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An overview on source rocks and the petroleum system of the central Upper Rhine Graben

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Abstract

The petroleum system of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) comprises multiple reservoir rocks and four major oil families, which are represented by four distinct source rock intervals. Based on geochemical analyses of new oil samples and as a review of chemical parameter of former oil fields, numerous new oil–source rock correlations were obtained. The asymmetric graben resulted in complex migration pathways with several mixed oils as well as migration from source rocks into significantly older stratigraphic units. Oldest oils originated from Liassic black shales with the Posidonia Shale as main source rock (oil family C). Bituminous shales of the Arietenkalk-Fm. (Lias α) show also significant source rock potential representing the second major source rock interval of the Liassic sequence. Within the Tertiary sequence several source rock intervals occur. Early Tertiary coaly shales generated high wax oils that accumulated in several Tertiary as well as Mesozoic reservoirs (oil family B). The Rupelian Fish Shale acted as important source rock, especially in the northern URG (oil family D). Furthermore, early mature oils from the evaporitic-salinar Corbicula- and Lower Hydrobienschichten occur especially in the area of the Heidelberg-Mannheim-Graben (oil family A). An overview on potential source rocks in the URG is presented including the first detailed geochemical source rock characterization of Middle Eocene sediments (equivalents to the Bouxwiller-Fm.). At the base of this formation a partly very prominent sapropelic coal layer or coaly shale occurs. TOC values of 20–32 % (cuttings) and Hydrogen Index (HI) values up to 640–760 mg HC/g TOC indicate an extraordinary high source rock potential, but a highly variable lateral distribution in terms of thickness and source rock facies is also supposed. First bulk kinetic data of the sapropelic Middle Eocene coal and a coaly layer of the ‘Lymnäenmergel’ are presented and indicate oil-prone organic matter characterized by low activation energies. These sediments are considered as most important source rocks of numerous high wax oils (oil family B) in addition to the coaly source rocks from the (Lower) Pechelbronn-Schichten (Late Eocene). Migration pathways are significantly influenced by the early graben evolution. A major erosion period occurred during the latest Cretaceous. The uplift center was located in the northern URG area, resulting in SSE dipping Mesozoic strata in the central URG. During Middle Eocene times a second uplift center in the Eifel area resulted in SW-NE-directed shore lines in the central URG and contemporaneous south-southeastern depocenters during marine transgression from the south. This structural setting resulted in a major NNW-NW-directed and topography-driven migration pattern for expelled Liassic oil in the fractured Mesozoic subcrop below sealing Dogger α clays and basal Tertiary marls.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude for the support and sponsoring by ENGIE E&P Deutschland GmbH (former GDF SUEZ E&P Deutschland GmbH) and Palatina GeoCon GmbH & Co. KG. In particular, we are grateful for support with respect to core samples, structural maps and access to well database. We would like to thank all geologists and geophysicists from ENGIE in Lingen for their kind support and cooperation, especially Bernd Klug, Hans-Michael Trautnitz and Frank Görisch for all their expert contribution and support for this research work. Thanks to Alexander Stock (EMR Aachen) for measuring kinetics at the GFZ in Potsdam and all employees at the EMR for their support. The authors acknowledge gratefully the constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript by C. Ostertag-Henning and an anonymous reviewer, which both considerably improved the manuscript. The study benefited from an unpublished internal report conducted on behalf of GDF SUEZ by BGR (Hannover), under the guidance of C. Ostertag-Henning (2008). Some results of this geochemical study are part of the compilations in Figs. 3, 4 and 7.

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  1. Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal, Energy and Mineral Resources Group (EMR), RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany

    Johannes Böcker & Ralf Littke

  2. ENGIE E&P Deutschland GmbH, Lingen, Germany

    Astrid Forster

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Böcker, J., Littke, R. & Forster, A. An overview on source rocks and the petroleum system of the central Upper Rhine Graben. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 106, 707–742 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1330-3

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