Geotechnical properties of evaporite soils of the Dead Sea area

The Dead Sea Basin is the lowest point on earth and is tectonically subsiding. During the Holocene Period the climate became much drier with increasing evaporation whereby initially lacustrine sediments were deposited from the non-marine brines, giving a multi-layered stratigraphy of lime carbonate and halite sediments. The lime carbonate sediments are comprised of laminated, clay to silt sized, clastic sediments (calcite) and authigenic aragonite and gypsum. The halite commonly appears as rock salt. Chemical industries, based on harvesting the salts from the Dead Sea, have developed on both the Israeli and the Jordanian sides of the basin. The lime carbonate soils are used for dike construction, and these soils, together with significant salt layers, are encountered in the foundations of structures, dikes, and tailings dams, requiring definition of their geotechnical properties. Use of standard soil mechanics definitions and testing approaches for the lime carbonates have been found inapplicable, particularly in view of their exceptionally high saline content, and it has been necessary to develop new concepts. The rock salt is encountered at shallow depths, with unit weights considerably lower than those usually discussed in the literature, and with correspondingly different mechanical properties. The geotechnical properties of these soils, and approaches used to define them, are discussed in the paper.     

Geologic Characteristics of Gas Reservoirs in West Sichuan Foreland Basin

The foreland basin in West Sichuan is a tectonic unit that has undergone multi-periods tectonic movements of Indosinian-Yanshanian-Himalayan. Since late Triassic, it has been in a passive subsidence environment controlled by basin margin mountain systems and by the compression with abundant sediment sources. With the complex geologic setting, the main geologic characteristics of natural gas reservoir are listed as following:(1)Source rocks are coal-bearing mud and shale series with high to over maturity, and long and progressive hydrocarbon generation-displacement period. The key accumulation period is middle-late Yanshanian epoch.(2)There are three gas-bearing systems vertically, each of which has different reservoir mechanism, main-controlled factors and distribution law, so the exploration thoughts and techniques are also different.(3)Undergoing multi-period generation-migration-accumulation, oil and gas have encountered multi-period modification or destruction, and gas accumulation overpass multiple tectonic periods. So the trap type is complicated and dominated by combination traps. Because the main accumulation period of natural gas is early and the reservoir encountered the modification of strong Himalayan movement, there is great difference in the fullness degree of gas reservoirs and complicated gas-water relation. (4) Reservoir is tight to very tight, but reservoirs of relatively high quality developed under the super tight setting. (5) The key techniques for oil and gas exploration in west Sichuan foreland basin are the prediction of relatively favorable reservoirs, fractures and gas bearing; and the key techniques for oil and gas development are how to improve the penetration rate, reservoir protection and modification.     

膏溶角砾岩侧限膨胀特性试验研究

研究了膏溶角砾岩的侧限膨胀特性及其影响因素。这种岩石受到扰动后可吸水发生膨胀变形使其结构发生变形甚至破坏。通过GDG高压固结仪采用平衡加压法和充分膨胀法研究了侧限情况下岩石的膨胀力指标, 解释了充分膨胀法膨胀力指标大于平衡加压法膨胀力指标的原因。通过试验研究了供水充足条件下膏溶角砾岩侧限自由膨胀变形演化规律, 阐述了膏溶角砾岩侧限膨胀变形的影响因素。岩石试样采自山西石太客运专线太行山隧道, 试验结果表明, 膏溶角砾岩的膨胀特性不同于常规的膨胀岩, 其轴向膨胀变形随含水率增加而增加, 随密度增大而减小。     

Late Quaternary palaeolimnology of a tropical marl lake: Wallywash Great Pond,Jamaica

