Nonconventional hydrocarbon targets in the crystalline basement, and the problem of the recent replenishment of hydrocarbon reserves

Analysis of the distribution of oil pools in sedimentary cover has shown that known platform hydrocarbon fields are closely associated with faults in the crystalline basement and the sedimentary cover itself. Oil pools in the lower productive beds of the sedimentary cover are linked to faulted zones in the crystalline basement. A genetic relationship between oil fields and tectonic dislocations indicates a dominant role for vertical migration in the accumulation of commercial hydrocarbons in the Paleozoic. The conducted geochemical, palynological, geophysical and geological studies have shown that oil and gas pools in the upper sedimentary cover have been formed due to the vertical migration of hydrocarbons, which is also confirmed by the vertical alignment of the oil pools.     

The Main Factors Affecting the Distribution of Oil Fields in the West Siberian Platform

It has been found that the main oil fields in Western Siberia are attributed to Triassic rifts, because the rifts drain the upper mantle, and the deformations of the sedimentary cover are determined by the basement. On average, the thickness of the basement is 14 times greater than that of the sedimentary cover. Taking into account the mean strength (153 ± 10 MPa) of the basement rocks, the basement strength is two orders of magnitude greater than the strength of the sedimentary cover. The sialic blocks, considered as Precambrian, are composed of light granites and metamorphic rocks. They ascend to the level of the upper crust at the time of Triassic rifting and continued to emerge. As a result, antiforms were formed above the sialic blocks in the sedimentary cover; these antiforms were filled with oil.     

The role of the thermal convection of fluids in the formation of unconformity-type uranium deposits: the Athabasca Basin,Canada

In the global production of uranium, ~18% belong to the unconformity-type Canadian deposits localized in the Athabasca Basin. These deposits, which are unique in terms of their ore quality, were primarily studied by Canadian and French scientists. They have elaborated the diagenetic–hydrothermal hypothesis of ore formation, which suggests that (1) the deposits were formed within a sedimentary basin near an unconformity surface dividing the folded Archean–Proterozoic metamorphic basement and a gently dipping sedimentary cover, which is not affected by metamorphism; (2) the spatial accommodation of the deposits is controlled by the rejuvenated faults in the basement at their exit into the overlying sedimentary sequence; the ore bodies are localized above and below the unconformity surface; (3) the occurrence of graphite-bearing rocks is an important factor in controlling the local structural mineralization; (4) the ore bodies are the products of uranium precipitation on a reducing barrier. The mechanism that drives the circulation of ore-forming hydrothermal solutions has remained one of the main unclear questions in the general genetic concept. The ore was deposited above the surface of the unconformity due to the upflow discharge of the solution from the fault zones into the overlying conglomerate and sandstone. The ore formation below this surface is a result of the downflow migration of the solutions along the fault zones from sandstone into the basement rocks. A thermal convective system with the conjugated convection cells in the basement and sedimentary fill of the basin may be a possible explanation of why the hydrotherms circulate in the opposite directions. The results of our computations in the model setting of the free thermal convection of fluids are consistent with the conceptual reasoning about the conditions of the formation of unique uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin. The calculated rates of the focused solution circulation through the fault zones in the upflow and downflow branches of a convection cell allow us to evaluate the time of ore formation up to the first hundreds of thousands years.     

青藏特提斯沉积地质演化

组成青藏高原的主要微板块在不同的阶段经历了各具特色的地质演化历程和发展特点，形成了不同的地壳结构。青藏高原的沉积地质历史演化 经历了区内各主要微板块的基底形成与盖层沉积演化 的前特提斯阶段；以板块汇聚边缘与碰撞时期的构造背景为基础，划出古特提斯、中特提斯和新特提斯三个沉积叶质历史发展及其所形成的弧盆体系格架的特提斯形成演化阶段；随着始新世末期残留海的消失，青藏地区形成统一大陆，并进入统一应力场的青藏统－陆壳形成阶段；从中上新世开始的青藏高原隆升阶段，青藏高原上发育了一些大中型中新生代沉积盆地，如羌塘盆地、措勤盆地、昌都盆地等都经历过从弧后向盆地向前陆盆地转化的演化阶段，并具有受喜马拉雅运动统一改造的特征，这些沉积盆地中油气藏前景良好。     

金湖凹陷隐性断裂带形成机制及分布

金湖凹陷基底存在北东、北西向两组断裂。北西向基底断裂活动较弱,对盖层变形影响较小,在盖层中多以隐性断裂带显现;北东向基底断裂活动强烈,对凹陷盖层变形影响较大,不仅形成了凹陷东部边界杨村断裂在内的多条显性断裂,而且形成了多条隐性断裂带。凹陷中部的北东向石港显性断裂带将凹陷分割成西部斜坡带和东部凹陷带。东部凹陷带受基底北西向断裂隐性活动的影响呈现南北分段特征。凹陷盖层中还发育了大量近东西走向的三、四级正断层,它们大致平行成带分布,形成了宝应平行雁列式断裂构造带、唐港雁列式断裂构造带、卞闵杨平行雁列式断裂构造带、西斜坡平行入字型断裂构造带、汊涧泥沛平行雁列式断裂构造带等一系列油气富集区带。上述构造带中的油气藏分布明显受到北东和北西向基底断裂活动影响,呈现北东、北西或近南北向成带、成串分布特征。应用区域地质、重磁等资料开展隐性断裂带预测,识别出10条北东向、5条北西向、6条南北向隐性断裂带。沉积盖层中形成的这些隐性断裂带控制了储集砂体分布、改善了储层物性、使隐性圈闭成带成串分布,是油气聚集成藏的有利区带。     

Intersection patterns of normal faults in the Lufeng Sag of Pearl River Mouth Basin,China: Insights from 4D physical simulations

Interpretation of seismic data from the Lufeng Sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB) in the northern part of South China Sea shows that different intersection patterns developed in the cover units above basement normal faults. A series of analogue models are used to investigate the intersection patterns and deformation in the sedimentary cover sequences above a basement horst bounded by two non-parallel faults. Modelling results show that during their upward propagation, the basement faults may intersect within the cover sequences and form a graben above the basement horst. Length and width of the graben increase with cover thickness. The strike and dip intersection points are controlled directly by the thickness of the cover sequences, dip and strike of the basement faults, and width of the basement horst. The intersection point migrates along the axis of the graben toward the wide end of the basement horst, when the cover sequence thickens. In contrast, it migrates toward the narrow end of the basement horst, where both fault dip and angle of strike difference increase. The intersection point moves upward with increasing width of the basement horst crest. Model profiles also indicate that in the presence of a ductile layer between the cover and basement such intersection patterns do not form. Interpretation of seismic data and model results show that the intersection pattern developed in the Lufeng Sag is a result of propagation of basement faults into cover units during different extension stages of the basin. Results of this study can be applied to many other sedimentary basins where such fault intersection patterns are likely to form when non-parallel conjugate basement faults are active during sedimentation.     

Structure and kinematics of the Jungfrau syncline, Faflertal (Valais, Alps), and its regional significance

