Ice loading and its effects on sedimentary basins and the carbon cycle

• Main Author: Amberg, Sebastian Christoph
• Other Authors: Littke, Ralf, Back, Stefan
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: RWTH Aachen University 2022
• Subjects: info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550; Barents Sea; basin and petroleum system modeling; central european basin system; glacial cycles; quaternary; sedimentary basins; seismic interpretation
• Online Access: https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/958658; https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-2023-05370%22

Glaciations during the Pleistocene profoundly influenced the Earth’s system, e.g., the morphology, the climate, and the subsurface. This thesis investigates the influence of Pleistocene glaciations on parts of the subsurface in Central and North Europe. Two sedimentary systems, the Netherlands and the northern Barents Sea, were selected as the main study areas because they are regarded as two end members of glacial ice coverage and duration. Numerical basin modeling is used as the main tool in this study to enhance the understanding of glacial-related influences on different parameters in the subsurface, e.g., temperature distribution, rock properties, and fluid migration. Chapter 2 presents an integrated 3D numerical basin modeling and seismic interpretation study of the onshore northeastern Netherlands, where burial and temperature histories were reconstructed for four different geological structural elements (Groningen Platform, Lauwerszee Trough, Friesland Platform, and Lower Saxony Basin). Temperature and vitrinite reflectance data from 28 wells were used to evaluate burial and temperature histories. Seismic interpretation was used to assist in identifying erosion events throughout the area. This combined approach resulted in modeled burial and maturity histories for each of the four structural elements. Additionally, the hydrocarbon generation in major source rock intervals of Carboniferous, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sedimentary layers was simulated. Modeling results indicate the highest present-day temperatures and maturities of the Paleozoic sedimentary succession in the Lauwerszee Trough and the Lower Saxony Basin, where the deepest burial occurred. Two major phases of deep burial and subsequent uplift occurred in Carboniferous to Permian and Triassic to Jurassic times. Both intervals govern the maturation and transformation of kerogen from Paleozoic source rocks. The highest modeled present-day maturities of Mesozoic sediments is calculated in depressions between salt diapirs in the Lower Saxony Basin. ...