REE and εNd of clay fractions in sediments from the eastern Pacific Ocean:Evidence for clay sources

The surface sediments from the eastern Pacific Ocean are mainly composed of biogenetic fossils, silicate detritus, ferromanganese spherolites and clay fractions. Among them, the clay fractions with grain size less than 2 μm (mainly clay minerals) are mostprevalent, especially in the non-calcareous sediments (the content of calcareous fossils is less than 5%), the clay fraction contents often exceed 70%[1―5]. Because of the influences of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), equatorial currents, …     

Research on preservation and enrichment mechanisms of organic matter in muddy sediment and mudstone

Using multidiscipline methodologies, the differences in preservation and enrichment mechanisms of organic matter (OM) in muddy sediment and mudstone are investigated. In clay fractions, concentra- tions of TOC and chloroform bitumen “A” are significantly higher than those in coarser fractions. This indicates that clay minerals (CM) play an important role in enriching OM. The content of chloroform bitumen “A” increases obviously in the clay fraction, which reveals that dissolvable OM is the main composition of coalesce with clay minerals. Furthermore, TG and DTA data show that OM enrichment mechanisms and preservation forms have multiplicity. Several exothermic peaks in the DTA curves demonstrate that muddy sediment and mudstone contain a number of bioclasts and amorphous OM besides dissolvable OM. Through analyzing with XRD and DTA after mudstone samples were pretreated, the conclusions can be arrived at. Firstly, CM interlayer space of XRD curves and exothermic peaks of DTA curves both change as temperature increases. Secondly, the changes of CM interlayer space and exothermic peaks are concordant and stable around 350℃. All these are the features that OM enters CM interlayers to form stable organo-clay complexes. Therefore, the combination format of OM with CM is not only surface adsorption, partial OM enters CM interlayers to form stable organo-clay complexes. Finally, through the research on OM preservation forms and enrichment mechanisms in muddy sedi- ment and mudstone, the hydrocarbon-generation processes and the global carbon cycle and budget can be explained.     

Evaluation of hydrocarbon generation of the Xiamaling Formation shale in Zhangjiakou and its significance to the petroleum geology in North China

The semi-closed pyrolysis simulation system under constant pressure was conducted to explore the characteristics and mechanisms of hydrocarbon generation from Xiamaling Formation shale in Xiahuayuan,North China.The experiment results indicate the oil generated by the Xiamaling Formation shale in oil window should be classified as "aromatic-intermediate" type,whereas the decreasing of dry coefficient can be ascribed to the cracking of residual bitumen in source rock in the stage of high to post maturity.The amount of hydrocarbon gas generated from residual bitumen can be up to 1-2 m3 per ton rock in high to post mature stage by calculating hydrogen contents in the kerogen,the expelled hydrocarbon,and the residual hydrocarbon.This reveals the importance of residual bitumen as a gas source during high to post mature stage of the kerogen evolution,and also as the broad exploration prospect of these gases.This research highlights the attention should be paid to oil/gas reservoirs sourced from residual bitumen of organic-rich source rock in high mature stage,even the primary oil/gas reservoirs considered as the main exploration targets in middle-upper Proterozoic sediments of North China.     

Discovery of “Enveloping Surface of Oil and Gas Overpressure Migration” in the Songliao Basin and its bearings on hydrocarbon migration and accumulation mechanisms