The formation and structural evolution of the Jungfrau syncline is described, based on excellent outcrops occurring in the Lötschental, in the Central Alps of Switzerland. The quality of the outcrops allows us to demonstrate that the External Massifs of the Swiss Alps have developed due to internal folding. The Jungfrau syncline, which separates the autochtonous Gastern dome from the Aar massif basement gneiss folds, is composed of slivers of basement rocks with their Mesozoic sedimentary cover. In the Inner Faflertal, a side valley of the Lötschental, the 200 m thick syncline comprises four units, the Gastern massif with a reduced Mesozoic sedimentary cover in a normal stratigraphic succession, two units of overturned basement rocks with their Mesozoic sedimentary cover, and the overturned lower limb of the Tschingelhorn gneiss fold of the Aar massif with lenses of its sedimentary cover. Stratigraphy shows that the lower units, related to the Gastern massif, are condensed and that the upper units, deposited farther away from a Gastern paleo-high, form a more complete sequence, linked to the Doldenhorn Meso-Cenozoic basin fill. The integration of these local observations with published regional data leads to the following model. On the northern margin of the Doldenhorn basin, at the northern fringe of the Alpine Tethys, the pre-Triassic crystalline basement and its Mesozoic sedimentary cover were folded by ductile deformation at temperatures above 300 °C and in the presence of high fluid pressures, as the Helvetic and Penninic nappes were overthrusted towards the northwest during the main Alpine deformation phase. The viscosity contrast between the basement gneisses and the sediments caused the formation of large basement anticlines and tight sedimentary synclines (mullion-type structures). The edges of basement blocks bounded by pre-cursor SE-dipping normal faults at the northwestern border of the Doldenhorn basin were deformed by simple shear, creating overturned slices of crystalline rocks with their sedimentary cover in what now forms the Jungfrau syncline. The localisation of ductile deformation in the vicinity of pre-existing SE-dipping faults is thought to have been helped by the circulation of fluids along the faults; these fluids would have been released from the Mesozoic sediments by metamorphic dehydration reactions accompanied by creep and dynamic recrystallisation of quartz at temperatures above 300 °C. Quantification of the deformation suggests a strain ellipsoid with a ratio (1+ e₁ / 1+ e₃) of approximately 1000. The Jungfrau syncline was deformed by more brittle NW-directed shear creating well-developed shear band cleavages at a late stage, after cooling by uplift and erosion. It is suggested that the external massifs of the Alps are basement gneiss folds created at temperatures of 300 °C by detachment through ductile deformation of the upper crust of the European plate as it was underthrusted below the Adriatic plate.     

Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanosedimentary complexes from the submarine Vityaz Ridge,the Island Arc slope of the Kuril-Kamchatka trench,and its evolution

This paper describes the volcanosedimentary complexes of different ages (Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene, Paleocene-Eocene (?), Oligocene-Early Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene) that compose the basement and sedimentary cover of the submarine Vityaz Ridge. It was found that the Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks from the basement of the Vityaz Ridge (felsic) and the Lesser Kuril Ridge (mafic) have different compositions. Matrix mineral assemblages corresponding to the smectite and corrensite stages of epigenesis of Cenozoic rocks were distinguished, and a scheme of the Late Cretaceous-Pleistocene geological evolution of the region was proposed.     

Modelling cover deformation and decoupling during inversion,using the Mid-Polish Trough as a case study

Seismic sections across the NW part of the Polish Basin show that thrust faults developed in the sedimentary units above the Zechstein evaporite layer during basin inversion. These cover thrust faults have formed above the basement footwall. Based on the evolution of the basin, a series of scaled analogue models was carried out to study interaction between a basement fault and cover sediments during basin extension and inversion. During model extension, a set of normal faults originated in the sand cover above the basement fault area. The distribution and geometry of these faults were dependent on the thickness of a ductile layer and pre-extension sand layer, synkinematic deposition, the amount of model extension, as well as on the presence of a ductile layer between the cover and basement. Footwall cover was faulted away from the basement only in cases where a large amount of model extension and hanging-wall subsidence were not balanced by synkinematic deposition. Model inversion reactivated major cover faults located above the basement fault tip as reverse faults, whereas other extensional faults were either rotated or activated only in their upper segments, evolving into sub-horizontal thrusts. New normal or reverse faults originated in the footwall cover in models which contained a very thin pre-extension sand layer above the ductile layer. This was also the case in the highly extended and shortened model in which synkinematic hanging-wall subsidence was not balanced by sand deposition during model extension. Model results show that inversion along the basement fault results in shortening of the cover units and formation of thrust faults. This scenario happens only when the cover units are decoupled from the basement by a ductile layer. Given this, we argue that the thrusts in the sedimentary infill of the Polish Basin, which are decoupled from the basement tectonics by Zechstein evaporites, developed due to the inversion of the basement faults during the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary.     

Oil and gas pools in weathering crusts on the sedimentary basin basement

Weathering crusts of the sedimentary basin basement are collectors in several regions of the world. They enclose huge reserves of oil and gas. The paper considers the geochemical, mineral, and petrophysical heterogeneities of weathering crusts that should be taken into consideration in the prospecting, exploration, and development of hydrocarbon raw material therein. Areal and linear-fissure types of weathering crust are defined. They were formed before the overlapping of basement by rocks of the sedimentary cover. Areal crusts are pervasive at the basement roof, whereas linear-fissure crusts are formed along fractures. A complete weathering crust profile includes the following zones (from the bottom to top): disintegration, leaching and hydration, hydrolysis, and final hydrolysis. Rocks of the lower two zones represent the cavernous-fissure collector, while rocks of the upper zones are impermeable. In the arches of uplifted blocks of the basement, weathering crusts are subjected to erosion during marine transgressions. In such places, the roof is composed of rocks of the lower permeable zones that often make up a single heterogeneous natural reservoir overlapped by sandy collectors of sedimentary sequences. Linear-fissure weathering crusts show zonal distribution with good filtration-capacity properties. Several large oil and gas pools have been discovered in them.     

