--> ABSTRACT: Numerical Modeling of Petroleum Accumulation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina: Constraints from Geochemical Data, by J. F. R. Rodriguez and R. Littke; #91021 (2010)

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Numerical Modeling of Petroleum Accumulation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina: Constraints from Geochemical Data 

RODRIGUEZ, JORGE F. R., and RALF LITTKE

The Golfo San Jorge Basin, located in central Patagonia, is the most prolific petroliferous basin of Argentina.

Based on unpublished information and new geochemical analyses, one-dimensional and two-dimensional numerical basin simulations were carried out. The models suggest that the maximum burial was reached in the late Neogene. A high heat flow event between 20 and 30 Ma documented by dated magmatic rocks in the western part of the basin, permit the calibration of the models. The results imply that the San BernardoFold Belt was developed in the late Neogene, favoring subsequent erosion.

The potential source rocks are a predominantly pelitic succession of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. The temporal reconstructions of the two-dimensional modeling show that in the center of the basin the potential source rocks started to generate oil between 100 and 110 Ma. There, oil generation ceased 65 to 75 Ma. These ages gradually decrease towards the rims of the basin, where the rocks reached the oil window between 70 and 90 Ma. At the flanks of the basin, oil generation potential of the deeper source rocks was exhausted between 20 and 40 Ma whereas some of the shallower source rocks still possess the capability to generate petroleum. Hence the hydrocarbon generation is younger in the flanks than in the center of the basin. This fact can explain the regional distribution of the oil fields in the basin. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91021©1997 AAPG Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas.