The impacts of volcanism on hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins - Examples from the world-class Neuquén Basin case study, Argentina
The last two decades of research have highlighted that volcanism occurring in sedimentary basins can have substantial effects on sedimentary formations. In particular, igneous intrusions can trigger the generation of large amounts of greenhouse gases in organic-rich host rocks, leading to dramatic climate change and mass extinctions. Volcanism can also have significant impacts on hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins. The Neuquén Basin, Argentina, is a well-studied example of a hydrocarbon-producing sedimentary basin hosting massive volcanism. The combination of substantial industry subsurface data and high-quality outcrops makes the Neuquén Basin an exceptional geological object to study magma-sedimentary rock interactions and their implications to hydrocarbon systems. This contribution reviews well-studied examples from the Neuquén Basin that illustrate: (1) thermal effects of sills on maturation of the organic matter of the source rock, (2) fracturing processes in igneous intrusions and the host rock, (3) sills as producing fractured reservoirs, (4) intrusion-induced doming as structural trap or as potential fractured reservoir, (5) fluid migration along igneous intrusions, (6) reservoir compartmentalization induced by dykes, (7) generation of bitumen dykes in vicinity of intrusions, and (8) improvement of geophysical imaging using large-scale outcrops. All in all, our review documents various effects of magma-rock interactions in hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins, and highlights the significant scientific value of the Neuquén Basin as a world-class case study for unravelling processes of magma-rock interactions in hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins. • Review of impacts of volcanism on petroleum systems • Review collects examples from the Neuquén Basin case study, Argentina • Neuquén Basin offers both high-quality outcrops and industry data • Review illustrates added value of academia-industry collaborations
Authors
- Hernán de la Cal
- Alain Zanella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9731-1010)
- Ezequiel Lombardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7300-6273)
- Ole Rabbel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5860-2731)
- Daniel Yagupsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4212-4824)
- Olivier Galland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8087-428X)
- J. Octavio Palma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1116-353X)
- Dougal A. Jerram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0043-4426)
- María Dolores Simón Vallejo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6885-1464)
- Juán B. Spacapan
- Gisel Peri
- Sabina Chiacchiera
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (FR)
- Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR)
- Le Mans Université (FR)
- Chevron (United States) (US)
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences (FR)
- Solihull Hospital (GB)
- Roemmers Laboratories (Argentina) (AR)
- Université d'Angers (FR)
- Fundación Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (AR)
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR)
- Nantes Université (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Global and Planetary Change
- Published
- 2025-12-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105218
- Primary Topic
- Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00