Basin Analysis

Philip Allen graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a PhD from Cambridge University. He held lectureships at Cardiff and Oxford, and professorships at Trinity College Dublin, ETH-Zürich and Imperial College London. He is a process-oriented Earth scientist with particular interests in the interactions and feedbacks between the solid Earth and its ‘exosphere’ through the critical interface of the Earth’s surface.John Allen has over 30 years of experience in the international oil and gas industry as a petroleum geologist, exploration manager, senior exploration advisor, and business strategist with British Petroleum (BP) and BHP Billiton, as well as several years of experience as a non-executive director. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

• Companion website details xPreface to the third edition xiPart 1 The foundations of sedimentary basins 11 Basins in their geodynamic environment 3Summary 31.1 Introduction and rationale 31.2 Compositional zonation of the Earth 61.3 Rheological zonation of the Earth 81.4 Geodynamic background 101.5 Classification schemes of sedimentary basins 152 The physical state of the lithosphere 20Summary 202.1 Stress and strain 212.2 Heat flow 312.3 Rock rheology and lithospheric strength profiles 43Part 2 The mechanics of sedimentary basin formation 513 Basins due to lithospheric stretching 53Summary 533.1 Introduction 543.2 Geological and geophysical observations in regions of continental extension 563.3 Uniform stretching of the continental lithosphere 723.4 Modifications to the uniform stretching model 783.5 A dynamical approach to lithospheric extension 883.6 Estimation of the stretch factor and strain rate history 954 Basins due to flexure 98Summary 984.1 Basic observations in regions of lithospheric flexure 994.2 Flexure of the lithosphere: geometry of the deflection 1044.3 Flexural rigidity of oceanic and continental lithosphere 1094.4 Lithospheric buckling and in-plane stress 1164.5 Orogenic wedges 1184.6 Foreland basin systems 1315 Effects of mantle dynamics 153Summary 1535.1 Fundamentals and observations 1545.2 Surface topography and bathymetry produced by mantle flow 1645.3 Mantle dynamics and magmatic activity 1785.4 Mantle dynamics and basin development 1816 Basins associated with strike-slip deformation 188Summary 1886.1 Overview 1896.2 The structural pattern of strike-slip fault systems 1946.3 Basins in strike-slip zones 2016.4 Modelling of pull-apart basins 2096.5 Characteristic depositional systems 217Part 3 The sedimentary basin-fill 2237 The sediment routing system 225Summary 2257.1 The sediment routing system in basin analysis 2267.2 The erosional engine 2277.3 Measurements of erosion rates 2467.4 Channel-hillslope processes 2567.5 Long-range sediment transport and deposition 2607.6 Joined-up thinking: teleconnections in source-to-sink systems 2738 Basin stratigraphy 284Summary 2848.1 A primer on process stratigraphy 285  8.2 Stratigraphic cycles: definition and recognition 2898.3 Dynamical approaches to stratigraphy 3088.4 Landscapes into rock 3159 Subsidence history 326Summary 3269.1 Introduction to subsidence analysis 3279.2 Compressibility and compaction of porous sediments: fundamentals 3279.3 Porosity and permeability of sediments and sedimentary rocks 3309.4 Subsidence history and backstripping 3359.5 Tectonic subsidence signatures 33910 Thermal history 343Summary 34310.1 Introduction 34410.2 Theory: the Arrhenius equation and maturation indices 34410.3 Factors influencing temperatures and paleotemperatures in sedimentary basins 34510.4 Measurements of thermal maturity in sedimentary basins 35410.5 Application of thermal maturity measurements 36110.6 Geothermal and paleogeothermal signatures of basin types 367Part 4 Application to petroleum play assessment 37111 Building blocks of the petroleum play 373Summary 37311.1 From basin analysis to play concept 37411.2 The petroleum system and play concept 37411.3 The source rock 37911.4 The petroleum charge 39311.4.1 Some chemical and physical properties of petroleum 39311.5 The reservoir 40211.6 The regional topseal 41511.7 The trap 41911.8 Global distribution of petroleum resources 43412 Classic and unconventional plays 436Summary 43612.1 Classic petroleum plays 43712.2 Unconventional petroleum plays 44212.3 Geosequestration: an emerging application 449Appendices: derivations and practical exercises 4551 Rock density as a function of depth 4572 Airy isostatic balance 4593 Deviatoric stress at the edge of a continental block 4614 Lateral buoyancy forces in the lithosphere 4635 Derivation of flexural rigidity and the general flexure equation 4656 Flexural isostasy 4687 The 1D heat conduction equation 4708 Derivation of the continental geotherm 4729 Radiogenic heat production 47310 Surface heat flow and the radiogenic contribution 47511 Radiogenic heat production of various rock types 47712 Effects of erosion and deposition on the geotherm 47913 Effects of variable radiogenic heating and thermal conductivity on the geotherm in the basin-fill 48114 The mantle adiabat and peridotite solidus 48515 Lithospheric strength envelopes 48716 Rift zones: strain rate, extension velocity and bulk strain 49017 The ‘reference’ uniform extension model 49218 Boundary conditions for lithospheric stretching 49419 Subsidence as a function of the stretch factor 49620 Inversion of the stretch factor from thermal subsidence data 49721 Calculation of the instantaneous syn-rift subsidence 49922 The transient temperature solution 50123 Heat flow during uniform stretching using a Fourier series 50324 The stretch factor for extension along crustal faults 50525 Protracted rifting times during continental extension 50726 Lithospheric extension and melting 50827 Igneous underplating – an isostatic balance 50928 Uniform stretching at passive margins 51029 Flexure of continuous and broken plates 51130 The time scale of flexural isostatic rebound or subsidence 51331 Flexural rigidity derived from uplifted lake paleoshorelines 51532 Deflection under a distributed load – Jordan (1981) solution 51633 Deflection under a distributed load – numerical solution of Wangen (2010) 51734 Deflection under a periodic distributed load 51935 Flexural unloading from a distributed load – the cantilever effect 52036 Bending from multiple loads: the Hellenides and Apennines in central Italy–Albania 52237 Flexural profiles, subsidence history and the flexural forebulge unconformity 52438 Bending stresses in an elastic plate 52539 In-plane forces and surface topography during orogenesis 52740 The onset of convection 52941 A global predictor for sediment discharge: the BQART equations 53042 Modelling hillslopes 53243 The sediment continuity (Exner) equation 53444 Use of the stream power rule 53545 Effects of tectonic uplift on stream longitudinal profiles 53746 Estimation of the uplift rate from an area-slope analysis 53947 Uplift history from stream profiles characterised by knickpoint migration 54048 Sediment deposition using the heat equation 54149 Axial versus transverse drainage 54250 Downstream fining of gravel 54551 Sinusoidal eustatic change superimposed on background tectonic subsidence 54652 Isostatic effects of absolute sea-level change 54753 Sea-level change resulting from sedimentation 54854 The consolidation line 54955 Relation between porosity and permeability – the Kozeny-Carman relationship 55056 Decompaction 55157 Backstripping 55558 From decompaction to thermal history 55659 Advective heat transport by fluids 56260 Heat flow in fractured rock 563References 564Index 603