Petroleum systems analysis has come a long way from pure geochemical evaluation to integration of all petroleum elements, including source rock characteristics, hydrocarbon generation, expulsion and migration, traps, seals, and alterations of the hydrocarbon fluids and columns. Quantification of many of these processes is attempted by the use of more complex 3-D basin models.

This course provides the working geophysicist with a broad overview of the petroleum systems of deepwater settings. The six main elements of petroleum systems will be covered: reservoirs, traps, seals, source rocks, generation, migration, and timing. The course is designed to teach students approximately 80% of what is important. For those interested in further study of a specific topic, each chapter has extensive references for the current literature. About 10% of the current cutting-edge information remains proprietary and cannot be included. <...>

Physicists attempt to reduce natural phenomena to their essential dimensions by means of simplification and approximation and to account for them by defining natural laws. Paradoxically, whilst there is a critical need in geology to reduce the overwhelming field information to its essentials, it often re- mains in an over-descriptive state. This prudent attitude of geologists is dictated by the nature of the subjects being considered, as it is often difficult to derive the significant parameters from the raw data.

This field trip will focus on the petrology and structure of basementcored anticlines in the central Appalachian Piedmont, near Baltimore, Maryland (Figure 1). These structures have long been interpreted as mantled gneiss domes in the sense of Eskola (1949). However, recent work suggests that they are recumbent nappes, arched by later folding about steeply dipping axial planes. <...>