| Regional topography-driven flow systems related to Laramide tectonic rebound were simulated using two-dimensional, coupled fluid-flow, heat-flow and solute-transport, numerical models to account for present day salinity and the accumulation of the Athabasca oil sands and Pine Point Pb-Zn ore deposits. Measured permeabilities and other observed basin features were incorporated into basin models along two sections. These adjustments prolong the duration of ore-forming conditions at Pine Point, but do not predict observed ore tonnage and mineralization temperatures. Along the Peace River Arch section, extension of the Mannville aquifer and inclusion of published permeabilities replicate present day salinity distributions, assuming uplift occurred around 60 Ma. The dissolved-phase hydrocarbon transport cannot explain the formation of the Athabasca oil sands, due to low fluxes. Simulations of erosion of the Peace River model predict the gradual decay of regional topography-driven flow by decreasing flow rates, underpressunng near the disturbed belt, and late, local topography-driven flow. |
