Migrated hydrocarbons in outcrop samples: revised petroleum exploration directions in the Tarim Basin

摘要

The application of age-specific biomarker distributions established from mature exploration areas of the Tarim Basin, northwestern China, indicates that most Carboniferous-Permian outcrop samples in the eastern segment of the Southwest Depression, previously believed to have significant petroleum source potential, in fact contain migrated hydrocarbons derived from Cambrian-Lower Ordovician strata. New geochemical results have led to a major revision of petroleum exploration directions in this area. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [References: 13]