Exhumed Hydrocarbon Traps in East Greenland: Analogs
for the Lower-Middle Jurassic Play of Northwest Europe1
Simon P. Price and Andrew G. Whitham2
ABSTRACT
Four exhumed hydrocarbon traps crop out in
the Traill Ø region of East Greenland, each at the
footwall crest of a fault-block formed during Early
Cretaceous rifting. Former oil accumulations are
indicated by a pore fill or pore lining of solid bitu-
men within the Jurassic sandstone-dominated
Vardekløft and Olympen formations. The Vardek-
løft Formation is divided into an undated
f luvial-dominated lower unit (0–520 m) and a
Bajocian–Callovian upper unit (65–1020 m)
deposited in a shallow-marine environment. The
Oxfordian Olympen Formation (0–250 m) contains
shallow-marine and f luviodeltaic deposits. The
sandstones are dominantly quartzarenites, and pet-
rographic fabrics, such as dissolved feldspar, late
quartz cement, and stylolites, are consistent with
burial depths in excess of 2.5 km. Porosities ranged
from 7 to 27% (generally about 20%, about one-half
of which was primary), and permeabilities ranged
from 1 to 622 md, prior to the formation of solid
bitumen. The distribution of solid bitumen in each
trap can be mapped out, allowing sealing elements
and original oil-water contacts to be defined. Three
of the four exhumed traps (Mols Bjerge, Laplace
Bjerg, and Bjørnedal) were simple one-seal struc-
tural traps. Conformable Upper Jurassic mudstone,
unconformable Albian–Cenomanian mudstone, and
normal faults are the three top-sealing elements.
©Copyright 1997. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All
rights reserved.
1 Manuscript received October 4, 1995; revised manuscript received
March 1, 1996; final acceptance September 17, 1996.
2 Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme, Department of Earth Sciences,
University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom.
This work forms part of a field-based project in East Greenland for which
we gratefully acknowledge past and present funding from Amoco, BP,
Conoco, Enterprise Oil, Esso, JNOC, Mobil, Shell, and Texaco. In addition to
numerous geologists from these companies, we would like to thank James
Brodie, Flemming G. Christiansen, Andrew King, Dave Latin, David
Macdonald, John Marshall, Lars Stemmerik, Simon Tull, and Nicky White for
helpful discussions, and Crispin Day and Kenn Nielsen for logistical support.
We are grateful to John Callomon and Simon Kelly for undertaking the
ammonite identifications used in this article. Comments from Tony Spencer
greatly improved an earlier version of the manuscript. In addition we would
like to thank AAPG Elected Editor Kevin Biddle and Finn Surlyk, G. Bertram,
and Dietmar Schumacher for judicious reviews, which further improved this
article. Department of Earth Sciences Contribution No. 4582.
196
The fourth (Svinhufvuds Bjerge) was a poly-seal
trap with a combined top-seal and a low-side fault
closure. Preliminary estimates of the volume of
original oil in place within these structures range
from 0.2–1.1 billion bbl for the Mols Bjerge trap to
5.3–11.9 billion bbl for the Bjørnedal trap. These
estimates are prone to large errors, due to uncer-
tainties in estimating original trap geometry, hydro-
carbon saturation, and net/gross ratio, and in the
understanding of volume changes of hydrocarbon
in each trap during thermal degradation of the oil.
The Upper Jurassic Bernbjerg Formation is the only
known potential source rock in the region, which
would require a drainage distance of less than the
fault-block spacing to fill the largest of the traps.
Secondary hydrocarbon migration into these traps
occurred between the Cenomanian (age of the
youngest sealing element) and early Eocene to late
Oligocene (when widespread volcanism and sill
intrusion resulted in thermal degradation of the
oil). Each of these structures is relatively well
exposed and accessible; we believe that they will
provide excellent analogs for studies of enhanced
recovery from the mature Lower–Middle Jurassic
oil fields of northwest Europe.
INTRODUCTION
Since the discovery of the Brent oil field in the
northern North Sea in 1971, the Lower–Middle
Jurassic play has become the largest and most
important in northwest Europe, accounting for
more than 80% of discovered resources in the
nor ther n Nor th Sea petroleum province
(60–62°N) (Knag et al., 1995). [In this paper, the
term “Lower–Middle Jurassic play” is used in the
sense of Knag et al. (1995) and describes the age
of the sandstone reservoir units, which are gener-
ally sealed at the eroded footwall crests of tilted
fault blocks.] As this play has reached maturity,
enhanced recovery has become important, and to
better understand reservoir geometry and the
importance of fault scaling and sealing proper-
ties, suitable outcrop-scale analogs have been
sought. Although many such analogs have been used
AAPG Bulletin, V. 81, No. 2 (February 1997), P. 196–221.
 Price and Whitham 197

during the early stages of hydrocarbon explo-

ration in this area.
A number of exhumed hydrocarbon traps in the
Traill Ø region of East Greenland (Figures 1, 2)
belong to the Lower–Middle Jurassic play. These
traps are well exposed, have nearly identical geo-
logical histories, and are the same size as produc-
ing structures from northwest Europe. A former oil
accumulation in each of the East Greenland exam-
ples is indicated by the presence of solid bitumen
filling pores in the Middle–Upper Jurassic sand-
stones. Solid bitumen within Jurassic sandstone in
the Traill Ø region was first encountered at Laplace
Bjerg on Geographical Society Ø by geologists of
the Geological Survey of Greenland. There,
Marcussen et al. (1987) described a “palaeo oil field”
with an original oil column of more than 35 m.
Christiansen (1994) described the solid bitumen at
this locality as a highly coalified residue (Ro > 4%).
Figure 1—Location of study area.
Subsequent mapping by the authors in the Traill
Ø/Geographical Society Ø region has led to the

,,,
recognition of three additional exhumed hydrocar-
bon traps, each with a Middle–Upper Jurassic sand-
to understand more fully both the sedimentology stone reservoir, sealed by Upper Jurassic and
and structure of this play, none, to our knowl- Cretaceous mudstone at the footwall crests of tilted

,,,,,
edge, represent time-equivalent units from the fault blocks. These three traps are the Mols Bjerge,
same rift basin. The use of East Greenland (Figure Svinhufvuds Bjerge, and Bjørnedal traps. This arti-


,,,

1) as an analog to the Brent province of the north- cle, which forms the basis of future detailed study,
ern North Sea is well established and was crucial contains the first description of these four

,,,,,
,,,,,





,,,
 ,,,,,
,,

,




,,,



,,,,,
,,
, ,,
,
,,
, ,,
,
Figure 2—(a) Cretaceous plate reconstruction of northwest Europe and Greenland (after Doré, 1991). The position of
the Traill Ø region (boxed) is shown with respect to the main structural features of the East Greenland and mid-
Norway margins. (b) Locality map showing main structural features and geological units in the Traill Ø region (modi-
fied after Koch and Haller, 1971). The positions of the geological cross sections shown in Figure 4 are also shown.
 198 Traps in East Greenland


,



Figure 3—Stratigraphic
summary of the Mesozoic
of East Greenland [based
on Clemmensen (1980a),

, ,,


 
,




 ,
Surlyk (1990, 1991),
Nøhr-Hansen (1993),
Dam and Surlyk (1995),
F. Surlyk (1996, personal
communication), and
L. Clemmensen (1996,


 

, 



,
personal communication),

,

 , 

 ,

plus our own observations

,
in the Traill Ø region].

,,
yy
R

,


,,,yy,,yy,,,,,,,,yy,,yy,,yy,,,,,
,
,,
yy
R
S R S

,,
yy
R R R

R
R

,,
yy
R



R

S
R

yyy
,,,
,,,
yyy yyy
,,,
,,,
yyy

  yy
,, ,,
yy
,,,
yyy ,,,
yyy
yy
,, S
, ,
,,
yy
,,
yy
,
, R

exhumed hydrocarbon traps. Here, we describe the REGIONAL GEOLOGY

stratigraphy, sedimentology, and petrography of the
paleoreservoir sandstone units and the geometry of
each trap. From the distribution of the solid bitu-
men within each structure, preliminary estimates of
the volume of original oil in place can be made. In
addition, we consider potential source rocks for the
original oil and discuss the timing of secondary
hydrocarbon migration. Throughout this article we
refer to the black residue in sandstone in the Traill
Ø region as solid bitumen. A number of schemes
exist to classify bitumens into families, based on
physical and chemical properties (e.g., Abraham,
1945; Hunt et al., 1954; Curiale, 1986; Cornelius,
1987). The term “solid bitumen” is purely descrip-
tive and avoids genetic connotation (Rogers et al.,
1974; Lomando, 1992). Solid bitumen is derived
from petroleum in reservoirs by thermal degrada-
tion, deasphalting, and bacterial decay.
A Devonian–Cretaceous sedimentary succession
crops out in the Traill Ø region (Figure 3). To the
west of this outcrop in the inner fjords of East
Greenland, Caledonian and Precambrian basement
is exposed. A large number of Tertiary dolerite
dykes and sills, as well as two Tertiary syenite plu-
tons, are intruded into the succession.
The Traill Ø region has a relatively simple geologi-
cal structure previously described by Donovan
(1953, 1955) and Christiansen (1990). Predominantly
west-dipping fault blocks are bounded by normal
faults with displacements of up to several kilometers.
These fault blocks are generally 5–30 km wide
(Figure 4). The degree of east-west crustal stretching
is relatively low (stretching factor β = 1.2–1.3) and
increases toward the east with the largest displace-
ments occurring on the Mols Bjerge, Laplace Bjerg,
 yyyy
@@@@
€€€€
ÀÀÀÀ
,,,,

,,
,,
,,
@@@@
€€€€
ÀÀÀÀ
,,,,
yyyy
@@@@
€€€€
ÀÀÀÀ
,,,,
yyyy

,,,,
,,
,,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,, ,,,,





,,
 ,,
,,
,,
,,
,,

,,, yyyyy
@@@@@
€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,







,,,

,,
,,
,,, ,, @@@@@
€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,
yyyyy






,,,
,,,
,,,,, ,, ,,
,,,,, ,,,

,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,,
,
,,


, ,,,,,,
,,,,




,,,, yy
ÀÀ
€€
@@
,,
,,,,
,, ,,,,,,,,

,
,
,,  ,,,,,,



yy
@@
€€
ÀÀ
,,
@@
€€
ÀÀ
,,
yy
Figure 4—Cross sections showing the geological structure of Traill Ø and Geographical Society Ø. The position of these sections is indicated on Figure 2.
,


200 Traps in East Greenland
Månedal, and Vælddal faults (Figure 4). This regional
structure was formed during a number of discrete
extensional pulses, which have affected the entire
East Greenland region since the end of the Cale-
donian orogeny. This rifting culminated in the devel-
opment of oceanic crust, with sea-floor spreading in
the Norwegian-Greenland Sea beginning during mag-
netochron C24R (54 Ma; Talwani and Eldholm,
1977). Prior to this, the Traill Ø region occupied a
position adjacent to the Vøring Basin of the Mid-
Norway Shelf (Figure 2).
The first rifting event, subsequent to Caledonian
compression, occurred in the Middle Devonian,
when sinistral transtension was the dominant struc-
tural process. This was accommodated on approxi-
mately 90-km-wide, north-south–trending fault
blocks (Larsen and Bengaard, 1991). Extension in
areas to the north of Kong Oscar Fjord was probably
relatively low, as suggested by minor rotation of
these large fault blocks (see Larsen and Bengaard,
1991). Devonian fluviolacustrine deposits associated
with this early rifting crop out at the western end of
Traill Ø. The palynostratigraphic dating of younger
synrift deposits indicates further rift events in
the latest Devonian–middle Visean and the
Westphalian–Autunian(?) (Stemmerik et al., 1991a).
The low regional tilts of Carboniferous strata in the
Traill Ø region (<20°) suggest a low combined
stretching factor for these later events. This con-
trasts with areas to the south of Kong Oscar Fjord
where a high degree of Devonian–Carboniferous
stretching (β ∼4) is indicated by crustal thinning
inferred from deep seismic ref lection profiling
(Larsen et al., 1990; Larsen and Marcussen, 1992).
Early Triassic rifting in East Greenland is indicat-
ed by upper Scythian(?) synrift alluvial fan deposits
in Jameson Land (Clemmensen, 1980a, b) and by a
sharp increase in water-loaded basement subsi-
dence rate on the backstripped stratigraphy of
northern Jameson Land and Traill Ø (Figure 5). The
Figure 5—Subsidence
curves for (a) northern
Traill Ø, (b) northern
Jameson Land, and (c)
southern Jameson Land.
Circles = uncorrected
subsidence; triangles =
decompacted subsidence;
vertical bars = water-
loaded subsidence showing
uncertainty in paleowater
depth. Theoretical
subsidence curves with
corresponding β factors
[after Jarvis and McKenzie
(1980)] are fitted to the
data in (b).
fitting of a uniform stretching theoretical subsi-
dence curve (e.g., Jarvis and McKenzie, 1980) to
the data from northern Jameson Land suggests a β
factor of approximately 1.2 for this event. Early
Triassic rifting is widely documented on North
Atlantic margins (Ziegler, 1988) and in the North
Sea (White, 1990; White and Latin, 1993; Roberts
et al., 1995).
The next major rifting event to have affected East
Greenland was in the late Bajocian–Valanginian. The
onset of this rifting is seen on the basement subsi-
dence curve for Traill Ø (Figure 5), and also by the
wedge-shaped geometry of the Jurassic Vardekløft
and Olympen formations, which thicken westward
toward the Månedal fault in the Traill Ø region
(Figure 6). This thickness variation reflects differen-
tial, fault-controlled basement subsidence rather
than a variation in sediment supply because a fairly
constant paleowater depth, an order of magnitude
less than the total sediment thickness, was main-
tained across the region. Jurassic rifting was initiat-
ed on relatively wide fault blocks, with little inter-
nal deformation. However, in the middle Volgian
these blocks broke into the narrower blocks seen
today (Surlyk, 1977a; 1978). In the Traill Ø region,
the Mols Bjerge, Laplace Bjerg, and Vælddal faults
formed during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous,
with subsequent erosion of Jurassic strata in their
uplifted footwall crests. Synrift deep-marine clastic
wedges were deposited in the half graben formed
during this event. These wedges are exposed in the
Wollaston Forland region where they attain a thick-
ness of perhaps 2600 m (Surlyk, 1978). Equivalent
strata in the Traill Ø region are buried beneath
thick successions of middle Cretaceous mudstone
in the hanging walls of the Mols Bjerge, Laplace
Bjerg, and Månedal faults. Up to 1000 m of erosion
at the footwall crests of these faults occurred dur-
ing this rift event (Figure 4). Assuming a domino
model of extension (Jackson and McKenzie, 1983),

,
Price and Whitham 201

yy
,,
, ,,
yy
,





,,
y, ,,
yy
,,
,


,,
,,
yy ,,
,,
,,
, ,





,,
yy ,,
yy ,,
,,
,,
yy
, , 
  

,, , ,
, ,
,

 , , 
, ,
Figure 6—Summary stratigraphic columns for the Jurassic of the Traill Ø region.

modeling of this erosion using the method of Barr

(1987) and Jackson et al. (1988) suggests that
buried synrift strata are 1000–2500 m thick in the
Traill Ø region. Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous
block faulting did not occur in Jameson Land,
where the increase in basement subsidence rate
associated with crustal thinning did not occur
(Figure 5). Whereas deep-marine fan deposition
occurred in the north, the shallow-marine Raukelv
Formation was deposited in Jameson Land (Surlyk
et al., 1973; Surlyk and Noe-Nygaard, 1992).
Subsequent to Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous
block faulting, fault block crests were onlapped
and gradually buried by Cretaceous marine mud-
stones deposited during thermal subsidence of the
East Greenland basin. Further rift pulses in the
Albian–Cenomanian and possibly the Turonian led
to the rejuvenation of earlier formed footwall crests.
Two periods of rifting occurred in the Traill Ø
region during the Tertiary. By analogy with the
Vøring basin (Skogseid et al., 1992), rifting in the
early Tertiary may have been initiated in the latest
Cretaceous. This rifting led to the eventual develop-
ment of oceanic crust in the Norwegian-Greenland
Sea during the Ypresian. A second rifting event was
associated with the westward switching of spread-
ing center in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea at mag-
netochron C7N (25 Ma; Talwani and Eldholm,
1977) with the resultant separation of the Jan
Mayen microcontinent from the present-day East
Greenland continental margin. A distributed style
of deformation is associated with this event with
fault blocks in the Traill Ø region breaking up inter-
nally. The summing of Tertiary throws on these
faults (seen by the displacement of intrusions) indi-
cates a low stretching factor for this event in the
202 Traps in East Greenland
Traill Ø region (β ∼1.05). In the Traill Ø region, two
periods of magmatism occurred, each related to
one of the periods of Tertiary rifting described. The
first and volumetrically most significant of these
periods gave rise to large numbers of tholeiitic sills
and dykes, which have preliminary 40Ar/39Ar ages
of about 55 Ma (J. Brodie, 1994, personal communi-
cation). This period is synchronous with the forma-
tion of thick basalt lava piles to the south of
Scoresby Sund (Larsen et al., 1989) and on Hold
With Hope and Wollaston Forland (Upton et al.,
1980), and is associated with early Tertiary rifting
immediately prior to the onset of sea floor spread-
ing in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea (Talwani and
Eldholm, 1977). The second main period of mag-
matism gave rise to the syenite plutons that crop
out at the eastern end of Traill Ø (Figure 2) and to a
number of more alkalic basaltic intr usions.
Radiometric dating gives an age of approximately
35 Ma for this period (Noble et al., 1988; J. Brodie,
1994, personal communication), which is just prior
to the separation of the Jan Mayen microcontinent
from East Greenland. Following this, from the
Miocene to the present, the East Greenland conti-
nental margin has been in compression, probably
as a result of ridge-push. This compression has led
to the inversion of earlier formed normal faults and
the development large-wavelength, low-amplitude
folds throughout the Traill Ø region. These struc-
tures are similar in age and scale to inversion struc-
tures to the south of Kong Oscar Fjord (Grasmück
and Trümpy, 1969) and in the Vøring basin (Blystad
et al., 1995).
Exhumation of deeply buried Mesozoic strata
occurred during widespread uplift of the East
Greenland continental margin during the Tertiary
(Larsen, 1990). The amount of exhumation (thick-
ness of removed overburden) is constrained by
stratigraphic truncations (Figure 4), sandstone dia-
genesis (see the following section), and mudstone
maturity parameters (from Stemmerik et al., 1993)
to be 1.5–3.0 km in the Traill Ø region with an
overall increase to the east. The timing and cause of
this regional uplift is subject to debate. On the
basis of apatite fission track analysis, Hansen (1988,
1992) proposed that exhumation in southern
Jameson Land and areas farther south commenced
at about 55 Ma. Data from northern Jameson Land
and the Traill Ø region indicate younger exhuma-
tion ages, on the order of 20 Ma (Hansen, 1988).
PALEORESERVOIR
The Middle Jurassic Vardekløft Formation
(Figure 3) formed the reservoir unit in all four
exhumed traps. In the Bjørnedal trap, sandstone
beds within the overlying Olympen Formation also
have a pore fill of solid bitumen. The sedimentolo-
gy and age of each of these formations are discussed
in the following paragraphs (Figure 6).
Vardekløft Formation
The Vardekløft Formation is a widespread unit of
sandstones and mudstones exposed from Scoresby
Sund in the south to Store Koldewey in the north
(Surlyk et al., 1973), and includes sedimentary
rocks formerly referred to as the yellow and gray
series (Maync, 1947). Two members have been
identified in Jameson Land. The lower member is
sandstone dominated, records deposition in a tidal-
ly influenced, shallow-marine, and estuarine envi-
ronment, and is termed the Pelion Member (Surlyk
et al., 1973; Engkilde and Surlyk, 1993). The upper
unit is mudstone dominated, records deposition in
an outer shelf depositional environment, and is
termed the Fossilbjerget Member. The Pelion
Member is wedge shaped, thickening northward
from 10 m in southeastern Jameson Land to around
1500 m in Svinhufvuds Bjerge of Traill Ø (Engkilde
and Surlyk, 1993). A poorly developed westward-
thickening relationship is also apparent in Jameson
Land. In Milne Land, to the west of Jameson Land,
the Pelion Member equivalent, the Charcot Bugt
Formation, is more than 200 m thick (Callomon
and Birkelund, 1980).
The base of the Pelion Member is an important
sequence boundary (Surlyk, 1991; Engkilde and
Surlyk, 1993). In Jameson Land it rests uncon-
formably on the Aalenian–Bajocian Sortehat Form-
ation (Hansen, 1994; Krabbe et al., 1994). North of
Kong Oscar Fjord, the Sortehat Formation is pre-
sumed to be absent and the Pelion Member overlies
Triassic sediments (Surlyk, 1991). In Milne Land, the
Charcot Bugt Formation onlaps Caledonian crys-
talline basement (Callomon and Birkelund, 1980;
Larsen, 1994). Sandstones of the Pelion Member
pass laterally into mudstones of the Fossilbjerget
Member. The boundary between the two mem-
bers is strongly diachronous, younging to the
north and west, reflecting a major regional trans-
gression.
In the Traill Ø region, the Vardekløft Formation is
represented solely by the sandy Pelion Member,
which we have subdivided into two lithologically
distinct units, a lower unit (PM1) dominated by flu-
vial and fluviodeltaic strata, and an upper unit (PM2)
dominated by sandstones of shallow-marine origin
(Figure 6). The Pelion Member is exposed as a series
of scattered outcrops on Traill Ø and Geographical
Society Ø, characteristically at the crests of tilted
fault blocks (Figures 4, 6). In Mols Bjerge and
Bjørnedal, PM2 is 290 and 470 m thick, respectively.
In Svinhufvuds Bjerge this unit thickens to 1020 m.

This westward thickening suggests deposition in a
more than 30-km-wide half graben possibly con-
trolled by the Månedal fault on its western margin.
In Tværdal, which occurs in the footwall of the
Månedal fault, PM2 is much thinner (sedimenta-
tion rates were approximately four times lower
than in Svinhufvuds Bjerge), incompletely pre-
served, and only about 50 m thick. This thickness
variation also occurs in PM1, but is less marked
(Figure 6).
PM1 is developed everywhere with the excep-
tion of Tværdal. It consists principally of medium
to very coarse grained sandstones and pebbly sand-
stones with subordinate conglomerates, mud-
stones, and impure coals. Wood and other plant
fragments are locally abundant; calcareous macro-
fossils are absent. Cross-bedding within this unit
indicates a southerly transport direction. The
absence of marine macrofossils and the presence of
abundant wood fragments, rootleted horizons, and
coal suggests that this unit was largely deposited in
a fluvial environment. A thick mudstone-dominated
unit in the southern Svinhufvuds Bjerge may indi-
cate a deltaic influence in this region.
PM2 is recorded in all areas with the exception
of Laplace Bjerg, where it has been removed by
pre-Albian footwall erosion. The former presence
of the unit in this region is provided by the occur-
rence of sandstone clasts containing Middle
Jurassic fauna in Albian strata (Donovan, 1955).
PM2 is composed of well-sorted medium- to coarse-
grained sandstones with nodular and continuous
calcareous cemented layers. These layers may
be fossiliferous, containing concentrations of
ammonites, bivalves, and belemnites. The trace fos-
sil Diplocraterion habichii is locally abundant.
Calcareous layers die out upward through the unit.
The dominant sediment transport direction during
the deposition of this unit continued to be toward
the south. The unit largely records deposition in a
marine shelf environment, although a possible
fluviodeltaic influence is indicated toward the top
of the unit.
In Jameson Land, the Pelion Member is Bajocian–
Callovian in age (Surlyk et al., 1973; Callomon, 1993).
In Milne Land, the Charcot Bugt Formation is
Bathonian–Oxfordian in age (Larsen, 1994), although
it may reach down to the Bajocian (M. Larsen, 1994,
personal communication). In the Traill Ø region,
PM1 does not contain any marine macrofossils. The
age of the unit is therefore defined by overlying and
underlying units as post-Triassic–Middle Jurassic
(Bajocian). PM2 contains ammonites of the
Cranocephalites-Arctocephalites-Cadoceras lin-
eage. The earliest representative is C. borealis,
recorded from the Bjørnedal region (Callomon,
1993). However, these specimens were collected
by Donovan (1953) and it is not certain from which
Price and Whitham 203
unit in the Pelion Member they were collected; oth-
erwise, the earliest ammonite is Cranocephalites
indistinctus Callomon (late Boreal Bajocian),
recorded from Tvaerdal. Arctocephalites micrum-
bilicatus (indicating the Boreal Bathonian green-
landicus zone) is the latest ammonite found in
Tvaerdal. The ammonites Cranocephalites pom-
peckji and Cadoceras apertum Callomon were
recovered from sandstone clasts in Albian strata
near Laplace Bjerg, indicating the former presence
of Bathonian and lower Callovian strata (Cadoceras
apertum zone) in this area. The age of the unit in
Mols Bjerge can be constrained as Middle Jurassic
only on the basis of a find of poorly preserved spec-
imens of Cranocephalites (Donovan, 1955). The
age of the top of the member is given by the pres-
ence of ammonites belonging to the cordatum and
densiplicatum zones from the base of the overly-
ing Olympen Formation, indicating an early to mid-
dle Oxfordian age. Thus, the age of PM2 is thought
to be Bajocian–Callovian.
During the deposition of PM1, the western
boundary of sedimentation on Geographical Society
Ø lay between Laplace Bjerg and Tværdal. On Traill
Ø, it is not possible to place the western boundary
with any precision. The boundary must be to the
west of the Månedal fault because glide blocks of
Jurassic sediment derived from areas to the west of
this fault are found in upper Albian strata.
Constraining the western boundary of sedimen-
tation during the deposition of PM2 is not possible.
The area covered by PM2 was originally more
extensive than that covered by PM1, because PM1
is absent in eastern Geographical Society Ø. The
boundary was probably to the west of the Bord-
bjerget Fault, given the fairly fine-grained nature of
much of the Jurassic succession in Tværdal and its
proximity to the fault; however, PM2 was proba-
bly quite thin here because its thickness distribu-
tion seems to have been influenced by syndeposi-
tional faulting. Jurassic sedimentation may have
occurred in the hanging walls of active faults
quite a considerable distance inland of the pres-
ent coastline, and may have been due to a Boreal
Bathonian onlap indicated on the palaeogeo-
graphic reconstructions of Surlyk et al. (1981)
and Surlyk (1990). At 78°N, fluvial Jurassic sedi-
ments are found resting on Caledonian basement
more than 50 km from the present coast in a
region where no other Mesozoic strata are found
(Piasecki et al., 1994).
Olympen Formation
The Olympen Formation is found in northern
and central Jameson Land (Surlyk et al., 1973;
Surlyk, 1991) and on Traill Ø. In Jameson Land, the
204 Traps in East Greenland
unit has a minimum thickness of 300 m and rests
conformably on the Vardekløft Formation. The
Olympen Formation consists of stacked sequences
of sandstone and mudstone arranged as two overall
coarsening-upward cycles (Surlyk, 1991). These
thin southward over 10 km to a few meters, which
in southern Jameson Land are overlain by the
Upper Jurassic Hareelv Formation, indicating a pro-
nounced downlap of the Olympen Formation
(Surlyk, 1991). The top of the Olympen Formation
has been removed by erosion. North of Kong Oscar
Fjord, the Olympen Formation is only exposed on
Traill Ø. In Mols Bjerge it is 150 m thick and poorly
exposed. In northern Svinhufvuds Bjerge the
Olympen Formation attains a thickness of 250 m,
although the top of the formation has been re-
moved by present-day erosion. Complete sections
are found in Bjørnedal, where the unit is 90 m
thick. As with the Vardekløft Formation, this west-
ward thickening was a result of syndepositional
fault block rotation.
The Olympen Formation consists of sandstone
and mudstone in coarsening-upward cycles. The
mudstone contains varying proportions of sand-
stone and is typically well bioturbated. The mud-
stone unit at the base of the formation in northern
Svinhufvuds Bjerge is fossiliferous, yielding am-
monites, belemnites, and fossilized wood frag-
ments. The sandstone units are dominated by cross-
bedding and are concretionary in places. Individual
cross-beds within foresets commonly have regular
thicknesses, suggesting the influence of tidal cur-
rents during deposition. The sandstone-dominated
units are typically poorly organized, but in some
cases 2 to 3-m-thick fining-upward units occur
showing a transition from cross-bedded to parallel-
laminated to ripple cross-laminated sandstones.
Sandstones are largely free of bioturbation, with
the exception of rare occurrences of the trace fossil
Diplocraterion habichii. Rootlets are also found. In
rare cases, the sandy tops of the large-scale coarsening-
upward units contain concentrations of reworked
oyster shells and rare belemnites and ammonites.
Sandstone units at the tops of cycles in northern
Svinhufvuds Bjerge contain abundant plant detri-
tus, horizons with rootlets, and small-scale fining-
upward sequences, indicating fluvial deposition in
a deltaic setting. The sediment transport direction
for this formation in the Traill Ø region was toward
the east.
The large-scale coarsening-upward cycles repre-
sent the gradual transition from offshore/outer
shelf to shallow-marine and fluvial environments
and the progradation of basin-margin facies. Marine
sedimentary indicators are predominant within
sandstone units at the top of the cycles. These rep-
resent marine shelf and shoreface environments
(e.g., Engkilde and Surlyk, 1993).
The age of the Olympen Formation in Jameson
Land is Callovian–middle Oxfordian (Surlyk et al.,
1973), but this age is poorly constrained due to the
scarcity of calcareous macrofossils. Ammonites
have been recovered in northern Svinhufvuds
Bjerge of Traill Ø from the base and the middle of
the formation. The fauna collected from the base
contain the ammonite Quenstedoceras wood-
hamense (mariae zone). This constrains the age of
the base of the formation as early Oxfordian. The
middle to late Oxfordian ammonites Cardioceras
(Maltoniceras) maltonense (Young and Bird) and
Cardioceras (Maltoniceras) vagum Ilovaisky
occur in the middle of the Olympen Formation in
the northern Svinhufvuds Bjerge (Putallaz, 1961).
Early Kimmeridgian ammonites are found near the
base of the overlying Bernbjerg Formation. Thus,
the Olympen Formation is at least early to late
Oxfordian age.
The original depositional area of the Olympen
Formation in the Traill Ø region is poorly defined.
An eastward paleoslope is inferred from limited
paleocurrent data and the presence of fluvial sedi-
ments in the northern Svinhufvuds Bjerge com-
bined with their absence in the Bjørnedal region.
SANDSTONE PETROLOGY
The petrological results presented here are based
on a thin-section study of Middle Jurassic (Vardekløft
Formation) sandstone samples from Mols Bjerge,
Laplace Bjerg, and Wollaston Forland (Figure 2). The
samples from Wollaston Forland preserve an early
diagenetic history, hence their inclusion in this
study.
Detrital Mineralogy
The sandstone-rich Vardekløft Formation has
variable compositions. In the Wollaston Forland
region, sandstones have an arkosic or subarkosic
composition, whereas in the Traill Ø region, sand-
stone compositions fall almost entirely within the
field for quartzarenite (Figure 7). The sandstones
are dominated by monocrystalline quartz showing
strained extinction. K-feldspar forms up to 20% of
the rock. It is most abundant in early-formed car-
bonate concretions, where it has been protected
from diagenetic alteration. Plagioclase feldspar is
recorded only in Wollaston Forland. In the Traill Ø
region it is absent or has undergone alteration.
Sandstones contain up to 2% muscovite. Biotite is
found in small quantities in carbonate-cemented
samples from Wollaston Forland. Lithic fragments
of metamorphic and sedimentary origin form a
minor component.

Figure 7—(a) Q (monocrystalline quartz = Qm) − F [total
feldspar = K (K-feldspar) + P (plagioclase feldspar)] − R
[rock = Qp (polycrystalline quartz) + Lv (volcanic lithic)
+ Lm (metamorphic lithic) + Ls (sedimentary lithic)]
ternary plot for sandstone from the Vardekløft Forma-
tion. The fields on the plot are after Folk (1980). (b) Q
(monocrystalline quartz = Qm) − K (K-feldspar) − P (pla-
gioclase feldspar) ternary plot for sandstone from the
Vardekløft Formation. The arrow indicates how the
composition changes as diagenesis progresses.
Authigenic Mineralogy
K-feldspar cement occurs as overgrowths on
K-feldspar grains in optical continuity with the detri-
tal grain. Fractures in some K-feldspar grains are
infilled by K-feldspar cement, indicating that this
phase of cementation occurred after some burial
and compaction. The overgrowths are clear and less
Price and Whitham 205
(a)
(b)
Figure 8—(a) Photomicrograph of Vardekløft Formation
sandstone composed predominantly of monocrystalline
quartz grains with minor partially dissolved potassium
feldspar grains. Siderite (1) and silica overgrowths (2)
are the most abundant cementing agents, with feldspar
overgrowths (3) and authigenic clay being less abun-
dant. Specimen is from Wollaston Forland and records
earlier diagenetic history (see text). (b) Photomicro-
graph of Vardekløft Formation sandstone composed
almost exclusively of monocrystalline and polycrys-
talline quartz grains. Most of the pore space is occluded
by solid bitumen (black) with silica overgrowths form-
ing straight grain contacts. Specimen is from Mols
Bjerge. (Both thin sections have been impregnated with
blue epoxy resin.)
susceptible to diagenetic alteration, remaining after
dissolution of the host grain (Figure 8a).
Carbonate cements occur in some of the sam-
ples, in particular those from Wollaston Forland.
Ferroan calcite predominates and is present as
micritic and poikilotopic cements. Calcite and
dolomite cements also occur in some thin sections
from Wollaston Forland. Carbonate cements infill
primary pore space and may corrode and replace
detrital grains.
206 Traps in East Greenland
Figure 9—Plot of laboratory-measured porosity vs. mea-
sured air permeability for sandstone samples from the
Vardekløft Formation.
Chalcedonic quartz cement is found mainly in
specimens from Mols Bjerge as a primary pore fill,
and also, to a lesser extent, replacing feldspar.
Quartz cement is important in samples from Mols
Bjerge and Laplace Bjerg, occurring as overgrowths
in optical continuity with detrital grains.
Clay cements, which occur as microcrystalline
pore-filling aggregates, represent an important
diagenetic phase, especially in Mols Bjerge.
Although the precipitation of clays is recorded
both early and late in the diagenetic history, the
main phase of clay cementation postdates quartz
cementation.
Solid bitumen is found occluding pore space in a
number of specimens from Mols Bjerge. In some
samples the pore space between detrital quartz
grains is filled by solid bitumen, with limited devel-
opment of quartz and clay cements (Figure 8b). In
most samples, however, solid bitumen fills some of
the pore space, but much of the space is filled by
quartz and clay cements. At Laplace Bjerg, solid
bitumen stains authigenic kaolinite brown, but the
pore space is otherwise open. Solid bitumen from
Svinhufvuds Bjerge and Bjørnedal has not been
examined in thin section.
Compaction
Evidence of compaction is provided by grain
breakage, concave-convex contacts between
quartz grains, bending of micas around grains,
grain fracturing, and the formation of bedding-
parallel stylolites that occur in Mols Bjer ge,
Svinhufvuds Bjerge, and Bjørnedal. The summing
of stylolite amplitudes indicates as much as 10%
volume loss by compaction at some localities. The
effects of compaction are least pronounced in
Wollaston Forland, especially in carbonate-
cemented units.
Porosity and Permeability
The porosity and permeability of sandstones
from the Vardekløft Formation (Figure 9) vary con-
siderably. The highest values are recorded in sam-
ples from Wollaston Forland, where porosity ranges
from 21 to 27% and permeability from 263 to 3203
md. Most of the porosity (13–16%) is primary, with
secondary porosity derived from partial or total
feldspar dissolution to form honeycombed grains
or oversized pores. Sandstone samples from
Laplace Bjerg have comparable porosities (around
22%) and permeabilities (121–622 md). There, just
over one-half of the porosity (13% of whole rock) is
primary. Values from Svinhufvuds Bjerge are slight-
ly lower with porosities of 14–24% and permeabili-
ties of 1.4–518 md. In thin section, sandstones
from Mols Bjerge are largely devoid of porosity, as
confirmed by the single porosity determination.
However, prior to the formation of bitumen, sand-
stones from this area had porosities of up to 27%.
Paragenesis
The sequence of events, based on thin-section
study, is shown in Figure 10. The earliest diagenetic
events are recorded in samples from Wollaston
Forland, and the latest in samples from Mols Bjerge.
Minerals precipitated during earliest diagenesis
include feldspar overgrowths, opaques, and minor
clay minerals enclosed by equant or poikilotopic car-
bonate cements. Plagioclase feldspar is typically
altered and replaced. The loss of K-feldspar to form
honeycombed grains and oversized pores, the com-
paction and fracturing of detrital grains, and the for-
mation of kaolinite postdate the extensive carbonate
cements. The gradual loss of first plagioclase
feldspar and then K-feldspar is illustrated in Figure 7.
In the Laplace Bjerg region, these stages of diage-
nesis recorded in carbonate-cemented bands are
not found. Here, diagenesis is more advanced.
K-feldspar grains (honeycombed) are less abundant.
The loss of round unstable grains from the rock is
recorded in the form of oversize pores. However,
most significantly, quartz grains have overgrowths
of quartz, which are well defined by dust rims. The
fact that overgrowths are concentrated on quartz
grains away from the oversized pores suggests that
the dissolved grains were originally feldspars,
because the presence of feldspars tends to inhibit
the development of quartz overgrowths on adjacent
quartz grains. Clay mineral growth postdates quartz
overgrowths, with hydrocarbon migration into the
pores to coat grains being the final event recorded.
Specimens from Mols Bjerge record the latest
diagenetic events. In these samples feldspars have
been totally removed, leaving oversized pores.

Figure 10—Diagenetic pathway for sandstone of the
Vardekløft Formation. The bracketed intervals indicate
where different parts of the sequence are recorded.
Quartz overgrowths are found on quartz grains and
are the earliest diagenetic event recorded. In some
specimens hydrocarbon migration occurred before
the growth of significant quantities of clays. In
most specimens solid bitumen coexists with vary-
ing quantities of clay minerals, suggesting that
Price and Whitham 207
hydrocarbon migration occurred until pores were
totally occluded by clays. Evidence of continued
compaction is provided by abundant pressure solu-
tion features.
We believe that the sequence in Figure 10 is
related to maximum burial depth prior to Tertiary
uplift and exhumation. Maximum burial (and sub-
sequent exhumation) occurred in Mols Bjerge.
By analogy with the conjugate mid-Norway Shelf,
late quartz cementation and horizontal stylolites
indicate burial depths in excess of 2.5 km (Bjørl-
ykke et al., 1986). Sandstones from the Vardekløft
Formation have petrographic characteristics very
similar to the time-equivalent Garn Formation of
the mid-Norway Shelf (Ehrenberg, 1990) and the
Stø Formation of the Barents Shelf (Olaussen et
al., 1984).
TRAP GEOMETRIES
Distribution of Solid Bitumen
The presence of solid bitumen in Jurassic sand-
stones in the Traill Ø region is recognized in the
field as a color change. Solid bitumen-stained sand-
stones are characteristically white or orange-brown
on weathered surfaces and dark gray or black on
fresh surfaces. In thin section, the solid bitumen
appears as a black pore-filling or grain-coating
residue.
The distribution of solid bitumen-stained sand-
stones can be mapped out with reasonable accura-
cy in the field due to fairly good exposure and relief
of up to 1000 m. In each of the exhumed struc-
tures, solid bitumen staining was found in sand-
stone at high altitudes, and a number of sealing sur-
faces could be defined above which no solid
bitumen was encountered. The lowermost contact
of the solid bitumen-stained sandstones, where
exposed, occurs as a relatively sharp planar bound-
ary, which is more or less horizontal in the Mols
Bjerge and Bjørnedal traps (see following para-
graphs). These observations indicate that this
lower boundary represents an original oil-water
contact (OWC).
Mols Bjerge Trap
This trap crops out in northeastern Traill Ø
(Figure 11). The geometry of the trap is known
with a high degree of certainty, as exposure in this
area is generally good and the trap occurs in a sim-
ple structure (Figure 12). The southern closure of
the trap, however, is poorly defined due to the
paucity of exposure of Jurassic strata in southern
Mols Bjerge. Two former oil accumulations can be



,,,
208 Traps in East Greenland

,,,




,,



 
Figure 11—(a) Map of the Mols
Bjerge exhumed hydrocarbon
trap with the altitude of the base
Cretaceous top seal contoured.
Two former hydrocarbon pools

,,,







,,
 
 ,
,
,
are defined. A northern
accumulation in the vicinity of
Nordenskiöld Ø has a paleo-OWC
(oil-water contact) somewhere
between 0 and 100 m. A larger
accumulation in the south has

,,,





,
a paleo-OWC at approximately

,
,
,
400 m. (b) East-west–trending
cross sections showing the
approximate distribution of
bitumen-stained sandstones in
the Mols Bjerge trap. Location
of sections shown in (a).

,,,




 
,,,





,,,









,,,

,
,,

defined within the trap by the distribution of solid
bitumen. Bitumen-stained sandstones cropping out
on Nordenskiöld Ø represent a small former oil pool
at the northern end of the Mols Bjerge trap. The orig-
inal OWC of this northern accumulation occurs
between 0 and 50 m above sea level. A larger former
accumulation, with a near-horizontal original OWC at
approximately 400 m altitude, occurs south of the
small accumulation (Figure 11). The original oil col-
umn of this larger accumulation was nearly 150 m in
height. The Mols Bjerge trap is a simple one-seal
structural trap (terminology after Milton and
Bertram, 1992). Unconformable Albian–Cenomanian
mudstone, conformable Bernbjerg Formation mud-
stone, and the Mols Bjerge Fault provided top-sealing
elements, the latter two only being required to seal
the northern accumulation. Triassic (Carnian?) sand-
stones above 400 m altitude are not solid bitumen
stained. Therefore, mudstones at the top of the
Triassic succession appear to have provided a bottom
seal. However, the original OWCs for both accumula-
tions are higher than porous sandstones in the hang-
ing wall of the Mols Bjerge Fault. Therefore this bot-
tom seal was not required to complete the trap.
 Price and Whitham 209

(a)


,,,,,,



, ,

(b)

,,,,,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,, ,,,,,,
,,
,,
,,

,,,
,,,
,,,
,,
, ,,,,,,
Figure 12—(a) Photograph of the northern Mols Bjerge coast showing the northern end of the Mols Bjerge trap
where the unconformity between the Vardekløft Formation and Albian–Cenomanian mudstones (arrows) forms a
prominent sealing surface. Length of view is approximately 6 km. (b) Interpretation of (a). The gray dashed line
indicates the approximate position of the original oil-water contact (OWC).

Svinhufvuds Bjerge Trap top-sealing surface do not close. Unconformable

This trap occurs within a 5-km-wide fault block,
cropping out at the eastern end of Svinhufvuds
Bjerge of southern Traill Ø (Figure 2). The northern
end of the trap is well exposed, although the north-
ern closure has been removed by erosion. The south-
ern feather-edge of the trap is exposed in the coastal
cliffs of Svinhufvuds Bjerge (Figure 13). The central
part of the trap occurs beneath a thick succession of
Albian mudstone, and its structure is assumed by
extrapolation from the flanks (Figure 14a). Sand-
stones of the Pelion Member form the original reser-
voir of this trap. The exact position of the original
OWC is constrained at only three localities, but it
appears that this surface is folded into an open syn-
cline with a low-angle southeast-plunging axis
(Figure 14). This is one of a number of long-wave-
length open folds in the Traill Ø region; these folds
formed as a result of Tertiary compression of the East
Greenland margin. The Svinhufvuds Bjerge trap had
an original oil column of approximately 200 m in its
central part (Figure 14b).
The structure is a poly-seal trap (after Milton
and Bertram, 1992) because the contours on the
Albian–Cenomanian mudstone, conformable
Olympen Formation mudstone, and Fault B provid-
ed top-sealing elements. In the central part of the
fault block in the core of the syncline, the Pelion
Member lies conformably beneath the Olympen
Formation, which subcrops the base Cretaceous
unconformity. Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous ero-
sion resulted in the formation of a southeast-slop-
ing surface, which truncated the Pelion Member in
the northeast and southwest of the fault block
(Figure 14a). This slope was the degraded footwall
slope of Fault B. The bottom seal was provided by
Fault A, which acted as a low-side fault closure, jux-
taposing unstained Lower Triassic Wordie Creek
Formation sandstone against the reservoir. Fault A
therefore acted as a postdepositional facies change
seal, presumably due to the development of a fault
gouge. However, middle Tertiary reactivation of
these faults may have obliterated earlier fabrics.
Both faults presently crop out as approximately 10-
m-thick deformation zones dominated by calcite-
cemented “implosion breccias” [in the sense of
Sibson (1985, 1986)]. These breccias are cement
supported and contain floating clasts of wall rock
210 Traps in East Greenland

Figure 13—(a) Photograph

(a) of the southern
Svinhufvuds Bjerge coast
showing the southern end
of the Svinhufvuds Bjerge
trap. Height of cliff is
approximately 1000 m.
(b) Interpretation of (a).


