If significant transfer of heat from an orogenic belt into an adjacent shallow cratonic basin can occur by processes such as fluid movement, then thermal and geologic models that require significant burial and subsequent exhumation of this basin may be in error. Inasmuch as petroleum-exploration strategies and models of resource emplacement largely depend on concepts of heat transfer and burial history, it is important to evaluate various maturation and temperature data to determine which of the models or geologic processes are correct. In this paper, organic maturation measurements in Paleozoic strata and fluid-inclusion temperatures in the Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks in central Kansas will be compared to theoretical maturation calculations produced by a simple model of thermal maturation. It will be demonstrated that the directly measured maturation parameters are higher than can be accounted for by most variations of any geological parameters used to compute the theoretical maturation, and a thermal event is necessary to account for this maturation. Next, spatial and stratigraphic characteristics of the maturation measurements will be examined to determine whether this anomalous maturation is due to fluid flow or a temporary flux of conductive heat from basement rocks.
Evidence favors the former process.