New methods and techniques for innovative, integrated provenance studies

When evaluating the petroleum potential of the Faroe-Shetland basin, an understanding of the sand transport processes into the basin during the Maastrichtian to Paleocene is of primary importance. Therefore, detailed provenance analysis that integrate bulk rock chemostratigraphic data with compositional data and age information of a large number of detrital heavy mineral grains are needed. Because conventional methods employed in provenance studies, such as SHRIMP and EMPA, require tedious and time-consuming sample preparation, and hence are relatively expensive, the development of analytical techniques which are more cost-efficient is therefore highly desirable. This paper describes CCSEM and LA-ICP-MS, alternative analytical techniques that are capable of providing the same, or even more detailed information with sufficient precision more rapidly and economically compared to SHRIMP and RMPA. CCSEM and LA-ICP-MS are characterized by straightforward sample preparation, are relatively rapid, and yield the same (and additional) information at a fraction of the costs compared with the conventional methods used in provenance studies. Therefore, CCSEM and LA-ICP-MS are powerful tools that will allow much more detailed insight into the provenance of sedimentary rocks in the future. Additionally, we briefly describe methods suitable for the rapid and cost-effective acquisition of the bulk rock chemostratigraphic data needed in advanced provenance studies.