Vyacheslav Shymanovskyy¹

(1) National Shevchenko University, Leoben, Austria

ABSTRACT: Subsidence History Modeling, Thermal Maturation and Hydrocarbon Generation in the Dniepr-Donetsk Basin, Ukraine

This research was focused on modeling of burial history, source rocks thermal maturation and hydrocarbon generation for the Dnieper-Donets Basin (DDB), one of the largest and deepest rift basins in Europe. Ultimate recoverable reserves of the basin are estimated as 94.3x10^6 tons of oil, 74.6x10^6 tons of gas-condensate and 979.8x10^9m^3 of gas.

The main rift phase took place during Frasnian and Famennian and accompanied by strong volcanic activity. Post-rift basin development was characterised by the formation of a broad syncline overlapping the rift shoulders, commencing in Tournaisian time. The cumulative thickness of post-rift Carboniferous and early Permian sediments reaches 13km, with the maximum burial depth of 15km at the base.

The subsidence modeling illustrate strong temporal and lateral variations in tectonic subsidence rates. The main rift phase corresponds to an acceleration in subsidence rates resulted in 1500m of a downwarp along the basin axis, displaying a slight increase from the north-west to the south-east.

The main source rocks in the DDB are marine Tournasian-Early Visean, Late Visean and Serpukhovian shales deposited during transgressive cycles. Those shales have total carbon content of 1.5-2.3, sometimes up to 8%, mainly consisting of land-plant derived humic and marine sapropelic matter.

The vitrinite reflectance values in air range from 8.0 to 8.5%. The high reflectance values in the south-eastern region indicate deep burial of the rocks before pre-Tertiary uplift and erosion. This uplift has been estimated by new developed technique and it varies in the range 400-3000m in the south-eastern part of the DDB.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado