Print this pageAAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA
Hot Enough for Ya? Compilations of Heat Flow Values and Source Rock Data Along the Western Central Atlantic Margin
(1) DIGs, Houston, TX.
(2) Consultant, The Woodlands, TX.
An ongoing project (CARUMBA) is recompiling public domain information to assess hydrocarbon potential of the western Central Atlantic margin (WCAM) from Nova Scotia to Cuba. A half-dozen DSDP-ODP wells contained asphalt, bitumen or recorded shows of thermogenic gas suggesting unrecognized hydrocarbon potential. During our aggregation of published source rock data from primarily Mesozoic intervals of these wells and information from industry wells, we found a similar need to compile heat flow measurements. Four sources comprising about 350 heat flow values provided a basis for regional contours across the shelf into abyssal depths. Comparisons of source potential, heat flow and the CARUMBA sediment thickness calculations allowed us to target areas for further research.
Better potential lies south of the Kane Fracture Zone (KFZ), which runs from Cape Hatteras in the western Atlantic to the northern boundary of Mauritania on the conjugate margin. We see reduced but adequate merit along the US margin north of the KFZ with source potential evident in ODP wells 105 and 603B plus industry wells on the Great Stone Dome of the Baltimore Canyon area. Sediment thicks and heat flow values in the latter area suggest that maturity of oil-prone Cretaceous intervals is a concern.