Influence of Quaternary glaciations on subsurface temperatures, pore pressures, rock properties and petroleum systems in the onshore northeastern Netherlands

Amberg, Sebastian; Sachse, Victoria; Littke, Ralf; Back, Stefan

doi:10.1017/njg.2022.6

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Changes in the subsurface temperature distribution caused by phases of glaciation have been described in a number of areas in the Northern Hemisphere (Grassmann et al, 2010;Sachse and Littke, 2018;Cox, 2021;Amberg et al, 2022). The changes are most pronounced in the uppermost parts of the sedimentary succession and weaken with increasing depth (Grassmann et al, 2010;Sachse and Littke, 2018;Amberg et al, 2022). The effect on the temperature distribution varies in different geological settings.…”

Section: Temperature and Pressure Effects Of Cyclic Glaciationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effect on the temperature distribution varies in different geological settings. In Central Europe, temperature decreases of up to 9 °C down to a depth of 1000 m have been calculated for a setting with limited glacial erosion (Amberg et al, 2022). A basin modelling study on the Greenland Shelf with up to 500 m of glacial erosion determined a temperature decrease of up to 28 °C at a presentday burial depth of about 250 m (Cox, 2020).…”

Section: Temperature and Pressure Effects Of Cyclic Glaciationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effects on petroleum systems include lowered reservoir temperatures (Grassmann et al, 2010) and the redistribution of hydrocarbons (Ohm et al, 2008). More recently however, the effects of Pleistocene glaciations have been incorporated into petroleum systems models in areas including the SW Barents Sea (Cavanagh et al, 2006;Rodrigues Duran et al, 2013;Ostanin et al, 2017;Kishankov et al, 2022), Central Europe (Grassmann et al, 2010;Sachse and Littke, 2018;Amberg et al, 2022), and Greenland (Cox, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Pleistocene Glaciation on Petroleum Systems and Gas Hydrate Stability in the Olga Basin Region, Barents Sea

Amberg,

Littke,

Lutz

et al. 2024

Journal of Petroleum Geology

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This study presents the results of a 2D numerical basin and petroleum systems model of the Olga Basin in the NW Barents Sea offshore northern Norway, a frontier exploration area in which there are abundant seafloor oil and gas seepages. The effects of Pleistocene ice sheet advances on rock properties and subsurface fluid migration in this area, and on seafloor hydrocarbon seepage, are not well understood. The 2D numerical model takes account of recurrent ice advances and retreats, together with related erosional and temperature effects, and investigates the influence of these parameters on fluid migration. Model results show that Pleistocene glaciations reduced the temperature in the sedimentary succession in the Olga Basin by up to 20 °C, for example in the uppermost Cretaceous and Jurassic sediments which underlie the seafloor down to a depth of 0.5 to 1 km. The decrease in temperature was in general predominantly related to the intensity of glacial erosion, which was set in this study to a depth of 600 m based on previous studies. Hydrocarbon fluids expelled from potential thermogenic source rocks of Carboniferous to Triassic ages on the SW margin of the Olga Basin migrated to the seafloor through permeable carrier beds. However, fluid migration to the surface in the NE of the study area took place along fault conduits. In a closed fault model scenario, only 0.3 Mt of hydrocarbons are modelled to have migrated along the 0.5 km wide model section; in a second scenario with partially open faults, about 22 Mt of hydrocarbons, representing about 11% of the total hydrocarbons generated by potential thermogenic source rocks in the study area, were lost to the surface during the Pleistocene. The potential for microbial methane generation in the Olga Basin was limited both during the Pleistocene and at the present day due to the significant reduction in temperature during glacial episodes, and due to the intense glacial‐related erosion of the Mesozoic to Cenozoic stratigraphy. During glacial stages, the gas hydrate stability zone beneath the ice sheet is modelled to have extended to a depth of up to 900 m for a pure methane composition, and to a depth of up to 1100 m for a possible thermogenic‐sourced mixed gas composition of 90% methane, 7% propane and 3% ethane. Gas hydrates with this mixed composition are modelled to have been stable in the Olga Basin during the last three glacial advances and into the present. These modelling results provide an insight into the key factors controlling the migration and surface leakage of hydrocarbon fluids in the Olga Basin region, and into the effects of glaciations on rock properties in a glaciated basin.

