Source Rocks and Maturity
For all the above prospects, gas prone shales of the mid Jurassic to early Cretaceous Verrill Canyon Formation are the interpreted source rocks. The number of significant and commercial discoveries in the Sable Subbasin, sourced from Verrill Canyon shales, clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of these source rocks on the shelf and the gas shows at Newburn and Annapolis also demonstrate the effectiveness of these source rocks in deep water. The Play Fairway project modeled the maturity of five different aged potential source rocks on the Scotian Margin: Pleinsbachian, Callovian, Tithonian, Valanginian and Aptian. The resulting transformation ratio maps for four of these source rocks (the Pleinsbachian source rock is over-mature in this area and therefore not shown) are found in figures 38, 39, 40 and 41. For more information regarding these source rocks and their maturation history consult Chapter 4 of the Play Fairway Atlas.