Deep subsurface temperatures in the Roer Valley Graben and the Peelblock, the Netherlands - new results

R.T. Van Balen; J.M. Verweij; J.D. van Wees; H. Simmelink; F. Van Bergen; H. Pagnier

doi:10.1017/S0016774600020539

R.T. Van Balen Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
J.M. Verweij Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
J.D. van Wees Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
H. Simmelink Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
F. Van Bergen Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
H. Pagnier Netherlands Insititute of Applied Geoscience TNO – National Geological Survey, Department of Geo-Energy, P.O. Box 80015, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016774600020539

Keywords: Roer Valley Graben, The Netherlands, subsurface temperature, drill stem test, bottom hole temperature, Horner correction, RFT temperature

Abstract

The deep subsurface temperature data of the Roer Valley Graben have been re-analysed and combined with new temperature data from hydrocarbon exploration wells. The results show that the deep subsurface temperature distribution in the Roer Valley Graben is essentially the same as in the relatively stable high bordering the Roer Valley Graben to the southwest. Thus, the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Roer Valley Graben, which is characterized by uplift and denudation during the Late Eocene and subsidence due to rifting starting from Late Oligocene, has hardly affected the temperatures in the graben, which is probably due to the slow subsidence and sedimentation rates. In contrast to what is suggested on previously published temperature maps, the Roer Valley Graben is probably not a relatively cold area in the Netherlands.