An Interpretation of Vitrinite Reflectance Data From the Southern North Sea Basin

Cope, M. J.

doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1986.023.01.06

Cited by 21 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…19 shows the computed best-fit model for well 48/3-3 and the plot of observed versus calculated vitrinite reflectance. These models fit well with both the well data and previously published work of Cope (1986) and Glennie & Boegner (1981). However they are an interpretive best fit, particularly since many estimates for unknowns, such as past geothermal gradients, are uncertain.…”

Section: Hydrocarbon Generation History Of Carboniferous Source Rockssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Figure 16 shows the relationship between maximum burial depth and present day measured porosity. Estimates of the maximum palaeoburial depth were made utilising a slightly Cope (1986). Figure 16 shows that down to maximum palaeoburial depths of 14000' (4266 m), porosity decreases linearly with depth, the gradient being approximately 3% porosity reduction per 10(X)' of burial.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carboniferous geology of the Southern North Sea Basin and controls on hydrocarbon prospectivity

Leeder

Hardman²

1990

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The thick sequences of Upper Palaeozoic strata present in the Southern North Sea Basin were probably deposited on a basement of Caledonian low-grade metamorphic rocks intruded by numerous late-Caledonian granitoids which form part of the subsurface extension of the Mid-European Caledonides linking the English Lake District and Northern Pennines to the Ardennes. This basement, along with the better known onshore areas of the British Isles and Ireland was intensely fragmented during late Devonian to mid-Carboniferous times by a major phase of extensional tectonics.Active fault-bounded tilted blocks developed in the Dinantian with deposition of fluviatile redbeds, marine carbonate/deltaic clastic cycles and deltaic coastal plain facies. These are penetrated by a number of wells on the southern flanks of the Mid-North Sea High, but details of basin geometries and facies distributions remain unclear.Crustal stretching appears to have given way to thermal subsidence by early to midNamurian times. This was coincident with a major climatic change, probably forced by glacial expansion in Gondwanaland. Thc major drainage system that resulted dominated sedimentation in the SNSCB, punctuated by numerous marine transgrcssions of undoubted glacio-eustatic origins. Within this broad dcpositional framework, Namurian facies were closely controlled by basement tilt block topography, with good cvidcncc for a gradual southerly migration of the active fairways of fluviodeitaic sandbodies. Wcstphalian facies were dominated by the interplay between glacio-eustatic and sedimentary processes on a vast low-gradient alluvial plain with much less pronounced tectonic control.By latc-Wcstphalian B timcs a phase of basin inversion caused thc gradual clcvation of thc arca as a rctro-arc forcland basin. Vadosc diagencsis and pcdogcncsis occurred in the fluviatilc facies of thc so-called Barrcn Rcd Mcasurcs (BRM). With continucd comprcssivc dcformation a scrics of over 50 NW-SE oricntatcd folds, somc associated with thrusts, dcvcloped. Significant crosion and truncation of these invcrsion anticlincs was accompanicd by thc deposition of thc BRM facies in characteristic growth fold basins, with marked onlap around thc basin margins. The Carboniferous play in thc SNSCB has been greatly influcnccd by thc subsequent Mcsozoic/Cenozoic geological history of the basin, including periods of subsidcncc and uplift. Wc demonstrate that variations in original detrital mineralogy and various diagcnetic processes havc cxcrted significant controls upon Carbonifcrous reservoir quality.

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Section: Hydrocarbon Generation History Of Carboniferous Source Rockssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carboniferous geology of the Southern North Sea Basin and controls on hydrocarbon prospectivity

Leeder

Hardman²

1990

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“…Wells on the East Midlands Shelf were frequently used as 'baseline' sections. Later studies employing vitrinite reflectance data (Cope 1986) were also used to display uplift, but again relative to wells assumed to currently be at or near their maximum depth of burial i.e. at or near zero uplift (Cope 1986; fig.…”

Section: Location and Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many analytical techniques have been applied in the Southern North Sea to quantify the degree of uplift from maximum burial utilising sonic derived velocities (Marie 1975;Glennie & Boegner 1981;Bulat & Stoker 1987), vitrinite reflectance (Barnard & Cooper 1983;Cope 1986), and apatite fission track analysis (Green 1989). The theme of this paper is to outline the limitations of these uplift determination techniques and the possible pitfalls of using them in isolation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of techniques used to determine geological and thermal history in the Southern North Sea

Archard¹,

Stafford²,

Bardwell³

et al. 1998

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The Southern North Sea has been a prolific source of gas to the UK economy over the last 30 years. As many of the producing fields are now becoming depleted, attention has switched to exploration in more marginal areas of the basin. In order to evaluate suitable structures in these areas, an understanding of the complex structural and thermal history of the Southern North Sea Basin is required. Particular emphasis must be placed upon the prediction of source rock maturity, the timing of generation and migration of hydrocarbons, and the thermal controls exerted on potential reservoir sand units.Over large parts of the basin the Carboniferous source rocks are not at their maximum depth of burial at present day. A variety of techniques utilizing sonic velocity, vitrinite reflectance and apatite fission track analysis have been used to quantify the magnitude of uplift that the Carboniferous section has undergone through geological time. With the exception of apatite fission track analysis, these techniques provide only an estimate of 'net uplift', i.e. the amount of uplift relative to maximum depth of burial or maximum temperature. They record neither the timing and effects of individual uplift events nor the timing of maximum burial prior to net uplift. In order to accurately reconstruct the burial and thermal history of the basin these techniques must be integrated with a detailed knowledge of the geological history of the Southern North Sea.The use of these techniques in isolation, together with a lack of appreciation of the limitations of the data has in the past resulted in spurious results, leading to criticism and mistrust of the techniques. This paper attempts to show that when correctly applied and in appropriate geological circumstances, each analytical technique can provide useful data for burial and thermal history reconstruction. Examples are shown to highlight the effects of incomplete data interpretation and the impact of inaccurate determination of present day temperatures. Particular attention is paid to determining the burial and thermal history of the economically important Carboniferous source and Permian reservoir units, and the interpretation of uplift data is restricted to the post-Zechstein section.

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“…It began to appear that methods relying on heating (VR, spore by guest on May 9, 2018 http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ Downloaded from coloration and fission track analysis) were coming up with interpreted uplifts considerably in excess of those based on shale velocity and structural reconstruction. Cope (1986) pointed out that VR measurements from the East Midlands Shelf were incompatible with the known burial history. Nevertheless, Green et al (1993a p. I069) reconciled the VR measurements with burial histories based on fission track analysis, and Holliday (1993b) raised some objections to the assumptions used in converting fission track temperatures to depths of burial.…”

Section: Uplift and Inversionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The East Irish Sea Basin — from caterpillar to butterfly, a thirty-year metamorphosis

Colter¹

1997

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An Interpretation of Vitrinite Reflectance Data From the Southern North Sea Basin

Cited by 21 publications

References 8 publications

Carboniferous geology of the Southern North Sea Basin and controls on hydrocarbon prospectivity

Carboniferous geology of the Southern North Sea Basin and controls on hydrocarbon prospectivity

A review of techniques used to determine geological and thermal history in the Southern North Sea

The East Irish Sea Basin — from caterpillar to butterfly, a thirty-year metamorphosis

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