| Title | Qualitative petroleum resource assessment of the Magdalen Basin in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Atkinson, E A ;
Durling, P W; Kublik, K; Lister, C J; King, H M; Kung, L E;
Jassim, Y; McCarthy, W M; Hayward, N |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8556, 2020, 109 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/321856  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | readme
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| File format | pdf; rtf; docx (Microsoft® Word®); mxd (ESRI® ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM)); lyr (ESRI® ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM)); gdb (ESRI® ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM)); shp (ESRI®
ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM)); xml |
| Province | Quebec; Prince Edward Island; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Newfoundland and Labrador; Eastern offshore region |
| NTS | 11E/09; 11E/10; 11E/13; 11E/14; 11E/15; 11E/16; 11F/12; 11F/13; 11J/12; 11J/13; 11J/14; 11K; 11L; 11M; 11N; 11O; 11P; 12B/03; 12B/04; 12B/05; 12C; 12D; 21H/12; 21I/01; 21I/02; 21I/07; 21I/08; 21I/09; 21I/15;
21I/16; 21P; 22A/01; 22A/02; 22A/03; 22A/07; 22A/08; 22A/09; 22A/16 |
| Area | Gulf of St. Lawrence; Northumberland Strait; St. Georges Bay; Cabot Strait; Îles de la Madeleine; Cape Breton Island; Laurentian Channel |
| Lat/Long WENS | -65.6667 -58.5000 49.0000 45.5000 |
| Subjects | fossil fuels; economic geology; marine geology; stratigraphy; structural geology; tectonics; geophysics; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; petroleum resources; petroleum exploration;
hydrocarbon potential; petroleum industry; production; hydrocarbons; oil; gas; hydrate; methane; gas fields; oil fields; modelling; lithostratigraphy; thermal maturation; kerogen; source rocks; reservoir rocks; hydrocarbon migration; porosity;
mineral deposits; salt; coal; limestone, commodity; gypsum; base metals; iron; gold; aggregates; potash; mining; mines; geophysical interpretations; seismic interpretations; gravity interpretations; bouguer gravity; sedimentary basins; tectonic
history; tectonic setting; rifting; crustal uplift; deformation; subsidence; depositional history; thermal history; structural interpretations; thermal maturation; wells; bathymetry; bedrock geology; basement geology; lithology; sedimentary rocks;
evaporites; shales; sandstones; conglomerates; carbonates; limestones; dolomites; reefs; structural features; traps; diapirs; folds; grabens; faults; fractures; unconformities; vitrinite reflectance; structural traps; stratigraphic traps; satellite
geodesy; isopachs; Magdalen Basin; Morien-Cumberland Play; Bradelle Formation; Cumberland Group; Old Harry Prospect; Cable Head Formation; Green Gables Formation; Mabou Group; Windsor Group; Sussex Group; Pictou Group; Naufrage Formation; Morien
Group; Port Hood Formation; Boss Ppint Formation; Pomquet Formation; Hastings Formation; Macumber Formation; Ship Cove Formation; Horton Group; Albert Formation; Gaspé Belt; St. Lawrence Platform; Maritimes Basin; East Point E-49 Well; Stoney Creek
Feild; McCully Field; North Point Graben; Grenville Province; Mines Seleine; Donkin Coal Mine; Sydney Basin; gas hydrates; Databases; Data processing; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Paleozoic; Permian; Carboniferous; Devonian; Silurian; Ordovician; Cambrian;
Precambrian; Proterozoic |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; geochronological charts; cross-sections; schematic cross-sections; tables; stratigraphic charts; correlation charts; profiles; seismic profiles; models;
plots |
| Program | Geoscience for New Energy Supply (GNES) Program Coordination |
| Released | 2020 03 10 |
| Abstract | (Summary)
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has been tasked, under the Marine Conservation Targets1 (MCT) initiative announced in Budget 2016, with evaluating the petroleum resource potential
for areas identified for possible protection as part of the Government of Canada's commitment to conserve 10% of its marine areas by 2020. As part of this initiative, NRCan's Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) conducted a broad regional study of the
petroleum potential over the majority of the Magdalen Basin, which is the principal geological basin in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The GSC resource assessment is visually represented by a qualitative petroleum potential map (Fig. 1).
To
conduct this study, an extensive geophysical database was compiled (Fig. 2), along with previous onshore geological mapping, information from petroleum industry wells, and information from the scientific literature (Fig. 3). New geoscience work was
completed, including regional mapping and basin modelling, to characterize the petroleum potential. This report provides the results of this qualitative petroleum resource assessment and regional study, and summarizes other geologic resources.
The
study area has been explored by the petroleum industry since the 1960's and there continues to be some limited interest in the larger structures in the region. When considered from a global petroleum-basin perspective, this region holds moderate to
moderately high potential. Basin modelling suggests a higher chance of natural gas in much of the basin, which currently challenges petroleum industry economics, yet oil accumulations are still possible.
The area surrounding Îles de la Madeleine
south to Cape Breton is dominated by significant subsurface salt deposits. The salt moves easily over geologic time, which creates many geologic structures suitable for trapping petroleum. The highest potential for petroleum in the region occurs in
two areas associated with these salt related structures (green areas, Fig. 1):
To the north of Îles de la Madeleine is a significant east west trend of simple fold structures, cored by mobile salt. Some of these structures have been partly tested,
yet the possibility of finding significant petroleum accumulations remains. This region has the highest petroleum potential in the study area.
Southeast of Îles de la Madeleine and northwest of Cape Breton, the salt moved into walls and diapirs,
forming excellent traps and seal. At the same time, complex geometry makes imaging these structures difficult, and petroleum exploration challenging. Large accumulations may exist, but would require acquisition of modern seismic data to outline their
potential.
Medium to high potential also exists west of Îles de la Madeleine and north of eastern Prince Edward Island (PEI), in similar salt-cored folds, and also in deeper layers deposited in grabens (yellow to green, Fig. 1).
Unconventional
petroleum potential in the region includes significant shale gas potential beneath PEI, offshore northern Cape Breton and New Brunswick, and offshore southwestern Newfoundland; limited coal bed methane potential off of Nova Scotia, and very limited
gas hydrate potential in the deep Laurentian Channel (Fig. 3).
Mining is important to the economy of the region, and mineral resources include salt, which is currently mined in Îles de la Madeleine, coal resources off Nova Scotia which are mined
beneath the seabed, and limestone, gypsum, and base metals mined in Cape Breton and New Brunswick (Fig. 3). |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has been tasked, under the Marine Conservation Targets (MCT) initiative announced in Budget 2016, with evaluating the
petroleum resource potential for areas that may get considered for protection as part of the Government of Canada's commitment to conserve 10% of its marine areas by 2020. As part of this initiative, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) completed a
broad regional study over the majority of the Magdalen Basin, which is the principal geological basin in the central Gulf of St. Lawrence. The GSC resource assessment is visually represented by a qualitative petroleum potential map. An extensive
geophysical database was compiled for this study, and new regional maps, basin models, and play analyses were constructed. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 321856 |
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