EGU2020-10299
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10299
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Chemostratigraphy of Triassic successions on the southern Barents Sea Shelf – preliminary results from XRF Core Scanning.

Sigrun Maret Kvendbø Hegstad1, Juha Ahokas2, Matthias Forwick1, and Sten-Andreas Grundvåg3
Sigrun Maret Kvendbø Hegstad et al.
  • 1Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway , Tromsø, Norway
  • 2Aker BP ASA, Harstad, Norway
  • 3Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx); Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

The Barents Sea Shelf on the north-western corner of the Eurasian plate has a complex geological history, comprising large-scale processes controlled by plate movements, climatic variations and changing depositional environments. During the last decades, as the search for hydrocarbons within the area gained increased interest, Triassic sequences have been the target of comprehensive investigations. In our project, we test the potential of improving the correlation of Triassic strata using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning of siliciclastic drill cores.

XRF core scanning is a frequently used method on soft sediment cores, e.g. within marine geology and palaeo-climate studies. However, the applicability of this method on drill cores from exploration wells from the hydrocarbon industry has not been tested so far. We use this method to establish geochemical stratigraphic parameters, as well as to contribute to the identification of provenances, reconstruct palaeo-envrionments, and support the correlation of drill cores. This provides a novel, fast, inexpensive, and non-destructive method to be applied in hydrocarbon exploration, as well as in studies of lithified siliciclastic sediments in general.

Triassic intervals from 24 shallow drill cores from the southern Barents Sea (Finnmark Platform, Nordkapp Basin, Svalis Dome, Maud Basin and Bjarmeland Platform) provide the basis for this study. The cores have previously been comprehensively studied and described by IKU (the Norwegian Continental Shelf Institute; today SINTEF Petroleum Research), and studies of provenance and palaeo-environment have also been performed (e.g. Vigran et al., 1986). This data makes it possible to compare the geochemical units established in this study with other stratigraphic information.

We present preliminary results of establishing geochemical units from XRF core scanning, and the use of these for correlation within known stratigraphic frameworks and between geographic areas, as well as to increase the understanding of changes in provenance and palaeo-environments within these successions in the Barents Sea.

References:
Vigran, J.O., G. Elvebakk, T.L. Leith, T. Bugge, V. Fjerdingstad, R.M. Goll, R. Konieczny, and A. Mørk. 1986. 'Dia-Structure Shallow Drilling 1986. Main data report. IKU Rep. No. 21.3420.00/04/86, 242 pp'.

 

How to cite: Kvendbø Hegstad, S. M., Ahokas, J., Forwick, M., and Grundvåg, S.-A.: Chemostratigraphy of Triassic successions on the southern Barents Sea Shelf – preliminary results from XRF Core Scanning., EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-10299, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10299, 2020