Global and Regional Controls on Potential Source-Rock Deposition and PreservationThe Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (CTOAE) on the European Tethyan Margin (Southeastern France)

Abstract
On the European margin of the Tethys Ocean, late Cenomanian to early Turanian sea-level rises resulted in a progressive drowning of the Provence rudist-bearing platform, successive breaks in marine sedimentation, and the initiation of deep-water disaerobic conditions in the whole pelagic domain of the Vocontian Basin. Paleogeographic and structural features may have controlled the regional extent of oxygen-minimum layers, the distribution of laminated and organic-rich sediments, and the regional duration of such a worldwide Oceanic Anoxic Event. Sporadic modifications in the water stratification, perhaps due to climatic changes, induced high-frequency changes of the deep-water redox conditions. These changes probably caused short-term fluctuations in the thickness of the oxygen-minimum layers and the ecological perturbations recorded in the deep-water-dwelling planktonic and benthic biota. Periodic disaerobic conditions, which protected the sediments from oxidizing benthic activity, are thought to be the main cause of relative concentrations of hydrocarbon-rich amorphous organic matter found in these potential source rocks. A great variety of organic-bearing sediments are acting as source rocks for the economic accumulations of hydrocarbons trapped in the subsurface. The occurrence of organic-rich intervals; their place in the stratigraphic column, their lateral extent, and the variation in their quality both stratigraphically and laterally are key parameters to be considered if one wants to evaluate the petroleum potential of a sedimentary basin. The purpose of this volume is to present recent advances in organic sedimentology. The 14 papers herein discuss a wide range of aspects of this field of research. The diverse nature of these papers includes modern environments, considered as present-day analogs of source rock formation; numerical modeling of paleoproductivity; and studies related to specific time periods during which organic matter accumulation has been particularly impressive.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: