Predicting Heat Flow and Determining Crustal Type Based on Integrated Interpretation of Seismic, Gravity and Magnetic Data in the Offshore Jazan Area, Southern Red Sea

摘要

Predicting heat flow in constrain modeling of a petroleum system in the Red Sea is a significant exploration challenge. In this study, we developed an integrated workflow to utilize seismic, magnetic and gravity data in the offshore Jazan area of the Red Sea to build a crustal model and to identify crustal type. Depth to Curie temperature was estimated from magnetic data and used together with thermal properties of the rocks to predict present-day heat flow for the interpreted crustal model. The predicted heat flow shows a generally increasing trend toward the rift axis due to an elevated asthenosphere boundary that is consistent with a thinned crust model. The model of thinning continental lithosphere and predicted heat flow derived from the integrated workflow provides valuable constraints to reduce the uncertainties in basin modeling.