Hydrocarbon-source-rock-potential-and-position-of-lower-Silurian-subsurface-shales-of-the-eastern-Murzuq-Basin-southern-Libya_2013_Marine.pdf

Marine and Petroleum Geology 48 (2013) 224e246
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Marine and Petroleum Geology
journal homepage: ate/marpetgeo
Hydrocarbon source rock potential and position of
lower Silurian subsurface shales of the eastern Murzuq Basin,
southern Libya
Guido Meinhold a,b,*, James P. Howard a, Dominic Strogen a,c, Matthew D. Kaye d,
Yousef Abutarruma e, Mohamed Elgadry f, Bindra Thusu g, Andrew G. Whitham a
a CASP, University of Cambridge, West Building, 181A Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DH, United Kingdom
b Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen, Abteilung Sedimentologie/Umweltgeologie, Goldschmidtstrabe 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
c GNS Science, . Box 30368, Lower Hutt 5010, New Zealand
d OceanGrove Geoscience Ltd., 2 Woodland Cottage, Udny, Ellon, Aberdeenshire AB41 6SP, United Kingdom
e Mellitah Oil & Gas ., Dat Al plex Tower 5 Floor 13, . Box 91651, Tripoli, Libya
f Libyan Petroleum Institute, Gergarish Road, . Box 6431, Tripoli, Libya
g Maghreb Petroleum Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
article info abstract
Article history: A shallow borehole was drilled in lower Silurian (Rhuddanianelower Aeronian) Tanezzuft Formation
Received 20 January 2012 siliciclastic sediments at the eastern margin of the Murzuq Basin. Shale samples were retrieved from the
Received in revised form borehole to study their source rock potential and trace element position. Thirty shale
15 July 2013
samples analysed from borehole CDEG-2a reveal three geochemically distinct intervals. Shales from the
Accepted 10 August 2013
top (23e38 m) interval are weathered and have anic content. Shales from the middle (38
Available online 19 August 2013
e42 m) interval have moderate to anic richness ( wt.% TOC) with Hydrogen Index (HI)
values up to 443 mg S2/g TOC. Shales from the bottom (42e51 m) interval have poor to anic