Influence of Quaternary glaciations on the petroleum system of Schleswig-Holstein

• Applicant: Dr. Bernhard Cramer
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2002 to 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5369666

This project investigates the impact of Quaternary glaciations on the petroleum system of Schleswig-Holstein. The area of Schleswig-Holstein covers part of the Northwest German Basin and is underlain by an oil-prone sedimentary sequence. The near surface geology of Schleswig-Holstein was strongly affected by glacial processes related to the Pleistocene glaciations. At least 8 advances of the Scandinavian ice sheet, rapid changes between humid and subartic to arctic climate as well as a complex regression-transgression history of the North Sea had crucial impact on the distribution of pore pressure and temperature in the sedimentary sequences of Schleswig-Holstein. It is suggested, that these processes also affected the deeper subsurface including timing and rates of the generation and migration of hydrocarbons. Classical basin simulation studies do not consider glacial effects like ice overburden, permafrost or gas hydrates during ice ages. Therefore, this project will focus on the effect of glacial processes within basin evolution along a 2D seismic section across Schleswig-Holstein. This aim requires a multidisciplinary approach integrating petroleum geology, Quaternary geology, organic geochemistry, sedimentology and glaciology.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1135: Dynamics of Sedimentary Systems under Varying Stress Regimes: The Example of the Central European Basin System
• Participating Persons: Georg Delisle; Jürgen Messner; Professorin Dr. Jutta Winsemann