The Fuyang oil layer of the Songliao Basin is a tight and low-permeability sandstone pay zone formed in the fluvial-shallow water delta environment.In the formation are mainly lithologic reservoir and tight reservoir.The lacustrine-mudstone of K2qn1 is a good source rock and also acts as a good regional cap rock.The Fuyang oil layer is a typical upper-source and lower-reservoir pattern distributed in a large area.Based on a large number of exploration and development data, a macroscopic enveloping surface is found developed in the Fuyang oil layer, which is below K2qn1.The effective reservoirs within the enveloping surface are commonly saturated with oil, and below the enveloping surface are mainly water layers.The distance from the enveloping surface to the bottom of the source rock is usually 100-350 m and at most 550 m.Through the research of the distribution patterns and the physical properties of the sandbodies above or beneath the source rock, it is concluded that: 1) the enveloping surface is the boundary of the overpressure hydrocarbon migration; 2) the spacial distribution of the pressure release beds controls the direction and the distance of the overpressure hydrocarbon migration; 3) tight oil reservoirs and lenticular oil reservoirs are mainly formed inside the envelope surface, whereas, conventional reservoirs are formed outside the envelope surface as a result of the buoyancy hydrocarbon migration.The discovery of the "overpressure hydrocarbon migration enveloping surface" and the concepts of overpressure hydrocarbon migration and buoyancy hydrocarbon migration not only challenge the old notion that "hydrocarbon migrates along the faults and is distributed along fault belts" in the Fuyang oil layer of the Songliao Basin, give a new explanation to the long-distance-oil-downwards migration (hundreds of meters) and expand the exploration potential of the Fuyang oil layer, and provide a rational guidance to the exploration of syncline plays, but also better categorize tight oil/gas and conventional reservoirs in all of the key elements related to hydrocarbon migration, accumulation, reservoir characteristics and oil and gas spatial distribution.     

Geochemical characteristics and accumulation of marine oil and gas around Halahatang depression,Tarim Basin,China

There exists a petroleum system rich of oil and gas around Halahatang depression,where the oil and gas possess obvious local distinctions of properties in different parts.The research proved that the discovered crude oil and natural gas in the region derived mainly from O2 3 source rock,and the differences of its properties were controlled by the oil and gas filling intensity.The comprehensive study result shows the oil and gas reservoirs of the region mainly underwent three important accumulation phases:late Caledonian-Early Hercynian epoch,late Hercynian epoch,and Yanshan-Himalayan epoch. In the first phase,the oil and gas derived mostly from Cambrian source rock,which formed the primary ancient oil reservoirs,then suffered strong degradation and remained a great quantity of pyrobitumen in the high position of Tabei uplift in the present.In the second phase,the O2 3 source rock of Manjia'er depression started its generation of hydrocarbon,which accumulated in the high position of Tabei uplift afterwards,and then biodegradated to heavy oil in the late Hercynian epoch.In the last phase,the O2 3 source rock of southern Halahatang depression and margin of Manjia'er depression started its peak of generating liquid hydrocarbon,which mostly accumulated in the trap formed before the Indo-China and Yanshan epoch,and in somewhere the heavy oil suffered dilutions in various degrees or serious gas invading,to lead to obvious crude oil divergence.     

Organic-rich formation and hydrocarbon enrichment of lacustrine shale strata: A case study of Chang 7 Member

Lacustrine shale is an important target for the exploration of unconventional oil and gas in China beyond marine shale gas.However,the formation environment of lacustrine shale differs from that of marine shale,resulting in a different reservoir composition,organic matter,oil and gas content,and hydrocarbon mobility.In this study,the Chang 7 shale of the Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin was used to analyze the effect of volcanic activity on the paleoproductivity and preservation conditions during the formation of lacustrine shale.The results show that algae and bacteria were developed before the eruption.After the eruption,the number of bacteria declined,but the increased prosperity of algae reflects that the volcanic activity enhanced ancient productivity.The sulfate generated by volcanic activity promotes bacterial sulfate reduction,and the produced H₂S leads to a strong reducing environment in the waterbody,which is conducive to the preservation of organic matter.Organic geochemical analysis shows that the black shale in the shale strata has a high total organic carbon(TOC)content and strong hydrocarbon generation potential,whereas the tuff has a low TOC content and can scarcely generate hydrocarbons,indicating that the tuff deposited by volcanic activity cannot be considered as effective source rock.In terms of storage space,shale is mainly laminar and dispersed,and it includes organic and inorganic pores.The development of organic pores is affected by thermal maturity,whereas inorganic pores mainly occur between detrital particles and crystals.Tuff is mainly supported by heterogeneous matrix and associated with alteration.Its pores include inter-and intragranular mineral pores.The development of tight sandstone pores is affected by compaction,cementation,and dissolution,which mainly consist of intra-and intergranular pores.The Chang 7 lacustrine shale generally contains oil,but different lithologies have different oil drainage efficiencies.Sandstone and shale exhibit the best and worst oil drainage efficiency,respectively.It is mainly affected by the pore size distribution,fluid properties,and rock wettability.Therefore,the development of shale oil should mainly focus on lacustrine shale formations with interbeds.The mutual dissolution of organic matter and hydrocarbons in the shale section leads to the poor mobility and difficult development of hydrocarbons.     

