Post-Early Devonian thermal constraints on hydrocarbon source rock maturation in the Keele Tectonic Zone, Tulita area, NWT, Canada, from multi-kinetic apatite fission track thermochronology, vitrinite reflectance and shale compaction

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Research Article| December 01, 2005 Post-Early Devonian thermal constraints on hydrocarbon source rock maturation in the Keele Tectonic Zone, Tulita area, NWT, Canada, from multi-kinetic apatite fission track thermochronology, vitrinite reflectance and shale compaction D.R. Issler; D.R. Issler Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 3303 - 33rd Street NW, Calgary, AB T2L 2A7, dissler@nrcan.gc.ca Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar A.M. Grist; A.M. Grist Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar L.D. Stasiuk L.D. Stasiuk Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 3303 - 33rd Street NW, Calgary, AB T2L 2A7 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information D.R. Issler Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 3303 - 33rd Street NW, Calgary, AB T2L 2A7, dissler@nrcan.gc.ca A.M. Grist Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1 L.D. Stasiuk Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 3303 - 33rd Street NW, Calgary, AB T2L 2A7 Publisher: Canadian Energy Geoscience Association Received: 07 Dec 2004 Accepted: 29 Aug 2005 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 2368-0261 Print ISSN: 0007-4802 © The Society of Canadian Petroleum Geologists Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology (2005) 53 (4): 405–431. https://doi.org/10.2113/53.4.405 Article history Received: 07 Dec 2004 Accepted: 29 Aug 2005 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation D.R. Issler, A.M. Grist, L.D. Stasiuk; Post-Early Devonian thermal constraints on hydrocarbon source rock maturation in the Keele Tectonic Zone, Tulita area, NWT, Canada, from multi-kinetic apatite fission track thermochronology, vitrinite reflectance and shale compaction. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 2005;; 53 (4): 405–431. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/53.4.405 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology Search Advanced Search Abstract New thermal maturity (%Ro, Rock-Eval® pyrolysis), shale compaction and apatite fission track (FT) data were integrated into thermal history models for the East MacKay I-77 petroleum exploration well located approximately 80 km southeast of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories. The study well is in the Keele Tectonic Zone where multiple phases of anomalous Phanerozoic subsidence and uplift have resulted in an Upper Cretaceous–Cenozoic foreland succession resting unconformably on Devonian strata. This major unconformity, which developed during pre- and post-Albian time, displays a thermal maturity discontinuity (0.55–0.75%Ro) and represents approximately 270 m.y. of missing geological record. Linear shale compaction across this unconformity suggests that maximum burial occurred during the Cenozoic, whereas thermal maturity data imply that maximum temperatures were reached sometime between the Devonian and Early Cretaceous. Detrital apatite grains from a single sample from the Upper Devonian Imperial Formation of the I-77 well yielded two FT age populations (90.4±6.1 Ma and 222.2±22.5 Ma; ± one standard deviation) with different thermal annealing properties based on their chlorine content.An inverse multi-kinetic FT annealing model was developed and used to determine thermal histories that are consistent with the FT parameters and other geological constraints. Model results suggest that hydrocarbon generation from Devonian rocks at the I-77 well location occurred during the early Mesozoic prior to the development of Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic structures. Peak FT model temperatures are 124±10°C within the Early Triassic to Middle Jurassic (250–170 Ma), <75°C during the Albian (112–100 Ma) and 97±9°C during the Paleocene-Early Eocene (65–50 Ma). The Cretaceous–Cenozoic thermal history was modelled using a simple burial history with the present geothermal gradient (32°C/km) held constant; a range of geothermal gradients (31–42°C/km) and maximum burial depths for the pre-Aptian thermal history fit Devonian maturity data. If maximum burial was during the Cenozoic, then Mesozoic peak maturity was achieved under a higher geothermal gradient than present. Although hydrocarbon generation pre-dates structural trap development near the I-77 well, Devonian source rocks retain significant hydrocarbon potential. Given the complicated geological history of the central Mackenzie Valley, deeper Cenozoic burial elsewhere in the region may have generated hydrocarbons from Cretaceous and reactivated Devonian source rocks. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

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