Time-Temperature Relation in Oil Genesis: GEOLOGIC NOTES

Abstract

Chemical kinetic laws for first-order reactions have been applied to the threshold of intense oil generation. If t (in millions of years) represents the age of the threshold formation and T (°K), the corresponding temperature present, t is related to T by the expression In t = 6,942 × 1/T - 14.965. This equation means that the younger the sedimentary series is, the higher is the temperature of the formation in which the intense oil-genesis phase begins.