximately 290–250 million years ago. The physiochemical compositions of the hydrocarbons and formation water remained largely unchanged since the initial accumulation. The excellent preservation of such an old accumulation at such a great depth is due to continuous burial of the YM-2 structure since the Triassic, a thick effective seal, and a relatively low geothermal gradient with a current reservoir temperature of 127–130 °C. This finding suggests that under suitable conditions old petroleum accumulations can be well-preserved, and some old and deep basins may be prospective frontiers for future exploration.     

Genetic aspects of the petroleum resource potential of marine sedimentary basins

The historical-genetic method developed at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the assessment of the petroleum resource potential is discussed with consideration of its main tasks and the successive procedures in its application. Such studies are crowned by a compilation of separate maps demonstrating scales of oil and gas generation and maps of hydrocarbon genesis zoning of basins with outlining centers of oil and gas generation and defining different-phase hydrocarbon-generation zones. The method was tested in over twenty continental-marginal and intracontinental basins studied to a different extent. The sedimentary basins of the Atlantic continental margin off Africa and the Caspian and Black seas were used as objects for applying the historical-genetic method for assessing their petroleum resource potential.     

Modelling of thermal convection in sedimentary basins and its relevance to diagenetic reactions

Mathematical calculations of thermal convection have been carried out using a porous three-player model to simulate pore-water flow in a sedimentary basin with layers of different permeabilities. The calculated flow lines demonstrate that even very thin layers (< 1 m) with low permeability, like shales in a more permeable sandstone sequence, will split potentially larger convection cells into smaller units of clean sandstone beds which may then be too small to exceed the critical Rayleigh number. In a situation where we have horizontal isotherms, a sandstone bed with 1 Darcy permeability must have a thickness of more than 330 m without shale interbeds for convection to occur. This situation is rarely met in sedimentary basins. In the case of sloping isotherms, non-Rayleigh convection will always occur but the flow rate is proportional to the effective thickness of the bed and the slope of the isotherms. Calculations suggest that the flow rates are insignificant for diagnetic reactions except in situations where we have steeply sloping isotherms eg, around salt domes and igneous or hydrothermal intrusions.Analyses of formation waters from sedimentary basins like the North Sea often show evidence of a crude stratification of the pore water with respect to salinity and isotopic composition. This is evidence suggesting that large scale convection, or other types of mixing, does not take place and positive salinity depth gradient may help to physically stabilize the formation water. The fact that many of the shallow reservoir rocks from the North Sea have formation water with low salinity and negative δ ¹⁸O values suggest that this is modified meteoric water and that migration of petroleum from deeper parts of the basin occurred as a separate phase along restricted migration pathways and was not associated with a high flux of pore water. In the absence of thermal convection the total pore water flux through sandstones will be rather small except locally where we may have focused compactional flow through small cross-sections. Diagenetic reactions will, therefore, normally be relatively isochemical during deeper burial.     

台湾海峡沉积盆地的演化与油气远景

台湾海峡沉积盆地新生代以来构造演化经历了早第三纪陆缘裂谷、晚第三纪挤压收缩和第四纪隆起封闭等发育阶段，属残留陆缘裂谷，具有良好的油气远景，其中，海峡中部油气远景最佳。     

Synthetic saline-aqueous and hydrocarbon fluid inclusions trapped in calcite at temperatures and pressures relevant to hydrocarbon basins: A reconnaissance study

We conducted reconnaissance experiments to synthesize aqueous and hydrocarbon inclusions trapped in calcite at conditions relevant to petroleum basins, and characterize the microthermometric properties of such inclusions. Fluid inclusions (FIs) were synthesized in a system of saline aqueous solution (5 or 20 wt% NaCl) coexisting with either heavy crude oil or gasoline under gas-undersaturated conditions, from 90 to 210 °C and 200–550 bar. The synthetic inclusions are not representative of gas-bearing systems, and methane (CH₄) was not detected in any aqueous inclusions. The FIs are mainly distributed along planar healed cracks, indicating that the inclusions formed by fracture healing in the calcite crystal. Microthermometric measurements were conducted on coeval aqueous and hydrocarbon inclusions, and Raman spectroscopic analyses were done on aqueous inclusions, to determine the properties of FIs trapped at these conditions.Homogenization temperatures of synthetic FIs are mostly lower than the experimental trapping temperature, although the FIs show high variability in measured homogenization temperature. Results allow comparison of T_h values for each sample with the expected T_h, isochores and pressure corrections calculated for the system H₂ONaCl. The latter parameters are broadly consistent with the known PVTX properties of H₂ONaCl fluids, suggesting little effect of hydrocarbons on the homogenization behavior, although the low precision of the T_h data limits this assessment. Nevertheless, this result is not unexpected considering that light hydrocarbons (gas) is not present in the experiments (as corroborated by Raman spectroscopy), a consequence of using “dead” oil in the experiments. Simulation of gas-bearing petroleum basins will require additional protocols for producing gas, either by in-situ cracking of the starting hydrocarbon material, or by other means. The reconnaissance experiments documented here provide a basis for such future experiments.     

