Basin modelling is the term broadly applied to a group of geological disciplines that can be used to analyse the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins, often but not exclusively to aid evaluation of potential hydrocarbon reserves. This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. ... Oil refineries are key to obtaining hydrocarbons; crude oil is processed through several stages to form desirable hydrocarbons, used in fuel and other commercial products. ...
At its most basic, a basin modelling exercise must assess:
The burial history of the basin (see back-stripping).
The expulsion, migration and trapping of hydrocarbons.
By doing so, valuable inferences can be made about such matters as hydrocarbon generation and timing, maturity of potential source rocks and migration paths of expelled hydrocarbons. This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. ... Thermal history modelling is an exercise undertaken during basin modelling to evaluate the temperature history of stratigraphic layers in a sedimentary basin. ...
Basin modelling software
Software packages have been designed for 1D/2D/3D basin modelling purposes to simulate the burial and thermal history of a basin as well as petroleum migration modelling.
Thermal history modelling is an exercise undertaken during basinmodelling to evaluate the temperature history of stratigraphic layers in a sedimentary basin.
The thermal history of a basin is usually calibrated using thermal indicator data, including vitrinite reflectance and fission tracks in the minerals apatite and zircon.
The temperatures undergone by rocks in a sedimentary basin are crucial when attempting to evaluate the quantity, nature and volume of hydrocarbons (fossil fuels) produced by diagenesis of kerogens (a group of chemicals formed from the decay of organic matter).
Basinmodelling has loosely been defined as the numerical modelling of any process that takes place in a basin.
Petroleum basinmodelling was originally developed and used by oil companies to quantitatively understand the generation, migration, and accumulation of hydrocarbons in basins to better predict the location, type, and amount of oil and gas.
More recently, basinmodels have become more widely available and they are now being used to study a variety of physical, chemical, and thermal processes affecting basins.