Low-level aeromagnetic surveying for petroleum in arctic Alaska

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989 · United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (USA)

OSTI ID:6844143

Donovan, T J; Hendricks, J D; Roberts, A A; Eliason, P T

Magnetic anomalies of high wave number measured over oil fields have been interpreted as reflecting abundant near-surface magnetic minerals formed as a direct result of petroleum seepage. The investigation reported here, undertaken during the summer of 1979, demonstrates that these kinds of anomalies are associated with known occurrences of petroleum in northern Alaska. Because routine geological and geophysical information is especially difficult and expensive to acquire in northern Alaska, rapidly gathered and relatively inexpensive aeromagnetic data that might conceivably serve as an indirect indicator of hydrocarbons could have an impact on exploration activities there. Additionally, documentation of microseepage-related phenomena is an important step toward understanding petroleum microseepage in a permafrost environment. Rocks above and adjacent to the Barrow arch, a buried regional feature along the north coast of Alaska, are a primary habitat for oil and gas, but the geologic framework and the geology of petroleum occurrence are complex. Upper Devonian to lowermost Cretaceous carbonate and clastic rocks derived from northern sources were deposited in a basin that deepened southward. These rocks contain four of the five major reservoirs in the Prudhoe Bay field, which is located on the arch 330 km southeast of Barrow. Formation of the ancestral Brooks Range and the opening of the Arctic Ocean in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous caused southern sediment sources to replace the northern landmass. Subsequent subsidence and tilting of the continental margin toward the opening Arctic Ocean resulted in the formation of the Barrow arch. The Barrow arch was onlapped and overlapped in Late Cretaceous and Tertiary times by a series of clastic wedges that filled northeastward-migrating foredeeps.

• OSTI ID: 6844143
• Journal Information: United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (USA), Journal Name: United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (USA)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
ALASKA
STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE
MAGNETIC SURVEYS
AERIAL SURVEYING
CARBONATE ROCKS
DEPOSITION
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MINERALS
OIL FIELDS
PERMAFROST
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
PRUDHOE BAY
RESERVOIR ROCK
SEEPS
SOURCE ROCKS
TRANSIENTS
ARCTIC OCEAN
BAYS
BEAUFORT SEA
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
RESERVES
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
USA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration