David Houseknecht is a Senior Research Geologist for the USGS Geology, Energy & Minerals (GEM) Science Center in Reston, VA.
Science and Products
Alaska Petroleum Systems
The Alaska Petroleum Systems project has three main objectives: (A) conduct research that increases our understanding of Alaska petroleum systems, (B) conduct assessments of undiscovered oil and gas resources, and (C) deliver energy-resource information to land and resource managers, policy makers, and the public.
U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon and Volcanic Zircon Grains from the Torok and Nanushuk Formations, Arctic Alaska, 2021
This dataset contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of zircon grains from 27 sedimentary samples and one volcanic ash sample from the Cretaceous Torok and Nanushuk Formations. Seven samples were collected from outcrop and 21 samples were collected from archived core material from oil exploration wells on the North Slope of Arctic Alaska. Zircon grains were analyzed at the University of Ca
Apatite and zircon fission track data from the western Brooks Range of Arctic Alaska
The attached data are apatite and zircon fission track measurements from rock samples collected across the western Brooks Range. Table 1 contains descriptive information on each sample. Tables 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e contain single grain, apatite fission track age data for samples from each of five datasets that comprise the overall apatite fission track age dataset. Tables 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d contai
USGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project - Northern Alaska Province, Western North Slope Assessment Unit Boundaries and Assessment Input Data Forms
This data release contains the boundaries of assessment units and input data for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of strata older than the Torok Formation of the Western North Slope in the Northern Alaska province. The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is
Geochemical Advances in Arctic Alaska Oil Typing - North Slope Oil Correlation and Charge History
Citation Note: These data were collected as part of a research study published in Marine and Petroleum Geology. Please reference the following paper when citing these data: Botterell, P.J., Houseknecht, D.W., Lillis, P.G, Barbanti, S.M., Dahl, J.E, and Moldowan, J.M., 2021. Geochemical advances in Arctic Alaska oil typing ? North Slope oil correlation and charge history. Marine and Petroleum Geo
Subsurface stratigraphic picks of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation, Alaska North Slope
The Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is the main source rock for Arctic Alaska oil and gas accumulations, including the supergiant Prudhoe Bay field. A revised stratigraphic framework recently has been developed in outcrop for the Shublik and related strata that delineates three large-scale stratigraphic units: 1) the lower clastic (LC) unit, 2) the middle carbonate-chert (MCC) unit, and 3)
USGS Alaska Petroleum Systems Project - Northern Alaska Province, Central North Slope Assessment Unit Boundaries and Assessment Input Forms, 2020
This data release contains the boundaries of assessment units and input data for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Brookian, Beaufortian and Ellesmerian formations in the Northern Alaska province. The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined with
USGS Alaska Petroleum Systems Project: Northern Alaska Province, Nanushuk and Torok Formations Assessment Units and Assessment Input Forms
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set o
Geologic map of the Point Lay quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Div
Color shaded-relief and surface-classification maps of the Fish Creek Area, Harrison Bay Quadrangle, Northern Alaska
The northeastern part of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) has become an area of active petroleum exploration during the past five years. Recent leasing and exploration drilling in the NPRA requires the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage and monitor a variety of surface activities that include seismic surveying, exploration drilling, oil-field development drilling, constr
Geologic map of the Utukok River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Div
Geologic map of the Lookout Ridge quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Div
Geologic map of the Ikpikpuk River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Div
Geologic map of the Ikpikpuk River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Div
Geologic map of the Umiat quadrangle, Alaska
This geologic map of the Umiat quadrangle is a compilation of previously published USGS geologic maps and unpublished mapping done for the Richfield Oil Corporation. Geologic mapping from these three primary sources was augmented with additional unpublished map data from British Petroleum Company. This report incorporates recent revisions in stratigraphic nomenclature. Stratigraphic and structural
Filter Total Items: 92
Canada Basin tectono-sedimentary element, Arctic Ocean
The Canada Basin (CB) formed during a short period of seafloor spreading inferred to be Early Cretaceous in age. Brookian strata of inferred Early Cretaceous–Holocene age comprise the sedimentary fill of the Canada Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CB TSE). Although the CB has remained tectonically quiet since seafloor spreading ceased, both proximal and distal tectonism (Alpha Ridge magmatism, a
Authors
Deborah Hutchinson, David W. Houseknecht, David Mosher
Quantifying large-scale continental shelf margin growth and dynamics across mid-Cretaceous Arctic Alaska with detrital zircon U-Pb dating
Sequence stratigraphy provides a unifying framework for integrating diverse observations to interpret sedimentary basin evolution; however, key time assumptions about stratigraphic elements spanning hundreds of kilometers are rarely quantified. We integrate new detrital zircon U-Pb (DZ) dates from 28 samples with seismic mapping to establish a chronostratigraphic framework across 800 km and ~20 m.
