Thematic

My research is centered on two main themes: 1) controls on the bioconstruction through geological time and reconstitution of carbonate environments, and 2) regional synthesis and basin analysis. The second theme is justified by the necessity of placing the bioconstruction processes in a given tectono-sedimentary setting. Studied processes influencing the bioconstruction are biological (composition of communities, and their mutual influences), and physico-chemical (environmental sedimentology, sea-level fluctuations, environmental geochemistry, early diagenesis, synsedimentary tectonics). Results are applied to petroleum geology, particularly to reservoir characteristics and potential.

• Origin of "Mud-Mound" Facies. - A long-term research program integrating my work in Québec, Belgium, France, Morocco, Algeria, and U.S.A. Ongoing project: Liassic (Jurassic) mud-mounds of the Rich area, High-Atlas of Morocco; jointly with F. Neuweiler and D. Kirkwood. Supported by a NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) individual research grant and ONHYM (Office national des Hydrocarbures et des Mines, Morocco).

• Mud-rich skeletal mounds framed by sheet-like organisms. - A comparative and facies convergence study of Silurian-Devonian lamellar stromatoporoid-calcimicrobe framestone (Québec and Belgium), and Cretaceous sheeted microsolenid coral framestone of Southern France (Marseille area and Western Pyrenees). A joint project with Université de Provence (Marseille) and Université de Bordeaux 1. A project supported by a NSERC individual research grant.

• Tectono-sedimentary and diagenetic evolution of reef platforms in the Silurian-Devonian Gaspé Basin, Québec Appalachians, and implications for hydrocarbon potential. - Research supported in part by a NSERC individual research grant, and in part by the oil industry.

Selected Publications

Neuweiler, F., BOURQUE, P.-A. and Boulvain, F. 2001. Why is stromatactis so rare in Mesozoic carbonate mud mounds? Terra Nova, v. 13, p. 338-346.

BOURQUE, P.-A. 2001. Mud-mounds: do they still constitute an enigma? Géologie Méditerranéenne, v. 23, no 1-2, p. 27-32.

In a special issue of the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology published in Calgary (vol. 49, no. 2, June 2001), Hydrocarbon Plays in the Silurian-Devonian Gaspé Belt, Québec Appalachians (D. Lavoie and P.-A. Bourque, eds.):

Lavoie, D. and BOURQUE, P.-A. 2001. The history of hydrocarbon exploration in the Silurian-Devonian Gaspé Belt: 100 years of modest success, p. 180-185.
BOURQUE, P.-A., Malo, M. and Kirkwood, D. 2001. Stratigraphy, tectonosedimentary evolution and paleogeography of the post-Taconian-pre-Carboniferous Gaspé Belt: an overview, p. 186-201.
BOURQUE, P.-A. 2001. Sea-level, synsedimentary tectonics, and reefs: implications for hydrocarbon exploration in the Silurian-lowermost Devonian Gaspé Belt, Québec Appalachians, p. 217-237.
BOURQUE, P.-A., Savard, M.M, Chi, G. and Dansereau, P. 2001. Diagenesis and porosity evolution of the Upper Silurian-lowermost Devonian West Point reef limestone, eastern Gaspé Belt, Québec Appalachians, p. 299-326.
Dansereau, P. and BOURQUE, P.-A. 2001. The Neigette breccia: remnant of the West Point reef tract in the Matapédia Valley area, and witness of Late Silurian synsedimentary faulting, Gaspé Belt, Northern Appalachians, Québec, p. 327-345.

BOURQUE, P.-A., Malo, M., and Kirkwood, D. 2000. Paleogeography and tectono-sedimentary history at the margin of Laurentia during Silurian to earliest Devonian time: The Gaspé Belt, Québec. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, no. 1, p. 4-20.

Mounji, D., BOURQUE, P.-A.,, and Savard, M.M. 1998. Hydrothermal origin of Devonian Conical Mounds (kess-kess) of Hamar-Lakhdad Ridge, Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Geology, v. 26, p. 1123-1126.

Bourrouilh, R., BOURQUE, P.-A., Dansereau, P., Bourrouilh, F., and Weyant, P. 1998, Sea-level variations on a Paleozoic carbonate platform margin: A Devonian Montagne Noire example. Sedimentary Geology, v. 118, p. 95-118.

Madi, A., BOURQUE, P.-A., and Mamet, B.L., 1996, Depth-related ecological zonation of a Carboniferous carbonate ramp: Upper Viséan of Béchar Basin, Western Algeria. Facies, v. 35, p. 59-80.

Bourrouilh, R., and BOURQUE, P.-A. 1995. Marqueurs d'évolution de marges continentales paléozoïques: les monticules carbonatés à stromatactis. Bull. Société Géologique de France, v. 166, no 6, p. 711-724.

BOURQUE, P.-A., Brisebois, D., and Malo, M. 1995. Gaspé Belt: in Chapitre 4, Geology of the Appalachian-Caledonian Orogen in Canada and Greenland, H. Williams (ed.), Geological Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada, No 6, p. 316-351 (aussi Geological Society of America, The geology of North America, v. F-1).

BOURQUE, P.-A., Madi, A., and Mamet, B.L. 1995. Waulsortian-type bioherm development and response to sea-level fluctuations: Upper Visean of Béchar Basin, Western Algeria. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. B65, p. 80-95.

BOURQUE, P.-A., and Raymond, L. 1994. Diagenetic alteration of early marine cements of Upper Silurian stromatactis. Sedimentology, v. 41, p. 255-269.

BOURQUE, P.-A., and Boulvain, F. 1993. A model for the origin and petrogenesis of the red stromatactis limestone of Paleozoic carbonate mounds. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 63, p. 607-619.

Lavoie, D., and BOURQUE, P.-A. 1993. Marine, burial and meteoric diagenesis of Early Silurian carbonate ramps, Québec Appalachians, Canada. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 63, p. 233-247.

James, N.P., and BOURQUE, P.-A. I992. Reefs and Mounds, In Walker, R. et James, N.P. (eds.), Facies Models, Response to Sea-Level change. Geological Association of Canada, p. 323-347.

BOURQUE, P.-A., Neuweiler, F. and Boulvain, F. 2004. The Mud-mound System: Products and Processes. 32nd International Geological Congress, Florence, Italy, August 2004, CD-ROM Abstracts (part 2), p. 1079.
Abstract and text in PDF format
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BOURQUE, P.-A. 2002. Reservoir potential in the Southern Gaspé Belt, Québec Appalachians. Can Soc. Pet. Geol., Diamond Jubilee Convention, June 3-7, 2002, Calgary Alberta, CD-ROM Abstracts.
Abstract in PDF format
Slide show and text in PDF format