--> ABSTRACT: Geology of the Northeast Greenland Continental Margin: Implications for the Petroleum Potential and Play Concepts around the 2012-2013 License Area, by Fyhn, Michael; #90142 (2012)

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Geology of the Northeast Greenland Continental Margin: Implications for the Petroleum Potential and Play Concepts around the 2012-2013 License Area

Fyhn, Michael *1
(1) Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Expectations of the Northeast Greenland offshore petroleum potential have long been high due to the prolific nature of the conjugated Norwegian margin and the promising onshore geology. However, difficult ice conditions have restricted data acquisition along the Northeast Greenland margin and thus limited current knowledge of the offshore geology and petroleum potential. Recently, more than 20,000 km of high-quality seismic data have been acquired together with other types of offshore data. These boost our understanding of the geology and petroleum potential of the Northeast Greenland margin up to the opening of the initial licensing round in 2012 in the area.

The Northeast Greenland margin is underlain by the Danmarkshavn and the Thetis Basins which are separated by the Danmarkshavn Ridge and bordered by the Koldewey Platform and Tertiary oceanic crust to the west and east respectively. The margin is underlain by a thick sedimentary section floored by a (?)Devonian to Carboniferous syn-rift succession. Saltkinetics indicate the distribution of Late Palaeozoic evaporites under the northern half of the margin. Permian and Triassic deposits are likely present in the basins and are overlain by a thick Middle and Upper Jurassic package. Sediments up to several kilometres thick were deposited during Cretaceous rifting in the basins. The Cretaceous thins across the Koldewey Platform and is almost absent on the Danmarkshavn Ridge. Paleocene and Eocene magmatism affected the northern and eastern part of the margin resulting in intense intrusion of the Cretaceous section in depocentres. Prograding Tertiary sediments bury older deposits in the Thetis Basin and in large parts of the Danmarkshavn Basin. Deposition of these sediments was associated with pulsed uplift and erosion on the inner part of the shelf and farther landwards removing part of the Cretaceous and Tertiary succession on the inner shelf.

Thick U. Jurassic-L. Cretaceous mudstones equivalent to Kimmeridge Clay source rocks can be mapped across much of the margin. Together with the presence of many significant structures and hydrocarbon indicators this supports a significant petroleum potential of the Northeast Greenland margin. The main risk factors are likely associated with very deep burial of source rock intervals, Tertiary uplift and trap breeching, which combined with the severe drift ice conditions compose large challenges to future exploration activities in the region.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90142 © 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, 2012, Long Beach, California