ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE DEVONIAN-MISSISSIPPIAN CHATTANOOGA SHALE AND CUMBERLAND PLATEAU OILS IN TENNESSEE: A SOURCE TO OIL CORRELATION STUDY

The Devonian-Mississippian Chattanooga Shale is part of one of the most extensive black shale bodies known. Detailed organic geochemical analyses of outcrop and core samples from Tenessee reveal subtle changes in organic facies, and excellent petroleum source rock characteristics in north-central Tennessee.; Shale samples from the flanks of the Nashville dome, western Cumberland Plateau, and Appalachian Mountains are analyzed for total organic content and content of extractable organic matter (EOM). In north-central Tennessee the kerogen consists of nearly equal mixtures of marine-derived Type I and terrestrially-derived Type III organic matter.; Eleven oils from reservoirs in the Cumberland Plateau ranging from Cambrian to Mississippian in age were analyzed and geochemically compared to the Chattanooga Shale extracts.; The low ratio of generated to reservoired oil is attributed primarily to inefficient migration because at least 4.9 billion barrels of EOM may still be in the shale in the northern Cumberland Plateau. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)...