Hydrocarbons

Ammonites and bivalves in oil shale from Svalbard.Over time, the black mud is buried under younger sediments and becomes a part of the rock record. 

Trapped in reservoirs

As the mudstones are heated, the organic material is transformed to oil or gas, which migrates upward through fractures and open space in the rocks until it is trapped and can move no farther. 

There the hydrocarbons form underground reservoirs, tapped by Sampling oil shales in Draschedalen, Svalbard. drilling. 

NGU scientists, in collaboration with the AIRIE Program at Colorado State University (USA), are advancing exploration for hydrocarbon reservoirs in Norway's Arctic environment.

From source to reservoir

Two uncommon metals, rhenium (Re) and osmium (Os), are concentrated in sulfides and organic material in the black mudstones, and can be used to Holly Stein helps bag and label shale samples.trace the hydrocarbons from source to reservoir. 

Decay of 187Re to 187Os provides a radiometric clock that records the depositional age of mudstones, and generates a unique 187Os/188Os ratio that fingerprints the organic material. 

Re-Os geochemistry of probable source rocks on Svalbard will reveal the timing and pathways for hydrocarbon migration to Barents Sea reservoirs.