--> Abstract: Quantitative Basin Modeling and Kinetics of the Lower Cretaceous Ostracode Zone, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, by N. T. Akpulat; #90925 (1999)

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AKPULAT, N. TASKIN, University of Calgary, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Abstract: Quantitative Basin Modeling and Kinetics of the Lower Cretaceous Ostracode Zone, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

The only proven hydrocarbon source rock within the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group in Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) is the Ostracode Zone. Oil-source rock correlation has shown that the Lower Cretaceous Ostracode Zone is the source of a unique family of oils (Family Q) found in southern Alberta, Canada. Family Q oils and Ostracode Zone extracts are geochemically distinct, as they contain the so-called "Q" compounds, which are unknown from other hydrocarbon source rocks and oils within the WCSB. Family Q oils are also commonly mixed, in varying proportions, with oils derived from other source rocks, such as the Devonian-Mississippian Exshaw Formation (Family E oils). Mixed EQ oils are of better quality (higher gravity, lower sulphur content) than "pure" Family E oils. Thus the overall goal of this study is to document and understand the distribution, in both time and space, of the Family Q oils in southern Alberta.

As part of this overall goal, it will be necessary to document the distribution of oil-prone facies, and the relationship of these facies with other sedimentary facies within the Ostracode Zone, in order to understand the depositional conditions and paleogeography during Ostracode deposition. Following this, kinetic modeling of Ostracode source rocks in conjunction with 1-D and 2-D burial and thermal history modeling will provide insight into the timing of hydrocarbon generation and migration of Family Q oils relative to other oil families in southern Alberta, and enhance our understanding of Mannville Petroleum Systems. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90925©1999 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid