Exam Paper 2012

THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
PGM151
(GGL 5151)
MSc and Postgraduate Diploma

PETROLEUM GEOSCIENCE
Tectonics and Lithosphere Dynamics

Thursday 7 June 2012 : 2.30 4.30 pm
Candidates should answer THREE questions. Each answer should take about
40 minutes.
Candidates are allowed to bring into the examination hall calculators, rulers,
set squares, protractors and compasses.
Use a SEPARATE answer book for each question.
University of London 2012
UL12/
Page 1 of 4
1. This is a question about continental extension and extended continental

margins.
(a) Draw a cross section of a magma-rich (or volcanic) extended continental
margin. Include a vertical and horizontal scale and label important features.
(45%)
(b) Describe how magma is produced at margins like this. (15%)
(c) With reference to features on your cross section, describe two separate
mechanisms that may have accommodated plate divergence at a magmarich margin. (25%)
(d) How might the products of these mechanisms be of importance to
petroleum systems in magma-rich margins? (15%)
2. This is a question about subsidence in extensional basins

(a) Draw a graph with labelled axes to show the increasing depth of a
sedimentary basin that formed by pure-shear extension of the lithosphere
from 100 to 90 million years ago. Show the depths where the oil and gas
windows might be. (40%)
(b) Sketch the pattern of sediment packages in the basin today, including
labels to name the various packages according to subsidence mechanisms.
(25%)
(c) Graphs like the one in part (a) can be produced by subsidence analysis of
a basins fill. Decompaction forms part of this kind of analysis. Using a graph
showing porosity, describe why decompaction is necessary. (25%)
(d) Name two further corrections that are necessary in completing a
subsidence analysis. (10%)
PLEASE TURN OVER THE PAGE
UL12/
Page 2 of 4
3. This is a question about heat in the lithosphere

(a) Draw a sketch showing typical surface heat flow ranges for the following:
i. an active mid-ocean ridge;
ii. an active rift basin;
iii. an extended continental margin;
iv. a foreland basin;
v. a craton; and
vi. an area of oceanic crust that is 200 million years old. (40%)
(b) Fission track analysis can give details about a rocks tectonic history.
Sketch a graph with two curves that compare the distribution of fission track
lengths in two apatite grains:
- one grain is from rocks that were buried during a 10 million year long
rifting event at 110 Ma but have since then been near the surface,
- the other grain is from rocks that were not buried in the rift but have
since experienced 80 million years of steady burial during thermal
subsidence of a continental margin. (30%)
(c) Both grains come from potential source rocks in the same region. The first
source rock is dated to 330 Ma, and also shows some very high vitrinite
reflectance values. The second is dated to 80 Ma, but there are no vitrinite
reflectance data from it. Comment on the possible maturation histories of the
two source rocks. (30%)
4. This is a question about continental convergent plate boundaries.

(a) Draw THREE labelled sketch maps and/or cross sections of the following
parts of the Alpine-Himalayan collision zone:
i. the Dasht e Lut desert in eastern Iran;
ii. the Zagros mountains;
iii. the area including the country of Turkey.
In each case, explain how plate convergence is being accommodated in the
upper crust. 60%
(b) Describe two possible ways in which the convergence might be
accommodated deeper down, in the mantle lithosphere. 20%
(c) In the case of the Zagros, describe ways in which the regional response to
convergence has influenced the petroleum system there. (20%)
PLEASE TURN OVER THE PAGE
UL12/
Page 3 of 4
5. This is a question about the strength of the lithosphere.

(a) Draw TWO simple strength envelopes (graphs of yield strength vs. depth)
i. one for the oceanic lithosphere, and
ii. one for the continental lithosphere. (40%)
Explain the shapes of the different parts of the graphs in terms of how failure
processes might evolve with changing temperature and pressure. (10%)
(b) Using your graphs, show at what depths we might expect the largest
earthquakes to occur, and explain why. (20%)
(c) A strong lithosphere can transmit stress over long distances. Suggest
ways in which this might be of interest to petroleum exploration or production.
(30%)
END OF PAPER
UL12/
Page 4 of 4

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THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS

MSc and Postgraduate Diploma

Tectonics and Lithosphere Dynamics

University of London 2012

1. This is a question about continental extension and extended continental

2. This is a question about subsidence in extensional basins

3. This is a question about heat in the lithosphere

4. This is a question about continental convergent plate boundaries.

5. This is a question about the strength of the lithosphere.

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