Diagenetic destruction of primary reservoir porosity in Viola Limestone, south-central Oklahoma
The Viola Limestone in south-central Oklahoma is a Middle and Upper Ordovician carbonate unit interpreted as being deposited on a carbonate ramp within and peripheral to the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen. Depositional environments within the study area ranged from anaerobic deep ramp through aerobic middle and shallow ramp. TOC analyses of the lower anaerobic deep-ramp facies suggest that, at least locally, the Viola is a potential hydrocarbon source rock. Detailed petrographic examination of the Viola indicates that primary porosity in the shallow-ramp skeletal packstones and grainstones was initially quite high. This combination of source potential and original porosity should make the Viola an attractive target for hydrocarbons in southern Oklahoma. The Viola, however, has been subjected to a complex sequence of diagenetic events that have extensively altered the sediments and occluded much of the primary porosity. A thorough understanding of the timing and nature of these events can be critical in evaluating the economic potential of the Viola. Petrographic evidence combined with the use of cathodoluminescence indicates that several generations of calcite cementation occurred within the shallow-ramp packstones and grainstones. An initial phase of very early, possibly synsedimentary, marine cementation is evidenced by cloudy, inclusion-rich syntaxial cements on echinoderm fragments. This early phase of cementation was followed by several generations of clear syntaxial calcite, prismatic calcite, blocky mosaic calcite, and bladed mosaic calcite, all of which indicate changes in the pore-water chemistry after precipitation of the inclusion-rich cements.
- Research Organization:
- Texaco, Inc., Denver, CO
- OSTI ID:
- 6000578
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-850322-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 69:2; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Preservation of intragranular porosity within the Harrodsburg limestone (Middle Mississippian), Newtonville Consolidated Field, Spencer County, Indiana
Porosity evolution in Salem Limestone (Mississippian) of south-central Indiana
Related Subjects
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCITE
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATE MINERALS
CARBONATE ROCKS
CARBONATES
DEPOSITION
DIAGENESIS
FEDERAL REGION VI
GEOLOGIC AGES
MINERALS
NORTH AMERICA
OKLAHOMA
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEOZOIC ERA
POROSITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SOURCE ROCKS
USA