An understanding of the temporal evolution of a petroleum system is fundamental to interpreting where hydrocarbons may be trapped in the subsurface. However, traditional exploration methods provide few absolute constraints on the timing of petroleum generation. Here we show that 187Re/187Os geochronology may be applied to natural crude oil seepage to determine when petroleum generation occurred in offshore sedimentary basins. Using asphaltites collected from the South Australian coastline, our determined Re-Os age (68 ± 15 million years ago) is consistent with their derivation from a Late Cretaceous source rock in the nearby Bight Basin, an interpretation similarly favoured by source-specific biomarker constraints. Furthermore, the calculated initial 187Os/188Os composition of the asphaltites, a value inherited from the source rock at the time of oil generation, suggests that the source rock represents the later stage of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. Our results demonstrate a new approach to identifying the origin of crude oils encountered in coastal environments by providing direct constraints on the timing of petroleum generation and potential source rock intervals in poorly characterised offshore sedimentary basins prior to exploratory drilling.

[1] From 5 June to 15 September 2010, a multidisciplinary marine survey was undertaken onboard the M/V Ryan Chouest in the region of the BP Deepwater Horizon incident site in the Gulf of Mexico. The primary objective of the survey was the continuous monitoring of hydrocarbon abundance from sea surface down to a maximum depth of 120 m. Compound abundances were inferred using a hydrocarbon sensor array with associated vertical cast system. In order to better understand the potential inputs from natural seepage in the vicinity of the spill, a Simrad EK60 high-resolution split beam echo sounder, operated at 38 kHz, was included in the survey between 7 July and 15 September 2010. During this period, three fields of natural seeps characterized by hydroacoustic flares were studied in detail. These seep fields are at water depths of approximately 430 m, 880 m, and 1370 m. They are associated with extensive cold seep systems. In particular, the area around Seep Field 1 (the vicinity of Deepwater Horizon) seems to present a vast area of active natural seepages in the Gulf of Mexico. The repeat surveys at two of the fields suggested that the cold seep systems here were active, with expulsions of hydrocarbons into the water column, at least during the periods of our acoustic surveys. Multiple lines of evidence gathered during the survey indicated that the observed hydroacoustic flares at the three fields identified consisted of oily bubble streams of gases of thermogenic origin. However, direct observation and sampling are required to reveal the precise nature of the flares. In the deep water Gulf of Mexico, the formation of a hydrate rim around bubbles seems to be a very important mechanism for the long transport of methane and oil in the water column.

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