Geological framework, basin evolution, hydrocarbon system data and conceptual hydrocarbon plays for the Hudson Bay and Foxe basins, Canadian Arctic (original) (raw)
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An overview of shale studies in Yukon during the 2017 field season
Yukon Exploration and Geology 2017, 2018
Summer 2017 fieldwork in Yukon’s lower Paleozoic shale basins (Selwyn basin and Richardson trough) involved participants from government geological surveys (Yukon Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada) and several universities (Queen’s, McGill, St. Francis Xavier, Stanford and Dartmouth College). Research interests include: 1) shale chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy, and pyrite trace element geochemistry to characterize shale units and assess lower Paleozoic paleoenvironmental conditions and depositional controls; and 2) an assessment of hyper-enriched black shales, specifically the colloquial ‘Nick’ or ‘Ni-Mo’ mineralized Ni-Zn-Mo-PGE deposit, in order to develop internally consistent genetic and exploration models for these types of deposits. This paper describes individual research projects underway and summarizes fieldwork in summer 2017.
1995
The Sarmord Formation is underlain by the most important source rocks and overlain by several major reservoirs in the Kurdistan Region. Two sections including a subsurface (well from Kirkuk oilfield) and a surface (outcrop at Bekhme Gorge) of the Sarmord Formation were studied to identify and describe the role of the Sarmord Formation within petroleum systems in the region. Thus, organic geochemistry and petrophysical characteristics of the Sarmord Formation have been studied using Rock-Eval, log data, core analysis and thin section studies. Results showed different lithologies between the studied sections of the Sarmord Formation; an intercalating of yellowish-gray marl (calcareous mudstone) and dark brownish to dark-gray shale was observed at outcrop, and subsurface section was mostly composed of clays with a composition of limestone and dolomite. The source rock potential of the shale layers of the Sarmord Formation reveals that the total organic carbon (TOC wt%) of subsurface section is 0.22 wt% on average which is regarded as poor organic carbon content. The average of Tmax value is 426°C that shows the formation is thermally immature. The capability of formation in generating of hydrocarbons is poor at subsurface section. Whereas the surface (outcrop) samples show fair to good content of organic carbon (0.83 TOC wt% on average), and they are thermally mature (Tmax is 440°C on average). The hydrocarbon generative potential of outcrop seems to be poor to good. The petrophysical study of the subsurface section displays low porosity and permeability (0.04% and 0.04 mD on average respectively). These values are generally considered as poor reservoir quality. Likewise, measurement values of porosity and permeability from outcrop are 6.425% and 0.108 mD on average, respectively, showing poor reservoir quality. The microscopic study also shows that the matrix material is largely comprised of lime mud and allomicrite types, and its porosity types (particularly of vague and fracture types) indicate the low percentage of porosity (not exceeding 1%). On the other hand, presence of bitumen seeps along fractures at the outcrop section may reveal that the formation can be regarded as a fractured-reservoir.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2011
Analysis of over 10 000 water-well records has been used to produce new depth-to-bedrock maps for areas around five cities on the central Interior Plateau of central British Columbia: 100 Mile House, Prince George, Quesnel, Vanderhoof, and Williams Lake. Hitherto, exploration for mineral and hydrocarbon resources has been hampered by a lack of basic knowledge of the thickness of Neogene and Quaternary lithologies. Interpretation of these new maps provides first-order constraints on the localization of thick drift in pre-Late Wisconsinan bedrock paleovalleys, some of which are now buried. Basalt lavas of the Chilcotin Group are restricted to erosional remnants of previously extensive sheets emplaced onto an older peneplain. Our results confirm that the Neogene and Quaternary cover is primarily controlled by paleotopography and is generally thin and patchy across much of the region. Increased understanding of the three-dimensional distribution of cover produces a corresponding increase in the utility of geological, geochemical, and geophysical exploration techniques, and a reduction in the risk for future mineral exploration activities, especially when combined with more sophisticated data sets.
Cretaceous shale of northern Alberta: A new frontier for base metal exploration
Exploration in the New …, 2007
Recent significant results from reconnaissance heavy mineral and geochemical surveys in northern Alberta draw attention to the prospect of base metal deposits hosted within the Cretaceous shale bedrock. The objective of these surveys, as part of a collaborative initiative undertaken by the Geological Survey of Canada and the Alberta Geological Survey, was to evaluate the potential of northern Alberta to host diamond-bearing kimberlite and other mineral deposits. These results highlight the potential for the area to contain primary bedrock-hosted deposits of zinc. A glacial sediment heavy mineral survey in northwest Alberta has resulted in the discovery of a dispersal train containing highly elevated concentrations of sphalerite grains and secondary galena in the sand-size fraction. The presence of high sphalerite grain counts in seven samples situated within a geographically restricted area argue against long-distance glacial transport, comminution, and deposition of erratic material from the carbonate-hosted Pine Point zinc-lead deposits, located 300 km to the northeast. Instead, these results favour a proximal unknown mineral source, potentially hosted within the Cretaceous shales.