Basaltic igneous deposits and processes may have a major impact on the petroleum prospectivity of volcanic rifted margins and basins as they influence source rock maturation, fluid migration, hydrocarbon trap formation, and sub-basalt seismic imaging. Eruption of Large Igneous Provinces may also influence the global environment, e.g. by release of huge volumes of greenhouse gases produced in contact metamorphic aureoles. Interpretation of new industry seismic data, potential field data, and seafloor sampling data from the Vøring/Møre margins, the Jan Mayen micro-continent and the Northeast Greenland margin have led to an improved understanding of the basin structure, volcanic deposits and hydrocarbon prospectivity of this region, and suggest the presence of sub-basalt Jurassic petroleum plays. Our results are important for understanding petroleum systems in volcanic basins and the cause of rapid climate changes and mass extinctions in Earth history.

NGF Bergen