Wallywash Great Pond (17° 57 N, 77° 48 W, 7 m a.s.l.) is the largest perennial lake in Jamaica. It occupies a fault trough within the karstic White Limestone. The Great Pond is a hardwater lake with a pH of 8.2–8.6 and an alkalinity of 3.6–3.9 meq 1^–1. Its chemistry is strongly influenced by the spring discharge from the limestone. The lake water is subject to degassing, evaporation and bicarbonate assimilation by submerged plants and algae, resulting in marl precipitation. A 9.23 m core (WGP2), taken from a water depth of 2.8 m, was analysed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, mole % MgCO₃ in calcite, and stable isotopes in the fine carbonate fraction. The chronology is based on ten¹⁴C and four U/Th dates. Four main sediment types alternate in the core: marl; organic, calcareous mud; organic mud or peat; and earthy, brown, calcareous mud. The marls represent periods of wet/warm climate during sea-level highstands and the organic deposits, shallower, swampy conditions. In contrast, the brown, calcareous muds were laid down when the lake was dry or ephemeral. The last interglacial (120 000- 106 000 yr BP) is represented by three distinct marl units. After a dry interval, stable, wet/warm conditions set in from 106 000 to 93 000 yr BP. A dry/cool climate prevailed between 93 000 and at least 9500 yr BP. Three subsequent cycles of alternating wet and dry conditions culminated in flooding of the basin by the Black River during the late Holocene. These recent events cannot be accurately dated by¹⁴C due to significant and temporally-variable inputs of dead carbon from the springs.     

Limestone–marl alternations as environmental archives and the role of early diagenesis: a critical review

Limestone–marl alternations and other micritic calcareous rhythmites have long appealed to sedimentologists, as they appeared to directly reflect high-frequency environmental change. In particular, when orbital forcing gained popularity amongst sedimentologists and paleoclimatologists in 1980s, such rhythmites seemed to offer an ideal tool for high-resolution chronostratigraphy and environmental reconstruction. However, in spite of the fact that orbital forcing has become a routine interpretation of calcareous rhythmites, and that the processes of formation of calcareous rhythmites are considered well understood, research in the past 10 years again has questioned their primary origin and their direct interpretability. Detailed petrographic, paleontological, and geochemical data from numerous successions through geological time provided the basis for testing whether or not the regular alternation of limestone beds and marl or shale interlayers represents bimodally fluctuating environmental conditions in a direct way. In particular, these data, supplemented by box model simulations, imply that post-depositional alteration (diagenesis) has the potential to not only seriously distort primary environmental signals, but also to mimic primary signals. This questions the use of micritic calcareous rhythmites for high-resolution chronostratigraphy and for environmental interpretations where independent data of diagenetically inert parameters are not available. Diagenetic changes appear to have a yet widely underestimated influence on the appearance of limestone–marl alternations and other calcareous rhythmites. The aim of the present review is to summarize new approaches and give an overview of our research results in this field of the past decade. This review also aims at pointing to still enigmatic aspects that need to be addressed before the interpretation of micritic calcareous rhythmites can be considered a reliable tool for high-resolution chronostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental interpretation. “This difference [between shale and limestone] does not find definite expression in the chemical composition but appeals to the eye.” Gilbert (1895)     

大庆徐家围子地区深部致密砂砾岩气层识别

大庆徐家圈子地区深部致密砂砾岩储层的骨架成分除了含有石英、长石外，还含有许多酸性喷发岩，而且各种骨架成分的含量随深度变化比较大；复杂的岩性使得气的影响被岩性的影响所淹没，从而造成常规气层识别方法失效。针对这一问题，应用神经网络方法准确求取地层颗粒密度和泥质含量，然后对中子和密度测井值进行岩性影响校正和泥质影响校正，使得求出的中子和密度孔隙度仅受地层气的影响，最后将得到的中子和密度孔隙度进行对比，应用中子和密度孔隙度的差异识别气层。     