,,,,,,,









,,,
,,,
,,,,,,
,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,,
,, ,,,
,,,
,,,
,,,
,,,
(b)
,,,,,,,,,,,,
@@@@@@
€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,,
yyyyyy
,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,
,,,
,,
,,

,,,,,,,










,

 


,,,,




,
@@@@@@,@€Àyyyyyyy
€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,,
yyyyyy @@@@@@
€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,,
@@@@@@ ,,
€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
,,,,,,
yyyyyy yy
ÀÀ
€€
@@
,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,
,,,,,,, ,,
,,,,,
,,,
,,,

,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,
,,
,,
,,
,,,
,,

,,,,,,,










,,,,,






,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,
,,
,,,,,,,
, ,,,,,,,



,,
,
@@
€€
ÀÀ
,,
yy
yyy
@@@
€€€
ÀÀÀ
,,,
@@
€€
ÀÀ
,,
yy
@@@
€€€
ÀÀÀ
,,,
yyy
(generally Triassic sandstone and Ter tiar y region (Figure 4). In addition to the sandy Vardek-
dolerite). They have little or no matrix and con- løft Formation, the more mudstone-rich Olympen
tain very little pore space. In addition to breccias, Formation also formed part of the reservoir of this
the fault zone contains minor fault gouge and trap. The exhumed trap passes offshore into Kong
sheared Tertiary dolerite. In contrast to each of Oscar Fjord, so the nature of its southern closure is
the other traps described here, the Pelion Member unknown. Therefore it is not possible to show
is highly fractured within this structure, probably whether the trap was full to spill. The original
as a result of internal folding and the proximity of OWC is subhorizontal and occurs at approximately
two major faults. 600 m in the northern part of the trap. This surface
may have a slight gradient (<1°) to the south. This
is a one-seal str uctural trap (see Milton and
Bjørnedal Trap Bertram, 1992) with conformable Bernbjerg
Formation mudstone and the Vælddal Fault forming
This trap crops out in southeastern Traill Ø top-sealing elements. It is possible that uncon-
(Figure 15) at the footwall crest of an east-dipping formable (?)Albian–Cenomanian mudstone also
fault block, a polarity opposite to all others in the provided a seal at the now-eroded crest of the fault






,,,
 ,
Price and Whitham 211

Figure 14—(a) Map of


,,,
 
the Svinhufvuds Bjerge
exhumed hydrocarbon
trap with contours
showing the altitude of the
unconformable Cretaceous
top seal (solid lines) and


,,,

the base of the Olympen
Formation (dotted lines),
which forms a
conformable top seal in
the central part of the
trap. The central part of


,,,,

the trap is poorly exposed
and its structure is deduced
by extrapolation from the
margins. The position
of the Pelion Member
upper truncation edge


,,,

in the south is highly
schematic. (b) Southwest–
northeast–trending cross
section through the
Svinhufvuds Bjerge trap
showing the relationship


,,,

between the paleo-OWC
,, (oil-water contact) and
the two main top-sealing
elements. Bedding dips
are indicated. Location
of section shown in (a).









,,,,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,

block. We have assumed the simplest scenario, and
extrapolated the base of the Bernbjerg Formation
westward over the fault block crest to intersect
with the Vælddal Fault (Figure 15). This shows that
the original oil column of this structure may have
been as much as 600 m. The fault block in this area
rotated in a coherent manner, with very little inter-
nal faulting.
Laplace Bjerg Trap
The Laplace Bjerge trap of northern Geo-
graphical Society Ø was the first described (Mar-
cussen et al., 1987) and is the least studied of all of
the exhumed structures in the region. Although
yet to be mapped in detail, the structure appears
to be very similar to that of the Mols Bjerge trap
(i.e., a one-seal trap with a high-side fault closure
and unconformable top seal). Unconformable
Albian–Cenomanian mudstones form the only
proven top-sealing element. The lower truncation
edge of the reservoir sandstones occurs to the
west of the Laplace Bjerg Fault, which does not
form a top-sealing element. Triassic (Carnian?)
mudstones form a bottom seal. However, the origi-
nal OWC is higher than porous sandstones in the
hanging wall of the Laplace Bjerg Fault. Therefore
this bottom seal is not required to complete the
trap. Marcussen et al. (1987) described an original
oil column of more than 35 m. The original OWC
has not been identified.
212 Traps in East Greenland



Figure 15—(a) Map of the

,,
Bjørnedal exhumed hydrocarbon
trap with the altitude of the

,,
,,
,,
base of the Bernbjerg Formation
(top seal) contoured. The

,,
,,,,,,, position of the Kap Simpson
,,,,,,, syenite, intruded subsequent
,,,,,,, to hydrocarbon migration, is

,,
indicated. (b) East-west–trending
cross section showing the
approximate distribution of

,,
bitumen-stained sandstones in
the Bjørndal trap

,,
,,
,,
,,

,
,,,
,,,
,,
,,
,,
,,

Definition of Spill Points
An important question concerns whether these
described traps were full to their spill points. In
the case of the one-seal structural traps (Mols
Bjerge, Laplace Bjerg, and Bjørnedal), spill was
controlled by saddles in the closure at the base of
the top-sealing surface (defined by tectonic and
depositional surfaces; e.g., Milton and Bertram,
1992). These saddles are no longer preserved,
due to erosion of the traps. In the case of both
the Mols Bjerge and Bjørnedal traps, contours at
the base of the top-sealing surface are closed at
the northern end of each trap and missing (erod-
ed) at the southern end (Figures 12, 15). If the
spill points occur at the northern end of these
traps, then it is clear that they did not fill to spill.
However, it is also possible that the traps were
full to spill and that spill points occurred at the
eroded southern ends of the Mols Bjerge and
Bjørnedal traps at altitudes of approximately 400
and 600 m, respectively. The only way of resolv-
ing this problem would be to extrapolate con-
tours on the base of the top seal between, say, the
Mols Bjerge and Bjør nedal traps. We did not
attempt this due to the considerable uncertainty
inherent in such an exercise. In the case of the
poly-seal Svinhufvuds Bjerge trap (Figure 14),
spill was either controlled by a saddle in the top-
sealing surface or by a low point in the branch
line (e.g., Milton and Bertram, 1992), where the
bottom seal (Fault A) and top seal intersect.
Again, erosion has removed both the northern
and southern closures of this trap.

VOLUME OF ORIGINAL OIL IN PLACE
We calculate the volume of original oil in place for
each trap by assuming that the present distribution
of solid bitumen pore fill is indicative of the original
distribution of oil in place within the trap. Because of
changes in volume of the reservoir during thermal
degradation, this may not strictly be true. The volume
of original oil in place is computed by restoring each
trap (i.e., removing the effects of Tertiary–Quaternary
erosion) and using the simple equation
Volume = GP × φ × N:G × Sh
where GP = gross pay or bulk rock volume of reser-
voir above original OWC, φ =porosity, N:G = net to
gross ratio, and Sh = hydrocarbon saturation. These are
considered in more detail in the following sections.
Gross Pay
The volume of solid reservoir within each trap is
calculated. For each trap, contours on the top-sealing
surface (deduced from surface outcrop elevations)
and the original OWC are digitized, and the volume
between these surfaces computed using the
Trapezoidal rule, Simpson’s rule, and Simpson’s 3/8
rule (see, for example, Press et al., 1989). The aver-
age of these three results is taken. In this computa-
tion, the volume of any dolerite and syenite sills
intruded into the reservoir subsequent to secondary
hydrocarbon migration is calculated and subtracted.
In producing contoured surface maps, we follow the
recommendations of Jones and Hamilton (1992),
who stated that geological interpretation of the data
set (i.e., outcrop elevations of formation boundaries
measured in the field) should be undertaken before
allowing the computer to process the data.
Two types of errors arise during computation of
the trap volumes. The first is inherent in the compu-
tational method. A relative error is calculated from
the variation among the three computational meth-
ods used. Also, uncertainties in the exact positions
of the original OWC and top-sealing surface will lead
to errors. We assume that both of these surfaces are
located to within ±20 m, which is the sum of the
accuracy of mapping altimeters and nominal vertical
outcrop spacing. Errors brought about by mistakes
in the interpretation of geological boundaries are
not quantifiable. We therefore compute the gross
rock volumes of our interpreted structures.
Net to Gross Ratio
The net to gross ratio (N:G) for each formation
is estimated by summing sandstone and shale
Price and Whitham 213
thicknesses in numerous logged sections and in
the previously published sedimentar y logs of
Donovan (1953, 1955). Uncertainties in N:G pro-
vide a source of error which is difficult to quanti-
fy. There is a spread of N:G ratio values between
traps (Table 1), with the end members of this
spread being visibly distinct in the field. We
believe the values in Table 1 to be accurate to
within 0.05 of the true value.
Porosity
Thin-section point counting and direct mea-
surement indicate that the porosity of Middle
Jurassic sandstone in the Traill Ø region is tightly
grouped around 20%, which is the value used
here. The value from Mols Bjerge, however, may
be lower due to late quartz and clay cementation.
A value of porosity, prior to the formation of solid
bitumen, is obtained by estimating the propor-
tion of bitumen in samples using point counting.
These data indicate that prior to the formation of
solid bitumen, sandstones above the original
OWC in Mols Bjerge exhibited a wide variation in
porosity of up to 27%, with an average of 7%. This
is the value used here. However, this is probably
an underestimate, given the large porosities
recorded elsewhere.
Hydrocarbon Saturation
This property varies within a reservoir as a func-
tion of height above the free energy surface and of
porosity and permeability. However, for a given
porosity the height variation above the dry-oil pro-
duction contact (the original OWC of this study) is
apparently negligible (Heymans et al., 1992). We
therefore use a single estimate of hydrocarbon satu-
ration in this computation.
Original hydrocarbon saturation within the
reser voir cannot be measured directly, so an
average value for 31 oil accumulations in the
Central Graben, South Viking Graben, North
Viking Graben, and Halten Terrace [80.0 ±7.9%;
taken from Spencer et al. (1987)] is taken. An
estimate of error is obtained from the 2σ value
of this data set.
Results
The calculated volumes of original oil in place
are presented in Table 1. For each trap the range
of values incorporates all quantifiable errors. This
range is large due mainly to uncertainties in origi-
nal trap geometry, because each trap is deeply
214 Traps in East Greenland

incised. Nevertheless, these simple calculations

Classified in terms of sealing surfaces given in the form top seal/bottom seal (where necessary). U = unconformable contact; C = conformable contact; T = tectonic contact; F = facies change (see
(Pelion Mbr; PM2)/Olympen Fm
indicate the presence of at least three former oil
accumulations of giant to supergiant size. A prob-
lem that remains unanswered is, given the volu-

Bathonian–Oxfordian(?)
metric changes that occur within a reservoir dur-

>5.3–11.9 billion bbl

ing thermal degradation, to what extent do the
volumetric results in Table 1 reflect the true vol-
ume of original oil in place? During thermal

>8.91 (± 0.84)
degradation, a given volume of oil will be trans-

OIP = oil in place, calculated assuming a hydrocarbon saturation of 80.0 ±7.9% (e.g., average Brent Group reservoir, Central Graben, Viking Graben, and Halten Terrace).
Bjørnedal**

0.89 ±0.05
Vardekløft

formed to a greater volume of gas plus a carbona-

× 109 m3
>37 km2
ceous residue (the solid bitumen of our study).
20 ±3%
560 m

500 m
The exact volumes concerned range between
CT

approximately 86 and 107 m3 of gas/bbl of oil at

1 atm pressure, depending on the original oil
composition and the time-temperature relation-
(Pelion Mbr; PM1)

ship (Barker, 1990). The increase in reservoir

Table 1. Trap Types, Pay Zones, and Pre-erosion Field Sizes of Exhumed Hydrocarbon Traps, Traill Ø Region

Laplace Bjerg

pressure can be accommodated either by fractur-

?–Bathonian
Not known

Not known

Not known

Not known
1.00 ±0.05

ing and partial gas loss (reservoir pressure gradi-

Vardekløft

ents can exceed lithostatic pressure gradients

22 ±3%

>35 m

after only 1% of the oil has cracked) or, if the

UT

reservoir is in permeable connection with its sur-

roundings, as in the present examples, by expan-
sion of the gas cap and lowering of the OWC to
Bathonian–Callovian
Svinhufvuds Bjerge*

increase reservoir volume (Barker, 1990). The lat-

>0.6–2.0 billion bbl
(Pelion Mbr; PM2)

ter might be expected in the traps of this study.

