Baffin Bay Sedimentary Basins
The scientific research and results of this project are available via GEOSCAN.
The Baffin Bay Sedimentary Basins project, part of the Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) program, will acquire new geological data to evaluate the petroleum systems for the sedimentary basins along the Baffin Bay margin, and to identify evidence of petroleum occurrences in the Eastern Canadian Arctic within Nunavut. Specific areas of interest are the Saglek Basin, the Scott Seep area of the central Baffin Shelf, and the Lancaster Basin.
Project leader – Jim Haggart
Hypothesis:
Do the known petroleum systems that occur on the southern and central Baffin margin extend northward along the Baffin Shelf and were tectonic conditions within the Baffin Shelf suitable to create structures that could trap hydrocarbons?
Research objectives:
- defining the geological framework for potential petroleum systems within the sedimentary basins of the Baffin Shelf;
- developing a biostratigraphic framework to allow correlation of subsurface strata along the Baffin Shelf, in particular those potentially hosting petroleum systems;
- establishing the regional extent of petroleum systems in the eastern Canadian Arctic; and
- contributing regional tectonic knowledge to better understand the evolution of sedimentary basins of Baffin Bay region.
Scientific Highlights
- Analysis of onshore sedimentary succession of the northern Baffin Bay region, as an analogue for offshore successions.
- Organic geochemistry of onshore strata suggests petroleum potential in offshore regions of the northern Baffin Shelf.
- Identification of significant petroleum resource indicators in offshore regions of the Baffin Shelf.
Information about other GEM energy projects is available on the Geo-mapping for Energy web page.