Question 1

Explain briefly factors affecting or influencing the temperatures and paleo temperatures
in sedimentary basins
The paleo temperature of the sedimentary basin is mainly controlled by basal heat flow of the
basin (which reflect the lithosphere mechanisms), and with addition of internal factors such
as:
o Thermal conductivity
 Thermal conductivity of sediments generally increases with depth
because of decreasing porosity as the thermal conductivities of pore
fluids are much less than minerals.

o Heat generation from radioactive sources in continental crust and within
the basin fill
 Radiogenic heat production is of greatest where the underlying
basement is granitic and where the basin fill containing hot shales.
o Regional water flow within the aquifers
 Fluid affect the heat flow and can locally override basal heat flow
contribution.
o Surface temperatures
 Major climatic changes, causes temperature changes to be
propagated through the upper part of the basin fill that may affect
thermal indicators.
Question 2 ( 5 marks)

a. Briefly outline the typical characteristics of passive margins (2.5 marks)

 Generally: seismically inactive, and in mature example heat flow are near
normal.
 Sea ward thickening prism of marine sediments overlying a faulted basement
with synrift sedimentary sequences often of continental origin.
 Post rift sea ward thickening sediment prisms, consisting of pre dominantly of
shallow marine deposits.
 Post rift or drifting phase is typically dominated by gravity controlled
deformation (salt tectonics, mud diapirism, slumps, slides, listric growth faults
in soft sediments).

b. Differentiate between continental rifts basin and super detachment rift basins
( 2.5)
 Continental rifts .
– high angle faults (can be up to 70 degrees)
 – low extension(km) and low rate of extension(mm/yr)
 Supradetachment rift
– Low angle faults ,master fault (10 – 30 degrees)
– High rates and amount of extension

Question 3 ( 5 marks)

a. Briefly describe the development of ‘pull apart basin’ ( 2.5 marks)

Formed in the transform tectonic setting (strike slip setting) whereby the area of crust is
being stretched between the two strike slip faults
– Basin formed extent with time
– Kind and shape of basin formed depend on width of the strike slip fault
overlapping and weakness between faults.
– Pull apart basins can be long basin and narrow or short and wider depending on
the overlapping and fault weakness.
b. Differentiate between the petroleum play and petroleum systems ( 2.5 marks)
• A play is a perception or model of how a producible reservoir, petroleum charge
system, regional top seal, and traps may combine to produce petroleum
accumulations at a specific stratigraphic level.

• Requirement of play is: petroleum charge system, reservoir rock, regional

top seal, and trap.

While

• A petroleum systems comprises a pod of mature source rock and all the migration
paths, reservoir rocks , cap rock and traps that can be charged by that source rock
to produce oil and gas accumulations.

• Contains the petroleum system elements and processes.

• Can be further defined into stratigraphic, geographical and temporal extents.

Question 4 (5 marks)

Briefly describe the Salt detached fault systems? ( 5 marks)

• When one or more salt layers are present during extensional tectonics, a characteristic
set of structures are formed.
• Extensional faults propagate up from the middle part of the crust until they
encounter the salt layer.
• The types of structures developed depend on the initial salt thickness.
• In the case of a very thick salt layer there is no direct spatial relationship
between the faulting beneath the salt and that in the overburden, such a system
is said to be unlinked. For intermediate salt thicknesses, the overburden faults
are spatially related to the deeper faults, but offset from them, normally into
the footwall; these are known as soft-linked systems. When the salt layer
 becomes thin enough, the fault that develops in the overburden is closely
aligned with that beneath the salt, and forms a continuous fault surface after
only a relatively small displacement, forming a hard-linked fault.

Question 5 (5 marks)
a. What is the main cause of the subsidence in continental rift basis? ( 2marks)
– brittle extension of the crust, causing extensional faults arrays and fault
controlled subsidence
– Thermal relaxation following ductile extension to regional Postrift subsidence.

b. Classify the basins in rift –drift suite based β-factor values (3 marks)
– Intercratonic sag ( 1 – 1.5 β-factor values)
– Continental rift ( 1.7– 2.5 β-factor values)
– Failed rift ( 2.0 – 3 β-factor values)
– Passive margins (> 3β-factor values)
Question 6 ( 5 marks)

a. What is the main significant of the basin analysis in Hydrocarbon studies? (2.5
marks).
• Prediction of source rock, reservoirs, top seals and traps requires an understanding
of the structural and stratigraphic evolution of the depositional sequences within a
basin.

• This understanding can be archived through basin analysis, which serves as a

platform for the assessment of petroleum plays.

