Constraints on Thermal Evolution of Sedimentary Basins from Apatite Fission-Track Analysis: ABSTRACT

Spontaneous fission tracks in apatite can reveal rigorous quantitative information on the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins in the temperature range of interest to the oil exploration industry. Over geologic time scales, fission tracks in apatite show readily measurable annealing effects in the temperature range of 20/sup 0/-125/sup 0/C, where the peak generation of liquid hydrocarbons also occurs. Five fission-track parameters have been identified that are sensitive indicators of temperature. These parameters are the mean confined track length, the distribution of confined track lengths, the fission track age, the distribution of single grain ages, and the dependence of fission-track age with depth in borehole sequences.