阿根廷海域重点盆地油气地质条件对比及勘探方向

阿根廷油气资源丰富,并且油气财税条款较为优越,与国外大型油公司和中国油公司均有油气勘探资产合作,适合我国海外油气勘探投资。阿根廷海域13个盆地以转换断层为界,可划分为南部盆地群和北部盆地群,南部、北部盆地群在早期裂谷盆地的基础上分别逐渐演化为前陆盆地和被动大陆边缘盆地。南北盆地群由于盆地类型不同、构造演化不同,导致其构造特征、地层充填特征和油气成藏条件等方面具有一定的差异性特征。通过对阿根廷海域南部前陆盆地群和北部被动大陆边缘盆地群构造演化、地层充填、烃源岩条件、储层条件和圈闭条件对比研究,对阿根廷海域盆地石油地质特征有了进一步的认识,指出南部的前陆盆地成藏条件要优于北部被动大陆边缘盆地。分析表明,南部盆地群中的马尔维纳斯前陆盆地为剩余有利勘探区,该盆地勘探程度低,已证实具有油气发现,推测盆地中南部为有利构造带,或许将成为阿根廷未来的勘探热点。     

中国近海盆地油气地质特征及勘探开发进展

通过半个多世纪的海洋油气勘探实践与科技创新,中国近海盆地油气勘探开发取得了长足进展和里程碑式的突破。2010年,中国海洋油气年产量突破5 000×104 t油当量大关,实现了建成“海上大庆”的目标。2011年以来,中国近海油气勘探开发进入了高速发展阶段,海域油气产量增长迅猛,目前,渤海盆地原油年产量已超过3 000×104 t且油气产能还在递增。系统阐明了中国近海含油气盆地构造结构类型、沉积充填特征、油气成因类型及烃源供给关系、油气成藏组合类型及运聚成藏模式等基本油气地质特点,概括分析了中国近海主要盆地油气（水合物）勘探开发进展,以期为挖掘已获得重大发现的盆地的剩余资源以及有效指导新盆地油气的高效勘探开发提供借鉴。     

中国第二次北极科学考察综述

经国务院批准,由国家海洋局组织实施的以了解北极变化及其对我国气候环境的影响为主要科学目标的中国第二次北极科学考察队于2003年7月15日从大连出发,途经日本海、鄂霍次克海,7月23日进入白令海,7月30日进入北冰洋。考察队于2003年9月12日返航离开北冰洋,26日到达上海,历时74天,安全航行14188海里,航时1010h。本次考察以“雪龙”船为支撑平台,辅以直升机、水面作业艇、冰上车辆延展考察空间,利用卫星跟踪浮标、海洋浮标、潜标、潜水器、卫星遥感等高技术手段以及常规观测设备,在白令海、楚科奇海以及加拿大海盆开展海洋、冰雪、大气、生物、地质等多学科立体综合观测,圆满完成了预定计划,获得了大批宝贵的现场数据和样品。来自中国、美国、芬兰、加拿大、日本、韩国、俄罗斯的109名科考人员参加了本次考察。     

民和盆地侏罗系生烃潜力与油气勘探方向

从有机碳含量、可溶有机质含量及其转化率、热解参数、饱和烃的生物表示化合物特征、有机岩石学特征几个方面分析了民和盆地侏罗系烃源岩的有机质丰度、类型和成熟度,并进行了地球化学特征分析和生烃潜力评价。分析认为盆地发育湖相泥岩和煤系两大类烃源岩,有机质以较富含低等水生生物原始母质的腐泥腐殖型为主,主要分布于中侏罗统。通过对盆地石油地质条件的评价,结合各区带落实认识程度和资料品质条件认为：武家鼻隆构造带是最有利的勘探区带,万泉堡鼻状构造带具有良好勘探潜力,大庄构造带是寻找浅层次生油气藏的有利区带。永登凹陷面积大,资源丰富,勘探认识程度低,具有良好勘探前景。     

Mapping the sedimentary basins of the Barents and Kara Seas using ERS-1 altimetry-geodetic mission