Authors
Richard O. Lease, David W. Houseknecht, Andrew R. C. Kylander-Clark
Assessment of undiscovered gas resources in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1,407 billion (1.4 trillion) cubic feet of gas in conventional accumulations in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska.
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Tracey J. Mercier, Christopher J. Schenk, Thomas E. Moore, William A. Rouse, Julie A. Dumoulin, William H. Craddock, Richard O. Lease, Palma J. Botterell, Margaret M. Sanders, Rebecca A. Smith, Christopher D. Connors, Christopher P. Garrity, Katherine J. Whidden, Jared T. Gooley, John W. Counts, Joshua H. Long, Christina A. DeVera
Geochemical advances in Arctic Alaska oil typing - North Slope oil correlation and charge history
The Arctic Alaska petroleum province is geologically and geochemically complex. Mixed hydrocarbon charge from multiple source rocks and/or levels of thermal maturity is common within an individual oil pool. Biomarker and chemometric statistical analyses were used to correlate twenty-nine oils to five oil families derived from: (1) Triassic Shublik Formation (calcareous organofacies), (2) Triassic
Authors
Palma J. Botterell, David W. Houseknecht, Paul G. Lillis, Silvana M. Barbanti, Jeremy E. Dahl, J. Michael Moldowan
Surface to subsurface correlation of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation within a revised sequence stratigraphic framework
Recent work on cores and outcrops of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation has facilitated surface to subsurface correlation of depositional sequences across the Alaska North Slope. Five transgressive-regressive depositional sequences have been defined within three large-scale stratigraphic units. Outcrop spectral gamma-ray (GR) profiles were used to correlate observed stacking patterns with
Authors
William A. Rouse, Katherine J. Whidden, Julie A. Dumoulin, David W. Houseknecht
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (associated and nonassociated) in conventional accumulations in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska.
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Katherine J. Whidden, Christopher D. Connors, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, William A. Rouse, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, Margaret M. Sanders, William H. Craddock, Christina A. DeVera, Christopher P. Garrity, Marc L. Buursink, C. Özgen Karacan, Samuel J. Heller, Thomas E. Moore, Julie A. Dumoulin, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine L. French, Cheryl A. Woodall, Ronald M. Drake, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Scott A. Kinney, Chilisa M. Shorten
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Arctic Alaska Province, 2008
The Arctic Alaska Province encompasses all lands and adjacent continental shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald Arch tectonic belts and south of the northern (outboard) margin of the Alaska rift shoulder. Even though only a small part is thoroughly explored, it is one of the most prolific petroleum provinces in North America, with total known resources (cumulative production plus proved res
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher Garrity
Assessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources in the North Slope of Alaska, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of about 54 trillion cubic feet of gas resources within gas hydrates in the North Slope of Alaska.
Authors
Timothy S. Collett, Kristen A. Lewis, Margarita V. Zyrianova, Seth S. Haines, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, David W. Houseknecht
Evolution of the Arctic Alaska Sedimentary Basin
The Arctic Alaska basin occupies the eastern part of the Arctic Alaska – Chukotka microplate, which rifted from the Canadian Arctic margin during opening of the Canada Basin. Stratigraphy comprises four tectonostratigraphic sequences. (1) The Devonian and older Franklinian sequence consists of sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks deposited on the Arctic passive margin of Laurentia and in a Devoni
Authors
David W. Houseknecht
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Vilkitskii Basin Province, 2008
The Vilkitskii Basin is a separate petroleum province that lies beneath the continental shelf of the East Siberian Sea east of the New Siberian Islands and northwest of Wrangel Island. It is a basin known only on the basis of gravity data and three seismic profiles. A small, southern part of the basin overlies the Brooks Range–Chukotka late Mesozoic-early Paleogene orogenic belt, but most of the b
Authors
Kenneth J. Bird, David W. Houseknecht, Janet K. Pitman
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Amerasia Basin Province, 2008
The Amerasia Basin Province encompasses the Canada Basin and the sediment prisms along the Alaska and Canada margins, outboard from basinward margins (hingelines) of the rift shoulders that formed during extensional opening of the Canada Basin. The province includes the Mackenzie River delta and slope, the outer shelves and marine slopes along the Arctic margins of Alaska and Canada, and the deep
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher P. Garrity
Petroleum systems framework of significant new oil discoveries in a giant Cretaceous (Aptian–Cenomanian) clinothem in Arctic Alaska
Recent oil discoveries in an Aptian–Cenomanian clinothem in Arctic Alaska demonstrate the potential for hundred-million- to billion-barrel oil accumulations in Nanushuk Formation topsets and Torok Formation foresets–bottomsets. Oil-prone source rocks and the clinothem are draped across the Barrow arch, a structural hinge between the Colville foreland basin and Beaufort Sea rifted margin. Stratigra
Authors
David W. Houseknecht
Science and Products
- Science
Alaska Petroleum Systems
The Alaska Petroleum Systems project has three main objectives: (A) conduct research that increases our understanding of Alaska petroleum systems, (B) conduct assessments of undiscovered oil and gas resources, and (C) deliver energy-resource information to land and resource managers, policy makers, and the public. - Data
U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon and Volcanic Zircon Grains from the Torok and Nanushuk Formations, Arctic Alaska, 2021
This dataset contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of zircon grains from 27 sedimentary samples and one volcanic ash sample from the Cretaceous Torok and Nanushuk Formations. Seven samples were collected from outcrop and 21 samples were collected from archived core material from oil exploration wells on the North Slope of Arctic Alaska. Zircon grains were analyzed at the University of CaApatite and zircon fission track data from the western Brooks Range of Arctic Alaska
The attached data are apatite and zircon fission track measurements from rock samples collected across the western Brooks Range. Table 1 contains descriptive information on each sample. Tables 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e contain single grain, apatite fission track age data for samples from each of five datasets that comprise the overall apatite fission track age dataset. Tables 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d contaiUSGS National and Global Oil and Gas Assessment Project - Northern Alaska Province, Western North Slope Assessment Unit Boundaries and Assessment Input Data Forms
This data release contains the boundaries of assessment units and input data for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of strata older than the Torok Formation of the Western North Slope in the Northern Alaska province. The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit isGeochemical Advances in Arctic Alaska Oil Typing - North Slope Oil Correlation and Charge History
Citation Note: These data were collected as part of a research study published in Marine and Petroleum Geology. Please reference the following paper when citing these data: Botterell, P.J., Houseknecht, D.W., Lillis, P.G, Barbanti, S.M., Dahl, J.E, and Moldowan, J.M., 2021. Geochemical advances in Arctic Alaska oil typing ? North Slope oil correlation and charge history. Marine and Petroleum GeoSubsurface stratigraphic picks of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation, Alaska North Slope
The Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is the main source rock for Arctic Alaska oil and gas accumulations, including the supergiant Prudhoe Bay field. A revised stratigraphic framework recently has been developed in outcrop for the Shublik and related strata that delineates three large-scale stratigraphic units: 1) the lower clastic (LC) unit, 2) the middle carbonate-chert (MCC) unit, and 3)USGS Alaska Petroleum Systems Project - Northern Alaska Province, Central North Slope Assessment Unit Boundaries and Assessment Input Forms, 2020
This data release contains the boundaries of assessment units and input data for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Brookian, Beaufortian and Ellesmerian formations in the Northern Alaska province. The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined withUSGS Alaska Petroleum Systems Project: Northern Alaska Province, Nanushuk and Torok Formations Assessment Units and Assessment Input Forms
The Assessment Unit is the fundamental unit used in the National Assessment Project for the assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources. The Assessment Unit is defined within the context of the higher-level Total Petroleum System. The Assessment Unit is shown herein as a geographic boundary interpreted, defined, and mapped by the geologist responsible for the province and incorporates a set o - Maps
Geologic map of the Point Lay quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and DivColor shaded-relief and surface-classification maps of the Fish Creek Area, Harrison Bay Quadrangle, Northern Alaska
The northeastern part of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) has become an area of active petroleum exploration during the past five years. Recent leasing and exploration drilling in the NPRA requires the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage and monitor a variety of surface activities that include seismic surveying, exploration drilling, oil-field development drilling, constrGeologic map of the Utukok River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and DivGeologic map of the Lookout Ridge quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and DivGeologic map of the Ikpikpuk River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and DivGeologic map of the Ikpikpuk River quadrangle, Alaska
This map is a product of the USGS Digital Geologic Maps of Northern Alaska project, which captures in digital format quadrangles across the entire width of northern Alaska. Sources include geologic maps previously published in hardcopy format and recent updates and revisions based on field mapping by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and DivGeologic map of the Umiat quadrangle, Alaska
This geologic map of the Umiat quadrangle is a compilation of previously published USGS geologic maps and unpublished mapping done for the Richfield Oil Corporation. Geologic mapping from these three primary sources was augmented with additional unpublished map data from British Petroleum Company. This report incorporates recent revisions in stratigraphic nomenclature. Stratigraphic and structural - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 92
Canada Basin tectono-sedimentary element, Arctic Ocean
The Canada Basin (CB) formed during a short period of seafloor spreading inferred to be Early Cretaceous in age. Brookian strata of inferred Early Cretaceous–Holocene age comprise the sedimentary fill of the Canada Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CB TSE). Although the CB has remained tectonically quiet since seafloor spreading ceased, both proximal and distal tectonism (Alpha Ridge magmatism, aAuthorsDeborah Hutchinson, David W. Houseknecht, David MosherQuantifying large-scale continental shelf margin growth and dynamics across mid-Cretaceous Arctic Alaska with detrital zircon U-Pb dating
Sequence stratigraphy provides a unifying framework for integrating diverse observations to interpret sedimentary basin evolution; however, key time assumptions about stratigraphic elements spanning hundreds of kilometers are rarely quantified. We integrate new detrital zircon U-Pb (DZ) dates from 28 samples with seismic mapping to establish a chronostratigraphic framework across 800 km and ~20 m.AuthorsRichard O. Lease, David W. Houseknecht, Andrew R. C. Kylander-ClarkAssessment of undiscovered gas resources in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1,407 billion (1.4 trillion) cubic feet of gas in conventional accumulations in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska.AuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Tracey J. Mercier, Christopher J. Schenk, Thomas E. Moore, William A. Rouse, Julie A. Dumoulin, William H. Craddock, Richard O. Lease, Palma J. Botterell, Margaret M. Sanders, Rebecca A. Smith, Christopher D. Connors, Christopher P. Garrity, Katherine J. Whidden, Jared T. Gooley, John W. Counts, Joshua H. Long, Christina A. DeVeraGeochemical advances in Arctic Alaska oil typing - North Slope oil correlation and charge history
