Development of a geothermodynamic method for forecasting oil-promising areas in the rear zones of lithospheric subduction

The purpose of the article. The purpose of the article is to show the possibilities of the geothermodynamic method being developed for assessing various geological and geophysical parameters of the internal structure of the upper mantle in lithospheric subduction zones (at certain values of the angle of inclination and velocity of subduction, heat flux), which allow predicting oil and gas prospective areas in the sedimentary layer of the Earth’s crust at a certain distance from the deep–water trough of the subduction zone.

Materials and methods. Using the geothermodynamic method developed in the approximation of uniform constant-viscosity fluid constituting the mantle wedge asthenosphere between the upper surface of subducting lithospheric plate and the base of the overlying lithosphere the dissipative heat flux from the asthenosphere to the base of the overlying lithospheric plate and the maximum mantle wedge temperatures are calculated numerically with the help of a finite-difference technique. The advective and conductive 2D transfer of heat generated in the mantle wedge due to viscous friction at a given motion of subducting plate is taken into account.

Results. The result shows the maximum heat fluxes observed in the rear of subduction zones at the distances of 250–300 km from the trench are shown to sufficiently well fit to the model heat fluxes calculated here for the cases of subduction of Amur, Adriatic and Black-sea micro-plates thrusting under the Okhotsk, Eurasian and Scithian lithospheric plates at the velocities of ~10 mm·a^–1, ~10 mm·a^–1, and ~3 mm·a^–1 respectively for the asthenosphere viscosity of 2·10²³ Pa·s and the no-slip conditions at the asthenosphere — lithosphere boundaries. The latter viscosity estimation can be regarded as a mean viscosity of the mantle wedge viscosity.

Conclusion. The performed studies allow us to identify oil and gas promising regions for carrying out detailed geological exploration in them on the territory of the Russian Federation and other countries.

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