Principal features of the tectonic evolution of sedimentary basins in the Western Chukchi shelf and their petroleum resource potential

Abstract

The history of the formation of sedimentary basins located predominantly in the western shelf of the Chukchi Sea is considered along with the data on the geology of adjacent areas of the American part of the sea and northern Alaska reported in the available publications on this region. The main lithotectonic complexes that correspond to particular stages of evolution of the region are identified. The tectonic rearrangement of the structural grain in response to the formation of the Canada Basin resulted in the development of the North Chukchi Trough. Intense subsidence of this trough and accumulation of thick sedimentary sequence favored, in turn, the balanced inversion uplift of the Wrangel-Herald Zone spatially related to depocenters of older sediments. Vigorous uplift and folding ceased in the Albian. In the geologic record, these processes are marked by unconformity and overstep of the older structural features. The inversion uplifts continued to rise later. Analysis of the data available provides new insights into the structure and evolution of the region. The sedimentary basins with a great thickness of their fill were favorable for generation and accumulation of hydrocarbons. The large uplifted blocks, extensive wedge-out zones, and stratigraphic unconformities at the walls of troughs and uplift slopes are especially favorable for hydrocarbon accumulation. Permissive beds are correlated with the Neocomian-Aptian sequence in Alaska that hosts oil and gas fields. The Upper Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic strata, which are the main petroliferous sedimentary rocks in Alaska, may occur at a shallow depth in the Wrangel-Herald Inversion Zone. The conclusions drawn in this paper should be taken into account during reappraisal of the petroleum resources throughout the entire Chukchi shelf. At present, several oil and gas prospects are outlined in the Russian part of the Chukchi Sea.