ABSTRACT: Petroleum Geology of the Canada-France Boundary Dispute Region South of St. Pierre and Miquelon

MACLEAN, B. C., and J. A. WADE, Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Petroleum exploration has been excluded from a portion of the eastern margin of Canada since 1967 because of a boundary dispute with France. The Geological Survey of Canada has completed an assessment of the geology and hydrocarbon potential of the disputed area based on 3072 km of seismic data that provided the first tie between the Grand Banks and Scotian Shelf. The St. Pierre Moratorium Block south of 46 degrees N contains Laurentian Subbasin, a deep Mesozoic depocenter and part of the larger Scotian Basin. The subsurface geology of the area may be considered an eastward extension of that of Scotian Shelf with a similar sedimentary, structural, and thermal history. The rift-phase Orpheus Graben of northeastern Scotian Shelf widens eastward into St. Pierre Block and deepens into the subbasin. Thick Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary sequences have filled the depocenter and have been structured by typical Atlantic-type margin tectonics. Some salt tectonism is present, but shallow piercements are rare. Numerous structural leads are analogs to some Scotian Shelf and Jeanne d'Arc Basin discoveries.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)