The use of bisnorhopane as a stratigraphic marker in the Oseberg Back Basin, North Viking Graben, Norwegian North Sea

This paper discusses the occurrence of 28,30-dinor-17alpha,18alpha,21beta-hopane (bisnorhopane) in stratigraphically, fairly well preserved Viking Group sections from wells in local depressions in the North Viking Graben Area. The results show the presence of high relative amounts of bisnorhopane in the "Syn-rift sections", whilst the "Post-rift sections" contain little or no bisnorhopane. Since most exploration wells are drilled on structural highs, primarily penetrating the "Post-rift Draupne", this may explain why many analyzed source rock sections in this area contain little bisnorhopane. As a correlation of Draupne sections using the vertical, relative bisnorhopane distributions, it is suggested to be a potential stratigraphic marker for the area, indicating the presence of "Syn-rift Draupne" sediments. The relative bisnorhopane amounts follow a logarithmic reduction with depth and thermal maturity. The bisnorhopane signal is nearly extinguished at 3700 m depth at a maturity of R-0 = 0.9-1.0%. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.