Geochemical study of the Uinta Basin: formation of petroleum from the Green River formation
Abstract
Kerogen from the Green River formation is rich in lipid material and contains predominantly aliphatic chains, with subordinate saturated cyclic material. Compositional differences due to the environment of deposition are observed in the extractable hydrocarbons. The influence of microbial degradation during deposition of organic matter is intense in the stratigraphically lowest zone and decreases toward younger beds, where fossil molecules derived from higher plants, algae and other planktonic organisms and bacteria are abundant. The great depth of the oil generation stage may be explained by a combination of (a) a relatively low geothermal gradient, and (b) a high oil generation threshold. The lower part of the formation has reached the principal stage of oil generation and is responsible for most of the crude oils produced in the Uinta Basin.
- Publication:
-
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
- Pub Date:
- October 1978
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0016-7037(78)90018-2
- Bibcode:
- 1978GeCoA..42.1469T