The periphery of the Huangling Massif is one of the principal prospecting regions of the Lower Cambrian shale gas resources in South China. The geological setting and ground surface conditions are complicated within this area, and the petroleum geological data is limited due to the low degree of exploration. A novel approach based on the regional geological survey and remote sensing data was proposed. The favorable areas for gas exploration targeting the Lower Cambrian Niutitang Shale within the periphery of the Huangling Massif were evaluated by using this approach. Seven key indicators, including the depositional facies and current burial state of the shale strata, density of the exposed faults, dip angle of exposed strata, elevation and slope of the current ground surface, and land utilization, were selected. An evaluation criterion of these indicators was established to facilitate the classification of the study area into four ratings: favorable, low-risk, high-risk, and unfavorable. The overall evaluation of the seven indicators suggested a favorable area of 386.02 km², a low-risk area of 1784.81 km², and a high-risk area of 1689.97 km², accounting for 0.91%, 4.21%, and 3.99% of the whole area, respectively. These results achieved a high level of compliance with the actual exploration discoveries and eliminated over 90% of the total area unsuitable for exploration and production. It is demonstrated that this novel approach can be effectively adopted in the comprehensive evaluation of the favorable area for shale gas exploration with a low degree of prospecting.

黄陵地块的外围是华南下寒武统页岩气资源的主要勘探区域之一。该地区的地质环境和地表条件十分复杂，而且由于勘探程度较低，石油地质数据也受到限制。提出了一种基于区域地质调查和遥感数据的新方法。利用这种方法，评价了以黄陵山外围为下寒武统牛塘塘页岩的天然气勘探有利区域。选择了七个关键指标，包括页岩地层的沉积相和当前的埋藏状态，裸露的断层的密度，裸露的地层的倾角，当前地表的仰角和坡度以及土地利用。建立了这些指标的评估标准，以促进将研究区域分为四个等级：良好，低风险，高风险和不利。对这七个指标的总体评估表明，有利区域为386.02 km^{如图2所示}，低风险区域为1784.81 km ²，高风险区域为1689.97 km ²，分别占整个区域的0.91％，4.21％和3.99％。这些结果达到了与实际勘探发现的高度一致性，并消除了不适合勘探和生产的总面积的90％以上。结果表明，这种新方法可以有效地用于对页岩气勘探的有利区域进行综合评价，勘探程度较低。