--> ABSTRACT: The Hudson Bay Intracratonic Basin in Northern Canada: New Hydrocarbon System Data for an Oil-Prospective Frontier Basin, by Lavoie, Denis; Pinet, Nicolas ; Duchesne, Mathieu; Asselin, Esther; Hu, Kezhen ; Dietrich, Jim; Zhang, Shunxin; Reyes, Julito ; Kohn, Barry; Budkewitsch, Paul; Bertrand, Rudolf ; Armstrong, Derek; Nicolas, Michelle; #90142 (2012)

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The Hudson Bay Intracratonic Basin in Northern Canada: New Hydrocarbon System Data for an Oil-Prospective Frontier Basin

Lavoie, Denis *1; Pinet, Nicolas 1; Duchesne, Mathieu 1; Asselin, Esther 1; Hu, Kezhen 2; Dietrich, Jim 2; Zhang, Shunxin 3; Reyes, Julito 2; Kohn, Barry 5; Budkewitsch, Paul 4; Bertrand, Rudolf 6; Armstrong, Derek 7; Nicolas, Michelle 8
(1) Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
(2) Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Calgary, AB, Canada.
(3) Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, Natural Resources Canada, Iqaluit, NU, Canada.
(4) Canadian Center for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
(5) School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
(6) Eau - Terre - Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
(7) Ontario Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
(8) Manitoba Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

The Hudson Platform covers 600,000 km2 and is one of the largest Paleozoic sedimentary basins in Canada and the largest of the intracratonic basins in North America. The Platform contains the large Hudson Bay Basin and smaller satellite basins namely the Moose River to the south and the Foxe to the north. The succession of the Hudson Platform consists of Ordovician to Tertiary strata, with a maximum preserved thickness of about 2500 m. The Paleozoic succession includes Ordovician to Devonian shallow marine carbonates, reefs and thin mudstones with thick Devonian evaporites. Paleozoic strata are unconformably overlain by erosional remnants of Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary non-marine and marine sandstones, mudstones and lignite seams. Biostratigraphic data indicate significant unconformities and AFT and U-TH/He data allow to refine our understanding of the burial history. The hydrocarbon potential of the Hudson Platform is poorly constrained. In a first phase of exploration (1970-1980), over 46 000 line-km of seismic reflection data were acquired and 5 exploration wells drilled. Most of the seismic profiles and all of the exploration wells are located in a relatively small area in the central part of Hudson Bay. A limited number of onshore wells have also been drilled. The Geological Survey of Canada and its partners are carrying out a re-evaluation of the petroleum systems and energy resource potential of the Hudson Platform. Results indicate that many prospective petroleum reservoir and trap types, including recently recognized porous hydrothermal dolomites and reefs. Upper Ordovician oil shales are widespread with TOC values up to 35% (average of 15%); the thickness of these Type I/II source rocks range between 5 to 15 metres. Two Upper Ordovician stratigraphically distinct source rocks have been identified and their known presence extended over all onshore areas surrounding the marine basin. Thermal maturation data on well cuttings suggest that oil window conditions (Rovit of 1%) have been reached in the intervals that host the Ordovician source rocks. New high-resolution bathymetric surveys in Hudson Bay have led to the recognition of circular sea-floor depressions similar to fluid-escape pockmarks and preliminary interpretations of RADARSAT images suggest possible local oil slicks at sea surface. New hydrocarbon systems data suggest that large areas of the Hudson Platform are prospective for oil accumulations

 

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