The Sichuan Basin is a superimposition basin composed of terrestrial and marine sediments that is well known for its abundant petroleum resources. Thermal history reconstruction using paleogeothermal indicators, including vitrinite reflectance and thermochronological data, shows that different structural subsections of the Sichuan Basin have experienced various paleogeothermal episodes since the Paleozoic. The lower structural subsection comprising the Lower Paleozoic to Middle Permian(Pz–P_2) successions experienced a high paleogeothermal gradient(23.0–42.6°C/km) at the end of the Middle Permian(P_2), whereas the upper structural subsection comprising Late Permian to Mesozoic strata underwent a relatively lower paleogeothermal gradient(13.2–26.9°C/km) at the beginning of the denudation(Late Cretaceous or Paleocene in the different regions). During the denudation period, the Sichuan Basin experienced a successive cooling episode. The high paleogeothermal gradient resulted from an intensive thermal event correlated to the Emeishan mantle plume. The heat flow value reached 124.0 m W/m^2 in the southwestern basin near the center of the Emeishan large igneous province. The low geothermal gradient episode with heat flow ranging from 31.2 to 70.0 m W/m^2 may be related to the foreland basin evolution. The cooling event is a result of the continuous uplift and denudation of the basin.
The present geothermal gradient and terrestrial heat flow was calculated of 18 wells in the Jianghan Basin.Thermal gradient distribution of the Jianghan Basin was obtained based on data of systematical steady-state temperature and oil-test temperature.The basin-wide average thermal gradient in depth interval of 0-4000 m is 33.59℃/km.We report nine measured terrestrial heat flow values based on the data of detailed thermal conductivity and systematical steady-state temperature.These values vary from 41.9 to 60.9 mW/m 2 with a mean of 52.3±6.3 mW/m 2.However,thermal history analyses based on vitrinite reflectance(VR) and apatite fission track(AFT) data indicate that thermal gradient in the northern and southern Qianbei Fault reached its peak of ～36 and ～39℃/km respectively in the Middle Jurassic and the Oligocene,and it descended during the early Miocene to the present-time value.Furthermore,tectonic subsidence analysis reveals that the tectonic subsidence of the Jianghan Basin in the Cretaceous to early Miocene was characterized by synrift initial subsidence followed by the subsequent thermal subsidence.The thermal history and tectonic subsidence history of Jianghan Basin are of great significance to petroleum exploration and hydrocarbon source assessment,because they bear directly on issues of petroleum source rock maturation.Based on the thermal history and tectonic subsidence history,with the combination of geochemical and thermal parameters,the maturation and the hydrocarbon generation intensity evolution history of the P2d source rocks are modeled.The results show that the P2d source rocks are in a higher degree of maturation at present,and the Yuan'an and Herong sags are the two most important kitchens in the Late Jurassic,Xiaoban Sag is another most important kitchen during the Late Cretaceous to late Paleogene,and the Zhijiang and Mianyang sags are other two important hydrocarbon kitchens in the Late Cretaceous.The Mianyang Sag and Yichang Ramp are the favorable exploration targets in the future.T
LI ZongXingXU MingZHAO PingSUN ZhanXueZHU ChuanQing
