Chapter 1 An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic

Spencer, A. M.; Embry, Ashton F.; Gautier, Donald L.; Stoupakova, A.V.; Sørensen, Kai

doi:10.1144/m35.1

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Most of the above mentioned studies, however, do not consider how thermogenic gas hydrates could be affected by ocean warming, though it can occupy a much larger region both laterally and vertically in the sediments and could potentially store more carbon than pure methane hydrates. This can be particularly important in the Barents Sea as well as Vestnesa Ridge, Beaufort Shelf, and Kara Sea in the Arctic, where petroleum systems are known to exist [ Spencer et al ., ; Dumke et al ., ]. The total amount of carbon released during hydrate dissociation is halved if we omit SII hydrates from the hydrate dissociation estimate in the SW Barents Sea.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The history and future trends of ocean warming‐induced gas hydrate dissociation in the SW Barents Sea

Vadakkepuliyambatta

Chand

Bünz

2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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The Barents Sea is a major part of the Arctic where the Gulf Stream mixes with the cold Arctic waters. Late Cenozoic uplift and glacial erosion have resulted in hydrocarbon leakage from reservoirs, evolution of fluid flow systems, shallow gas accumulations, and hydrate formation throughout the Barents Sea. Here we integrate seismic data observations of gas hydrate accumulations along with gas hydrate stability modeling to analyze the impact of warming ocean waters in the recent past and future (1960–2060). Seismic observations of bottom‐simulating reflectors (BSRs) indicate significant thermogenic gas input into the hydrate stability zone throughout the SW Barents Sea. The distribution of BSR is controlled primarily by fluid flow focusing features, such as gas chimneys and faults. Warming ocean bottom temperatures over the recent past and in future (1960–2060) can result in hydrate dissociation over an area covering 0.03–38% of the SW Barents Sea.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The history and future trends of ocean warming‐induced gas hydrate dissociation in the SW Barents Sea

Vadakkepuliyambatta

Chand

Bünz

2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The long-term paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic history of the Arctic Ocean through this time interval, however, is still poorly known in comparison to other world ocean areas. Major information on the paleoenvironment of the early Arctic is derived from circum-Arctic terrestrial data sets (for references, see next sections) and-concerning the marine records-from petroleum exploration drill holes from the Arctic marginal seas (e.g., Leith et al, 1992;Spencer et al, 2011) and Deep-Sea Drilling Project and ODP drill cores from subarctic regions (Leg 38: Talwani et al, 1976;Leg 104: Eldholm et al, 1989;Leg 105: Srivastava et al, 1989;Leg 151: Thiede et al, 1996;Leg 152: Larsen et al, 1994;Leg 162: Raymo et al, 1999; see Figure 1 for locations). Direct information from sediment cores derived from the central Arctic Ocean is restricted to a very few short sections-at least prior to the IODP-ACEX drilling campaign in 2004 ( Figure 7; Thiede et al, 1990;see below).…”

Section: Long-term Climate Change From Greenhouse To Icehouse Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oceanic anoxic events occurred on a regional to worldwide scale with the most prominent and widespread ones in the Toarcian, the Valanginian, the Aptian-Albian, the Cenomanian-Turonian, and the Coniacian-Santonian (Arthur et al, 1984(Arthur et al, , 1987Brumsack, 1980;de Graciansky et al, 1984;Erba et al, 2004Erba et al, , 2015Erba et al, 2019;Gambacorta et al, 2016;Méhay et al, 2009;Ohkouchi et al, 2015;Rais et al, 2007;Schlanger & Jenkyns, 1976;Stein et al, 1986). Upper Jurassic to Cretaceous black shales were also deposited in all the large circum-Arctic sedimentary basins (e.g., North Alaskan Basin, Mackenzie Delta Basin, Sverdrup Basin, Barents Shelf, and western Siberia) that are highly productive in terms of gas and oil (e.g., Bakke et al, 1998;Dixon et al, 1992;Leith et al, 1992;Lenniger et al, 2014;Spencer et al, 2011).…”

Section: The Cretaceous Arctic Ocean: Warm Euxinic and Productive mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What about marine sedimentary records from the Arctic Ocean representing information about climatic conditions during (late Jurassic to) Cretaceous times, that is, at times when the Arctic Ocean was probably much more isolated from the world ocean in terms of deep-water connection (Figure 8)? The isolation of the Arctic Ocean at those times was an important prerequisite for the development of widespread anoxic/euxinic conditions during the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous (e.g., Spencer et al, 2011). As already mentioned above, most of the sedimentological, micropaleontological, and geochemical data available for paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the Arctic realm during this time interval are from petroleum exploration drill holes from the marginal seas such as the Barents Sea and along the Norwegian continental margin (Figure 8), whereas data from the central Arctic Ocean are restricted to a few short sediment cores ( Figure 9; see below).…”

Section: The Cretaceous Arctic Ocean: Warm Euxinic and Productive mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Late Mesozoic‐Cenozoic Arctic Ocean Climate and Sea Ice History: A Challenge for Past and Future Scientific Ocean Drilling

