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Geoscience Publications

We want to share our knowledge.

Our geoscience team are actively developing an understanding of the geology and oil and gas resource potential of our offshore. This includes:

  • Understanding the tectonic forces that shaped our offshore area
  • Understanding shelf and deep-water sediment delivery systems
  • Improving the understanding of the key geological and reservoir risks associated with offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production
  • Optimizing the management and conservation of offshore oil and gas resources

While much of the above research is conducted internally, our team also actively work with fellow geoscientists from federal and provincial departments, agencies and universities. Our geoscience team also publish in peer-reviewed technical journals and publications, participate as editors in journals, share knowledge with students as adjunct professors at Dalhousie University, and often present at conferences. They are active members of the geoscience community and contribute to a number of national and international scientific programs and initiatives.

Each year, we update our Geoscience and Resource Management Studies Map to provide a forecast of the geoscience, resource assessment and resource management studies we plan to complete. These studies are designed to improve the understanding of the geology and oil and gas resources in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area.

To view the Geoscience and Resource Management Studies Map, click the link below:


 

Geoscience Reports 

These reports are authored by our geoscience team describing the geology and hydrocarbon resource potential of the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area.
 

YearTitleAuthor
2024

Quantitative petroleum resource assessment in the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Area (Scotian Shelf, Scotian Slope, and Sydney Basin). 

Mark E. Deptuck, Kristopher L. Kendell, Carl Makrides, and Brian Altheim
2023

Sable Offshore Energy Project Resource Management Study. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 46p. 

Belghiszadeh, E., Kendell, K., Makrides, C. and Rhyno, S.
2022

Geology of the central Scotian Shelf and Slope – Call for Bids NS22-1. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Geoscience Open File Report 2022-001MF, 24p. 

Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.
2020

Atlas of 3D seismic surfaces and thickness maps – central and southwestern Scotian Slope. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Geoscience Open File Report 2020-002MF – 2020-006MF, 51p

Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.
2020

Deep Panuke Resource Management Study. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 122p. 

Belghiszadeh, E., Makrides, C. and Smith, B.
2020

Nova Scotia’s volcanic passive margin - exploration history, geology, and play concepts off southwestern Nova Scotia. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Geoscience Open File Report 2020-001MF, 32p. 

Deptuck, M.
2018

Exploration and Production History of the Nova Scotia Offshore Area. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 5p. 

Brown, D.
2018

Rift basins of the central LaHave Platform, offshore Nova Scotia. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Geoscience Open File Report 2018-001MF, 54p. 

Deptuck, M. and Altheim, B.
2017

Call for Bids NS17-1 - Regional exploration history, geological setting, source rocks and exploration potential of Sydney Basin, offshore Nova Scotia. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Geoscience Open File Report, 2017-001MF, 50p. 

Kendell, K., Brown, D. and Rhyno, S.
2016

Call for Bids NS16-1 - Exploration history, geologic setting, and exploration potential: Sable Subbasin Region.  Geoscience Open File Report, 2016-001MF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board,19p. 

Smith, B., Kendell K., Makrides, C. and Brown, D.
2016

Call for Bids NS16-1 - Exploration history, geological setting and exploration potential of the central Scotian Slope. Geoscience Open File Report 2016-002MF, Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 42p. 

Kendell, K., Deptuck, M., Smith, B. and Brown, D.
2015

Call for Bids NS15-1 - Exploration history, geologic setting, and exploration potential: Western and Central regions Geoscience Open File Report  2015-001MF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 49p. 

Deptuck, M., Brown, D. and Altheim, B.
2015

Call for Bids NS15-1 - Exploration history, geologic setting, and exploration potential: Eastern Region Geoscience Open File Report  2015-002MF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 32p.

Smith, B., Makrides, C. and Kendell, K.
2014

Resource Assessment of Undeveloped Significant Discoveries on the Scotian Shelf. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board,182p. 

Smith, B., Makrides, C., Altheim B. and Kendell K.
2014

Seismic stratigraphic framework and structural evolution of the eastern Scotian Slope: geological context for the NS14-1 Call for Bids area, offshore Nova Scotia. Geoscience Open File Report  2014-001MF, Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 58p. 

