The diagenetic history of Oligocene-Miocene sandstones of the Austrian north Alpine foreland basin

Diagenesis is an essential tool to reconstruct the development of reservoir rocks. Diagenetic processes - precipitation and dissolution - have an influence on pore space. The present paper aims to study the diagenetic history of deep-marine sandstones of the Austrian Alpine Foreland Basin. To reach that goal, sediment petrology and diagenetic features of more than 110 sandstone samples from water- and gas-bearing sections from gas fields within the Oligocene-Miocene Puchkirchen Group and Hall Formation has been investigated. Special emphasis was put on samples in the vicinity of the gas-water contact (GWC). The sediment petrography of sandstones of Puchkirchen Group and Hall Formation is similar; hence their diagenesis proceeded the same way. In fact, primary mineralogy was controlled by paleo-geography with increasing transport distance and diverse detrital input.Sediment petrographically, investigated sandstones from the water-bearing horizon seemed quite comparable to the gas-bearing sediments. In general, they can be classified as feldspatic litharenites to litharenites and display porosities of up to 30% and permeabilities of up to 1300 mD. The carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of bulk carbonate cements from these sandstones range from−3.8 to +2.2 and from −7.5 to +0.2‰ [VPDB]. However, near the Gas-Water Contact (GWC) a horizon with low porosities (<3%) and permeabilities (<0.1 mD) is present. This zone is completely cemented with calcite, which has a blocky/homogenous morphology. A slight, but significant negative shift in δ18O isotopy (−2.5‰) is evident.During early diagenesis the first carbonate generations formed. First a fibrous calcite and afterwards a micritic calcite precipitated. Further siliciclastic minerals, such as quartz and feldspar (K-feldspar and minor plagioclase), exhibit corroded grains. Occasionally, clay minerals (illite; smectite, chlorite) formed as rims around detrital grains. Late diagenesis is indicated by the formation of a low permeable zone at the GWC.     

黔东南凯里-榕江-从江前寒武系甚低级变质作用研究

根据碎屑岩甚低级变质作用原理,运用伊利石结晶度、绿泥石结晶度、伊利石-白云母多型、伊利石(白云母)b_0值、绿泥石温度计等碎屑岩低温变质研究的方法,分析研究了黔东南前寒武系67个2μm的粘土样品,得到黔东南凯里-榕江-从江一带下江群伊利石结晶度为0.221~0.607°Δ2θCu Kα、绿泥石结晶度为0.239~1.393°Δ2θCu Kα,变质带伊利石-白云母多型均为2M_1型,伊利石(白云母)b_0值为0.9001~0.9048nm,平均0.9021nm。根据伊利石(白云母)b_0值的累积频率曲线得出研究区下江群遭受的变质作用为典型的中压变质类型。由Cathelineau(1988)绿泥石温度计估算出下江群浅变质带峰期变质温度为362~382℃。以上结果表明凯里-榕江-从江一带下江群经历了成岩-高近变质-浅变质作用,基于Warr和Rice标样的成岩/变质界限,剖面可划分为一个成岩带、两个近变质带、一个转变带和一个浅变质带。结合华南地区新元古代构造运动,推断新元古界下江群经历的成岩-变质作用与晋宁运动引起的扬子地块与华夏地块碰撞拼贴有关。     

On the origin of bleaching phenomena in red bed sediments of Triassic Buntsandstein deposits in Central Germany

The Lower Triassic Buntsandstein in Central Germany comprises one of the major clastic, lithified hydrocarbon reservoirs, it is a major groundwater aquifer and it is considered as a potential underground gas storage lithology. Thus, sandstones of the Buntsandstein from Thuringia and NE Hesse were used to analyse their geochemical composition combined with mineralogical data in order to investigate the origin of several bleaching phenomena in primary red beds, since these give a hint for mineral alteration, mineral formation and mineral reactivity in the course of fluid-rock-interactions. This is relevant for e.g. recent Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) efforts. The origin of the observed bleaching phenomena is diverse and it is linked to certain stages of diagenesis and different episodes of fluid flow: (1) eodiagenetic bleaching coupled with palaeosoil formation and iron mobilisation, (2) mesodiagenetic bleaching as a result of hydrocarbon migration, (3) Tertiary bleaching due to CO₂ degassing from Miocene volcanism, (4) Tertiary telodiagenetic bleaching due to weathering under humid climate conditions, and (5) weathering processes related to recent telodiagenesis/pedogenesis. This study emphasizes the multiple nature of fluids, which can induce iron mobilisation and bleaching of red beds.     

Elucidating hydrological complexity and climate-influenced diagenesis during the early Carboniferous of South Wales

A revised age provided by conodonts from the Gilwern Oolite of the Clydach area of South Wales allows a clearer understanding of the palaeohydrology, palaeoclimatic history and diagenesis of previously correlated oolitic units. Earlier uncertainty over the apparent sub-regional differences in climate during the early Visean (Chadian—Arundian) lowstand is resolved. Previously a humid interval evidenced by prominent palaeo-epikarst capping the Gilwern Oolite along the northern outcrops of the South Wales synclinorium, was not recognized in what were regarded as correlative outcrops in the Chadian Gully Oolite in the southern part of the synclinorium. Conodont dating now shows that the Gilwern Oolite is much older (Courceyan) than the Chadian Gully Oolite, and during the prolonged exposure of the former there was an interval of weathering under a humid climate. This also explains the contrast between the diagenesis seen between the Gilwern and Gully oolites, which are no longer seen as correlatives.     

Pyrite formation and the drowning of a palaeosol

Palaeosols may be modified in a variety of ways during burial diagenesis but significant alteration can take place during the earliest phases of burial caused by rising groundwaters. A calcrete palaeosol, the Heatherslade Geosol, from the Lower Carboniferous of South Wales, contains abundant pyrite which overprinted the original soil fabrics. The pyrite is interpreted as the product of anaerobic conditions caused by drowning during the early stages of a marine transgression. Unusual diamond-shaped forms of pyrite occur which possibly represent pseudomorphs after gypsum.     

Distribution of diagenetic alterations within depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic framework of fluvial sandstones: Evidence from the Petrohan Terrigenous Group,Lower Triassic,NW Bulgaria

Sequence stratigraphy of fluvial deposits is a controversial topic because changes in relative sea level will eventually have indirect impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of depositional facies. Changes in the relative sea level may influence the accommodation space in fluvial plains, and hence have impact on types of fluvial system, frequency of avulsion, and style of vertical and lateral accretion. This study aims to investigate whether depositional facies and changes in the fluvial system of the Lower Triassic Petrohan Terrigenous Group sandstones (NW Bulgaria) in response to changes in the relative sea level have an impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of diagenetic alterations.     

A comparison of the early diagenetic environment in intertidal sands and muds of the Manukau Harbour,New Zealand

The early diagenetic environment of intertidal sandy sediments (sands) and muddy sediments (muds) is described and compared from two cores taken from an unpolluted part of the Manukau Harbour, New Zealand. Extraction techniques characterized the form of the trace elements (Fe, Mn, S, C, Pb, Zn, Cu) at different depths in the sediment. Dissolved forms of Fe, Mn, and S were measured in interstitial water. Nonresidual metal concentrations, humic acid, FeS, and FeS₂ are an order of magnitude higher in the muds than in the sands because of dilution by unreactive sand particles. Muds contain a larger proportion of metals in the mobile fractions; exchangeable (Mn), carbonate (Mn, Fe, Zn), and easily-reducible oxide (Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb). This is due to greater surface area (for Mn adsorption); the favorable conditions for MnCO₃, FeCO₃, and FeS precipitation; and higher concentrations of easily reducible iron oxide and humic acid. Therefore, compared to the sands, muds are more important as reservoirs for toxic metals, both in terms of quantity and availability. At either site there was very little difference between the forms of Zn, Pb or Cu identified by sequential extraction as sediments changed from oxic to anoxic conditions. One reason for this is that the amounts and proportions of some of the important components that bind metals, viz., amorphous iron hydrous oxides, humic acids, and FeS₂, do not change much. Other components that do change with redox conditions, for example, manganese phases and FeS, are only minor components of the sediment. Redox conditions, then, have relatively little effect on trace-metal partitioning in the sediment matrix of these unpolluted sediments.     

Speleogenesis in aeolian calcarenite: A case study in western Victoria

Most studies of karst landscapes and their processes have been concerned with consolidated, often well-jointed limestones. There are particular problems involved in the study of karst procesess in softer, less-compact limestones such as chalk, coral reefs, and aeolian calcarenite. Previous studies in aeolian calcarenite indicated these problems and a scheme was developed of speleogenesis in aeolian calcarenite. A study of karst processes in aeolian calcarenite at Bats Ridge in western Victoria has developed this scheme further. The karst features and processes at Bats Ridge are an integral part of the landscape of a mid-Pleistocene calcarenite dune system. The resolution of problems of the rapid subaerial speleogenesis in the area is achieved by the synthesis of the known karst features of the ridge and the geology and geomorphology of the area. Karst development on this aeolianite ridge depends on lithological conditions as well as the availability of aggressive water capable of solution. The diagenesis of the calcarenite is occurring now and must have been occurring by the mid-Pleistocene. This simultaneous lithification of the carbonate dunes into aeolian calcarenite rock and the development of solutional karst features in the dunes is the characteristic feature of the speleogenesis in this area. It is the formation of a hardened kankar layer (cap rock) in the dunes of sufficient compressive and tensile strength to support cavities, which is the result of these interrelated factors, that has strongly determined the formation of the karst features.     

菌藻对碳酸盐颗粒的泥晶化作用研究─以滇西保山地区下石炭统研究为例

碳酸盐颗粒泥晶化由真菌类和藻类的穿孔所引起，颗粒泥晶化可划分为四个阶段６种类型，泥晶套和泥晶铸型分别代表泥晶化的成长、成熟阶段。丰富的泥晶化颗粒为浅滩标志；泥晶化的深度与沉积速度成反比；泥晶化均匀程度与颗粒翻转次数成正比；颗粒泥晶化类型组合与风暴沉积有关；暴露环境出现溶蚀孔洞或负鲕。菌藻的泥晶化作用可加速海水及成岩压实作用对颗粒的破碎和细化并产生内碎屑和灰泥；鲕粒泥晶化后转变为辐射鲕和假鲕。