Rifts and Passive Margins
Structural Architecture, Thermal Regimes, and Petroleum Systems

This is a comprehensive synthesis of state-of-the-art information on vitally important hydrocarbon habitats for advanced geology students and researchers, exploration geoscientists, and petroleum managers.

Michal Nem?ok (Author)

9781108445993, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 March 2018

576 pages, 499 b/w illus. 44 tables
28 x 21.6 x 3.4 cm, 1.58 kg

'This is a large, comprehensive reference book … best treated as an encyclopedia, providing a thorough, basic summary of the essential components of basin and hydrocarbon development, and as an extensive reference list that provides access to more detailed information if required. The author's breadth of knowledge is shown by the variety of examples drawn from rifts and passive margins around the world. The material includes sufficient descriptions, examples, and mathematical equations to convey the fundamentals of the concepts without bogging the reader down in unnecessary details. The text is dense, but well organized and comprehensible … I usually donate my review copies of books to the library immediately, but there is so much information in this book that it will reside on my shelf for a while yet.' Ray Wood, The Leading Edge

Rifts and passive margins are extremely important for the petroleum industry, as they are areas of high sedimentation and can contain significant oil and gas resources. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of rifts and passive margins as a whole. It synthesises in one volume the existing information devoted to specific aspects of these vitally important hydrocarbon habitats. This collection of state-of-the-art information on the topic facilitates the better use of this knowledge to assess the risks of exploring and operating in these settings and the development of systematic and predictive hydrocarbon screening tools. The book will be invaluable for a broad range of readers, from advanced geology students and researchers to exploration geoscientists to exploration managers exploring for and developing hydrocarbon resources in analogous settings.

1. Basic description of structural styles in rift and passive margin settings, including extension directions and key structural elements
2. Mechanics of rifting and transition to drift phases
3. Determination of unstretched continental, thinned continental, proto-oceanic and oceanic crustal boundaries
4. Determination of timing of rift and continental break-up events
5. The role of lithospheric composition and compositional variations on evolving rift margin architectural development and on breakup locations
6. The role of pre-existing anisotropy on structural styles of rifts and passive margins
7. The role of syn-extensional deposition and erosion on evolving structural styles of rifts and passive margins and the effects of tectonics on deposition and erosional patterns
8. Fluid flow systems associated with oceanic hot spots, oceanic transforms, continental transforms and rifts
9. The role of pre-rift heat flow on thermal regimes of rifts and passive margins
10. The role of structural and stratigraphic architecture on thermal regimes of rifts and passive margins
11. The role of syn-rift deposition and erosion on thermal regimes of rifts and passive margins
12. The role of deformation on thermal regimes of rifts and passive margins
13. The role of fluid flow on thermal regimes of rifts and passive margins
14. Introduction to hydrocarbons in rift and passive margin settings
15. Models of source rock distribution, maturation and expulsion in rift and passive margin settings
16. Models of reservoir quality distribution
17. Sealing characteristics
18. Models of hydrocarbon migration
19. Trapping styles
20. Hydrocarbon preservation
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Mining technology & engineering [TTU], Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Petroleum technology [THFP], Energy technology & engineering [TH], Physical geography & topography [RGB], Earth sciences [RB]