Thus, one can ima gine a scenar io where oil
>1.22 (± 0.38)

migrates downward beneath the developing gas

0.99 ±0.05
Vardekløft

× 109 m3

column in a reservoir, leaving a smear of solid

>19 km2
1020 m

20 ±3%

bitumen beneath the original OWC. The distribu-

UCT/F

260 m

tion of solid bitumen within a thermally degraded

reservoir may lead to overestimating the volume
of original oil in place within that reservoir if the
trap is not already filled to its spill point. Barker
(Pelion Mbr; PM1)

0.2–1.1 billion bbl

Mols Bjerge South

(1990) quantified the volume and pressure

changes occurring in a reservoir during cracking
1.65 (± 0.34)
?–Bathonian

**Southern closure of trap not defined; therefore, trap volumes are minimums.

(due to burial) and showed that, after 100% crack-

0.95 ±0.05

*Northern closure of trap not defined; therefore, trap volumes are minimums.
Vardekløft

× 109 m3

ing, gas will occupy 1.8 times the original volume

30 km2
310 m

160 m
7 ±3%

of oil in the reservoir. This figure shows that the

original oil in place within these structures may
UT

be about 55% of the values shown in Table 1. The

problem of changing volume within the reservoir
Bathonian–Callovian

has not been resolved. Colin Barker (1995, per-

(Pelion Mbr; PM2)
Mols Bjerge North

sonal communication) pointed out that the heavy

<0.1 billion bbl

ends that make up the bitumen may be precipitat-

0.15 (± 0.04)

ed first, and that later, as the oil evolved toward a

0.78 ±0.05
Vardekløft

× 109 m3

condensate, there may have been no large aro-

290 m

matic molecules left to be precipitated. If this

7 ±3%

5 km2
70 m
UCT

were the case, the present-day distribution of

scheme of Milton and Bertram, 1992).

solid bitumen would indicate the volume of origi-

nal oil in place.
Gross Rock Volume
Porosity (Average)
Gross Thickness
Net:Gross Ratio

Original OIP††

DISCUSSION
Oil Column
Formations
Trap Type†

A Likely Source Rock?

Field Size
Pay Zone

Area
Age

In recent years, the evaluation of potential

††
†

source rock intervals in North Atlantic areas has


Figure 16—Source rock characterization of different
Traill Ø mudstones by total organic carbon (TOC in %)
vs. total hydrocarbon generation potential (mg HC/g
rock).
focused on the East Greenland succession [see
Christiansen et al. (1992) for a summary]. The
recognition of giant former oil fields in East
Greenland confirms the idea that a source rock
capable of generating large quantities of hydro-
carbons exists in the region. The large volume of
original oil in place within the exhumed traps
constrains the original source unit. The organic
geochemistry of potential source rocks cropping
out in East Greenland has been studied by the
Geological Survey of Greenland as part of an
investigation into the onshore hydrocarbon
potential of East Greenland (Christiansen et al.,
1992; Stemmerik et al., 1993). The following is a
brief summar y of potential source rocks that
crop out in the Traill Ø region.
Westphalian lacustrine mudstones have poten-
tial for generating oil (Piasecki et al., 1990;
Stemmerik et al., 1991b). These strata have a com-
bined thickness of 23 m in a 1500-m-thick section
at the southern end of Kongeborgen, Traill Ø.
TOC (total organic carbon) values are generally
high (Figure 16), and high HI (hydrogen index)
values combined with low OI (oxygen index) val-
ues indicate type I/II kerogen (Figure 17). This
source rock has limited areal distribution, as lakes
Price and Whitham 215
Figure 17—Modified van Krevelen plot for different
Traill Ø mudstones showing kerogen type according to
Rock-Eval pyrolysis data.
were no more than approximately 10 km wide
and were confined to the geomorphological
depressions occurring adjacent to large faults, par-
ticularly the basin-bounding post-Devonian Main
fault (Figure 2) (Piasecki et al., 1990).
Marine shales of the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld
Formation have a more widespread distribution,
occurring over an area greater than 25,000 km2 in
East Greenland and continuing offshore (Christ-
iansen et al., 1993; Stemmerik et al., 1993). The
formation has an average thickness of 12 m on
Traill Ø. TOC values are in the range of from 1 to
12%, and relatively high HI values and low OI val-
ues indicate type I/II kerogen (Figures 16, 17).
This unit was described in detail by Surlyk et al.
(1986), Christiansen et al. (1990), and Piasecki
and Stemmerik (1991).
Shales belonging to the Bernbjerg Formation
(upper Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian) have a wide-
spread distribution in East Greenland (Surlyk,
216 Traps in East Greenland
Table 2. Minimum Secondary Migration Distances Required to Fill the Largest Exhumed Trap*
Thickness
Oil-Generating Strata (m)
Carboniferous (Westphalian) 23
Upper Permian 12
Upper Jurassic >280
*Values are calculated from the drainage areas of potential source rocks in the Traill Ø region; largest trap is Bjørnedal, which is
approximately 850 × 10 6 Sm 3 . Areas were calculated assuming that each potential source unit was oil prone and that all of the oil was generated
from that unit. Transformation ratio = 20% (e.g., Tissot and Welte, 1984). Efficiency of primary migration = 25% (e.g., Tissot and Welte, 1984).
Density of mudstone (dry) = 2.1 g cm –3 . Density of oil = 0.9 g cm –3 .
**Total organic carbon.
1977b, 1990; Stemmerik et al., 1993). Nowhere in
the Traill Ø region is the full thickness of the for-
mation preserved, due to pre-Albian erosion, but a
minimum thickness of 280 m is recorded in the
Bjørnedal area (Figure 6). TOC values range from
4 to 10% (Figure 16). Low HI values and relatively
high OI values in Wollaston Forland indicate a
predominance of type III kerogen (Figure 17),
indicating the Bernbjerg Formation to be gas
prone in this region. Data from Traill Ø are incon-
clusive due to the high thermal maturity of sam-
ples in this area. The time-equivalent Hareelv
Formation (Surlyk, 1987), which crops out in
southern Jameson Land, contains type II kerogen
(Stemmerik et al., 1993) and is known to be oil
prone (Requejo et al., 1989). This supports the
notion of oil-prone Upper Jurassic shales in off-
shore areas.
Maturity parameters generally indicate immature
to early-mature mudstones cropping out at the sur-
face in the Traill Ø region, although locally they are
postmature owing to their proximity to large
dolerite sills and syenite plutons, particularly at the
eastern end of Traill Ø (Stemmerik et al., 1993).
Upper Carboniferous, Upper Permian, and Upper
Jurassic mudstones all had potential to be the
source of hydrocarbons in the exhumed traps. We
favor an Upper Jurassic source for the following
reasons:
(1) The Upper Jurassic Bernbjerg Formation in
Steenstrup Dal, southern Traill Ø, contains thin
black sandstone beds with a pore fill of solid bitu-
men. These beds are laterally discontinuous and
are totally surrounded by mudstone. The solid
bitumen must therefore represent oil that migrat-
ed from the surrounding mudstone and became
entrapped within the sandstone lenses. Oil shows
also occur within sandstones of the age-equiva-
lent Hareelv Formation of southern Jameson Land
(Requejo et al., 1989). Requejo et al. (1989) used
biomarkers, stable isotopes, and the pyrolysate
compositions of kerogen and asphaltenes to
TOC** Source Rock Drainage Minimum Secondary
(%) Yield (kg t–1) Area (km2) Migration Distance (km)
8.5 4.25 3730 49
4.0 2.00 15,080 98
5.5 2.75 <480 <17
demonstrate that the oil was sourced in the sur-
rounding Upper Jurassic mudstone.
(2) An approximate balance calculation suggests
that there should be a relationship between the size
of an oil accumulation and the drainage area (Tissot
and Welte, 1984). The drainage area for each poten-
tial source rock in the region can be calculated by
combining TOC values and transformation ratios of
kerogen to oil calculated from Rock-Eval pyrolysis
data (Espitalié et al., 1977) with source rock vol-
umes. The calculated areas place minimum con-
straints on the distance of secondary hydrocarbon
migration into the traps, which can be independent-
ly estimated from field data (fault block widths,
spacing of exhumed traps, etc.). We have produced
estimates of the drainage areas for each potential
source rock that would be required to generate
enough oil to fill the largest exhumed trap exposed
in the Traill Ø region. This is the Bjørnedal trap with
a minimum volume of original oil in place of 5.3 bil-
lion bbl (850 × 10 6 Sm 3 ). Because the exhumed
traps in the region occur at the crests of evenly dip-
ping fault blocks, we have assumed that the
drainage area for each trap is a semicircle with the
trap located at the center. In each case, the calculat-
ed minimum secondary migration distance is the
radius of the semicircle (see Table 2).
Upper Carboniferous and Upper Per mian
potential source rocks have estimated minimum
secondary migration distances of approximately
50 and 100 km, respectively. Secondary migration
most likely occurred updip of the tilted fault
blocks in the study region, so the dip-parallel
width of the fault block provides an upper limit
to migration distance. Fault blocks in the Traill Ø
region have widths of 5–30 km, and exhumed
hydrocarbon traps have similar spacings. Thus,
migration distances in excess of about 30 km are
unreasonable and oil sourced independently from
Upper Carboniferous or Upper Permian strata is
unlikely. With a calculated minimum migration
distance of less than 20 km, Upper Jurassic shales

