Hydrocarbon potential of the Tuzgolu (Salt Lake) Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey: A comparison of geophysical investigation results with the geochemical data

The Tuzgolu Basin is the largest interior basin in Central Anatolia, Turkey. Hydrocarbon exploration activities have been carried out in this basin since 1959. However, there is no commercial discovery recorded up to date. Seismic quality in the Tuzgolu Basin is very poor for accurate interpretation of the subsurface. Therefore, the basin was modelled three dimensionally (3-D) using the gravity data. According to the 3-D model map, the most important and deepest part of the basin is located 30–35 km to the southeast of the Aksaray city center. This area is named as the Southern Aksaray Depression and has not been explored properly, because of the volcanic cover. In this study, all available geochemical data have been collected from reports of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation and previous published studies. All collected data have been classified according to the different geochemical parameters such as TOC, S1 + S2, Tmax, R0 and SCI, and each parameter has been mapped regarding its maximum values. Afterwards, 3-D gravity modelling results have been compared to each geochemical map individually and it was observed that each parameter increases in value towards the Southern Aksaray Depression, and consequently, the 3-D model map is observed to be consistent to the geochemical maps. As a result of this consistency between the geophysical and geochemical maps, hydrocarbon exploration activities can be suggested in the prospective areas around the Southern Aksaray Depression in the future.