Origin, distribution, and movement of brine in the Permian Basin (U. S. A. ). A model for displacement of connate brine
- Univ. of Texas, Austin (United States)
Na-Cl, halite Ca-Cl, and gypsum Ca-Cl brines with salinities from 45 to >300 g/L are identified and mapped in four hydrostratigraphic units in the Permian Basin area beneath western Texas and Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico, providing spatial and lithologic constraints on the interpretation of the origin and movement of brine. Na-Cl brine is derived from meteoric water as young as 5-10 Ma that dissolved anhydrite and halite, whereas Ca-Cl brine is interpreted to be ancient, modified-connate Permian brine that now is mixing with, and being displaced by, the Na-Cl brine. Displacement fronts appear as broad mixing zones with no significant salinity gradients. Evolution of Ca-Cl brine composition from ideal evaporated sea water is attributed to dolomitization and syndepositional recycling of halite and bittern salts by intermittent influx of fresh water and sea water. Halite Ca-Cl brine in the evaporite section in the northern part of the basin differs from gypsum Ca-Cl brine in the south-central part in salinity and Na/Cl ratio and reflects segregation between halite- and gypsum-precipitating lagoons during the Permian. Ca-Cl brine moved downward through the evaporite section into the underlying Lower Permian and Pennsylvanian marine section that is now the deep-basin brine aquifer, mixing there with pre-existing sea water. Buoyancy-driven convection of brine dominated local flow for most of basin history, with regional advection governed by topographically related forces dominant only for the past 5 to 10 Ma. 71 refs., 11 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6159002
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Bulletin; (United States), Vol. 105:6; ISSN 0016-7606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
BRINES
GEOCHEMISTRY
CALCIUM CHLORIDES
EVAPORITES
GYPSUM
HALITE
METEORIC WATER
PERMIAN BASIN
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
SALINITY
SEAWATER
SODIUM CHLORIDES
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM HALIDES
CHEMISTRY
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
GROUND WATER
HALIDE MINERALS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MINERALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SULFATE MINERALS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
580000 - Geosciences