Deptuck, M., Kendell, K., Brown, D. and Smith, B.
2013

Geological context and parcel prospectivity for Call for Bids NS13-1: Seismic interpretation, source rocks and maturation, exploration history and potential play types of the central and eastern Scotian Shelf. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 64p. 

Kendell, K., Smith, B and Brown, D.
2012

Contrasting salt tectonic styles on the western versus central parts of the Scotian Margin, offshore Nova Scotia, Geoscience Open File Poster 2012-001PF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.  Panel 1 and Panel 2. 

Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.
2012

Lower Cretaceous shelf-edge trajectories, shelf-indenting canyons and the potential transfer of coarser clastics into deeper water, Sable Subbasin, offshore Nova Scotia. Geoscience Open File Poster 2012-002PF, Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. Panel 1 and Panel 2. 

Kendell, K. and Deptuck, M.
2012

Potential for lacustrine source rocks in Triassic synrift basins offshore Eastern North America. Third Central & North Atlantic Conjugate Margins Conference, Dublin. Geoscience Open File 2012-002 PF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Panel 1, Panel 2 and Panel 3. 

Brown, D.
2011

Proximal to distal postrift structural provinces on the western Scotian Margin, offshore Eastern Canada: Geological context and parcel prospectivity for Call-for-Bids NS11-1.Geoscience Open File Report  2011-001MF. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 42p. 

Deptuck, M.
2008

Regional Geology of the Scotian Basin. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 13p. 

Brown, D.
2008

NS08-2 Call for Bids - Sub-regional geology and exploration potential for Parcels 1 and 2, Central Scotian Slope. 

Deptuck, M.
2008

Nova Scotia Conventional Offshore Resource Estimates. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 2p. 

Smith, B.
2007Nova Scotia Deep Water Offshore Post-Drill Analysis-1982-2004. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 181p. Download report.Kidston, A.G., Smith, B., Brown, D., Makrides, C. and Altheim, B.
2005

The Upper Jurassic Abenaki Formation Offshore Nova Scotia: A Seismic and Geologic Perspective. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Halifax, 165p. 

Kidston, A.G., Brown, D., Smith, B.and Altheim, B.
2002

Hydrocarbon Potential of the Deep-Water Scotian Slope. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Halifax, 111p. 

Kidston, A.G., Brown, D., Smith, B. and Altheim, B.
2000

Technical Summaries of Scotian Shelf Significant and Commercial Discoveries. Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Halifax, 257p. 

CNSOPB
Other Publications 

These publications are authored by our geoscience staff on the geology of the onshore and offshore basins of eastern Canada. This section also includes a number of extended conference abstracts and presentations by geoscience staff.
 

YearTitleAuthor
2014

Lacustrine source rock potential in the Middle Triassic – Early Jurassic Chignecto Subbasin, offshore Eastern Canada. Geological Association of Canada / Mineralogical Association of Canada Annual Meeting, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. 

Brown, D.
2014

Lacustrine source rock potential in the Middle Triassic – Early Jurassic Chignecto Subbasin, offshore Eastern Canada. Geological Association of Canada / Mineralogical Association of Canada Annual Meeting, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. 

Brown, D.
2011Potential shelf sources for deepwater reservoirs along the southwestern Scotian Margin, and the impact of a hybrid ‘bypass-ponded’ slope on reservoir distribution, Seminar delivered at the AAPG International in Milan, Italy.Deptuck, M.
2010

The ‘slope detachment zone’ on the western Scotian Slope, offshore Nova Scotia: structural style, timing, and implications for margin evolution. North American Conjugate Margins, Lisbon, Portugal. 

Deptuck, M. 
2010

Salt evacuation history and depositional corridors in the Annapolis and Crimson region - Do these wells really provide an accurate test of sand presence in Nova Scotia’s deepwater. American Association of Petroleum Geologists- Annual Conference and Exhibition, April 11-14, 2010. New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Kendell, K. and Deptuck, M.
2010Volcanic and non-volcanic margins segments along the South Atlantic and North Atlantic margins: the continent-ocean boundary structures. The Meeting of the Americas – American Geophysical Union Meeting, Foz do Iguassu, Brazil, Abstracts and Programme, Abstract #T24A-06. Mohriak, W.U., Brown, D. and Tari, G.C.
2009

Complex deepwater fold-belts in the SW Sable Subbasin, offshore Nova Scotia. CSPG CSEG SWLS Convention, Calgary, Alberta. 