Cracking conditions of crude oil under different geological environments

There are mainly 3 kinds of existing states of oil generating from source rocks,that is,dispersive liquid hydrocarbon inside of source rock,dispersive liquid hydrocarbon outside of source rock and concentrated liquid hydrocarbon outside of source rock.Because of the differences in thermal history and medium conditions around,and the interaction of organic and inorganic matter,the liquid hydrocarbon with 3 kinds of existing state has different cracking conditions.The gas generation dynamics experiments of crude oil matching different mediums indicate that the distribution of activation energy of methane changes a lot according to medium difference.The carbonate has a main influence on oil cracking conditions and can largely reduce its activation energy,which reflects the lower cracking temperature of crude oil.The mudstone takes a second place and the sandstone is the smallest.The catalytic cracking function to the oil of the carbonate,of the mudstone and of the sandstone changes weaken in turn.The corresponding Ro values of main gas generation period in different mediums are as follows:1.5%―3.8%with pure crude oil,1.2%―3.2%with dispersive crude oil in carbonate,1.3%~3.4% with dispersive crude oil in mudstone and 1.4%―3.6%with dispersive crude oil in sandstone.The influence of pressure to crude oil cracking is relatively complicated.In the low heating speed condition, pressure restrains the oil cracking and gas generation,but in the high heating speed condition,pressure has an indistinctive influence to the oil cracking and gas generation.Pressure also makes a different effort in different evolvement stage.Taking the middle and lower Cambrian source rocks in the Tarim Basin as an example,primary oil generating quantity is 2232.24×10 8 t,residual oil and oil cracking gas quantity is 806.21×10 8 t and 106.95×10 12 m 3 respectively.     

Chemical kinetics study of hydrocarbon regeneration from organic matter in carbonate source rocks and its significance

In the comparison research of hydrocarbon regeneration, a low maturity carbonate source rock is heated to different temperatures in a gold tube to obtain a series of samples with different maturities. Then, the heated samples, before and after extraction, are subjected to Rock-Eval pyrolysis through a thermal simulation of hydrocarbon regeneration in order to inspect pyrolysis characteristics and probe into the characteristics of the chemical kinetics of each sample. The results indicate that, whether hy- drocarbon regeneration peak is delayed or advanced, the potential of hydrocarbon regeneration is closely related to the expulsion amount and breakdown maturity of primary hydrocarbon generation. After extraction, the average activation energy of artificially maturated samples increases with the in- creasing maturity, but the chemical kinetic properties of un-extracted samples decrease. The calibrated chemical kinetic models that describe extracted and un-extracted samples are applied to the Bohai Bay and the Songliao Basin, and the results indicate that the combination of the two models can explain some contradictory conclusions previously reported. These results also facilitate the quantitative evaluation of the amount of hydrocarbon regeneration by the chemical kinetic method.     

Relationship between heterogeneity of source rocks and genetic mechanism of abnormally high pressure

Based on the micro-fluorescence observation of polished sections of source rocks,two types of micro-layers with different wetting properties formed in thermal evolution,i.e.,oil-wetting and water-wetting micro-layers,are distinguished.The wetting property is found closely related to the abundance of organic matter and its occurrences with inorganic minerals.The alternating distribution and intercrossing of two types of micro-layers formed many separated spaces with different wettabilities.The strong capillary forces in these separated spaces with different wettibilities obstruct the cross flows of pore fluids and result in nearly independent and closed fluid systems.As a consequence,these spatially superposed spaces in source rocks bear the overburden pressure and then abnormally high pressures have developed in the whole source rock unit.Therefore,the abundance and occurrences of organic matter are the main inner factors influencing the formation of abnormally high pressures,whereas the formation,distribution and development of micro-layers with different wettabilities during the evolution of source rock determine the intensity and spatial distribution of abnormally high pressures.     

