This book is devoted to the field of basin analysis, and in particular to the one- and two-dimensional modeling of the burial, thermal and maturation histories of sedimentary basins, in the context of evaluating their hydrocarbon potential. A new modeling system is elaborated in this work and applied to continental basins. Particular attention is paid to specific features of basin evolution, including the compaction of sediments deposited at a variable rate, erosion of the sedimentary strata and basement, intrusive and hydrothermal activity, thermal activation and reactivation of the basement, lateral heat exchange of multiple-aged blocks of the oceanic and continental lithospheres, the jumping of spreading axes, etc. Alternative methods are applied for the control of tectonic subsidence, isostasy and rheology, lithosphere stretching and thinning.

The collection of papers in this volume is a direct result of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Research Symposium on "Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins: Methods and Case Histories" held as part of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention in New Orleans in March 1985. The original goal of the sym posium was to provide a forum where specialists from a variety of dis ciplines could present their views of methods that can be used to study the thermal history of a sedimentary basin or an important portion of a basin. An explicit part of that goal was to illustrate each method by presentation of a case history application. The original goal is addressed by the chapters in this volume, each of which emphasizes a somewhat different approach and gives field data in one way or another to illustrate the practical useful ness ofthe method. The significance of our relative ignorance of the thermal conductivities of sedimentary rocks, especially shales, in efforts to understand or model sedimentary basin thermal histories and maturation levels is a major thrust of the chapter by Blackwell and Steele. Creaney focuses on variations in kerogen composition in source rocks of different depositional environments and the degree to which these chem- . ically distinct kerogens respond differently to progressive burial heating.

Geothermics in Basin Analysis focuses on the study of sedimentary basins, stressing essential parts of problems in which geothermics is involved. Subject matter includes the measuring of temperature logs and capturing of industrial temperature data and their interpretation to delineate subsurface conditions and processes, the importance of porosity and pore filling for modeling thermal fields, the thermal insulation of shales, geothermal anomalies associated with mud diapirs and basin hydrodynamic regimes, temperatures related to magmatic underplating and plate tectonics.

The collection of papers in this volume is a direct result of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Research Symposium on "Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins: Methods and Case Histories" held as part of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention in New Orleans in March 1985. The original goal of the sym posium was to provide a forum where specialists from a variety of dis ciplines could present their views of methods that can be used to study the thermal history of a sedimentary basin or an important portion of a basin. An explicit part of that goal was to illustrate each method by presentation of a case history application. The original goal is addressed by the chapters in this volume, each of which emphasizes a somewhat different approach and gives field data in one way or another to illustrate the practical useful ness ofthe method. The significance of our relative ignorance of the thermal conductivities of sedimentary rocks, especially shales, in efforts to understand or model sedimentary basin thermal histories and maturation levels is a major thrust of the chapter by Blackwell and Steele. Creaney focuses on variations in kerogen composition in source rocks of different depositional environments and the degree to which these chem- . ically distinct kerogens respond differently to progressive burial heating.

This volume describes the nature, causes, and consequences of the diverse fluid movements that produce energy and mineral resources in sedimentary basins. The contained papers point to new capabilities in basin analysis methods and models. The processes that operate in the resource-producing thermo-chemical-structural reactors we call sedimentary basins are reviewed. Efficient ways to infer the tectonic history of basins are described. Impacts on hydrocarbon maturation and migration of glacial tilting, magmatic intrusion, salt migration, and fracturing are illustrated. The conditions under which subsurface flow will channel with distance traveled are identified. Seismic methods that can image and map subsurface permeability channels are described. The surface maturation, surface charge, and chemical reaction foundations of creep subsidence are set forth. Dynamic aspects of the hydrogen resource in basins are analyzed. There is much that is new that is presented in these papers with the intent of stimulating thinking and enthusiasm for the advances that will be made in future decades.