Stein

2019

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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Over the past 3-4 decades, coincident with global warming and atmospheric CO 2 increase, Arctic sea ice has significantly decreased in its extent as well as in thickness. When extrapolating this alarming trend, the central Arctic Ocean might become ice-free during summers within about the next 2-5 decades. Paleoclimate records allow us to better understand the processes controlling modern climate change and distinguish between natural and anthropogenic forcing. In this context, detailed studies of the earlier Earth history characterized by a much warmer global climate with elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are important. The main focus of this review paper is the long-term late Mesozoic-Cenozoic Arctic Ocean climate history from Greenhouse to Icehouse conditions, with special emphasis on Arctic sea ice history. Starting with some information on the Cretaceous Arctic Ocean climate, this paper will concentrate on selected results from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 302 (Arctic Ocean Coring Expedition (ACEX)), the first scientific drilling in the permanently ice-covered Arctic Ocean, dealing with the Cenozoic climate history. While these results from ACEX were unprecedented, key questions related to the Cenozoic Arctic climate history remain unanswered, largely due to the major mid-Cenozoic hiatus (if existing) and partly to the poor recovery of the ACEX record. Following-up ACEX and its cutting-edge science, a second scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge with a focus on the reconstruction of the continuous and complete Cenozoic Arctic Ocean climate history has currently been proposed and scheduled as IODP Expedition 377 for 2021.

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“…Despite a lack of direct dating of basement material, most models for the opening of the Canada Basin assume that sea-floor spreading occurred during the Cretaceous on the basis of stratigraphic similarities along the basin's margins (e.g. Lawver and Scotese, 1990;Grantz et al, 2011a;Mosher et al, 2012;Spencer et al, 2011;Lane, 1997).…”

Section: The Arctic Oceanic Realmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the Assembly of Arctic Alaska: Provenance and Geochemical Data from the Doonerak Fenster and Endicott Mountains Allochthon

Frier¹

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The Doonerak fenster of the central Brooks Range contains the Apoon assemblage, a suite of Early Paleozoic mafic-to-intermediate volcanic and siliciclastic rocks. The fenster exposes deep structural levels of the Brooks Range between regions of Laurentian and non-Laurentian origin in Arctic Alaska. During the Mesozoic to Cenozoic formation of the Brooks Range, Upper Devonian to Triassic siliciclastic and carbonate rocks of the Endicott Mountains allochthon were thrusted northward and juxtaposed over the top of this volcanic suite. New geochemical data indicates that the Apoon assemblage formed as part of an island arc complex. The assemblage contains basaltic-to-andesitic rocks with diverse textures, including pillow basalts and cross-cutting dikes and sills. Enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (e.g. Cs, Rb, Ba, Th), depletion in high field strength elements (e.g. Nb, P, Zr, Ti), and chondritenormalized rare-earth element (REE) trends within the Apoon volcanics are consistent with formation in an island arc setting and corroborate previous work. Detrital zircon spectra from volcaniclastic portions of the Apoon assemblage show a prominent unimodal 440-530 Ma population centered on 504 Ma with only minor populations potentially derived from Laurentia. The siliciclastic units unconformably overlying the Apoon assemblage (Ellesmerian sequence) and those of the Endicott Mountains allochthon mostly lack detritus from this 504 Ma population and are instead dominated by 400-440 Ma populations centered on ~420 Ma. While this is dissimilar from the Apoon assemblage, detritus of this age is common in rocks of the Canadian Arctic, Svalbard, and eastern Greenland and is associated with the Caledonian orogeny. The coexistence of Caledonian detritus alongside 800-550 Ma populations within samples from the northern margin of the fenster also indicates a connection to the Timanian orogen of northern Baltica. The youngest portions of the Apoon assemblage also show significant Laurentian and Caledonian age detritus. This shift in provenance could be explained by the closure of an oceanic basin, providing newly integrated sediment pathways. Collectively, evidence presented here indicates that the Apoon assemblage formed as part of an island arc, which initially formed in a relatively isolated geographic position and received detritus from mostly proximal sources (single unimodal 504 Ma population). This arc progressively approached and eventually docked onto the margin of northwest Laurentian during closure of the northernmost Iapetus Ocean, eventually amalgamating regions of Laurentian and non-Laurentian origin. Thus, the Doonerak fenster preserves an island arc complex and marks the location of a Paleozoic suture between Laurentian and non-Laurentian portions of Arctic Alaska.

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Chapter 1 An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic

Abstract: Nine main petroleum provinces containing recoverable resources totalling 61 Bbbl liquids þ 269 Bbbloe of gas are known in the Arctic.

Cited by 29 publications

References 53 publications

The history and future trends of ocean warming‐induced gas hydrate dissociation in the SW Barents Sea

The history and future trends of ocean warming‐induced gas hydrate dissociation in the SW Barents Sea

The Late Mesozoic‐Cenozoic Arctic Ocean Climate and Sea Ice History: A Challenge for Past and Future Scientific Ocean Drilling

Insights into the Assembly of Arctic Alaska: Provenance and Geochemical Data from the Doonerak Fenster and Endicott Mountains Allochthon

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