Distribution of the deep marine Middle Triassic organic shales in the Barents Sea and surrounding Arctic

Project description
A relatively deep basin divided Barents Sea, Greenland, Svalbard and Laurentia during the Middle Triassic that had been fully filled in by the late Carnian (Late Triassic), when clinoforms from the Snadd (De Geerdalen) formations reached Svalbard and prograded over beyond modern boundaries of the Barents Sea Basin. Several formations were formed during this time across the Arctic, but the organic-rich mudstone interval was found everywhere. It comprises the Botneheia (Svalbard), Steinkobbe (W Barents Sea), Isrand (NE Greenland) Murray Harbor (Sverdrup Basin) and Otuk (North Slope, Alaska) formations. All of them are represented by dark bituminous shales with high phosphate content and serve as the main source rock in each of the basins.

More research is required to understand the characteristics and distribution of the deep basin, and the nature and connectivity of these formations named above.

The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of the Middle Triassic organic-rich shales and interlink between different parts of the sedimentary system in the Norwegian Barents Sea and understand source-to-sink systems in the Arctic. The project will focus on 3D and 2D seismic with corresponding well data, and integrate the results with existing provenance and outcrop data.

 course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS):
GEOV261 / Basin analysis and subsurface interpretation -10
GEOV352 / Field course in reservoir geology – 5
GEOV272 / Seismic Interpretation 10
GEOV361 / Sequence Stratigraphy and Source-to-Sink - 10
GEOV364 / Advanced basin analysis – 5

GEOV360 / Advanced clastic sedimentology – 10
or
AG-334 Arctic Basins and Petroleum Provinces (10 ECTS) https://www.unis.no/courses/ag-334-arctic-basins-and-petroleum-provinces/

Spesialpensum in source rocks 10 
or
https://www.unis.no/courses/ag-334-arctic-basins-and-petroleum-provinces/

Felt- lab- og analysearbeid
No field work. Student will be working in a computer lab with 2D and 3D seismics at Department of Earth Sciences