Modelling Burial, Thermal and Maturation Histories in Sedimentary Basins for Hydrocarbon Generation: the Galo System

This investigation is devoted for basin analysis and one- and two-dimensional modeling of burial, thermal and maturation histories in sedimentary basins in a scope to evaluate their hydrocarbon potential. A new original system is elaborated and applied for continental basins: North African basins, East European basins (West Siberian, South Barents, and the Volga-Ural-West Bashkiria), basins of passive continental margins in South America and Pacific Australian Antarctica and back-arc basins (Philippine Sea basins in the East Pacific and Bering Sea basins in the North-West Pacific). The full paper will be focused on modeling maturation histories of North African basins for evaluation of hydrocarbon generation history and potential. Particular attention is focused on specific features of basin evolution: compaction of sediments deposited at a variable rate, erosion of the sedimentary strata and basement, intrusive and hydrothermal activity, thermal activation and reactivation of the basement, lateral heat exchange of multiple-aged blocks of oceanic and continental lithospheres, the jumping of spreading axes, etc. Alternative methods are applied for control of tectonic subsidence, isostasy and rheology, lithosphere stretching and thinning, spreading jumping, evaluation of erosion heat, its impact on the thermal history and links to pre- and post-sedimentation history. Intrusion and hydrothermal activity, formation and degradation of cryolitic zones (permafrost) in high latitude basins of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are modeled in a scope to evaluate their contribution to the thermal history of basins. Joint analysis of heat flow transfer in the sedimentary cover and the underlying lithosphere and astenosphere are applied and recommended for better reconstruction of the thermal and maturation histories. A new approach is applied in the fitting procedure for determination of kinetic reaction parameters of hydrocarbon generation, applying algorithms with variable frequency factor and integrating geological stage of organic matter maturation for better estimation of hydrocarbon output. Measured and calculated vitrinite reflectance by kinetic models and present-day temperatures are used as main thermal indicators for the modeling control. Maximal temperatures estimate, based on clay mineral assemblage (and some zeolites), particularly on crystalline polytype features, are used as complementary independent control parameter.