Thermal modelling of magmatic intrusions in the Gjallar Ridge, Norwegian Sea: implications for vitrinite reflectance and hydrocarbon maturation

Extensive magmatic activity took place in the Voring Basin, offshore Norway, related to the Early Cenozoic rifting. The break-up of the North-Atlantic at the Palaeocene-Eocene transition induced strong volcanism. There are numerous magmatic sills below 3 km depth in the area. They are predominantly layer parallel and thin compared with their lateral extent. Igneous intrusions, sills and dykes affected the temperature history, and thus need to be taken into account in petroleum prospect analysis. We have calculated the temperature and maturity effects in the sedimentary layers in the Gjallar area associated with the emplacement of single sill and sill complexes. A 120-m-thick sill produces a theoretical vitrinite reflectance (%R-0) 0.8% higher than normal at a distance of 100 m from the sill. Vitrinite reflectance changes caused by a swarm of seven sills varying from 8 to 80 m in thickness were calculated. It is shown that the calculated thermal profile can account for the observed shift in vitrinite reflectance in the well. A two-dimensional section crossing the Gjallar Ridge, consisting of numerous magmatic intrusions, is also modelled. The modelled geological development and temperature history over the profile show that there are significant maturation effects in the interval under investigation. Based on this work, the sill swarm observed in the area could more than double the fraction of the kerogen that has been transformed to petroleum at the (present) depth of 4 km.