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The Impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the Petroleum System Of Petroleum Geoscience The impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the petroleum system of the Eastern Mediterranean: a critical assessment using 2D-petroleum system modelling --Manuscript Draft-- Manuscript Number: Article Type: Thematic set article Full Title: The impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the petroleum system of the Eastern Mediterranean: a critical assessment using 2D-petroleum system modelling Short Title: Eastern Mediterranean Petroleum System Corresponding Author: Alastair Fraser, PhD Imperial College London London, UNITED KINGDOM Corresponding Author E-Mail: [email protected] Other Authors: Abdulaziz Al-Balushi Martin Neumaier Christopher Aiden-Lee Jackson Abstract: The offshore Levant Basin demonstrates one of the most phenomenal natural examples of a working petroleum system associated with a relatively rapid unloading and loading cycle caused by the the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). In this study, 2D basin and petroleum systems modelling suggests that the geologically instantaneous water unloading of c. 2070 m and subsequent rapid salt deposition and refill impacts the subsurface pore pressure and temperature in the underlying sediments. The pressure drop is modelled to be instantaneous, whereas the impact on temperature is more of a transient response. This has important consequences for the shallow sub- Messinian biogenic petroleum system, which is assumed to have experienced fluid brecciation associated with massive fluid escape events. Deeper Oligo-Miocene sediments are far less affected, thus indicating a "preservation window" for biogenic gas accumulations, which hosts the recent discoveries (Tamar, Leviathan, Aphrodite). Hydrocarbon accumulations of a "bubble point oil" composition are modelled to have experienced cap expansion during the drawdown, with the pressure drop being the primary control. This study suggests that seal-limited traps are expected to have undergone a catastrophic seal failure whereas the impact of the MSC is modelled to be less destructive for size-limited and particularly charge-limited traps. Section/Category: Messinian Salinity Crisis Manuscript Classifications: Geochemistry; Petroleum geology Additional Information: Question Response Are there any conflicting interests, No financial or otherwise? Samples used for data or illustrations in Confirmed this article have been collected in a responsible manner Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation Article text Click here to download Article text Al_Balushi_et_al_final.docx 1 The impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the petroleum system of the Eastern 2 Mediterranean: a critical assessment using 2D-petroleum system modelling 3 4 Abdulaziz Nasser Al-Balushi1*, Martin Neumaier2, Alastair J. Fraser1 and Christopher A-L. 5 Jackson1 6 7 1Basins Research Group (BRG), Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial 8 College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, England, UK 9 2Aachen Technology Centre, Schlumberger, Ritterstrasse 23, 52072 Aachen, Germany 10 11 *Corresponding author: [email protected] 12 13 1. Abstract 14 The offshore Levant Basin demonstrates one of the most phenomenal natural examples of 15 a working petroleum system associated with a relatively rapid unloading and loading cycle 16 caused by the the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). In this study, 2D basin and petroleum 17 systems modelling suggests that the geologically instantaneous water unloading of c. 2070 18 m and subsequent rapid salt deposition and refill impacts the subsurface pore pressure and 19 temperature in the underlying sediments. The pressure drop is modelled to be 20 instantaneous, whereas the impact on temperature is more of a transient response. This 21 has important consequences for the shallow sub-Messinian biogenic petroleum system, 22 which is assumed to have experienced fluid brecciation associated with massive fluid 23 escape events. Deeper Oligo-Miocene sediments are far less affected, thus indicating a 1 24 “preservation window” for biogenic gas accumulations, which hosts the recent discoveries 25 (Tamar, Leviathan, Aphrodite). Hydrocarbon accumulations of a “bubble point oil” 26 composition are modelled to have experienced cap expansion during the drawdown, with 27 the pressure drop being the primary control. This study suggests that seal-limited traps are 28 expected to have undergone a catastrophic seal failure whereas the impact of the MSC is 29 modelled to be less destructive for size-limited and particularly charge-limited traps. (200 30 words) 31 32 Key words: Messinian Salinity Crisis, petroleum system modelling, biogenic gas, 33 Tamar, pressure, temperature, phase change. 