Hydrocarbon

 Geology:  The  source  rock  

Welcome.    

This  is  the  schematic  representation  of  a  functioning  petroleum  system.    

In  this  and  the  coming  clips  we  will  go  through  it.    

At  the  end  you  will  have  a  good  idea  of  how  to  predict  the  occurrence  of  hydrocarbons  in  
the    subsurface.  

Everything  starts  with  the  source  rock.    

A   good   source   rock   has   a   high   total   organic   content   (usually   >1%)   and   has   been   heated  
enough  to  generate  petroleum.    

Three  stages  are  needed  to  obtain  a  high  quality  source  rock.  

Sediments  rich  in  organic  matter  must  be  deposited.  

The  organic  matter  must  be  preserved  during  subsidence.  

The  rock  must  be  heated  at  high  enough  temperatures.    

This  is  more  complicated  than  what  it  looks  like.  

Abundant   organic   matter   is   generally   produced   in   swamps   as   well   as   in   marine  

environments.    

In   these   places,   oxygen,   light   and   nutrients   are   abundant   making   it   possible   for   flora   and  
fauna  to  thrive.    

These   living   organisms,   plants   or   animals   form   the   organic   matter   you   will   find   in   the   source  
rock.  

The  next  and  possibly  more  difficult  challenge  for  nature  is  to  preserve  the  organic  matter  
that  has  been  deposited.    

The  big  enemy  of  organic  matter  is  oxygen  which  oxides  and  destroys  the  organic  matter.    

The  process  is  called  oxidation  and  implies  that  oxygen  is  consumed  to  oxidize  the  organic  
matter.    

The  system  works  like  a  candle.      

As  long  as  oxygen  is  available,  the  flame  will  burn  and  oxidation  will  continue.    

For  our  purposes,  this  means  that  the  organic  matter  will  be  oxidized  and  will  disappear.  

This  is  what  happens  to  more  than  95%  of  the  organic  matter  deposited  in  sediments.  

 
if,   however,   no   new   oxygen   can   be   added   to   the   system,   the   flame   will   consume   all   the  
available  oxygen  and  will  then  die  out,  oxidation  has  stopped.    

In  our  analogy,  organic  matter  will  escape  oxidation  and  will  be  preserved.  

zoned  with  no  oxygen  are  called  anoxic.  Where  do  these  anoxic  zones  form?    

We   can   then   predict   the   occurrence   of   organic  matter  at  depth  if  we  are  able  to  identify  the  
environments  with  anoxic  conditions.    

In   swamps,   most   of   the   organic   matter   is   created   by   plants   and   organisms   living   at   the  
surface.  When  these  die,  they  fall  on  the  floor  of  the  water  column  and  get  oxidized  creating  
anoxic  conditions.    

 with  persisting  subsidence,  the  sediment  rich  in  organic  matter  will  be  buried  and  will  not  
experience  oxidation  as  the  entire  environment  is  anoxic.    

If  these  conditions  persist,  thick  successions  of  potentially  good  source  rocks  are  created.  

Anoxic   conditions   are   also   present,   though   not   common,   in   the   marine   environment.   An  
important  example  is  that  of  isolated  marine  basins.    

The  most  famous  example  is  the  Black  Sea.  

The  Black  Sea  is  a  deep  basin,  surrounded  from  nearly  all  sides  by  continental  masses  and  
with   only   a   narrow   and   shallow   connection   with   the   Mediterranean   sea   along   the  
Bosphorus.    

Two   types   of   waters   enter   the   Black   sea.   Large   rivers   bringing   huge   amounts   of   fresh   water;  
and,  a  limited  amount  of  very  saline  water  coming  from  the  Mediterranean.    

In  a  vertical  section  across  the  basin  you  can  see  that  the  saline,  heavy  water  entering  from  
the  left  will  immediately  descend  to  deeper  levels  because  of  its  high  density.    

The  fresh  water  from  the  rivers,  on  the  contrary,  is  lighter  and  will  then  remain  at  the  top  of  
the  basin  forming  a  lid.    

The   water   column   is   thus   stratified   and   little   vertical   movements   will   take   place.   This   means  
that  no  oxygen  will  be  delivered  to  the  lower  part  of  the  water  column  which  will  become  
anoxic.  

Living   organisms   thriving   in   the   upper   part   of   the   water   column   will,   upon   death,   sink  
through  the  water  column  without  experiencing  oxidation  and  will  pile  up  on  the  basin  floor.  

Similar   situations,   although   at   smaller   scales,   are   common,   for   instance   in   small   basins  
developed  during  the  early  stages  of  rifting.  

In   frankly   marine   regions,   for   instance   along   passive   continental   margins  like   the   one   shown  
in  the  slide.  

 
An   oxygen-­‐poor   zone   is   at   depths   of   several   hundreds   of   meters   caused   by   the   decay   of  
organic  matter  from  the  organisms  thriving  in  the  upper  part  of  the  water  column.  

If   the   anoxic   zone   persists,   organic   matter   sinking   through   the   water   column   and   reaching  
the  sea  floor  in  this  depth  interval  will  be  preserved  and  form  potentially  interesting  source  
rocks.  

In  previous  slides  we  have  seen  that  organic  matter  can  only  be  preserved  in  basins  floors  
with  anoxic  conditions,  and  that  anoxic  conditions  are  destroyed  by  strong  currents.      

These  conditions  were  particularly  well  developed  in  some  periods  during  the  history  of  the  
Earth.  

If  we  look  at  the  Earth  during  the  Cretaceous,  that  is,    around  80  million  years  ago  we  see  a  
large   ocean   elongated   in   E-­‐W   direction   bounded   to   the   N   and   to   the   S   by   continental  
masses.  

In  a  North-­‐South  transect  from  one  pole  to  the  other,  you  can  see  that  temperatures  in  the  
oceans   were   higher   than   present   and,   even   more   importantly   temperature   gradients   in  
north-­‐south  direction  were  very  low.  All  this  resulted  in  weak  currents  and  stratification  of  
the  water  column.      

The  Cretaceous  was  also  a  time  of  very  high  sea  level,  which  caused  the  inundation  of  large  
continental  domains  and  the  delivery  of  large  amounts  of  nutrients  to  the  marine  domain.  

a   lot   of   nutrients,   poor   vertical   ocean   circulation,   …   ideal   conditions   to   form   high   organic  
content  rocks.    

No   surprise   that   a   very   large   portion   of   world   petroleum   has   been   generated   in   middle  
Cretaceous  rocks!