Thermal history of the Krishna-Godavari basin, India: Constraints from apatite fission track thermochronology and organic maturity data

The Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin, a passive margin Late Carboniferous to Holocene basin along the rifted east coast of India, includes the deltaic and inter-deltaic regions of the Krishna and Godavari rivers onshore and extends into the offshore. It is one of India's premier hydrocarbon-bearing basins. In an attempt to better understand the thermal history of the basin, apatite fission track (AFT) data has been obtained from six exploration wells (five onshore and one offshore). AFT thermal history models as well as other thermal indicators e.g. vitrinite reflectance (VR), Rock-Eval Tmax data reveal that the host rocks are currently at their maximum post-depositional temperatures and that any possible heating related to small-scale tectonism or rifting episodes in the basin bears little significance on the maturation of the sediments. In the case of one borehole (M-1) however, the organic maturity data reveals a period of Oligocene cooling across an unconformity when ∼1000 m of section was eroded due to falling sea-level. This information offers the potential for improved basin modeling of the KG basin.