Comparaciones basadas en biomarcadores de crudos extraídos de la Formación Springhill (Cuenca Austral) y de la Formación Bajo Barreal (Cuenca Golfo San Jorge), Argentina

Germán Javier  Tomas; Adrián Javier  Acuña

doi:10.3989/egeol.44405.606

Authors

Germán Javier Tomas Centro de Investigación y Transferencia de la Provincia de Santa Cruz - Facultad Regional Santa Cruz, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7836-4005
Adrián Javier Acuña Facultad Regional Santa Cruz, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0382-3681

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.44405.606

Keywords:

Springhill Formation, Bajo Barreal Formation, Austral basin, Golfo San Jorge basin, biomarkers, crude oil

Abstract

In Argentina, there are several crude oils-producing basins, including the Golfo San Jorge and Austral basins. Their stratigraphic columns present several units that behave as reservoir rocks, the Bajo Barreal and Springhill formations stand out in this study. The objective of this work was to compare crude oils extracted from these formations using the organic geochemical biomarkers: saturated (n-paraffins, acyclic isoprenoids pristane and phytane, steranes and terpanes) and aromatic (phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes), with the purpose of evaluating similarities and differences in order to establish the crude oil precursor organic matter type, the biodegradation degree and, the lithology and depositional conditions that controlled the accumulation and preservation of organic matter in theirs source rock. These crude oils were subjected to separation of their aliphatic and aromatic fractions by solid-liquid adsorption and column analyzed each one by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). From the diagnostic ratios, calculated from the relative abundances of the biomarkers, it is suggested for the Springhill Formation crude oils that the organic matter source (mixed marine-continental), were deposited in a sedimentary environment with moderate-to-low oxygen concentration (disoxyc-suboxyc), in which the source rock was characterized as shelf marine shales and no biodegradation was observed. On the other hand, the crude oils associated with the Bajo Barreal Formation can be classified as a severely biodegraded algal-lacustrine type, deposited in anoxic conditions in a carbonate source rock. These results are in agreement with previous studies carried out on crudes from other reservoirs in both formations, but the novelty is that these locations have never been studied.

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