Basement-cover relations in the Appalachian fold and thrust belt

The external massifs along the Appalachian orogen include Precambrian basement rocks with attached cover. To the northwest (cratonward), in the Appalachian foreland fold and thrust belt, Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks, but no basement rocks, are exposed; that belt was the subject of the classic debate about thin-skinned (deformed cover rocks detached from undeformed basement) and thick-skinned (basement deformed with attached cover) structural styles. Presently available data indicate detached cover rocks and thin-skinned style in the fold and thrust belt: large-scale thrusting occurred late in the orogenic history. In the external basement massifs, late Precambrian graben-fill sedimentary and volcanic rocks indicate early basement faults; and within the craton, steep basement faults bound graben blocks of Cambrian age. Distribution of known basement faults suggests that basement rocks beneath the fold and thrust belt may also be faulted. Local episodic synsedimentary structural movement through much of the Palaeozoic is documented by stratigraphy in the fold and thrust belt. Axes of early synsedimentary structures are approximately coincident with axes of late folds and thrust fault ramps, but stratigraphic data show that magnitude of the early structures was much less than that of the late structures. These relations suggest the interpretation that early low-magnitude structures formed in cover rocks over basement faults and that the early structures, or the basement faults, significantly influenced the geometry of later detachment structures during large-scale horizontal translation.     

The Structure of the Sedimentary Cover of the Kandalaksha Gulf,White Sea,from Seismoacoustic Data

The geological structure of water areas adjacent to the White Sea biological research station of Moscow State University (Rugozero Bay and Great Salma Strait; both are parts of the Kandalaksha Gulf, White Sea) was studied for the first time based on the seismoacoustic data. The morphology of the top of the Achaean basement, the structure of the Quaternary sedimentary cover, and the bottom topography were investigated. The sequence of glacial deposits dated back to the last glaciation and the compound sequence consisting of glaciolacustrine, glacial-marine, and marine sediments are distinguished. The spatial locations and changes of their thicknesses are considered. It is shown that the recent bottom topography is controlled by predominantly NW- and NE-striking faults that run through the entire sedimentary sequence, including the Holocene sediments.     

南海北部潮汕坳陷侏罗系沉积特征及对储层的控制作用研究

南海北部潮汕坳陷侏罗系具有很大的油气勘探潜力,沉积特征对其储层的发育具有明显的控制作用。通过对研究区最新地震资料精细解释,可以划分出4个典型地震反射界面和3个地震反射层,根据层序界面圈出侏罗系分布特征和残留厚度;通过地震相-沉积相转换对比分析研究,识别出侏罗纪地层不同时期的沉积相类型及其分布特征,重塑了潮汕坳陷侏罗系沉积演化史。该区主要发育5类沉积相、8种沉积亚相,其中滨岸三角洲前缘亚相和深水扇中亚相分别控制了碎屑流砂岩优质储层的发育;此外,浊流砂岩储层主要受控于物源供给的影响,距离三角洲砂体朵叶越近,滑塌浊积体数量越多,面积也越大。总体上,滨岸三角洲前缘亚相、深水扇中亚相和滑塌浊积体是研究区良好的储集相带,该类储集体由于埋藏较深加之被泥岩覆盖,对油气聚集较为有利。     

