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doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.307.203.2009

Introduction

The Porcupine Seabight Basin off western Ireland, a north–south trending extensional sedimentary basin filled with post-Devonian sediments, is located on the continental shelf west of Ireland and is ~400 km in length with an average width of ~150 km (Fig. F1). Since the late 1970s, a considerable amount of exploration has been carried out by the oil industry (e.g., Shannon et al., 2001) in this area. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 307 recovered the first complete section through a deepwater coral mound, Challenger Mound in the Porcupine Seabight, and its surrounding sediments in May 2005 (see the “Expedition 307 summary” chapter).

Heat flow data provide critical information for understanding the evolution of continental margins. Nine discrete temperature measurements in three holes (U1316A, U1317A, and U1318A) were taken during Expedition 307 drilling (see the “Expedition 307 summary” chapter). This paper determines heat flow at Challenger Mound using downhole temperature measurements and thermal conductivities and provides new constraints on the thermal regime.

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