Deptuck, M., Kendell, K. and Smith, B.M.
2008Central and South Atlantic conjugate margin pre- and post-salt successions – Implications to rift models and petroleum systems. American Association of Petroleum Geologists International Conference & Exhibition, Cape Town, Program & Abstracts, Abstract #30081.Brown, D., Mohriak, W.U., Jabour, H. and Tari, G.C.
2008Syn-rift evolution, salt tectonics and crustal structure offshore Morocco and Nova Scotia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists International Conference & Exhibition, Cape Town, Program & Abstracts.Tari, G.C., Jabour, H., Einarsson, D., Louden, K., Yue, W., and Brown, D.
2007The Early Jurassic Heracles Sequence, Scotian Basin, Canada:  Recognition of latest stage synrift tectonism and correspondence to structures offshore Morocco. First Moroccan Association of Petroleum Geologists International Convention, Conference & Exhibition, Marrakech, Abstract Book, p.17.Brown, D., Dehler, S.A., Louden, K. and Wu, Y.
2005Facies Heterogeneity in Lacustrine Basins: The Transtensional Moncton Basin (Mississippian) and Extensional Fundy Basin (Triassic - Jurassic), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Field Trip Guidebook FT-A5, Geological Association of Canada/Mineralogical Association of Canada, Joint Annual Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 100p.Keighley, D., and Brown, D.
2004Integrated Hydrocarbon Risk Assessment of Deepwater Scotian Slope, Eastern Canada: A Petroleum Systems Approach. AAPG International Conference & Exhibition Technical Program, Cancun, Mexico, Abstract #A91170. Mukhopadhyay, P., Bowman, T., Faber, J. and Brown, D.
2004Lithostratigraphy I, Jeanne d’Arc Basin Cross Sections A-A’ and B-B’, In Moir, P. N., McAlpine, K.D., Edwards, A., Deptuck, M., Bell, J. S., Wielens, J. B. W., Wade, J. A., and Jauer, C. D. East Coast Basin Atlas Series: Grand Banks of Newfoundland - Lithostratigraphy. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4640; 4 sheets.McAlpine, K.D., Deptuck, M., Wielens, J.B. W., Jauer, C.D., and Moir, P.N.
2004Lithostratigraphy II, Jeanne d’Arc/Flemish Pass Basins Cross Section C-C’, In Moir, P. N., McAlpine, K.D., Edwards, A., Deptuck, M. Bell, J. S., Wielens, J. B. W., Wade, J. A., and Jauer, C. D. East Coast Basin Atlas Series: Grand Banks of Newfoundland - Lithostratigraphy. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4640; 4 sheets.McAlpine, K. D., Deptuck, M., Wielens, J.B. W., Jauer, C. D., and Moir, P. N.
2003Petroleum Systems of Deepwater Scotian Basin, Eastern Canada: Challenges for Finding Oil versus Gas Provinces.  Offshore Technology Conference Houston 2003, OTC Paper No.15304, 10p.Mukhopadhyay (Muki), P.K., Brown, D., Kidston, A.C., Bowman, T.D., Faber, J., and Harvey, P.J., 
2003

Post-rift geology of the Jeanne d’Arc basin, with a focus on the early Paleogene submarine fans and insights from modern deep-water systems. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 369p. 

Deptuck, M. 
2000

The Mara turbidite system in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin:  Architecture, evolution, and modern analogues.  Abstract #679, GeoCanada 2000 Convention: Program with Extended Abstracts (CD-ROM), 4 p. 