Hydrocarbon accumulation in network and its application in the continental rift basin

The concept of hydrocarbon accumulation in network was presented on basis of the overall analysis of the formation and evolution characteristics of the continental faulted basin and of the systemic re-search on the major controlling factors on the hydrocarbon accumulation. The hydrocarbon accumu-lation in network can be defined as hydrocarbon accumulation in a three-dimensional network system which is constituted by the hydrocarbon migration passages under multiple dynamics,following the hydrocarbon generation from source rocks. The research shows that the hydrocarbon accumulation in network is composed of four elements,i.e.,hydrocarbon source (source rock kitchen),hydrocarbon accumulation terminal (trap),network pathway connecting source and terminal (transporting system),and network potential driving hydrocarbon migration in the network pathway (migration dynamics). Compared with other networks,hydrocarbon accumulation in network has three basic characteristics: the irreversible geological process of material and information flow in the network; the loss of material and information in the flow process in the network; the multiple dynamics in the flow process. Interac-tion of all the elements in the geological process can be called hydrocarbon accumulation in network. There are three basic models for hydrocarbon accumulation in network,that is,hydrocarbon accumu-lation in the network source area,hydrocarbon accumulation in the network pathway,and hydrocarbon accumulation in the network terminal. The key in the application of the hydrocarbon accumulation models in network in practice is to confirm the major accumulation stage and the function range of the four elements controlling the hydrocarbon firstly,to predict the profitable accumulation region by su-perposition of the favorable areas confirmed by four elements consequently,and to evaluate the oil-bearing property of the trap as well as confirm drilling targets. This paper takes the Dongying De-pression in the Bohai Bay Basin as an application example.     

Migration and enrichment of trace elements of Lower Palaeozoic carbonate rock strata in Beijing

Analyses of trace elements of the Lower Palaeozoic carbonate rock strata in Beijing show that the contents of As, Hg, F increase from primary carbonate rocks to weathered carbonate rocks and from primary carbonate rocks to the soil coexisting with carbonate rocks, but the distribution regularity of S is not obvious. In the whole weathered stages, the sorption of As is mainly affected by Fe2O3. In soil Fe2O3 is also the main affecting factor of Hg enrichment. The main existing forms of Hg in primary carbonate rocks should simply be physical adsorption, coprecipitation and false isomorphous form between surface of carbonate rock and Hg. In soil the enrichment of F has little relationship with sul-fides and Fe2O3. In primary carbonate rocks, F is mainly absorbed by sulfides and clay minerals, etc. Weathered samples have closer genetic relationships with primary carbonate rocks. This also implies that weathered carbonate rocks have the close existing forms to that of primary carbonate rocks. In primary carbonate rocks FeS2 and FeS are the main forms of S, and sulfides have fixation effect on some heavy metals, whereas in weathered carbonate rocks and soil the fixation effect is weakened.     

Heavy mineral assemblage characteristics and the Cenozoic paleogeographic evolution in southwestern Qaidam Basin