• Correct identification and interpretation of the fundamental tectonic and thermal

processes controlling basin formation and geometry and the sedimentary fill is the
first and most important step towards building the geological models that help in
play assessment

b. Outline methods used in estimating the paleobathmetry in a basin? ( 2.5 marks).

• Benthic microfossils
• Other fauna and floral assemblages
• Sedimentary facies eg cross bedding (shallow water)
• Distinctive geochemical or mineralogical indicators .eg grauconite – shallow water
• CCD (carbon compensation depth)- deep water

Question 7 ( 5 marks)
 a. Differentiate between volcanic and non- volcanic passive margins basins ( 2
marks)
• Volcanically active margins:
– Characterised by extrusive basalt, lower crustal igneous accretions, and
significant uplift at the time of break up.
– Continental extension is thought to be related to mantle plume activity
• Non volcanic margins: lacks evidence of high thermal activities at the time of
breakup.
– Sediment starved ; 2-4 km)thick
– Sediment nourshed; (5- 12km) thick
–
b. What is the backstripping? Sketch the curves which differentiate the total and
tectonic subsidence ( 3 marks)
 Backstripping is the technique used to remove the effect of sediment load from
total subsidence in order to obtain the tectonic contribution.

 Total and tectonic subsidence curves

Question 8 ( 5 marks)
a. What is the foreland basin? (1 mark)
 – Foreland basins are elongated or arcuate, highly asymmetrical basins closely
associated with continental collision zones

b. Outline four depocentre in foreland system ( 2 marks)

– Wedge top, fore deep, fore bulge and back bulge
–
c. What is the porosity loss? and list out the possible cause of porosity loss ( 2
marks)
– Porosity loss refers to the loss of pore volume that commonly accompanies burial
and may or may not relate to volume strains.
– Eg. cementation of sandstone may results in loss of porosity but may not affect the
volume occupied by the sedimentary rock and therefore involves no strain.
– Cause

• Mechanical compaction
• Physiochemical compaction and
• Cementation.

Question 9 ( 10 marks)

a. With examples, outline at least two thermal maturity indicators ( 1.5 marks)
– Organic indicators ; e.g vitrinite reflectance
– Mineralogical indicators ; smectite to illite
– Thermochronometric indicators; Apatite fission track analysis

b. List out two types of basin based on the Geothermal and Paleo geothermal
signatures (1.5 marks)
– Hypothermal (coolar than avarage)
– Hyperthermal (hotter that avarage)

c. With the aid of illustration, explain how thermal maturity indicators (such as
vitrinite reflectance) can be used to determine the paleo heat flow history of the
basin (7 marks).

The produce the Ro-profiles which used in determining the paleoheatflow of the basin.

– Normal pattern is a sublinear relationship between log Ro and depth indicating

continuous, time invariant geothermal gradient.

– Perturbation can be caused by volcanic activities.

– Ro with distinct kinks between two liner segments (dogleg) indicate two period
of different geothermal gradient separated by a thermal event.

– Ro profile with a sharp break or jump indicates the existence of unconformity

with large stratigraphic gap.
 – Ro profile in basin undergoing continuous subsidence intersect the surface at
values of 0.2 to 0.4% Ro, but Inverted basins that have lost the upper part of
the basin fill by the uplift and erosion, and have profiles intersecting the
surface at higher values of Ro.

Question 10 ( 10 marks)

The attached figure show the burial history curve and the oil(green) and gas(red) generation in
the source rock intervals in the north sea well.

a. Explain the burial history in terms of periods of subsidence and uplift for the Durlin
Fm ( 5 marks)
Durlin formation: deposited in Jurassic around 180Ma

180Ma – 165 Ma: slow subsidence to approximately 300m deep

165 Ma – 150 Ma: rapidly subsidence to approximately 1900m deep

150Ma – 135Ma: uplift to approximately 1600m deep

135 Ma -70Ma: relatively slow subsidence to approximately 2900m deep

70Ma – 65Ma: rapidly subsidence to approximately 3800m deep

65Ma -0Ma: relatively slow subsidence to approximately 5300m deep (Today the
Durlin Fm. is at approximately 5300m).

b. When did the oil and gas generation start in the two source rocks the heather
and Draupne Formations. (5 marks).
Herther Fm. and Draupne Fm oil and gas generation

The two source rock were immature until upper cretaceous around 69Ma (70Ma)
when matures for oil generation.

Herther Fm.

Matures for oil generation around 69Ma and for gas generation around 42Ma.
Today (0Ma), the Herther Fm. Produces both oil and gas .However it produce large
amount of gas that oil.

Draupne Fm. Matures for oil generation around 69Ma and today is producing only
oil.