Late Cretaceous Arctic Source Rock Project 2018-2019
Late Cretaceous, marine, organic-rich mudstone units containing oil-prone intervals are found across more than 1,200,000 km2 of the Canadian-Alaskan continental shelf, from the Canadian Arctic Islands to the Beaufort Sea, Northern Alaska. Source-rock intervals have the potential to extend offshore into the adjacent Amerasia Basin. The timing and lateral continuity of such intervals within this mudstone-dominated succession is, however, poorly known, both on- and offshore. This project sought to address this by characterising the source-rock potential of the Late Cretaceous Smoking Hills and Mason River formations of the Anderson Basin exposed along the Bathurst Peninsula, Canada, and placing these strata within a wider regional context. The project built on previous work as part of the Canadian Arctic Islands Project, which investigated Late Cretaceous mudstones of the Kanguk Formation in the Sverdrup Basin farther to the east.
Four reports were released over the course of this project. Reports one and three focused on constraining the age of the Smoking Hills and Mason River formations using biostratigraphy and U-Pb zircon geochronology, respectively. The sedimentology and depositional environment of these formations were described and discussed in report one. The source rock potential of these formations was investigated in report four using a combination of rock-eval pyrolysis, biomarker, and vitrinite reflectance techniques. Report two built on previous research as part of the Canadian Arctic Islands Project by presenting an extended combined zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotope dataset from volcanic ash layers of the Kanguk Formation.
Completed: October 2022.
Contact(s): Stephen Vincent
Reports Issued in This Project
- Source rock characteristics of Cretaceous mudstone in the Anderson Basin CASP.LCASR.4
- U-Pb age and geochemistry of bentonites from Late Cretaceous strata of the Anderson Basin CASP.LCASR.3
- An expanded combined U-Pb age and Hf isotope dataset from bentonites of the Kanguk Formation, Sverdrup Basin CASP.LCASR.2
- The Late Cretaceous Smoking Hills Formation source rock in the Anderson Basin: biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment CASP.LCASR.1
Products
- Thematic Research
- Mudrock Seals in CO2 Storage Systems Thematic Research
- Bunter Sandstone Storage Complex Thematic Research
- A palynozonation of the Bunter Sandstone CO2 storage complex: onshore analogue study (CASP.BSSC.1)
- Palynostratigraphy of the Bunter Sandstone CO2 storage complex in the Southern North Sea (CASP.BSSC.2)
- Cyclostratigraphy of the Early to Middle Triassic of the Southern North Sea (CASP.BSSC.3)
- Reservoir composition and diagenesis (CASP.BSSC.4)
- Controls on Bunter Sandstone composition (CASP.BSSC.5)
- Middle Triassic seals – onshore analogue study (CASP.BSSC.6)
- Middle Triassic seals – UK and Dutch offshore wells study (CASP.BSSC.7)
- Reactions and Flow of CO2 Fluid in Compositionally Immature Sandstones Thematic Research
- The Impact of Volcaniclastic Rocks on CO2 Storage Thematic Research
- Non-thematic Research
- Reports
- Project History
- Data Packages
- Geological Collections and Data