Deptuck, M. 
1998Classic Carboniferous Sections of Minas and Cumberland Basins in Nova Scotia – With Special Reference to Organic Deposits. Field Trip Guidebook, The Society for Organic Petrology, Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, 29-30 July 1998, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources Open File Report ME1998-5, 86p.Calder, J.H., Boehner, R.C., Brown, D., Gibling, M.R., Mukhopadhyay, P.K., Ryan, R. J., and Skilliter, D.M.
1998Lithostratigraphic correlation of the Upper Sydney Mines Formation in Sydney Basin (Donkin to Point Aconi), Northeastern Nova Scotia. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 3673.Shimeld, J. and Deptuck, M.
1992Fundy Basin rift tectonics and sedimentation. Field Excursion A-3 Guidebook, Geological Association of Canada/Mineralogical Association of Canada, Joint Annual Meeting, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, 57p.Brown, D. and Grantham, R. G.
Peer Reviewed Publications 

These are externally reviewed geoscience publications authored by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator geoscience staff. These publications cover a broad range of geoscience subjects and reflect the breadth of expertise of our geoscience staff.
 

YearTitleAuthor
2013Conjugate Divergent Margins.  Geological Society of London Special Publication 369, London. ISBN: 978-1-86239-349-3.Mohriak, W.U., Danforth, A., Post, P.J., Brown, D.E., Tari, G.C., Nemčok M. and Sinha, S.T.
2012The conjugate margins of Morocco and Nova Scotia. In: D.G. Roberts & A.W. Bally (eds), Regional Geology and Tectonics: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins – Volume 1C – Passive Margins. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p.265-300.Tari, G.C., Brown, D., Jabour, H., Hafid, M., Louden, K.and Zizi, M.
2008Program & Extended Abstracts. Central Atlantic Conjugate Margins Conference – Halifax 2008, CD-ROM and website, ISBN: 0-9810595-2, 494p.Brown, D.
2008Sedimentary Basins in the Central and South Atlantic Conjugate Margins: Deep Structures and Salt Tectonics. Central Atlantic Conjugate Margins Conference – Halifax 2008, Program & Extended Abstracts, p.89-102 (Conference CD, ISBN: 0-9810595-1).Mohriak, W.U., Brown, D. and Tari, G.C.
2003Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Orpheus Graben, Scotian Basin, offshore Eastern Canada: Analogies to the Fundy Rift Basin.  In:  LeTourneau, P.M., and Olsen, P.E. (eds.) The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America – Volume 2 – Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Paleontology.  Columbia University Press, New York, 59-68.Tanner, L.H. and Brown, D.
1999The Upper Triassic Chedabucto Formation, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia: depositional and tectonic context.  Atlantic Geology, vol.35, p.129-138.Tanner, L.H. and Brown, D.
1997The Geology and Hydrocarbon Possibilities of the Triassic-Jurassic Fundy Basin, Eastern Canada. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology, CSPG-SEPM Joint Convention 1997, Program and Abstracts.Wade, J.A., Brown, D. and Fensome, R.A.
1996The Triassic-Jurassic Fundy Basin, Eastern Canada: regional setting, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential.  Atlantic Geology, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 189-231.Wade, J.A., Brown, D., Fensome, R.A. and Traverse, A.
YearTitleAuthor
2017Submarine fans and their channels, levees, and lobes, In: A. Micallef, S. Krastel, A. Savini (Eds) Submarine Geomorphology. Springer Geology, p. 273-299.Deptuck, M. and Sylvester, Z.
2017Chapter 13: A review of Mesozoic salt tectonics along the Scotian margin, eastern Canada, In: J. Soto, J. Flinch, and G. Tari, (Eds), Permo-Triassic Salt Provinces of Europe, North Africa and Central Atlantic: Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Potential, Elsevier, p. 287-312.Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.
2015Seismic stratigraphic framework and depositional history of a large Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic depocenter off southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 65, p 22-42.Campbell, D.C., Shimeld, J., Deptuck, M. and Mosher, D.C.
2012Alternating bottom current dominated and gravity flow dominated deposition in a lower slope and rise setting – insights from the seismic geomorphology of the western Scotian margin, Eastern Canada, In: Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, Edited by: B. Prather, M. Deptuck, D. Mohrig, B. van Hoorn, and R. Wynn, SEPM Special Publication 99, p. 329-346.Campbell, D.C. and Deptuck, M. 
2012Widespread erosion and mass failure from the ~51 Ma Montagnais bolide impact off southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 49, p. 1567-1594.  http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/toc/cjes/49/12.Deptuck, M. and Campbell, D.C.
2012Pleistocene seascape evolution above a ‘simple’ stepped slope, western Niger Delta, In: Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, Edited by: B. Prather, M. Deptuck, D. Mohrig, B. van Hoorn, and R. Wynn, SEPM Special Publication 99, p. 199-222.Deptuck, M., Sylvester, Z. and O’Byrne, C.
2012Erosional and depositional features of glacial meltwater discharges on the eastern Canadian continental margin, In: Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, Edited by: B. Prather, M. Deptuck, D. Mohrig, B. van Hoorn, and R. Wynn, SEPM Special Publication 99, p. 61-80.Piper, D.J.W., Deptuck, M., Mosher, D.C., Hughes-Clarke, J.E. and Migeon, S.
2012Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, In: Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, Edited by: B. Prather, M. Deptuck, D. Mohrig, B. van Hoorn, and R. Wynn, SEPM Special Publication 99, p. 5-9.Prather, B.E., Deptuck, M, Mohrig, D., van Hoorn, B. and Wynn, R B.
2012Seismic stratigraphy of a shelf-edge delta and linked submarine channels in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, In: Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental Slope and Base-of-slope Systems: Case Studies from Seafloor and Near-Seafloor Analogues, Edited by: B. Prather, M. Deptuck, D. Mohrig, B. van Hoorn, and R. Wynn, SEPM Special Publication 99, p. 31-59.Sylvester, Z., Deptuck, M., Prather, B., Pirmez, C. and O’Byrne, C.
2011Linking onshore-offshore sediment dispersal in the Golo source-to-sink system (Corsica, France) during the Late Quaternary, Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 81, p. 118-137.Somme, T.O., Piper, D.J.W., Deptuck, M. and Helland-Hansen, W.
2010Upper Cretaceous mass transport systems above the Wyandot Formation chalk, offshore Nova Scotia, In: Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, Edited by: D. Mosher et al., Kluger-Springer Bookseries, v. 28, p. 605-616.Smith, B.M., Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K. 
2008Dimensions and architecture of late Pleistocene submarine fan lobes off the northern margin of east Corsica, Sedimentology, v. 55, p. 869-898.Deptuck, M., Piper, D.J.W., Savoye, B. and Gervais, A.
2007Along slope variations in mass failures and relationships to major Plio-Pleistocene morphological elements, SW Labrador Sea, In: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research: Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Edited by: V. Lykousis, D. Sakellariou, J. Locat, Kluger-Springer Book Series, v. 27, p. 37-45.Deptuck, M., Mosher, D. C., Campbell, D C., Hughes-Clarke, J.E. and Noseworthy, D.
2007Migration-aggradation history and 3-D seismic geomorphology of submarine channels in the Benin-major Canyon, western Niger Delta slope, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 24, p. 406-433.Deptuck, M., Sylvester, Z., Pirmez, C. and O’Byrne, C.
2003Revised Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleogene lithostratigraphy and depositional history of the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland, Canada. AAPG Bulletin, v. 87, p. 1459-1483.Deptuck, M., MacRae, R.A., Shimeld, J.W., Williams, G. and Fensome, R. 
2003Architecture and evolution of upper fan channel-belts on the Niger Delta slope and in the Arabian Sea, Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 20, p. 649-676.Deptuck, M., Steffens, G.S., Barton, M. and Pirmez, C.
1997Fine-grained turbidites of the Amazon Fan:  facies characterization and interpretation. In: Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Leg 155, Edited by: R.D. Flood, D.J.W. Piper, A. Klaus, and L.C. Peterson, p. 79-108.Piper, D.J.W. and Deptuck, M.
YearTitleAuthor
2017Chapter 13: A review of Mesozoic salt tectonics along the Scotian margin, eastern Canada, In: J. Soto, J. Flinch, and G. Tari, (Eds), Permo-Triassic Salt Provinces of Europe, North Africa and Central Atlantic: Tectonics and Hydrocarbon Potential, Elsevier, p. 287-312.Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.
2012Variations in salt expulsion style within the Sable Canopy Complex, central Scotian Margin. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 49, p. 1504-1522.Kendell, K. 
YearTitleAuthor
2010Upper Cretaceous mass transport systems above the Wyandot Formation chalk, offshore Nova Scotia, In: Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, Edited by: D. Mosher et al., Kluger-Springer Book Series, v. 28, p. 605-616.Smith, B.M., Deptuck, M. and Kendell, K.