Evaluating erosion amounts through the application of aprobabilistic basin modelling approach

Abstract

The Hammerfest Basin being a part of the European North Atlantic Margin system experienced note worthy episodes of the Cenozoic exhumation. The episodes are not well constrained regarding the severity and timing. This master thesis aims to delimit the amount of eroded strata. As the geological systems can be described by the probabilistic distributions of quantified variables, the mixture of Monte Carlo method and the basin modelling technique have been employed.

The model assumes two pressure scenarios and three input variables (Eocene erosionamount, Quaternary erosion amount and thermal gradient modifiers). As a result of 3000 simulation runs, the a priori input distributions have been significantly constrained. It was elaborated that the additional overpressure mechanisms do not affect the results to a high degree. Based on the secondary migration analysis results, the impact of the Cenozoic exhumation on the hydrocarbon migration patterns has been outlined.