Exhumation in Irish sedimentary basins and implications for hydrocarbon exploration, offshore Ireland

Abstract

Exhumation, the removal of overburden resulting from the vertical displacement of rocks from maximum burial depth, occurs at both regional and local scales in offshore sedimentary basins and has important implications for the prospectivity of petroliferous basins. In these basins, issues to be addressed by the petroleum geologist include, the timing of thermal ‘switch-off of source rock units, the compactional and diagenetic constraints imposed by the maximum burial depth of reservoirs (prior to uplift), the physical and mechanical characteristics of cap-rocks during and post-exhumation, the structural evolution of traps and the hydrocarbon emplacement history. Central to addressing these issues is the geoscientist’s ability to identify exhumation events, estimate their magnitude and deduce their timing.