Organic biogeochemical study of deeper southeastern Bengal Basin sediments in West Bengal, India

Behera, PK and Das, SK and Ghosh, D and Mani, D and Kalpana, MS and Ikehara, M and Patel, PP (2022) Organic biogeochemical study of deeper southeastern Bengal Basin sediments in West Bengal, India. In: Organic Geochemistry, 170 .

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Abstract

The Bengal Basin is a fluvio-deltaic basin spanning Bangladesh and part of east and northeast India. The evolution of the peripheral foreland basin has been studied, but published literature on depositional conditions, source and maturity of organic matter in the deeper sediments of the Indian section of the basin is rare, despite the fact that natural gas is often encountered during hydrocarbon exploration. Our research assesses the depositional environment and source of the organic matter (OM) in the Pleistocene-Miocene sediments from five wells drilled by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited in the southeastern Bengal Basin, West Bengal, India and aims to understand its maturity and potential to yield natural gas. The total organic carbon/nitrogen ratio and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) signature indicate primarily aquatic and C3 terrestrial plant sources of the OM and deposition under tidal flat and marshy environments. The n-alkane and isoprenoid alkane distribution are consistent with an autochthonous source of OM and terrestrial oxic-suboxic shallow-water depositional setting. The Rock-Eval parameters, such as maximal pyrolysis temperature, hydrogen and oxygen indices, indicate the immature nature of Type III and Type IV kerogen. The presence of methanogenic archaea, as indicated by phylogenetic analysis, in two Miocene sediment samples from one well indicates an active microbial activity in Type III immature OM, derived from C3 marsh vegetation and deposited under oxic shallow-water conditions. Our research describes the presence of methanogenic archaea for the first time in Miocene Bengal Basin sediments and is one of the few reports of their presence in deep (> 4000 m) horizons.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Organic Geochemistry
Publisher:	Elsevier Ltd
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:	Biogeochemistry; Deposition; Isotopes; Kerogen; Microorganisms; Natural gas; Oil shale; Organic carbon; Petroleum prospecting; Sediments; Wetlands, Basin sediments; Bengal Basin; Kerogen type; Kerogen type and maturity; Methanogenic archaea; Miocene sediments; Organics; Shallow waters; Stable isotopes; West Bengal, Paraffins, alkane; biogeochemistry; depositional environment; foreland basin; hydrocarbon exploration; isoprenoid; microbial activity; natural gas; organic matter; pyrolysis; sediment chemistry; stable isotope; tidal flat, Bengal; India; West Bengal
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Earth Sciences
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2022 09:48
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2022 09:48
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/74414

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