Thermal evolution characteristics of Triassic coal in Chuxiong Basin and its geological significance

Chuxiong Basin in Yunnan is a typical Mesozoic foreland basin which is enriched in widely distributed Triassic coal resources with thick deposits and of important strategic significance. By applying vitrinite reflectance measurement, inclusion thermometry, fission track dating and EASY% Ro numerical simulation, the Triassic coal thermal evolution history of the Chuxiong Basin was analyzed, and the results were concluded. The vitrinite reflectance of Chuxiong Basin is higher in the west and south in general.Vertically, in the east, west, and north of the basin, the vitrinite reflectance increases with increasing depth, and in the northern part, exceptionally high values occur, and there is no significant regularity in the east. The formation of inclusions inside quartz veins in Chuxiong Basin Triassic coal are unrelated with magmatic hydrothermal fluid, and there are multi-phase inclusions formed in three or four sections of tectonic movements. The main heating period(apparent age) of the Triassic coal is concentrated in the late Cenozoic, during which the coal was subjected to repeated thermal disturbance, resulting in a multimodal distribution of the fission track data, which reveals mild burial features of the early stages of the Late Cenozoic. The Triassic coal of Chuxiong Basin has experienced two major temperature increasing processes, which occurred in the early-mid Yanshan and the early Himalayan, respectively. The first hydrocarbon generation period of coal organic matter occurred in the formation stage of the foreland basin, during which the south and west of the basin generated large amounts of hydrocarbon, but little was preserved. The second generation stage in the Early Himalayan had conditions suitable for high gas accumulation, especially in the western and southern regions. The upper Triassic coal is of moderate burial depth and is less affected by the strike-slip effect. There are key areas of Chuxiong Basin oil and gas exploration, such as the Yanfeng Basin in the north-central, Yongren and Yunlong areas.