Based on the analysis of heavy mineral assemblages in Cenozoic southwestern Qaidam Basin, we found that different areas have variable heavy mineral assemblage characteristics, which suggested that there were two source areas—the Altyn Mountains and the Qimen Tagh-East Kunlun Mountains. In Ganchaigou-Shizigou-Huatugou(Area A), which was mainly source from the Altyn Mountains, its heavy minerals were mainly composed of zircon, Ti-oxides, and wollastonite in the Paleoceneearly Eocene and mainly of unstable minerals, especially amphibole, in the middle Eocene-Oligene. Since the late OligoceneMiocene, the heavy minerals were still mainly unstable minerals, but the content of epidote increased and the content of amphibole decreased. In Qigequan-Hongliuquan(Area B), which was the mixed source from the Altyn Mountains and the Qimen Tagh-East Kunlun Mountains, its heavy minerals were mainly garnet, epidote, and amphibole. The source of LücaotanDongchaishan-Kunbei(Area C) was mainly from the Qimen Tagh-East Kunlun Mountains, heavy minerals in the sediments in Area C were mainly zircon and Ti-oxides in Paleogene and garnet, epidote, and amphibole in Neogene. In Yuejin-Youshashan(Area D), where the stable minerals and unstable minerals were present simultaneously, the heavy mineral assemblages was controlled by multi-direction source. The variation of heavy mineral assemblages in southwestern Qaidam Basin shows that Altyn Mountains was of low-lying topographic relief in Paleocene-early Eocene, and the rapid uplift of Altyn Mountains started from the middle Eocene. In Paleogene, the Altyn Tagh Fault had a slow strike-slip velocity, but the strike-slip velocity increased greatly since the late Oligocene, leading to a strike-slip displacement above 300 km since Neogene. Meanwhile, the Qimen Tagh-East Kunlun fault zone was under a stable tectonic stage in Paleogene with the Qimen Tagh Mountain being lowlying hills; since the late Oligocene, the fault zone started to activate and the Qimen Tagh Mountain began to uplift rapidly.     

Super-enrichment of lithium and niobium in the upper Permian Heshan Formation in Pingguo,Guangxi, China

The upper Permian Heshan Formation in Pingguo, Guangxi, China, is strongly enriched in lithium(Li) and niobium(Nb). The lower bauxite layer contains 0.02–0.04 wt.% Nb_2O_5(averaging 0.035 wt.%), and the overlying clay rock layer contains 0.06–1.05 wt.% Li_2O(averaging 0.44 wt.%), both of which exceed the cut-off grades for independent Li and Nb deposits and are therefore highly prospective. In this study, a preliminary discussion of the genesis of the Li and Nb enrichment is presented to serve as a reference for the investigation, evaluation, and prospecting for clay-and sedimentary-type Li and Nb ores in other regions. The preliminary conclusions are that:(1) The bauxite ore contains abundant anatase, which positively correlates with the whole-rock concentrations of TiO_2 and Nb, indicating that the Nb is hosted mainly in the anatase;(2) the cookeite content in the clay rock positively correlates with the whole-rock Li concentration, indicating that cookeite is the main carrier mineral of Li,and its genesis can be attributed to reactions between clay minerals(e.g., pyrophyllite and illite) and Li-Mg-rich underground brine or pore water and groundwater in coastal areas; and(3) provenance analysis of immobile elements(Al, Ti, Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf,and rare earth elements) suggests distinct sources for the Nb-rich bauxite and the overlying Li-rich clay rocks, with the bauxite and Nb originating largely from alkaline felsic rocks in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province, and the clay rocks being derived from peraluminous or moderately fractionated felsic rocks associated with Permian Paleo-Tethyan magmatic arcs.     

Quantitative characterization of reservoir space in the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale,southern Sichuan,China

Based on the drilling data of the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Shale and the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale in southern Sichuan Basin,the construction of matrix pores and the development condition of fractures in a marine organic-rich shale are quantitatively evaluated through the establishment of the reservoir petrophysical models and porosity mathematical models.Our studies show that there are four major characteristics of the Longmaxi Shale confirmed by the quantitative characterization:(1)the pore volume of per unit mass is the highest in organic matter,followed in clay minerals,finally in brittle minerals;(2)the porosity of the effective shale reservoir is moderate and equal to that of the Barnett Shale,and the main parts of the shale reservoir spaces are interlayer pores of clay minerals and organic pores;(3)the porosity of the organic-rich shale is closely related to TOC and brittle mineral/clay mineral ratio,and mainly increases with TOC and clay mineral content;(4)fractures are developed in this black shale,and are mainly micro ones and medium-large ones.In the Longmaxi Shale,the fracture density increases from top to bottom,reflecting the characteristics with high brittle mineral content,high Young’s modulus,low Poisson's ratio and high brittleness at its bottom.     

