Organic geochemical characteristics and sedimentary environment of source rocks in Northern and Southern Linhe Depression, Hetao Basin

The source rocks in the Linhe Depression of the Hetao Basin are mainly developed within the Paleogene Linhe Formation (E3l) and the Lower Cretaceous Guyang Formation (K1g). The organic geochemical characteristics of the area are still need to be clarified, which restricts the subsequent exploration and development. Therefore, this study will systematically analyze the generation potential, sedimentary environment, and source material of the two sets of source rocks. The experimental results show that: (1) The hydrocarbon generation potential of source rocks in the northern area is more significant than that in the southern area, and the hydrocarbon generation potential of the Linhe Formation is greater than that of the Guyang Formation. (2) The source material in the northern region is mainly the input of higher plants, and the source material in the southern region is the mixed source input of algae and higher plants. (3) The northern and southern source rocks of the Linhe Formation were deposited in a strongly reducing environment of salt water and fresh water, respectively. The source rocks in the northern and southern Guyang Formation were deposited in a freshwater weak reducing environment and freshwater weak oxidizing environment, respectively.