The Continental Margin

Abstract

Abstract Over 80% of the continental margin of eastern Canada is underlain by a seaward-thickening wedge of Tertiary and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, a most attractive exploration target for oil and gas. The first offshore wells were drilled on the Grand Banks in 1966, just before publication of the 1970 edition of the Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada in which a mere 2,000 words attested to the fact that “the Mesozoic record of southeastern Canada [was] scant.” By 1981, a total of 158 wells had been drilled, significant shows of gas and/or oil had been recorded in 22 of the wells, and production appeared to be imminent in the Sable Island and northern Grand Banks areas. With the contemplation of production facilities comes a requirement for extensive information regarding the nature of the seabed and its stability, environmental hazards such as icebergs and their seabed scours, and the susceptibility of the coastal environment to the pollution created by marine oil spills. Thus, economic and environmental pressures have been largely responsible for the rapid accumulation of knowledge about the continental margin of eastern Canada. Each section of this report is a precis of each chapter of the synthesis volume, The Continental Margin: Eastern Canada. Data and interpretations will be displayed in the text on standard 1:10 million scale, page-size maps (Figs. 1, 2, 3) as background for discussion of the entire margin. A comprehensive bibliography will also be included. Contributions to the volume will be organized so as to make the clearest possible distinction between fact and interpretation, and in the latter case, present the different sides of controversial questions.