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Section: Temperature and Pressure Effects Of Cyclic Glaciationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Temperature and Pressure Effects Of Cyclic Glaciationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Pleistocene Glaciation on Petroleum Systems and Gas Hydrate Stability in the Olga Basin Region, Barents Sea

Amberg,

Littke,

Lutz

et al. 2024

Journal of Petroleum Geology

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“…In particular, we considered the global topographic position index 26 , a parameter useful to measure topographic slope positions and to automate landform classifications. Regions de-glaciated in the last 50ka are characterized by low present-day temperatures and a low geothermal gradient in the shallow subsurface [41][42][43] . We argue that this condition may have an effect on the distribution of geothermal springs in these regions.…”

Section: Machine Learning Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Global thermal spring distribution and relationship to endogenous and exogenous factors

et al. 2022

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Here we present digitization and analysis of the thermal springs of the world dataset compiled by Gerald Ashley Waring in 1965 into a collection of analog maps. We obtain the geographic coordinates of ~6,000 geothermal spring areas, including complementary data (e.g., temperature, total dissolved solids, flow rate), making them available in electronic format. Using temperature and flow rate, we derive the heat discharged from 1483 thermal spring areas (between ~10−5 and ~103 MW, with a median value of ~0.5 MW and ~8300 MW in total). We integrate this data set with other global data sets to study the relationship between thermalism and endogenous and exogenous factors with a supervised machine learning algorithm. This analysis confirms a dominant role of the terrestrial heat flow, topography, volcanism and extensional tectonics. This data set offers new insights and will boost future studies in geothermal energy exploration.

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“…The load of the ice sheets affected the Earth's crust and glacial isostatic adjustment (Lambeck et al, 2014), and processes such as postglacial rebound (Spada, 2017) or hydrogeological adaptations (Amberg et al, 2022;Frick et al, 2022) are still ongoing.…”

Section: Introduction and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Physical modeling of ice-sheet-induced salt movements using the example of northern Germany

Hardt,

Dooley,

Hudec

2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Salt structures and their surroundings can play an important role in the energy transition related to a number of storage and energy applications. Thus, it is important to assess the current and future stability of salt bodies in their specific geological settings. We investigate the influence of glacial loading and unloading on subsurface salt structures using physical models, based on the example of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in northern Germany. Apparent spatial correlations between subsurface salt structures in northern Germany and Weichselian ice marginal positions have been observed before and the topic is a matter of ongoing debate. Recently described geomorphological features – termed surface cracks – have been interpreted as a direct result of ice sheet induced salt movement resulting in surface expansion. The spatial clustering and orientation of these surface cracks was so far not well understood, owing to only a limited number of available studies dealing with the related salt tectonic processes. Thus, we use four increasingly complex physical models to test the basic loading and unloading principle, to analyze flow patterns within the source-layer salt and within salt structures, and to examine the influence of the shape and orientation of salt structures with respect to a lobate ice margin in a three-dimensional laboratory environment. Three salt structures of the northern German basin were selected as examples that were replicated in the laboratory. Salt structures were initially grown by differential loading, and buried before loading. The ice load was simulated by a weight that was temporarily placed on a portion of the surface of the models. The replicated salt structures were either completely covered by the load, partly covered by the load, or were situated outside the load extent. In all scenarios, a dynamic response of the system to the load could be observed: while the load was applied, the structures outside the load margin started to rise, with a decreasing tendency with distance from the load margin and, at the same time, the structures under load subsided. After the load was removed, a flow reversal set in and previously loaded structures started to rise, whereas the structures outside the former load margin began to subside. The vertical displacements during the unloading stage were not as strong as during the load stage, and thus the system did not return to its pre-glaciation status. Modeled salt domes that were located at distance from the load margin showed a comparably weak reaction. A more extreme response was shown by modeled salt pillows whose margins varied from sub- parallel to sub-perpendicular to the load margin, and were partly covered by the load. Under these conditions, the structures showed a strong reaction in terms of strain and vertical displacement. The observed strain patterns at the surface were influenced by the shape of the load margin and the shape of the salt structure at depth, resulting in complex deformation patterns. These physical modeling results provide more evidence for a possible interplay between ice sheets and subsurface salt structures, highlighting the significance of three-dimensional effects in dynamic geological settings. Our results lead to a better understanding of spatial patterns of the surface cracks that were mapped at the surface above salt structures.

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Influence of Quaternary glaciations on subsurface temperatures, pore pressures, rock properties and petroleum systems in the onshore northeastern Netherlands

Cited by 4 publications

References 72 publications

Influence of Pleistocene Glaciation on Petroleum Systems and Gas Hydrate Stability in the Olga Basin Region, Barents Sea

Influence of Pleistocene Glaciation on Petroleum Systems and Gas Hydrate Stability in the Olga Basin Region, Barents Sea

Global thermal spring distribution and relationship to endogenous and exogenous factors

Physical modeling of ice-sheet-induced salt movements using the example of northern Germany

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