临兴上古生界致密储层裂缝发育特征及对致密气富集影响

临兴区块上古生界储集层为致密砂岩，裂缝发育特征及对致密气富集影响尚不清楚，一定程度上制约了甜点区预测。 根据岩心、露头、薄片及测井资料，分析了研究区裂缝发育特征，探讨了裂缝对致密砂岩气富集的影响。临兴区块上古生界主 要发育高角度缝，其次为中低角度缝及水平缝，微观上根据裂缝与矿物颗粒的相对位置关系，可识别出粒内缝、粒缘缝和穿粒 缝，其中粒缘缝最为发育。受塑性泥岩阻挡，裂缝垂向延伸较差，一般延伸1~2 m后消失于泥岩层中，受燕山期北西—南东向 地应力影响，裂缝走向多为北东—南西向，裂缝密度一般2~5条/ｍ。裂缝可改善储集空间、提高油气充注效率，储层裂缝发育 区渗透率可增大1~2个数量级，含气饱和度高，此外，研究区裂缝是油气垂向运移的有效通道，影响着石盒子组及石千峰组致 密气的富集，在后期的勘探开发过程中应充分寻找裂缝发育区，并通过进一步压裂获得高产。     

准噶尔盆地东部沙帐地区中二叠统平地泉组一段致密油源储组合模式

综合利用录井、镜下薄片及压汞等资料,对准噶尔盆地东部沙帐地区中二叠统平地泉组一段致密油储集层岩性、储集空间和孔隙结构等特征进行了分析,在此基础上结合平一段致密油纵向岩性组合特征及源储关系,总结了平一段致密油源储组合模式。研究发现平一段致密油储集层岩性以碎屑岩为主,云质类岩石次之,储层孔隙结构具"粗态型"、"偏细态型"和"细态型",储集空间表现为常规孔隙与纳米孔隙并存;平一段源储组合表现为"泥包砂"、"砂包泥"和"砂泥互层"。研究表明:平一段储集层表现为致密储层特征,纳米孔喉是致密油储层的主体孔喉,平一段致密油具有源储一体型、源储交接型和源储隔离型三类组合模式。     

Characteristics and Origin of Tight Oil Accumulations in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation of the Ordos Basin, North-Central China

The Upper Triassic oil accumulations in the Ordos Basin is the most successful tight oil play in China,with average porosity values of less than 10% and permeability values below 1.0 mD.This study investigated the geological characteristics and origin of the tight oil accumulations in the Chang 6 member of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Shanbei area based on over 50,000 petrological,source-rock analysis,well logging and production data.The tight oil accumulation of the Chang 6 member is distributed continuously in the basin slope and the centre of the basin.The oilwater relationships are complex.Laumontite dissolution pores are the most important storage spaces,constituting 30%-60% of total porosity and showing a strong positive relationship with oil production.The pore-throat diameter is less than 1 μm,and the calculated critical height of the oil column is much larger than the tight sand thickness,suggesting that the buoyancy was probably of limited importance for oil migration.The pressure difference between the source rocks and sandstone reservoirs is inferred to have provided driving force for hydrocarbon migration.Two factors of source-reservoir configuration and laumontite dissolution contributed to the formation of the Chang 6 tight oil accumulations.Intense hydrocarbon generation and continuous sand bodies close to the hydrocarbon kitchen are the foundation for the large-scale oil distribution.Dissolution of feldspar-laumontite during the process of organic matter evolution generated abundant secondary pores and improved the reservoir quality.     

海拉尔盆地呼和湖凹陷致密砂岩气成藏特征

海拉尔盆地呼和湖凹陷具备形成大面积致密砂岩气藏的地质条件,其断陷期地形比较宽缓,后期改造弱,主要发育低幅度的断背斜或宽缓的向斜,在局部具备稳定的构造条件。南二段煤系源岩广泛发育,丰度均达到中等--好烃源岩级别,为致密砂岩气藏的形成提供了充足的物质基础。洼槽区南二段储层属低孔--特低渗型储集层。南二段致密储层与煤、泥岩呈频繁互层状分布,形成致密砂岩气有利的的生储盖组合。构造高部位在一定程度上控制油气丰度,稳定的负向构造区有利于寻找储层富集区。呼和湖凹陷致密砂岩气主要表现为两种成藏组合,自生自储型和内生外储型,油气呈南北向条带状分布。