Origin of petroleum in the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian South Oman Salt Basin

Grosjean, Emmanuelle; Love, Gordon D.; Stalvies, Charlotte; Fike, David A.; Summons, Roger E.

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.09.011

Cited by 188 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In addition, the abundance and diversity of fossil 24-alkylated steranes that is found in Cryogenian and Ediacaran rocks (Briggs and Summons, 2014;Brocks et al, 2016;Grosjean et al, 2009;Kelly et al, 2011;Pawlowska et al, 2013) matches what is known from the record of preserved physical fossils Knoll et al, 2006). Consistent with fossil evidence for an increasing presence and diversification of protists in the midNeoproterozoic (Butterfield, 2015;Knoll, 2014), a recent study of well-preserved sediments from c. 800-750 Ma indicates steranes can be abundant in rocks of this age but that cholestane is dominant and its 24-alkylated counterparts are undetectable, a phenomenon that is not known at any other time in Earth's history (Brocks et al, 2016).…”

Section: Genetic Evidence For Early Sterol Biosynthesis and The Recomentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen

Gold

Caron

Fournier

et al. 2017

Nature

108

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The Record of Precambrian Steroidal HydrocarbonsThe record of sterane and triterpane hydrocarbon biomarkers in Archean and Proterozoic sedimentary rocks has come under extremely thorough scrutiny in recent times. Concerns about contamination, and doubts about reports of steroidal hydrocarbons in the 2.7 billion year-old Fortescue Group sediments of the Pilbara Craton (Brocks et al., 1999), were initially raised in 2003(Brocks et al., 2003. These potential problems became increasingly difficult to dismiss when new and improved types of geochemical analyses were devised and applied. For example, Brocks and colleagues showed that a selection of rock and sediment samples from a range of localities were ubiquitously contaminated with petroleum-and plastic-derived organic compounds . Analyses of thin slices of sediment core showed that spatial distributions of hydrocarbons could be used to distinguish indigenous hydrocarbons from surface contaminants in Archean shales (Brocks, 2011). In another example, the carbon isotopic data values of in situ and insoluble kerogen and pyrobitumen in rock formations that had previously yielded biomarkers were discrepant from those of the extractable hydrocarbons, meaning that the latter could not be indigenous (Rasmussen et al., 2008).

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Section: Genetic Evidence For Early Sterol Biosynthesis and The Recomentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen

Gold

Caron

Fournier

et al. 2017

Nature

108

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Section: Evidence For C-rich Gondwanan Sedimentary Rocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thick packages of Ediacaran C-rich mudstone are found in northwest Canada, East Greenland, Svalbard, central Australia, throughout north Africa, India, Pakistan and Siberia (Halverson and Hurtgen, 2007;Grosjean et al, 2009). In Oman, these rocks represent the oldest-known source material for economically significant oil deposits (Grosjean et al, 2009). Extensive C-rich Cambro-Ordovician sedimentary rocks are found in Arabia, northern Africa, India, Australia (Delamerian Orogen, Grampians, Stawell Zone, Bendigo Zone, Melbourne Zone, Eastern Lachlan Orogen and Tyennan Orogen), New Zealand, Antarctica, South Africa and South America (northern Patagonia) (Squire et al, 2006a, and references therein).…”

Section: Evidence For C-rich Gondwanan Sedimentary Rocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mountains that triggered the Late Neoproterozoic increase in oxygen: The Second Great Oxidation Event

Campbell

Squire

2010

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

139

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The consensus view is that the O 2 concentration of the Archean atmosphere was very low and that it rose to its present level of 21% in a series of steps, two of which dwarf the others in importance. The first, known as the Great Oxidation Event, occurred at $2.4 Ga. It involved an increase in the relative abundance of O 2 , which has been estimated at three orders of magnitude, and it is important because it led to the first surface weathering. The second, although less important in relative terms, involved the addition of 9 Â 10 17 kg of O 2 to the atmosphere, at least ten times as much as that required to produce the Great Oxidation Event. Its importance lies in the fact that it correlates with the rise of animals in the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian periods. Although it is widely accepted that an increase in atmospheric O 2 facilitated the appearance of animals at $575 Ma, followed by the Cambrian Explosion $50 Myr later, the cause of this increase remains controversial. We show that the surge in the O 2 level near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary correlates with major episodes of continent-continent collision associated with Gondwana's amalgamation, including convergence between East and West Gondwana, which produced the 8000-km-long Transgondwanan Supermountains. The eroded roots of these mountains include the oldest lawsonite-bearing blueschists and eclogites, and ultra high-pressure metamorphic rocks. The sudden appearance of these lowthermal gradient, high-pressure metamorphic rocks implies that the Gondwanan orogenic zones were cooler and stronger than those associated with the assembly of earlier supercontinents and therefore capable of supporting higher mountains.There is a log-linear relationship between relief and erosion rate, and a linear relationship between sedimentation rate and organic C burial. Taken together these two relationships imply a log-linear relationship between relief and C sequestration. We suggest that the Gondwanan supermountains were higher than those produced during the assembly of earlier supercontinents and that rapid erosion of these mountains released a large flux of essential nutrients, including Fe and P, into the rivers and oceans, which triggered an explosion of algae and cyanobacteria. This, in turn, produced a marked increase in the production rate of photosynthetic O 2 . Rapid sedimentation during this period promoted high rates of burial of biogenic pyrite and organic matter generated during photosynthesis so that they could not back react with O 2 , leading to a sustained increase in atmospheric O 2 .

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“…The facies in the Oman Mountains are H 2 S rich instead of petroliferous, but their black color speaks to a history rich in organic carbon. Additional source rock potential comes from the underlying shales of the Masirah Bay Formation that are organic rich (Terken et al, 2001;Grosjean et al, 2009).…”

Section: Implications For Hydrocarbon Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facies, stratigraphy, and evolution of a middle Ediacaran carbonate ramp: Khufai Formation, Sultanate of Oman

Osburn¹,

Grotzinger²,

Bergmann³

2014

Bulletin

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The Khufai Formation is the oldest carbonate platform of the Cryogenian to lowermost Cambrian Huqf Supergroup. A stratigraphic characterization of this unit includes detailed facies descriptions, a sequence-stratigraphic interpretation, and evaluation of lateral heterogeneity and overall ramp evolution. The Khufai Formation comprises one and one-half depositional sequences with a maximum flooding interval near the base of the formation and a sequence boundary within the upper peritidal facies. Most of the deposition occurred during highstand progradation of a carbonate ramp. Facies tracts include outer-ramp and midramp mudstones and wackestones, ramp-crest grainstone shoal deposits, and extensive inner-ramp, microbially dominated peritidal deposits. Outcrops in the Oman Mountains are deepwater deposits, including turbiditic grainstone and wackestone interbedded with siliciclastic-rich siltstone and crinkly laminite. Facies patterns and parasequence composition are variable both laterally across the outcrop area and vertically through time because of a combination of ramp morphology, siliciclastic supply, and possible syndepositional faulting. The lithostratigraphic boundary between the Khufai Formation and the overlying Shuram Formation is gradational and represents significant flooding of the carbonate platform. The stratigraphic characterization presented here along with the identification of key facies and diagenetic features will help further future exploration and production of hydrocarbons from the Khufai Formation.

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Origin of petroleum in the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian South Oman Salt Basin

Cited by 188 publications

References 57 publications

Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen

Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen

The mountains that triggered the Late Neoproterozoic increase in oxygen: The Second Great Oxidation Event

Facies, stratigraphy, and evolution of a middle Ediacaran carbonate ramp: Khufai Formation, Sultanate of Oman

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