Mineral/water interaction, fluid flow, and Frio sandstone diagenesis: Evidence from the rocks
Journal Article
·
· AAPG Bulletin
OSTI ID:249784
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
The spatial distribution of burial diagenetic cements in sandstones of the Frio Formation is related to permeability and fluid flow. The relationship between sandstone diagenesis and fluid flow implies that the modification of the rocks is largely the outcome of reactions between the detrital and authigenic minerals and the formation water in the pores. During burial, formation water preferentially flowed through the most porous and permeable sandstones. Diagenetic alteration is more extensive in permeable sandstones because the minerals in those rocks were exposed to significantly more pore volumes of reactive water, each of which accomplished a small amount of diagenetic work. Consequently, porous and permeable units were also the preferred sites of diagenetic mineral precipitation. The heterogeneous distribution of authigenic minerals in sandstones is a result of changing preferential flow paths, due to diagenetic modification, during burial. Sandstones that are not the most porous or permeable at the time of deposition commonly preserve the best reservoir quality at depth because they are less modified by diagenesis. Petrographic analyses indicate that the SiO{sub 2} needed for the quartz overgrowths in the sand-stones had an allochthonous source. {gamma}{sup 18}O values for diagenetic quartz imply that the mineral precipitated from rapidly ascending, hot formation water. Mass balance calculations show that thousands of pore volumes of formation water are required to supply the SiO{sub 2} needed for the quartz overgrowths in the sand-stones. The amount of water required to produce the diagenetic modification of the sandstones is much larger than the amount of water present in the entire Frio Formation, implying that reuse of formation water is an important and necessary process during diagenesis.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG05-92ER14249
- OSTI ID:
- 249784
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin, Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 80; ISSN 0149-1423; ISSN AABUD2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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·
OSTI ID:5905542
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Thu May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997
· Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
·
OSTI ID:543116
Prediction of reservoir properties using diagenetic analysis of a template unit: example from Upper Cretaceous sandstones in Powder River basin, Wyoming
Conference
·
Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987
· AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States)
·
OSTI ID:6307071