Two orogenies in the Meatiq area of the Central Eastern Desert,Egypt

The Pan-African basement exposed in the Meatiq area west of Quseir, Egypt, consists of an infracrustal basement overthrusted by a supracrustal cover. The infracrustal rocks were developed as a result of an old orogeny referred to as the Meatiqian orogeny where granite—gneiss, migmatitic gneisses and migmatized amphibolites were formed. The granite—gneiss represents a deformed granite pluton emplaced at 626±2 Ma, whereas the migmatitic gneisses and amphibolites are of mixed igneous and sedimentary parentage. In view of the data so far available, the nature of the Meatiqian orogeny could not be deciphered. In spite of the young isotopic ages, it is suggested that at least the metasedimentary gneisses represent older rocks in the stratigraphic sequence of the infracrustal basement.The supracrustal cover represents a part of an extensive ophiolitic mélange obducted onto the infracrustal basement during the next orogeny (Abu Ziran orogeny) which culminated at 613±2 Ma. An active continental margin-type regime can adequately explain the evolution of such a supracrustal cover. During obduction, the ophiolitic mélange and the upper 2 km thick part of the infracrustal basement were intensely deformed and metamorphosed under PT conditions of the greenschist—epidote amphibolite facies. The deformed infracrustal basement was converted into mylonitic—blastomylonitic rocks and schists composing five thrust sheets, and subsequently intruded by synkinematic granitoid sheets. Later, both the infracrustal basement and the overlying supracrustal cover were isostatically uplifted, subjected to complex shallow folding giving rise to the major Meatiq domal structure, and were intruded by a postkinematic adamellite pluton at 579±6 Ma.     

湘中盆地基底的时代格架:来自锡矿山碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄的证据

湘中盆地中部锡矿山晚古生代沉积地层中含有大量碎屑锆石,U-Pb同位素年龄显示这些锆石形成于3400~350Ma。在年龄谱系图上它们呈多个时间区段分布,反映出湘中地区对华南大陆所经历的印支运动之前的各期重要构造变革均有物质响应。根据不同时段锆石年龄范围,结合区域构造演化特征,厘定出湘中盆地的垂向物质组合从下向上主要包括:结晶基底(1.9Ga)、变质基底(1.9~0.54Ga)、微(或未)变质基底(0.54~0.41Ga)以及表层的沉积盖层(0.41Ga),并根据不同层锆石的年龄组合特征,以及岩层发育过程中对应的构造事件,对盆地基底-盖层框架中各物质层的形成环境进行了阐述。此外,通过对比煌斑岩与其围岩锆石的U-Pb年龄结构,结合野外地质特征以及前人的研究结果,得出该煌斑岩中锆石是熔体形成期间残留的锆石,而非其上升过程中捕获自围岩。由这些锆石大多形成于840~700Ma断定,锡矿山煌斑岩主要的物质来源是盆地的中上部变质基底,明确了煌斑岩熔体及与之相关流体获取物质补充的层位在基底-盖层框架中的位置。这些工作可为进一步探讨超大型Sb成矿作用与岩浆作用的耦合关系提供理论基础。     

华北克拉通古/中元古代界线和相关地质问题讨论

从18到16亿年,全球构造格局、古地理环境及生物演化发生重要变革。就全球地质演化历史而言,结晶基底的形成标志着古元古代的结束,而稳定盖层的发育标志着中元古代的开始。在国际地层年表上,古元古代末期(18~16亿年)被称之为"固结纪",古/中元古代的界线被划定在16亿年。在华北克拉通,一般认为"吕梁运动"是结晶基底最终形成的标志性构造-热事件,此后发育以长城系为代表的地台型沉积盖层。长期以来,我国地质界一直以长城系的沉积代表中元古代的开始,并将古/中元古代的界限置于18亿年,与国际地层年表相差2亿年,以至于在中外文献中对中国18~16亿年间的地质记录的表述方式混乱。究其原因,主要有:1华北克拉通基底的形成或最终克拉通化是以"吕梁运动"的结束为标志,结晶基底最晚期的变质年龄不晚于18亿年;2长城系的底界年龄(18亿年)一直缺乏可靠的数据,目前对华北克拉通范围内稳定盖层发育的起始时间及代表性沉积记录,尚无统一的认识;3对华北克拉通由基底形成到盖层的演化及构造体制转折的动力学过程等见解不一,也缺少精细的年代学制约。本文综述了华北克拉通尤其是南部地区18~16亿年岩浆-沉积记录的研究进展,就古/中元古代界线及相关地层对比和划分方案进行了讨论,并指出了亟需解决的重要科学问题。作者认为:1华北克拉通18~16亿年的火山-沉积记录在其南部地区最广泛、最完整。其中,熊耳群火山岩系(18~17.5亿年),包括底部发育的河湖相砂岩-泥岩沉积——大古石组,早于蓟县剖面的长城群,是华北陆块结晶基底形成后最早的盖层沉积。2华北克拉通古/中元古代的分界年龄目前有2种选择:一是18亿年,即熊耳群火山岩系底部大古石组的起始沉积年龄;二是16亿年,将蓟县剖面长城系的高于庄组划归蓟县系,长城系的大红峪组及以下地层归为古元古代,18~16亿年的火山-沉积岩系均归为古元古代末期的固结纪。3华北克拉通18~16亿年的地质记录包括早期的熊耳群和晚期的长城群火山-沉积岩系,以及多期次的基性岩墙、斜长岩杂岩体、A-型花岗岩(包括环斑花岗岩)等的发育。目前对它们的成因和产出的地球动力学背景存有诸多争议,精确构建该时期岩浆-沉积作用的时序,并与全球典型克拉通进行对比,进而解析华北克拉通由结晶基底形成到稳定盖层发育阶段的构造体制转折和动力学过程,为重新厘定古/中元古代界线和相关地层划分方案提供依据。这些是我国前寒武纪地质研究的重要课题。     

