Inhaltsbereich
North Atlantic Margin - Barents Sea
EUROMARGIN
Scope
The processes that actually result from the break-up history of the North Atlantic margin are very important, namely generation, migration, leakage and sequestration of natural gas and liquid petroleum. Paramount in the regional context is uplift (tectonic and isostatic rebound) because falling pressure and temperature lead to a subsurface redistribution of petroleum resources and the leakage of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Our goal has been to investigate the thermal history, ice loading and inversion of the south-western Barents Sea using basin modelling.
Temperature and maturity calibration of the Hammerfest Basin petroleum basin model reveals a significant thermal disequilibrium in the basin. We relate this phenomenon to the timing and severity of Cenozoic erosion in the southwestern Barents Sea. The modelling results clearly favour Ice Age erosion. Forward modelling of ice sheet loading indicates unusual pressure fluctuations both in the deep petroleum system regime and near-surface gas hydrate environment. We are currently investigating these outcomes.
The loading and unloading of the basin during the last million years is shown as a burial history, where glacial load is implemented at low frequency in the first four glacial periods and high resolution showing glacial oscillations during the Weichselian in the last.
Exemplary burial history of the Northwestern Barents Sea including temperature evolution as an overlay
Contact
- R. di Primio
- B. Horsfield
Partners
Performedas part of Euromargins, an initiative of the European Science Foundation.
- Paul Andriessen Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Jan Inge Faleide, Department of Geology, Universitet i Oslo, Norway
- Alvar Braathen, Centre for Integrated Petroleum Research, Bergen, Norway
- Rolf Mjelde, Thomas Raum, Universitet i Bergen, Norway Harald Brekke, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
- Jan Erik Lie, RWE Dea Norge, Oslo
Funding bodies
DeutscheForschungsGemeinschaft and the European Science Foundation. Industry sponsorship is currently under negotiation.