Low-temperature alteration of uranium–thorium bearing minerals and its significance in neoformation of radioactive minerals in stream sediments of Wadi El-Reddah,North Eastern Desert,Egypt

The stream sediments of Wadi El Reddah(North Eastern Desert,Egypt)are geochemically and mineralogically investigated.Their content of radioactive and other heavy minerals is mainly represented by thorite,uranothorite,zircon,monazite,xenotime,columbite,fergusonite,and unknown rare earth elements(REEs)bearing minerals as well as cassiterite.Special emphasis on REE content of thorite,uranothorite,zircon and xenotime has been done to correlate them with the increase of uranium contents in these sediments.The key evidence for the presence lowtemperature alteration processes includes the presence of some zircon crystals as remnants after complete dissolution of the overgrowth zircon in severe acidic environment,the sulphur content,biogenic minerals,occurrence of unusual minerals as cassiterite pore filling in zircon,variation in the REEs content from the surrounding granites to the stream sediments and the abundance of monazite in the surrounding granites.Most minerals are partially and/or completely altered,which indicated by the pseudomorphism of zircon by xenotime,thorite,and uranothorite.     

Effects of uranium on hydrocarbon generation of hydrocarbon source rocks with type-III kerogen

Organic-inorganic interaction exists universally and is important in the process of mineral resources formation.It is the essential reason why organic oil,gas,coal and inorganic uranium coexist,accumulate,and mineralize in the same sedimentary basins.Hydrocarbon-generating simulation experiment was conducted using low-mature hydrocarbon source rock containing kerogen type III with uranium(UO2CO3 solution)added to study the effects of uranium on the hydrocarbon generation of hydrocarbon source rocks.Experiment results show that uranium can enhance the yield of gas hydrocarbon,promote the total gas output,and increase the total hydrocarbon production(mass or volume).Uranium may lower the hydrocarbon generation threshold temperature and lead to the generation of liquid hydrocarbon in the relative low temperature of hydrocarbon source rock.Uranium can enhance the yield of saturated hydrocarbon,promote the low molecular weight hydrocarbons generating,and in turn increase the content of CH4 and the content of dry gas of the generated hydrocarbons.Uranium is one of the potential inorganic accelerating factors of the immature hydrocarbons.     

Magnetic properties of sediments from the Pearl River Delta,South China: Paleoenvironmental implications

Magnetic parameters and their environmental implications of sediments in a core (PD) from the Pearl River Delta, South China, indicate that ferrimagnetic minerals with low coercivity, such as magnetite, dominate the magnetic properties although small amounts of Fe-sulphides occur. The fraction of Fe-sulphides increases and becomes the dominant minerals determining the magnetic characteristics in grey-black organic-rich clay horizons, indicating an anoxic, sulphate-reducing swamp environment resulting from a marine regression. In the "Huaban clay" , hard magnetic minerals, such as hematite and goethite, largely control the magnetic properties of the sediments and imply a long period of exposure and weathering. Where magnetite is the main magnetic mineral, its fraction and grain size determine properties such as magnetic susceptibility (κ ) and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM). Ratios of SIRM/κ and χarm/SIRM reflect changes in sea level with high SIRM/κ and χarm/SIRM correlating with a smaller magnetic mineral grain size and rising sea level. Based on downcore variations of these environmental magnetic parameters along with sediment characteristics and microfauna, the sedimentary environment of the Pearl River Delta area can be divided into two main cycles of transgression and regression during the late Pleistocene and Holocene with more sub-cycles of sea level fluctuation during each transgression.     