辽河外围西部断陷沉积盆地群油气成藏条件及盆地力学探讨

辽河外围西部发育了一系列晚中生代陆相沉积盆地。它们经历了前裂谷盆地期、同裂谷盆地期、后裂谷盆地期,以及盆地形成后的改造期四个阶段。在裂谷体制作用下,它们形成了相似的断陷构造样式。但基底结构的基异产生了盆地沉积建造与后裂谷阶段的重大差异。盆地盖层的发育主要决定于后者,因此在裂谷型盆地的油气成藏条件及其演化发带与成块特征。     

Basement-controlled faulting of Paleozoic strata in southern Ontario, Canada: new evidence from geophysical lineament mapping

Basement fault reactivation is now recognized as an important control on sedimentation and fault propagation in intracratonic basins. In southern Ontario, the basement consists of complexly structured mid-Proterozoic (ca. 1.2 Ga) crystalline rocks and metasedimentary rocks that are overlain by up to 1500 m of Paleozoic sedimentary strata. Reactivation of basement structures is suspected to control the location of Paleozoic fault and fracture systems, but evaluation has been hindered by a limited understanding of the regional structural characteristics of the buried basement. New aeromagnetic- and gravimetric-lineament mapping presented in this paper better resolves the location of basement discontinuities and provides further evidence for basement controls on the distribution of Paleozoic fault and fracture systems. Lineament mapping was facilitated by reprocessing and digital image enhancement (micro-levelling, regional residual separation, derivative filtering) of existing regional gravity and aeromagnetic datasets. Reprocessed images identify new details of the structural fabric of the basement below southern Ontario and delineate several previously unrecognized aeromagnetic and gravity lineaments and linear zones. Linear zones parallel the projected trends of mid-Proterozoic terrane boundaries identified by field mapping on the exposed shield to the north of the study area, and are interpreted as zones of shearing and basement faulting. Mapped aeromagnetic and gravity lineaments show similar trends to Paleozoic faults and fracture networks and broad zones of seismicity in southern Ontario. These new data support an ‘inheritance model’ for Paleozoic faulting, involving repeated reactivation and upward propagation of basement faults and fractures into overlying cover strata.     

鄂尔多斯盆地基底断裂多期演化及其主控因素分析——基于构造物理模拟实验

针对鄂尔多斯盆地基底断裂多期活化对上覆层系的影响,开展了基于伸展环境的基底断裂多期发育的构造物理模拟实验。实验结果表明:鄂尔多斯盆地基底断裂控制上覆盖层及滑脱层的断裂体系展布和活动。前寒武系同沉积时期,基底断裂具有生长正断裂的特征;寒武系以来非同沉积时期,基底断裂具有多期活动特征。基底断裂多期活动产生一系列切穿上覆岩层和滑脱层的正断层组合,导致盆地内部应力条件的差异,从而影响了油气分布。