Petroleum systems framework of significant new oil discoveries in a giant Cretaceous (Aptian–Cenomanian) clinothem in Arctic Alaska

Integrating stratigraphic modelling, inversion analysis, and shelf‐margin records to guide provenance analysis: An example from the Cretaceous Colville Basin, Arctic Alaska

“…We propose a stratigraphic inverse method to reconstruct the magnitude of sediment discharge from shelf-margin records. The proposed workflow includes: (a) a forward model simulating the evolution of a source-to-sink system and calculating the position of the shelf margin, (b) calibration between F I G U R E 1 (a) Regional stratigraphic column of Late Cretaceous Colville Basin (Modified from Schenk et al, 2012;Houseknecht, 2019) the position of the shelf margin observed from seismic data and the model output, and (c) an inversion algorithm which is designed to sample complex multimodal objective functions and increase computational efficiency. The detailed process of this method is illustrated below.…”

“…In our Colville Basin example, we specifically focus on clinoform and shelf-margin evolution from 120 to 97 My because both the locations and ages of the shelf margins in this interval are well documented (Houseknecht, 2019;Houseknecht et al, 2009;Lease & Houseknecht, 2017). We incorporate the results from Schenk et al (2012) to set up the geometry of the Colville Basin with an area of 900 km × 750 km (Figure 3).…”

Photogrammetry-derived digital surface model and orthoimagery of Slope Mountain, North Slope, Alaska, June 2018

“…The goal of this data release is to provide a visual and quantitative context for the stratigraphy at Slope Mountain in support of geologic and petroleum systems studies. Slope Mountain is a road-accessible, world-class outcrop of the Cretaceous Nanushuk and Torok Formations, which form oil reservoirs in recent major petroleum discoveries on the North Slope (Houseknecht and others, 2017;Houseknecht, 2019). The Slope Mountain stratigraphy records chiefly progradational sedimentation, with depositional systems extending along depositional strike toward the recent discoveries farther north, providing a valuable outcrop analog to subsurface reservoirs (see LePain and others, 2009;Houseknecht, 2019).…”

“…Slope Mountain is a road-accessible, world-class outcrop of the Cretaceous Nanushuk and Torok Formations, which form oil reservoirs in recent major petroleum discoveries on the North Slope (Houseknecht and others, 2017;Houseknecht, 2019). The Slope Mountain stratigraphy records chiefly progradational sedimentation, with depositional systems extending along depositional strike toward the recent discoveries farther north, providing a valuable outcrop analog to subsurface reservoirs (see LePain and others, 2009;Houseknecht, 2019). Within this context, DGGS recently renewed investigations at Slope Mountain, including generation of measured sections and collection of a geochronology sample suite.…”

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020

“…More recently, significant oil discoveries in stratigraphic traps in the Beaufortian Sequence (for example, the Colville River [or Alpine] Field) have stimulated exploration south of the Barrow Arch. This trend in exploration has resulted in significant (likely giant) oil discoveries between 2013 and 2017 at shallow (around 4,000 feet or 1,200 meters) depths in the Brookian Sequence (Houseknecht, 2019b). These latest discoveries have stimulated renewed leasing across the central North Slope, suggesting that the Brookian Sequence will be the main focus of exploration in coming years.…”