The continental shelf in the Arctic north of Russia consists of a series of epicontinental seas, which are the offshore continuation of potentially oil and gas basins on land. The geology of all these epicontinental seas is poorly known, due to the remoteness, the extreme climatic conditions and the extensive costs associated with seismic exploration. Radar altimeter sensors thus provide an invaluable tool for studying the geological structures off the coast. The unique ERS-1 contribution comes from its high latitude coverage (81.5 deg south to north), and the space and time density of its measurements (168-day repeat-orbit).The gravity anomaly field is derived from the geoid height measurements by computing the deflections of the vertical in the north-south and east-west directions and transforming these deflections into gravity anomalies. The gravimetry reveals interesting features of the basement of the Barents and Kara Seas which have not been chartered in recent, previous compilation maps of sedimentary thickness in the Arctic Ocean (Jackson and Oakey, 1988; Gramberg and Puscharovski, 1989). We obtain no indication of the SE-NW offshore Baikalian trend described by Fichler et al (1997) using ERS-1 gravimetry. Instead, the data indicate the presence of a north-south trending gravity high associated with the maximum sediment thickness within the South Barents Sea and the North Barents Sea Basins. Further geological studies are needed to interpret the gravimetric data, which directly addresses the problem of understanding the gravity signature of deep, old, sedimentary basins.     

陆相断陷盆地沉积可容空间变化与油气汇聚体系关系探讨

陆相断陷盆地的沉积可容空间变化规律控制着盆地的层序地层充填样式和生储盖发育规律,根据目前我国陆相断陷盆地的层序地层响应特征,将沉积可容空间的变化频率分为低频和高频两种类型。油气汇聚体系是陆相断陷盆地油气勘探的研究对象,根据油气聚集规模将其划分为大型、中型和小型等三种规模类型。具备不同层序地层充填样式的陆相断陷盆地一般发育不同规模类型的油气汇聚体系和相应的空间展布规律：低频率沉积可容空间变化的陆相断陷盆地可以发育大型、中型规模的油气汇聚体系;高频率沉积可容空间变化的陆相断陷盆地一般发育中型或者小型规模的油气汇聚体系,大型规模的油气汇聚体系欠发育。我国陆区陆相断陷盆地中的东营凹陷是低频率沉积可容空间变化的典型代表,东濮凹陷是高频率沉积可容变化的典型代表;海区陆相断陷盆地中的涠西南凹陷属于低频率可容空间变化的类型,海中凹陷属于较高频率可容空间变化的类型。     

Modelling generation and dissipation of overpressure in sedimentary basins: an example from the Halten Terrace,offshore Norway

A pressure simulator modelling the dynamic overpressure history in sedimentary basins is developed using a pressure compartment methodology. Simple models for porosity reduction are used for controlling pressure generation, and different empirical models are used to estimate the lateral and vertical sealing/dissipation mechanisms. The equations describing the flow of formation water between the pressure compartments are used to calculate the resulting pressure dissipation on a geological time scale. The methodology is tested and applied to the Jurassic Fangst Group in the Halten Terrace area, offshore Norway. Dynamic allocation and an explicit numerical solution technique ensure a fast and accurate solution of the flow equations. The results suggest: (a) the probable mechanisms and processes that have generated the overpressure, (b) the timing and location of hydraulic fracturing and (c) the nature and behaviour of the overpressure in addition to the overpressure history.     

中国海域基岩油气藏特征及未来勘探方向

基岩油气藏是一种特殊类型的油气藏。随着渤中19-6凝析气藏、永乐8-3-1基岩油气藏及渤中13-2油气田等取得重大突破,证实中国海域基岩油气藏具有巨大勘探潜力。截至目前,已在渤海盆地、北部湾盆地、琼东南盆地、珠江口盆地获得多个高产基岩油气田。中国海域基岩油气藏具有分布广泛、纵向层系多、岩性多、类型多样的特征,主要发育前寒武系变质岩和混合花岗岩、古生代碳酸盐岩、中生代火山岩以及花岗岩侵入体、中生代碎屑岩等4套储层,尤其以前寒武系变质岩和中生代花岗岩侵入体为主。研究表明基岩油气藏主要表现为新生古储,其形成主要受控于富烃凹陷、构造运动、储盖条件等多种控制因素的影响。在总结前人成果的基础上,指出了中国海域未来基岩油气藏勘探应重点关注6大勘探方向：渤海盆地残山,北黄海盆地东部坳陷东北部局部凸起,南黄海盆地凸起带,东海陆架盆地低凸起,北部湾盆地涠西南凹陷、珠江口盆地惠州凹陷和琼东南盆地松南低凸起,南海南部中建南盆地和万安盆地。