CONTINENTAL MARGIN SUBSIDENCE AND HEAT FLOW: IMPORTANT PARAMETERS IN FORMATION OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS.

Two simple geologic models for continental breakup are developed: (1) attenuation of continental lithosphere and (2) intrusion of mantle diapirs. These models for rifting give a direct relation between subsidence of passive margins and their surface heat flow through time. By way of example the authors reconstruct time/temperature/depth plots and estimate hydrocarbon maturity for one site in the Falkland Plateau and three sites in the North Atlantic near Cape Hatteras.