,,
,,
,
, ,,
,,
,,,,
provided the most likely source for oil to the
traps. A contribution from other source rocks
cannot be discounted.
Timing of Events
The timing of trap formation, secondary hydro-
carbon migration, and trap destruction are con-
strained by field relations. The Laplace Bjerg, Mols
Bjerge, and Svinhufvuds Bjerge traps were complet-
ed in the late Albian–Cenomanian with the deposi-
tion of mudstone above the Jurassic reservoir. The
timing of hydrocarbon generation and secondary
migration into the traps is poorly constrained. The
removal of up to 3 km of post-Cenomanian strata in
the Traill Ø region as a consequence of Tertiary
uplift precludes the construction of a detailed buri-
al histor y. The high ref lectance of bitumen at
Laplace Bjerg (>4%; Christiansen, 1994) and the
proximity of each trap to intrusions suggest that
secondary migration pre-dates Tertiary magmatism,
most of which occurred at around 55 Ma, with a
second episode at approximately 35 Ma. At the
southern end of the Svinhufvuds Bjerge trap, small
faults, which are crosscut by intrusions, displacing
Price and Whitham 217
Figure 18—Comparison of known
Lower–Middle Jurassic oil fields in
the Brent Province, northern
North Sea (from Spencer and
Larsen, 1990, and references
therein), with exhumed traps in
East Greenland. BD = Bjørnedal;
LB = Laplace Bjerg; MB(N) = Mols
Bjerge north; MB(S) = Mols Bjerge
south; SB = Svinhufvuds Bjerge.
The original oil in place (in 106
Sm3, where 1 Sm3 = 6.29 bbl)
and area of each field are given.
Figures are given only for
the known parts of the East
Greenland traps. The East
Greenland hydrocarbon
“province” is smaller in areal
extent than the Brent province
because further traps would
have been eroded in the west
and buried beneath Cretaceous
and younger strata offshore
to the east.
the original OWC (Figure 13), suggest that sec-
ondary migration into the traps occurred prior to
the intrusion of a thick (early Eocene) dolerite sill
at approximately 55 Ma. These sills preferentially
intrude mudstone and therefore tend to concen-
trate just above the base Cretaceous unconformity,
which forms an important regional top-sealing ele-
ment. In the Laplace Bjerg, Mols Bjerge, and Svin-
hufvuds Bjerge traps, a nearly 100-m-thick dolerite
sill was intruded less than 100 m above the trapped
hydrocarbons (Figures 12, 13). Heat-flow modeling
of a 60-m-thick dolerite sill intruded into mudstone
(φ = 15%; e.g., burial to ∼3 km) would elevate the
country rock temperature at a distance of 100 m
from the margin of the intrusion by nearly 300°C
for a period of approximately 1000 yr (D. Awwiller,
1994, personal communication). At such tempera-
tures, cracking of the oil would proceed rapidly
and any oil would have a thermal half-life of less
than 100 yr (Mackenzie and Quigle y, 1988).
Therefore, thermal alteration probably played a
major role in the formation of the solid bitumen.
The timing of regional uplift, which led to exhuma-
tion of the traps, is constrained by apatite fission
track cooling ages, which are on the order of 20 Ma
in the Traill Ø region (Hansen, 1988).
218 Traps in East Greenland
In summary, exhumed hydrocarbon traps in
the Traill Ø region formed in the middle Cre-
taceous and were apparently thermally degraded
by intrusions in the early Eocene and subsequent-
ly exhumed during regional uplift. Secondar y
migration of hydrocarbons into the traps
occurred sometime during the 35-m.y. period
between the Cenomanian and early Eocene. In a
recent study of burial histor y in pseudowells
from Jameson Land, Mathiesen et al. (1995) pro-
posed that peak hydrocarbon generation from
Upper Permian source rocks had occurred by the
end of the Cretaceous, and that generation from
Lower Jurassic source rocks peaked during the
early Eocene volcanic event.
CONCLUSIONS
In this article we give preliminary descriptions
of a number of hydrocarbon traps in the Traill Ø
region of East Greenland; these traps became
thermally degraded and exhumed during early
Tertiary magmatism and regional uplift. These
traps are similar in age and size, and occur in a
structural setting similar to that of oil fields in the
northern North Sea (Figure 18). We believe these
East Greenland structures will provide useful
analogs in detailed studies of Brent province-type
reservoirs. Detailed outcrop studies will give
information on sandstone architecture, spatial
variations in diagenesis, fault scaling and sealing
properties, and migration pathways. In addition,
these exhumed traps may indicate a future play
on the largely unexplored northeast Greenland
continental shelf.
REFERENCES CITED
Abraham, H., 1945, Asphalts and allied substances: New York,
Van Nostrand-Rheinhold, 2142 p.
Barker, C., 1990, Calculated volume and pressure changes dur-
ing the thermal cracking of oil to gas in reservoirs: AAPG
Bulletin, v. 74, p. 1254–1261.
Barr, D., 1987, Lithospheric stretching, detached normal fault-
ing and footwall uplift, in M. P. Coward, J. F. Dewey, and
P. L. Hancock, eds., Continental extensional tectonics:
Geological Society of London Special Publication 28,
p. 75–94.
Bjørlykke, K., P. Aagaard, H. Dypvik, D. S. Hastings, and A. S.
Harper, 1986, Diagenesis and reservoir properties of Jurassic
sandstones from the Haltenbanken area, offshore mid
Norway, in A. M. Spencer, E. Holter, C. J. Campbell, S. H.
Hanslien, P. H. H. Nelson, E. Nysæther, and E. G. Ormaasen,
eds., Habitat of hydrocarbons on the Norwegian Continental
Shelf: London, Graham and Trotman, p. 275–286.
Blystad, P., H. Brekke, R. B. Færseth, B. T. Larsen, J. Skogseid,
and B. Tørudbakken, 1995, Structural elements of the
Norwegian continental shelf. Part II: the Norwegian Sea
region: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Bulletin, v. 8,
p. 1–100.
Callomon, J. H., 1993, The ammonite succession in the Middle
Jurassic of East Greenland: Bulletin of the Geological Society
of Denmark, v. 40, p. 83–113.
Callomon, J. H., and T. Birkelund, 1980, The Jurassic transgres-
sion and the mid-Late Jurassic succession in Milne Land, cen-
tral East Greenland: Geological Magazine, v. 117, p. 211–310.
Christiansen, F. G., 1990, Mapping of Mesozoic sediments in
Svinhufvuds Bjerge and Mols Bjerge, Traill Ø, north-east
Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse Open File
Report, p. 1–11.
Christiansen, F. G., 1994, Seeps and other bitumen showings: a
review of origin, nomenclature and occurrences in
Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse Open File
Series, v. 94/7, p. 1–21.
Christiansen, F. G., S. Piasecki, L. Stemmerik, and N. Telnæs,
1990, Depositional environment and organic geochemistry
of the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation source rock in
East Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse Internal
Report, p. 1–39.
Christiansen, F. G., G. Dam, S. Piasecki, and L. Stemmerik, 1992,
A Review of upper Palaeozoic and Mesozoic source rocks
from onshore East Greenland, in A. M. Spencer, ed.,
Generation, accumulation and production of Europe’s hydro-
carbons II: special publication of the European Association
of Petroleum Geoscientists: Berlin, Springer-Verlag,
p. 151–161.
Christiansen, F. G., S. Piasecki, L. Stemmerik, and N. Telnæs,
1993, Depositional environment and organic geochemistry
of the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation source rock in
East Greenland: AAPG Bulletin, v. 77, p. 1519–1537.
Clemmensen, L. B., 1980a, Triassic lithostratigraphy of East
Greenland between Scoresby Sund and Kejser Franz Josephs
Fjord: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin, v. 139,
p. 1–56.
Clemmensen, L. B., 1980b, Triassic rift sedimentation and
palaeogeography of central East Greenland: Grønlands
Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin, v. 136, p. 1–72.
Cornelius, C. D., 1987, Classification of solid bitumen: a physical
and chemical approach, in R. F. Meyer, ed., Exploration for
heavy crude oil and natural bitumens: AAPG Studies in
Geology 25, p. 165–174.
Curiale, J. A., 1986, Origin of solid bitumens, with emphasis on
biological marker results: Organic Geochemistry, v. 10,
p. 559–580.
Dam, G., and F. Surlyk, 1995, Sequence stratigraphic correlation
of Lower Jurassic shallow marine and paralic successions
across the Greenland-Norway seaway, in R. J. Steel, V. L.
Felt, E. P. Johannessen, and C. Mathieu, eds., Sequence
stratigraphy on the northwest European margin: Norwegian
Petroleum Society (NPF) special publication: Amsterdam,
Elsevier, v. 5, p. 483–509.
Donovan, D. T., 1953, The Jurassic and Cretaceous stratigraphy
and palaeontology of Traill Ø, East Greenland: Meddelelser
om Grønland, v. 111, p. 1–150.
Donovan, D. T., 1955, The stratigraphy of the Jurassic and
Cretaceous rocks of Geographical Society Ø, East Greenland:
Meddelelser om Grønland, v. 103, p. 1–60.
Doré, A. G., 1991, The structural foundation and evolution
of Mesozoic seaways between Europe and the Arctic:
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 87,
p. 441–492.
Ehrenberg, S. N., 1990, Relationship between diagenesis and
reservoir quality in sandstones in the Garn Formation,
Haltenbanken, mid-Norwegian continental shelf: AAPG
Bulletin, v. 74, p. 1538–1558.
Engkilde, M., and F. Surlyk, 1993, The Middle Jurassic Vardekløft
Formation of East Greenland—analogue for reservoir units of
the Norwegian shelf and the northern North Sea, in J. R.
Parker, ed., Petroleum geology of northwest Europe: pro-
ceedings of the 4th conference: London, Geological Society,
p. 533–542.

