Rhenium-Osmium in the Arctic
Prosjektleder: Bernard Bingen, Holly Stein og Judith Hannah
Prosjektets varighet: 01. januar 2007 - 01. januar 2012
The Rhenium-Osmium isotopic method is emerging as a powerful tool to fingerprint and date hydrocarbon source rocks, date hydrocarbon migration, and correlate migrated hydrocarbons with their source.
Black shale with Daonella bivalves, Botneheia Formation, Svalbard.
Leading research institutes and petroleum companies in Norway and the United States are working together to bring on-line new, exploration-relevant, technologies using Re-Os.
The project addresses case studies in Arctic regions of immediate interest to the Norwegian petroleum industry.
Using Permian to Cretaceous black shales from Svalbard, East Greenland, and the Barents and Norwegian Shelves, along with hydrocarbon samples from Barents Shelf, we will:
(1) Derive absolute ages from Re-Os geochronology and compare to relative ages from biostratigraphy to test accuracy and resolution of isotopic dating techniques
(2) Chart variations in initial 187Os/188Os ratios for Lower Carboniferous, Upper Permian, Middle Triassic, Upper Jurassic, and Lower Cretaceous shales to fingerprint source rocks
(3) Determine Re-Os geochemistry for hydrocarbon samples and model Os isotopic evolution through maturation and migration history
(4) Merge results from Re-Os data with hydrocarbon migration models in collaboration with industry partners, to enhance exploration strategies and demonstrate utility of the Re-Os method.