MIGRATED PETROLEUM IN OUTCROPPING MESOZOIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS IN SPITSBERGEN: ORGANIC GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL EXPLORATION
The presence of migrated petroleum in outcropping rocks on Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago) has been known for several decades but the petroleum has not been evaluated by modern geochemical methods. This paper presents detailed organic geochemical observations on bitumen in outcrop samples from central and eastern Spitsbergen. The samples comprise sandstones from the Lower Cretaceous Carolinefjellet Formation, the Upper Triassic – Middle Jurassic Wilhelmøya Subgroup and the Upper Triassic De Geerdalen Formation; a limestone from the De Geerdalen Formation; and carbonates from the Middle Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Agardhfjellet Formation. In addition a palaeo-seepage oil was sampled from a vug in the Middle Triassic Botneheia Formation. This data is integrated with the results of analyses of C1–C4 hydrocarbon fluid inclusions trapped in quartz and calcite cements in these samples.