Espitalié, J., J. L. Laporte, M. Madec, F. Marquis, P. Leplat, J.
Paulet, and A. Boutefeu, 1977, Methode rapide de caracteri-
sation des roches meres, de leur potentiel petrolier de leur
degre d’evolution: Revue de l’Institut Français du Petrole,
v. 32, p. 23–42.
Folk, R. L., 1980, Petrology of sedimentary rocks: Austin, Texas,
Hemphill, 191 p.
Grasmück, K., and R. Trümpy, 1969, Triassic stratigraphy and
general geology of the country around Fleming Fjord (East
Greenland), in S. Defretin-Lefranc, K. Grasmück, and R.
Trümpy, eds., Notes on Triassic stratigraphy and paleontology
of north-eastern Jameson Land (East Greenland): Meddelelser
om Grønland, v. 168, p. 4–76.
Hansen, C. F., 1994, Black shales of the Lower/Middle Jurassic
Sortehat Formation, East Greenland—evidence of estuarine-
like conditions in a narrow intracratonic basin (abs.), in A.
Hartley, ed., BSRG 1994-Aberdeen, abstracts volume:
Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen, p. 41.
Hansen, K., 1988, Preliminary report of fission track studies in
the Jameson Land basin, East Greenland: Grønlands
Geologiske Undersøgelse, Rapport, v. 140, p. 85–89.
Hansen, K., 1992, Post-orogenic tectonic and thermal history of
a rifted continental margin: the Scoresby Sund area, East
Greenland: Tectonophysics, v. 216, p. 309–326.
Heymans, M. J., D. A. Steed, D. E. Hamilton, and B. A. Pavlov,
1992, Testing hydrocarbon saturation models for use in origi-
nal oil-in-place estimation: South dome of Oregon Basin field,
Park County, Wyoming, in D. E. Hamilton and T. A. Jones,
eds., Computer modeling of geological surfaces and volumes:
AAPG Computer Applications in Geology, v. 1, p. 105–122.
Hunt, J. M., F. Stewart, and P. A. Dickey, 1954, Origin of hydro-
carbons of Uinta basin, Utah: AAPG Bulletin, v. 38,
p. 1671–1698.
Jackson, J. A., and D. P. McKenzie, 1983, The geometrical evolu-
tion of normal fault systems: Journal of Structural Geology,
v. 5, p. 471–482.
Jackson, J. A., N. J. White, Z. Garfunkel, and H. Anderson, 1988,
Relations between normal-fault geometry, tilting and vertical
motions in extensional terrains: an example from the south-
ern Gulf of Suez: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 10,
p. 155–170.
Jarvis, G. T., and D. P. McKenzie, 1980, Sedimentary basin for-
mation with finite extension rates: Earth and Planetary
Science Letters, v. 48, p. 42–52.
Jones, T. A., and D. E. Hamilton, 1992, A philosophy of comput-
er mapping with the computer, in D. E. Hamilton and T. A.
Jones, eds., Computer modeling of geological surfaces and
volumes: AAPG Computer Applications in Geology, v. 1,
p. 1–8.
Knag, G. Ø., D. South, and A. M. Spencer, 1995, Exploration
trends in the northern North Sea (60–62°N), in S. Hanslien,
ed., Petroleum exploration and exploitation in Norway:
Norwegian Petroleum Society (NPF) special publication:
Amsterdam, Elsevier, v. 4, p. 115–134.
Koch, L., and J. Haller, 1971, Geological map of East Greenland
72°–76°N. Lat. (1:250,000): Meddelelser om Grønland,
v. 183, p. 1–26.
Krabbe, H., F. G. Christiansen, G. Dam, S. Piasecki, and L.
Stemmerik, 1994, Organic geochemistry of the Lower
Jurassic Sortehat Formation, Jameson Land, East Greenland:
Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Rapport, v. 164,
p. 5–18.
Larsen, H. C., 1990, The East Greenland Shelf, in A. Grantz, L.
Johnson, and J. F. Sweeney, eds., The Arctic Ocean region:
Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, v. L,
p. 185–210.
Larsen, H. C., and C. Marcussen, 1992, Sill-intrusion, flood basalt
emplacement and deep crustal structure of the Scoresby
Sund region, East Greenland, in B. C. Storey, T. Alabaster,
and R. J. Pankhurst, eds., Magmatism and the causes of conti-
nental break-up: Geological Society of London Special
Price and Whitham 219
Publication 68, p. 365–386.
Larsen, H. C., T. Dahl-Jensen, and C. Marcussen, 1990, Deep
seismic data from the Jameson Land basin, East Greenland
(abs.): Terra Abstracts, v. 2, p. 50.
Larsen, L. M., W. S. Watt, and M. Watt, 1989, Geology and
petrology of the lower Tertiary plateau basalts of the
Scoresby Sund region, East Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske
Undersøgelse, Bulletin, v. 157, p. 1–164.
Larsen, M., 1994, A basement-onlapping coarse grained clastic
wedge deposited in response to rising sea-level: Charcot
Bugt Formation, Middle Jurassic; East Greenland (abs.), in A.
Hartley, ed., BSRG 1994-Aberdeen, abstracts volume:
Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen, p. 60.
Larsen, P.-H., and H.-J. Bengaard, 1991, Devonian basin initiation
in East Greenland: a result of sinistral wrench faulting and
Caledonian extensional collapse: Journal of the Geological
Society of London, v. 148, p. 355–368.
Lomando, A. J., 1992, The influence of solid reservoir bitumen
on reservoir quality: AAPG Bulletin, v. 76, p. 1137–1152.
Mackenzie, A. S., and T. M. Quigley, 1988, Principles of geo-
chemical prospect appraisal: AAPG Bulletin, v. 72,
p. 399–415.
Marcussen, C., F. G. Christiansen, P.-H. Larsen, H. Olsen, L.
Piasecki, J. Stemmerik, J. Bojesen-Koefoed, H. F. Jepsen, and
H. Nøhr-Hansen, 1987, Studies of the onshore hydrocarbon
potential in East Greenland 1986–87: field work from 72° to
74°N: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Rapport, v. 135,
p. 72–81.
Mathiesen, A., F. G. Christiansen, T. Bidstrup, C. Marcussen, G.
Dam, S. Piasecki, and L. Stemmerik, 1995, Modelling of
hydrocarbon generation in the Jameson Land basin, East
Greenland: First Break, v. 13, p. 329–341.
Maync, W., 1947, Stratigraphie der Jurabildungen Ostgrönlands
zwischen Hochstetterbugten (75°N.) und dem Kejser Franz
Joseph Fjord (73°N.): Meddelelser om Grønland, v. 132,
p. 1–223.
Milton, N. J., and G. T. Bertram, 1992, Trap styles—a new classi-
fication based on sealing surfaces: AAPG Bulletin, v. 76,
p. 983–999.
Noble, R. H., R. M. Macintyre, and P. E. Brown, 1988, Age con-
straints on Atlantic evolution: timing of magmatic activity
along the E. Greenland continental margin, in A. C. Morton
and L. M. Parson, eds., Early Tertiary volcanism and the open-
ing of the NE Atlantic: Geological Society of London Special
Publication 39, p. 201–214.
Nøhr-Hansen, H., 1993, Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the
Barremian to Albian, Lower Cretaceous, north-east
Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin,
v. 166, 171 p.
Olaussen, S., A. Dalland, T. G. Gloppen, and E. Johannessen,
1984, Depositional environment and diagenesis of Jurassic
reservoir sandstones in the eastern part of Troms I area, in
A. M. Spencer, E. Holter, S. O. Johnsen, A. Mørk, E.
Nysæther, P. Songstad, and Å. Spinnangr, eds., Petroleum
geology of the north European margin: London, Graham and
Trotman, p. 61–79.
Piasecki, S., and L. Stemmerik, 1991, Late Permian anoxia in cen-
tral East Greenland, in R. V. Tyson and T. H. Pearson, eds.,
Modern and ancient continental shelf anoxia: Geological
Society of London Special Publication 58, p. 275–290.
Piasecki, S., F. G. Christiansen, and L. Stemmerik, 1990,
Depositional history of an Upper Carboniferous organic-rich
lacustrine shale from East Greenland: Bulletin of Canadian
Petroleum Geology, v. 38, p. 273–287.
Piasecki, S., L. Stemmerik, J. D. Friderichsen, and A. K. Higgins,
1994, Stratigraphy of the post-Caledonian sediments in the
Germanian Land area, north-east Greenland: Grønlands
Geologiske Undersøgelse, Rapport, v. 162, p. 177–184.
Press, W. H., B. P. Flannery, S. A. Teukolsky, and W. T.
Vetterling, 1989, Numerical recipes: the art of scientific com-
puting: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 702 p.
220 Traps in East Greenland
Putallaz, J., 1961, Géologie de la partie médiane de Traill Ø
(Groenland Oriental): Meddelelser om Grønland, v. 164, p. 1–84.
Requejo, A. G., J. Hollywood, and H. I. Halpern, 1989,
Recognition and source correlation of migrated hydrocar-
bons in the upper Jurassic Hareelv Formation, Jameson Land,
East Greenland: AAPG Bulletin, v. 73, p. 1065–1088.
Roberts, A. M., G. Yielding, N. J. Kusznir, I. M. Walker, and D.
Dorn-Lopez, 1995, Quantitative analysis of Triassic extension
in the northern Viking Graben: Journal of the Geological
Society of London, v. 152, p. 15–26.
Rogers, M. A., J. D. McAlary, and N. J. L. Bailey, 1974, Significance of
reservoir bitumens to thermal maturation studies, Western
Canada basin: AAPG Bulletin, v. 58, p. 1806–1824.
Sibson, R. H., 1985, Stopping of earthquake ruptures at dilation-
al fault jogs: Nature, v. 316, p. 248–251.
Sibson, R. H., 1986, Earthquakes and rock deformation in crustal
fault zones: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science,
v. 14, p. 149–175.
Skogseid, J., T. Pedersen, O. Eldholm, and B. T. Larsen, 1992,
Tectonism and magmatism during NE Atlantic continental
break-up: the Vøring margin, in B. C. Storey, T. Alabaster,
and R. J. Pankhurst, eds., Magmatism and the causes of conti-
nental break-up: Geological Society of London Special
Publication 68, p. 305–320.
Spencer, A. M., and V. B. Larsen, 1990, Fault traps in the northern
North Sea, in R. P. F. Hardman and J. Brooks, eds., Tectonic
events responsible for Britain’s oil and gas reserves: Geological
Society of London Special Publication 55, p. 281–298.
Spencer, A. M., E. Holter, C. J. Campbell, S. H. Hanslien, P. H. H.
Nelson, E. Nysæther, and E. G. Ormaasen, eds., 1987, Geology
of the Norwegian oil and gas fields: London, Graham and
Trotman, 493 p.
Stemmerik, L., J. O. Vigran, and S. Piasecki, 1991a, Dating of late
Paleozoic rifting events in the North Atlantic: new biostrati-
graphic data from the uppermost Devonian and
Carboniferous of East Greenland: Geology, v. 19, p. 218–221.
Stemmerik, L., F. G. Christiansen, and S. Piasecki, 1991b,
Carboniferous lacustrine shale in East Greenland—additional
source rock in northern North Atlantic, in B. J. Katz, ed.,
Lacustrine basin exploration—case studies and modern
analogs: AAPG Memoir 50, p. 277–286.
Stemmerik, L., F. G. Christiansen, S. Piasecki, B. Jordt, C.
Marcussen, and H. Nøhr-Hansen, 1993, Depositional history
and petroleum geology of the Carboniferous to Cretaceous
sediments in the northern part of East Greenland, in T. O.
Vorren, E. Bergsager, Ø. A. Dahl-Stamnes, E. Holter, B.
Johansen, E. Lie, and T. B. Lund, eds., Arctic geology and
petroleum potential: Norwegian Petroleum Society (NPF)
Special Publication, Amsterdam, Elsevier, v. 2, p. 67–87.
Surlyk, F., 1977a, Mesozoic faulting in East Greenland: Geologie
en Mijnbouw, v. 56, p. 311–327.
Surlyk, F., 1977b, Stratigraphy, tectonics and palaeogeography of
the Jurassic sediments of the areas north of Kong Oscars Fjord,
East Greenland: Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin,
v. 123, p. 1–56.
Surlyk, F., 1978, Submarine fan sedimentation along fault scarps
on tilted fault blocks (Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, East
Greenland): Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin,
v. 128, p. 1–108.
Surlyk, F., 1987, Slope and deep shelf gully sandstones, Upper
Jurassic, East Greenland: AAPG Bulletin, v. 71, p. 464–475.
Surlyk, F., 1990, Timing, style and sedimentary evolution of
late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic extensional basins of East
Greenland, in R. P. F. Hardman and J. Brooks, eds., Tectonic
events responsible for Britain’s oil and gas reserves:
Geological Society of London Special Publication 55,
p. 107–125.
Surlyk, F., 1991, Sequence stratigraphy of the Jurassic–
lowermost Cretaceous of East Greenland: AAPG Bulletin,
v. 75, p. 1468–1488.
Surlyk, F., and N. Noe-Nygaard, 1992, Sand bank and dune facies
architecture of a wide intracratonic seaway: Late
Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Raukelv Formation, Jameson Land,
East Greenland, in A. D. Miall and N. Tyler, eds., The three-
dimensional facies architecture of terrigenous clastic sedi-
ments and its implications for hydrocarbon discovery and
recovery: SEPM Concepts in Sedimentology and Paleon-
tology, v. 3, p. 261–276.
Surlyk, F., J. H. Callomon, R. G. Bromley, and T. Birkelund, 1973,
Stratigraphy of the Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous sediments of
Jameson Land and Scoresby Land, East Greenland: Grønlands
Geologiske Undersøgelse, Bulletin, v. 105, p. 1–76.
Surlyk, F., L. B. Clemmensen, and H. C. Larsen, 1981, Post-
Paleozoic evolution of the East Greenland continental mar-
gin, in J. W. Kerr and A. J. Fergusson, eds., Geology of the
North Atlantic borderlands: Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists Memoir, 7, p. 611–645.
Surlyk, F., J. M. Hurst, S. Piasecki, F. Rolle, P. A. Scholle, L.
Stemmerik, and E. Thomsen, 1986, The Permian of the west-
ern margin of the Greenland Sea—a future exploration tar-
get, in M. T. Halbouty, ed., Future petroleum provinces of
the world: AAPG Memoir 40, p. 629–659.
Talwani, M., and O. Eldholm, 1977, Evolution of the Norwegian-
Greenland Sea: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 88,
p. 969–999.
Tissot, B. P., and D. H. Welte, 1984, Petroleum formation and
occurrence, 1st ed.: New York, Springer-Verlag, 699 p.
Upton, B. G. J., C. H. Emeleus, and D. Hald, 1980, Tertiary vol-
canism in northern E Greenland: Gauss Halvø and Hold With
Hope: Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. 137,
p. 491–508.
White, N. J., 1990, Does the uniform stretching model work in
the North Sea?, in D. J. Blundell and A. D. Gibbs, eds.,
Tectonic evolution of the North Sea rifts: Oxford, Oxford
University Press, p. 217–240.
White, N., and D. Latin, 1993, Subsidence analyses from the
North Sea ‘triple junction’: Journal of the Geological Society
of London, v. 150, p. 473–488.
Ziegler, P. A., 1988, Evolution of the Arctic–North Atlantic and
the Western Tethys: AAPG Memoir 43, 198 p.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Simon Price
Simon Price received a Ph.D.
(University of Leicester) in 1989.
Since then he has worked on field-
based projects at CASP (Cambridge
Arctic Shelf Programme), undertak-
ing fieldwork in East Greenland
and Svalbard. His main interests
include the Mesozoic and Tertiary
development of North Atlantic
margins, with particular emphasis
on problems associated with struc-
tural and petroleum geology.
Price and Whitham 221
Andrew Whitham
Andrew Whitham received a
Ph.D. (University of Cambridge) in
1985. Following this he spent five
years working as a sedimentologist
at the British Antarctic Survey. He
moved to CASP (Cambridge Arctic
Shelf Programme) in 1990 and,
since then, has undertaken field-
based projects in East Greenland
and Arctic Canada. His research
interests include the Mesozoic of
the North Atlantic region, with emphasis on problems
associated with sedimentology and petroleum geology.