34 35 2. Introduction 36 Surface processes play a pivotal role in moving loads from one area to another. This 37 redistribution of surface mass causes the Earth’s surface to respond either by subsidence 38 (in the case of loading) or uplift (in the case of unloading), which may subsequently affect 39 subsurface pressure and temperature equilibrium conditions (Allen and Allen 2013). From 40 the perspective of a solid Earth, the nature of the surface load, whether it is water, ice, 41 sediments or rocks, is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is the weight. 42 43 One of the most phenomenal natural examples of relatively rapid unloading and loading of 44 the Earth’s crust occurred ca. 5.96 million years ago in the Mediterranean Sea, during an 45 event that is known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). During the MSC, the 46 Mediterranean Sea experienced a geologically instantaneous drop in sea level in excess of 47 ca. 1000 m (Ryan, 1976a; Ryan & Cita, 1978; Bartol & Govers, 2009; Urgeles et al., 2011), 2 48 and the rapid deposition of widespread evaporitic sequences that are up to ca. 2000 m 49 thick in the deeper parts of the basin, typically in areas floored by oceanic crust (Hsü, 1972; 50 Meijer & Krijgsman, 2005). Since the discovery of these evaporitic sequences, numerous 51 studies have attempted to explain the palaeo-geographic setting of the basin and the 52 depositional environment that governed the MSC. Despite these efforts, the relationship 53 between geologically instantaneous water unloading and evaporite loading, and the impact 54 that these had on subsurface pressures, temperatures and the subsequent distribution of 55 hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean, have not been well established. For example, 56 the instantaneous drop in sea level is expected to be associated with a drop in pressure, 57 potentially causing hydrocarbon phase change. The first attempt to address this impact was 58 presented by Fraser et al. (2011) with further supporting evidence from 3D seismic data 59 provided by Bertoni et al. (2013). 60 61 The relationship between the surface processes and subsequent changes in subsurface 62 pressure and temperature conditions is well-established in some basins that have 63 experienced significant periods of tectonically driven uplift (e.g. Hammerfest Basin, offshore 64 northern Norway;Rodrigues Duran et al. (2013)). In the Hammerfest Basin, despite the 65 existence of mature, oil-prone source rocks (Ohm et al., 2008), almost all discoveries are 66 predominantly gas with uneconomical volumes of oil (NPD, 2014). Extensive Cenozoic 67 uplift, ca. 1000-3000 m of erosion and, therefore, removal of a crustal load along the 68 western basin margin (Laberg et al., 2012), as well as the high-latitude Quaternary 69 glaciation (Cavanagh et al., 2006) are thought to have caused trap tilting and exhumation 70 (Doré et al., 2002), leakage and redistribution of hydrocarbons due to phase change, gas 71 expansion, and subsequent flushing of oil from reservoirs (Nyland et al., 1992). This has 72 ultimately led to predominance of gas over oil in the Hammerfest Basin and elsewhere on 3 73 the Barents Sea shelf. The presence of extensive gas clouds and amplitude anomalies, in 74 addition to the documentation of palaeo oil-water contacts, together suggest a dominantly 75 leaky system and show that the structures defining the Snøhvit and Askelad fields, which lie 76 in the Hammerfest Basin, were once filled with significantly larger volumes of hydrocarbons 77 (Linjordet & Grung Olsen, 1978). Even though the origin, order and timing of the unloading 78 and reloading events are somewhat different, this is considered as an appropriate analogue 79 for the effect of the MSC in the eastern Mediterranean. 80 81 Recent exploration drilling results in the eastern Mediterranean have shown that the 82 offshore Levant Basin is a very prolific gas province. Proven gas reserves totalling ca. 30 83 trillion cubic feet (TCF) have been estimated for the most recent, sub-Messianian salt 84 discoveries in the Tamar, Leviathan and Aphrodite gas discoveries (Needham et al., 2013). 85 However, further exploration activity would benefit from a clearer understanding of the role 86 that the MSC played in shaping the present distribution of oil and gas in the region. 87 88 The eastern Mediterranean Basin, which comprises the Levant Basin, Nile Cone, offshore 89 Sirt, offshore Western Desert and the Herodotus Basin, is located in the south-eastern 90 Mediterranean region, near the complex boundary between the African, Arabian and 91 Eurasian plates. This study focuses on the petroleum system evolution of the Levant Basin 92 during the Messinian, although the results and implications of this modelling are relevant to 93 other basins in the region (e.g. offshore Sirt, Libya
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