Publication Date:
2008-12-01
Description:
The regional Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin temperature field is characterized using data collected from drill-stem tests and bottom-hole temperature logs. We recognize two thermal anomalies, each of which is associated with a specific geological setting. Elevated temperatures are observed in (1) the western Beaufort Sea, where post-Eocene erosion removed Cenozoic strata and folding is common in a contractional tectonic regime, and (2) along fault zones where upward flow transports heat by advection. Depressed temperatures are observed in Eocene and post-Eocene rapidly subsiding depocenters, with overpressure developed below 3000 m (9843 ft). Older strata along the southeast rifted margin are characterized by a more normal thermal regime. Evidence from anomalously high temperatures in both map and cross-sectional views suggests that fault zones and major regional aquifers accommodate the upward expulsion of fluids from deep overpressured zones. Many significant petroleum discoveries occur in areas where anomalously high temperatures are observed, suggesting that petroleum migration occurs along the same flow networks. Identifying anomalies in the temperature field may therefore be a useful exploration technique. Zhuoheng Chen obtained his Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 1993 and held a position as an associate professor at China University of Petroleum (Beijing) before joining the Geological Survey of Canada in 1998. He has developed methods for resource assessment and exploration risk evaluation. His research interests include petroleum resource assessment (methods and applications), petroleum systems, and basin analysis. Kirk Osadetz graduated from the University of Toronto (B.S. degree, 1978; M.S. degree, 1983). He manages the ESS Gas Hydrates Fuel of the Future Program and is the head of Energy & Environment Subdivision at the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary. He is active in petroleum resource evaluation and has research interests in gas hydrates, tectonics, and thermochronology. He worked previously at Gulf Canada Resources Inc. and PetroCanada Resources Inc. in Calgary. Dale Issler has an honors (co-op) B.S. degree in earth sciences (University of Waterloo) and a Ph.D. in oceanography (Dalhousie University). He is a Geological Survey of Canada research scientist involved in quantitative basin analysis (apatite fission track thermochronology, shale compaction, petrophysics, well-log analysis, thermal modeling). Presently, he is leading an industry-government project on petroleum systems in the Beaufort-Mackenzie area. Stephen Grasby obtained his Ph.D. in aqueous geochemistry from the University of Calgary in 1997. Since then he has worked at the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary. He has been active in the Groundwater Program and currently leads the project on assessment of regional aquifers. He has worked extensively on the biogeochemistry of thermal and mineral springs in Canada.
Print ISSN:
0149-1423
Electronic ISSN:
1943-2674
Topics:
Geosciences
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