Geochemical assessment of natural seep oils from Parsons Pond western Newfoundland

Conference · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · American Chemical Society, Division of Petroleum Chemistry, Preprints; (USA)

OSTI ID:6821780

Weaver, F J; Macko, S A ^[1]; Walters, C ^[2]

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1. Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, St Johns (Canada)
2. Mobil Research and Development, Dallas, TX (USA)

Steranes and terpanes indicate that the oil is more mature than the shale extracts. The observed increase in maturation toward the Long Range Mountains is interpreted as a result of the tectonic activity during Acadian Orogeny. High hopane to sterane ratios indicates good preservation under anoxic conditions. A large percent of hopanes, high C{sub 34}/C{sub 24}, diterpanes (> 1.02), low C{sub 30}{alpha}{beta}/{alpha}{beta}+{beta}{alpha} terpanes (< 1) and high relative percent of rearranged steranes to normal steranes can be interpreted as influence from diverse prokaryotic organisms. The dominance of nC{sub 13} to nC{sub 19}, rich isoprenoids, abundant terpanes and dominance of C{sub 29}sterane over C{sub 28} indicates algal input. An interpretation of regional changes in association to the seeps indicates that the oil (which itself is moderately mature) has been generated by: (1) more easterly portions of the allochthon or (2) as a result of the generation of HC from thermal stress which occurred associated with thrust surfaces. The distribution of the biomarkers indicates a correlation between the seep oils and the Green Point Formation of the Cow Head Group.

• OSTI ID: 6821780
• Report Number(s): CONF-8904126--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: American Chemical Society, Division of Petroleum Chemistry, Preprints; (USA) Journal Volume: 34:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
&amp; Exploration
023000 -- Petroleum-- Properties &amp; Composition
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
AUSTRALASIA
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMISTRY
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
MATURATION
MINERAL RESOURCES
NEW ZEALAND
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SHALES