Application of structural-thermal-atmo-hydrological-geochemical research for detecting of hydrocarbons on the northwestern shelf of the Black sea

Abstract

The application of the methodology of structural-thermo-atmo-hydro-geochemical studies in the Black Sea region proved that in the absence of drilling data, ambiguous interpretation of seismogeological data, thermo-atmogeochemical indicators are often the only tool for predicting promising areas. The most informative is the integration of geological-structural, hydrological-hydrogeological studies with gas-emotional and thermometric surveys. Cartographic models for the distribution of bottom sediment temperatures, the sum of methane homologues, and the integral coefficient are indicators of geodynamic activity and permeability of tectonic faults and are the basis for a map of promising areas for hydrocarbon exploration. Structural-thermo-atmo-hydro-geochemical studies provide quick field and laboratory studies at a relatively low cost of work with predictive zoning of areas and clarification of the contours of already discovered hydrocarbon deposits. Of great interest for forecasting hydrocarbon deposits is a detailed comprehensive study of the problem of turbidite sedimentation by biolithoseismostratigraphic, tectonofacies methods. Based on the analysis of geological and geophysical data on the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea, new biostratigraphic studies of drilling results and structural-thermo-atmo-hydro-geochemical studies in the areas, new data have been obtained that significantly complement the existing ideas about the geological structure of this region and its prospects for hydrocarbon exploration. Based on the mapping of temperature and atmogeochemical anomalies, for the first time for the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea, maps of the fields of near-surface discharge of fluid and gas flows were compiled. This made it possible to zoning the work areas into areas different in modern geodynamic conditions: neotectonically active and permeable, tending to faults, and blocks of relative tectonic stability and low fluid permeability, most favorable for the formation of hydrocarbon traps and the preservation of deposits.

Keywords

• structural-thermo-atmo-hydrologic-geochemical research
• hydrocarbons
• northwestern shelf
• black sea