Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic

Summary The Soviet Arctic extends 6700 km from the border with Norway, on the west, to the border with the United States, on the east. The region contains the largest unexplored shelf area on earth – approximately 3917000 km 2 . Of the several onshore petroleum-bearing basins, at least two extend in...

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Published in:Geological Magazine
Main Author: Meyerhoff, A. A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1980
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800033252
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800033252
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spelling crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0016756800033252 2024-09-15T17:39:15+00:00 Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic Meyerhoff, A. A. 1980 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800033252 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800033252 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Geological Magazine volume 117, issue 2, page 101-186 ISSN 0016-7568 1469-5081 journal-article 1980 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800033252 2024-07-31T04:01:29Z Summary The Soviet Arctic extends 6700 km from the border with Norway, on the west, to the border with the United States, on the east. The region contains the largest unexplored shelf area on earth – approximately 3917000 km 2 . Of the several onshore petroleum-bearing basins, at least two extend into the offshore – the Timano-Pechora basin, which passes beneath the Barents Sea, and the West Siberian basin, which includes much of the Kara Sea. The Laptev and East Siberian Seas seem to be underlain by separate offshore basins, possibly unrelated to any onshore. The Chukchi Sea is geologically a part of the Alaskan North Slope. The Vilyuy basin, along the Vilyuy and Lena Rivers, does not extend offshore. Only small basins are present along the Pacific shore; of these, two have petroleum potential – the Khatyrka basin which passes eastwards into the Navarin basin of the Bering Sea, and the Anadyr' basin which joins the St Lawrence basin. Peripheral to the Arctic, but of great importance relative to several Canadian Arctic basins, is the Irkutsk amphitheatre in which the main hydrocarbon accumulations are Proterozoic. Of the three largest onshore basins, the West Siberian is the greatest, with major production from Lower and Middle Cretaceous, and smaller production from Upper Jurassic and Upper Palaeozoic rocks. The major production from the Timano-Pechora basin is from the Middle Devonian and Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian; minor production is from the Silurian, Lower Devonian, Upper Devonian, Lower Carboniferous, Upper Permian and Triassic. Production in the Vilyuy basin – all of it gas – is from Lower and Middle Jurassic, Triassic and Permian. Although non-commercial, known potential production from the Nordvik area is from Triassic and Permian sandstones; that from the Khatyrka basin is Oligocene and that from the Anadyr' basin is Miocene. The potential of the Soviet Arctic is huge, with major oil reserves and the largest known gas reserves on the earth. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anadyr Anadyr' Barents Sea Bering Sea Chukchi Chukchi Sea Kara Sea laptev Pechora Cambridge University Press Geological Magazine 117 2 101 186
institution Open Polar
collection Cambridge University Press
op_collection_id crcambridgeupr
language English
description Summary The Soviet Arctic extends 6700 km from the border with Norway, on the west, to the border with the United States, on the east. The region contains the largest unexplored shelf area on earth – approximately 3917000 km 2 . Of the several onshore petroleum-bearing basins, at least two extend into the offshore – the Timano-Pechora basin, which passes beneath the Barents Sea, and the West Siberian basin, which includes much of the Kara Sea. The Laptev and East Siberian Seas seem to be underlain by separate offshore basins, possibly unrelated to any onshore. The Chukchi Sea is geologically a part of the Alaskan North Slope. The Vilyuy basin, along the Vilyuy and Lena Rivers, does not extend offshore. Only small basins are present along the Pacific shore; of these, two have petroleum potential – the Khatyrka basin which passes eastwards into the Navarin basin of the Bering Sea, and the Anadyr' basin which joins the St Lawrence basin. Peripheral to the Arctic, but of great importance relative to several Canadian Arctic basins, is the Irkutsk amphitheatre in which the main hydrocarbon accumulations are Proterozoic. Of the three largest onshore basins, the West Siberian is the greatest, with major production from Lower and Middle Cretaceous, and smaller production from Upper Jurassic and Upper Palaeozoic rocks. The major production from the Timano-Pechora basin is from the Middle Devonian and Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian; minor production is from the Silurian, Lower Devonian, Upper Devonian, Lower Carboniferous, Upper Permian and Triassic. Production in the Vilyuy basin – all of it gas – is from Lower and Middle Jurassic, Triassic and Permian. Although non-commercial, known potential production from the Nordvik area is from Triassic and Permian sandstones; that from the Khatyrka basin is Oligocene and that from the Anadyr' basin is Miocene. The potential of the Soviet Arctic is huge, with major oil reserves and the largest known gas reserves on the earth.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Meyerhoff, A. A.
spellingShingle Meyerhoff, A. A.
Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
author_facet Meyerhoff, A. A.
author_sort Meyerhoff, A. A.
title Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
title_short Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
title_full Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
title_fullStr Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
title_full_unstemmed Petroleum Basins of the Soviet Arctic
title_sort petroleum basins of the soviet arctic
publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
publishDate 1980
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800033252
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800033252
genre Anadyr
Anadyr'
Barents Sea
Bering Sea
Chukchi
Chukchi Sea
Kara Sea
laptev
Pechora
genre_facet Anadyr
Anadyr'
Barents Sea
Bering Sea
Chukchi
Chukchi Sea
Kara Sea
laptev
Pechora
op_source Geological Magazine
volume 117, issue 2, page 101-186
ISSN 0016-7568 1469-5081
op_rights https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800033252
container_title Geological Magazine
container_volume 117
container_issue 2
container_start_page 101
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