The Arctic Alaska petroleum province is geologically and geochemically complex. Mixed hydrocarbon charge from multiple source rocks and/or levels of thermal maturity is common within an individual oil pool. Biomarker and chemometric statistical analyses were used to correlate twenty-nine oils to five oil families derived from: (1) Triassic Shublik Formation (calcareous organofacies), (2) TriassicAuthorsPalma J. Botterell, David W. Houseknecht, Paul G. Lillis, Silvana M. Barbanti, Jeremy E. Dahl, J. Michael MoldowanSurface to subsurface correlation of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation within a revised sequence stratigraphic framework
Recent work on cores and outcrops of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation has facilitated surface to subsurface correlation of depositional sequences across the Alaska North Slope. Five transgressive-regressive depositional sequences have been defined within three large-scale stratigraphic units. Outcrop spectral gamma-ray (GR) profiles were used to correlate observed stacking patterns withAuthorsWilliam A. Rouse, Katherine J. Whidden, Julie A. Dumoulin, David W. HouseknechtAssessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (associated and nonassociated) in conventional accumulations in Mississippian through Paleogene strata in the central North Slope of Alaska.AuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Katherine J. Whidden, Christopher D. Connors, Richard O. Lease, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, William A. Rouse, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, Margaret M. Sanders, William H. Craddock, Christina A. DeVera, Christopher P. Garrity, Marc L. Buursink, C. Özgen Karacan, Samuel J. Heller, Thomas E. Moore, Julie A. Dumoulin, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine L. French, Cheryl A. Woodall, Ronald M. Drake, Kristen R. Marra, Thomas M. Finn, Scott A. Kinney, Chilisa M. ShortenGeology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Arctic Alaska Province, 2008
The Arctic Alaska Province encompasses all lands and adjacent continental shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald Arch tectonic belts and south of the northern (outboard) margin of the Alaska rift shoulder. Even though only a small part is thoroughly explored, it is one of the most prolific petroleum provinces in North America, with total known resources (cumulative production plus proved resAuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher GarrityAssessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources in the North Slope of Alaska, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of about 54 trillion cubic feet of gas resources within gas hydrates in the North Slope of Alaska.AuthorsTimothy S. Collett, Kristen A. Lewis, Margarita V. Zyrianova, Seth S. Haines, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, David W. HouseknechtEvolution of the Arctic Alaska Sedimentary Basin
The Arctic Alaska basin occupies the eastern part of the Arctic Alaska – Chukotka microplate, which rifted from the Canadian Arctic margin during opening of the Canada Basin. Stratigraphy comprises four tectonostratigraphic sequences. (1) The Devonian and older Franklinian sequence consists of sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks deposited on the Arctic passive margin of Laurentia and in a DevoniAuthorsDavid W. HouseknechtGeology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Vilkitskii Basin Province, 2008
The Vilkitskii Basin is a separate petroleum province that lies beneath the continental shelf of the East Siberian Sea east of the New Siberian Islands and northwest of Wrangel Island. It is a basin known only on the basis of gravity data and three seismic profiles. A small, southern part of the basin overlies the Brooks Range–Chukotka late Mesozoic-early Paleogene orogenic belt, but most of the bAuthorsKenneth J. Bird, David W. Houseknecht, Janet K. PitmanGeology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Amerasia Basin Province, 2008
The Amerasia Basin Province encompasses the Canada Basin and the sediment prisms along the Alaska and Canada margins, outboard from basinward margins (hingelines) of the rift shoulders that formed during extensional opening of the Canada Basin. The province includes the Mackenzie River delta and slope, the outer shelves and marine slopes along the Arctic margins of Alaska and Canada, and the deepAuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher P. GarrityPetroleum systems framework of significant new oil discoveries in a giant Cretaceous (Aptian–Cenomanian) clinothem in Arctic Alaska
Recent oil discoveries in an Aptian–Cenomanian clinothem in Arctic Alaska demonstrate the potential for hundred-million- to billion-barrel oil accumulations in Nanushuk Formation topsets and Torok Formation foresets–bottomsets. Oil-prone source rocks and the clinothem are draped across the Barrow arch, a structural hinge between the Colville foreland basin and Beaufort Sea rifted margin. StratigraAuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht - News