Discovery of hydrocarbon source rocks in the Permian Xinxing Formation in the southern Zhangguangcai range,Northeast China

1.Objective The study area is located at the southern Zhangguangcai range,which is thought to be the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt(CAOB).The study area is closed to the eastern margin of the Songliao basin(Fig.1a).No petroleum exploration or related research work have been conducted in this area by far.Based on our most recent geological mapping,numerous hydrocarbon source rocks were firstly discovered within the Xinxing Formation,which is widely exposed from the central Jilin Province to the southeastern Heilongjiang province.The Xinxing Formation covers an area of nearly 1000 km2 with a total thickness of more than 1481 m(Regional Geology of Heilongjiang Province,1993).Therefore,the Xinxing Formation has huge potential to form oil and gas resources.This new discovery of hydrocarbon source rocks within the Xinxing Formation could provide critical clues for oil and gas resources’investigation in Northeast China,also may has important economic significance.