A passive continental margin of Gondwana
Five hundred million history of sedimentation
Confined to equatorial latitude horizon
Where warm climate overdrove organic elan.
The wide long shelf of Neo Tethys
Two hundred million year past Jurassic days
Rising seas embraced oil prone kerogens
The algae and planktons shot to abundance.
The source rocks and reservoirs were nearby
Shortened the oil migration pathway thereby
The ten-kilometre-thick sediment package
Made it a favourable terrain for oil storage.
The presence of effective regional seals
Both the evaporites and marine shales
Arabian plate moved slow through time
Endured gradual compression sublime.
The rigid Precambrian basement held its ground
Younger sediments only were deformed
With tectonic regime limited and thin skinned
Zagros compressed, folded and thrusted
And large whaleback anticlines were formed.
Salt diapirs too pierced the rising dome
Creating traps where migrating oils found home
Such is the saga of Gulf’s oil, written deep in stone
The desert sands and water starved Gulf region
Boasts its black gold, flexes muscle often
Fuel-starved rest of world blinks wimpy eyed.
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Author:
Narayan Gadagkar (
Offline) - Published: May 25th, 2026 11:59
- Comment from author about the poem: Tracing the origin, migration and storage of oil known popularly as black gold in geological past. \r\nIt reminds the readers of the time scale of the formation of oil governed by the plate movements, favourable past climate and the role of planktons the organic matter.\r\n
- Category: Nature
- Views: 4
Offline)
Comments1
This is a most unique topic for poetry and well done as well. Nicely told
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