Reinventing the Science of Petroleum Source Rocks: A Contrarian Perspective

Abstract: Conventional models of petroleum source rock development have focused on the balance of productivity and preservation, and how various factors, such as upwelling and restriction, impact those processes. Yet, the critical question of why source rocks occur at particular moments in geological time has not been satisfactorily addressed. New alternative mechanisms of source rock formation are being postulated, which could have implications. These hypotheses involve the short-lived (<1 Ma) changes in the Earth’s atmosphere-hydrosphere system driven by catastrophic events of global reach, which result from the emplacement of Large Igneous Province(LIPs). These new conceptual models offer an improved framework for source rock prediction and understanding source rock properties. The duplex model of both the legacy and the proposed model for petroleum source rock must drive the petroleum exploration strategy. The new conceptual model has the capability to reveal previously overlooked petroliferous basins, particularly those currently assigned low priority, such as the Bay of Bengal and Kerala Basins. This short paper has addressed this topic in some detail.