Submicron size-scale mapping of carbonate effective elastic properties from FIB-SEM images and finite element method

In this paper,an automatic unstructured focused ion beam(FIB) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images induced representative volume element(RVE) finite element(FE) method is developed to predict submicron scale carbonate rock effective Young's and bulk moduli and Poisson's ratio on parallel CPU-GPU platform.Based on high resolution-contrast surface morphology and internal fabnc-texture structure images from carbonate rock specimen(covered 0.12-64 μm~2 area and8000 μm~3 domain),the cubic RVE FE models are constructed from different sites through Avizo with user-defined parameters Matlab coding.The effective Young's and bulk moduli and Poisson's ratio of the different RVEs and porosity and pore size are computed by using periodic boundary condition in the well-known FE software Abaqus.FE mesh sensitivity analysis has been conducted where all moduli converge to a certain constant value at larger FE mesh density.The effect of fabric-texture(pore size,shape,and distribution) on the elastic properties is discussed.The correlations between the computed effective elastic properties and pore size,porosity,RVE size have been established.The simulation results show that the effective Young's and bulk moduli and Poisson's ratio have strong anisotropic behavior and depend on RVE size,porosity and pore size.The RVE size,porosity and pore size are three independent factors in affecting of the effective elastic moduli,the effect mechanism of porosity and pore size is same while the effect mechanism of RVE size is difference.     

Occurrence, thermal evolution and primary migration processes derived from studies of organic matter in the Lucaogou source rock at the southern margin of the Junggar Basin, NW China

The Lucaogou Formation carbonate-rich oil shale source rock is exposed at the southern margin of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, NW China. We have sampled it in detail and conducted microstructural, mineralogical and geochemical studies, including thin section petrography, UV fluorescence petrography, X-ray diffraction, vitrinite reflectance, bitumen reflectance, fluid inclusion analysis and Raman spectroscopy. Organic matter is disseminated through the carbonate-bearing siltstone source rocks and concentrated in numerous bedding parallel stylolites and in two sets of carbonate veins, one along bedding parallel fractures and the other cross-cutting stylolites and bedding. The research about maturity of organic matter finds vitrinite reflectance values increase from the dispersed kerogen (0.64%) to the stylolites (the one of oriented vitrinite is 0.72% and the one of migrated bitumen is 2.38%); Homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions in veins containing hydrocarbon fluid inclusions show an increase from 178.5℃ in the bedding parallel veins to 222℃ in the cross-cutting veins, confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. These results support a model of progressive heating accompanied by fluid loss during later stages of thermal maturation of source rock and the onset of primary migration. Obviously, the occurrence of organic matter is the trace of hydrocarbon primary migration, and the bedding lamination surfaces and cross-cutting fissures are the principal pathways of hydrocarbon-bearing fluids migration. Bedding lamination surfaces evolved into stylolites along the earliest primary migration pathways, followed by bedding parallel and cross-cutting fissures.     

The scientific connotation of oil and gas formations under deep fluids and organic-inorganic interaction

As a relatively stable craton block in the earth system, the petroliferous basin is influenced by the evolution of the earth system from the early development environment of source rocks, hydrocarbon formation, and reservoir dissolution to hydrocarbon accumulation or destruction. As a link between the internal and external factors of the basin, deep fluids run through the whole process of hydrocarbon formation and accumulation through organic-inorganic interaction. The nutrients carried by deep fluids promote the bloom of hydrocarbon-generating organisms and extra addition of carbon and hydrogen source, which are beneficial to the development of high-quality source rock and enhancement of the hydrocarbon generation potential. The energy carried by the deep fluid promotes the early maturation of the source rock and facilitates the hydrocarbon generation by activation and hydrogenation in high-mature hydrocarbon sources. The dissolution alteration of carbonate rocks and clastic reservoirs by CO_2-rich deep fluids improves the deep reservoir space, thus extending the oil and gas reservoir space into greater depth. The extraction of deeply retained crude oil by deep supercritical CO_2 and the displacement of CH_4 in shale have both improved the hydrocarbon fluidity in deep and tight reservoirs. Simultaneously, the energy and material carried by deep fluids(C, H, and catalytic substances) not only induce inorganic CH_4 formation by Fischer-Tropsch(F-T) synthesis and "hydrothermal petroleum" generation from organic matter by thermal activity but also cause the hydrothermal alteration of crude oil from organic sources. Therefore, from the perspective of the interaction of the earth's sphere, deep fluids not only input a significant amount of exogenous C and H into sedimentary basins but also improve the reservoir space for oil and gas, as well as their enrichment and accumulation efficiencies.