Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Continental margins are some of the most prominent features on Earth and consist primarily of marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks that are the stratigraphic records of plate tectonic activity, weathering and erosion, and hydrocarbon accumulation along the edges of continents. This research program will concentrate on the interplay between continental margin tectonics, stratigraphy, and petroleum systems in two different plate tectonic settings, and combine field observations and laboratory-based measurements to understand how sedimentary and volcanic basins evolve through geological time and how common plate tectonic processes can directly affect the burial-thermal conditions of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The field research will take place in areas of Yukon and British Columbia. The integrated field and laboratory approach of the program will train MSc students and create Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) who will succeed in university, government, or petroleum industry job positions within Canada. The goals of the research are to develop new ideas on the interconnectedness among surficial, shallow-crustal, and deep earth processes along continental margins and to better describe the relationships between plate tectonics and petroleum systems in western Canada. The research is expected to have a significant and positive impact on the understanding of regional geology in remote locations of Canada's North and provide new, transformative concepts for continental margin evolution.