Mesoproterozoic Lakhanda Lagerstätte, Siberia: Paleoecology and taphonomy of the microbiota

The preservation of the organic-walled microbiota of the Lakhanda Lagerstätte in the Kumakha mudstone succession of the late Mesoproterozoic Lakhanda Group (Uchur-Maya region, southeast Siberia) is a result of unusually favorable paleoecologic, taphonomic, and diagenetic conditions. Well known for its marked taxonomic diversity and exquisite preservation, the biota inhabited a warm, shallow, epicontinental basin rich in nutrients into which were dispersed clay minerals, from weathering of continental crust, and minor amounts of volcanic detritus. The fossils were preserved by compression in fine-grained smectite–illite–kaolinite mudstones deposited in a sulfur-deficient disoxic and anoxic environment. Subsequently, the long-term (1 Ga) tectonic stability of the southeast margin of the Siberian platform has provided an exceptional environment for the preservation of the microfossil assemblage without significant diagenetic alteration. Conclusions drawn here from studies of the paleoecology, taphonomy, and diagenesis of the Lakhanda Lagerstätte may provide a globally useful model in the search for additional evidence of the Precambrian rise to dominance of eukaryotes in the Earth's biosphere.     

Microfabric and rock properties of experimentally compressed silt-clay mixtures

Oedometric mechanical compaction tests were performed on brine-saturated synthetic samples consisting of silt-clay mixtures to study changes in microfabric and rock properties as a function of effective stress. The silt consisted of crushed quartz (∼100%) with grain size range between 4 and 40 μm, whereas the clay consisted of 81% kaolinite, 14% mica/illite and 5% microcline of grain size between 0.4 and 30 μm. Five sample pairs ranging in composition from pure silt to pure clay were compacted to 5 and 50 MPa effective stress respectively. SEM studies were carried out to investigate microfabric changes in the mechanically compacted silt-clay mixtures. The degree of alignment of the different minerals present (quartz, mica/illite and kaolinite) were computed by using an image analysis software. Experimental compaction have measured the changes in the rock properties such as porosity and velocity as a function of effective stress for different mixtures of clay and silt. Clay-rich samples showed a higher degree of mineral orientation and lower porosity compared to silt-dominated samples as a function of effective stress. Pure clay sample had 11% porosity at 50 MPa effective stress whereas the pure silt sample retained about 29% porosity at the same effective stress. The experiments showed that low porosity down to 11% is possible by mechanical compaction only. A systematic increase in strain was observed in the silt-clay mixtures with increasing clay content but the porosity values found for the 50:50 silt-clay mixture were lower than that of 25:75 silt-clay mixture. No preferential mineral orientation is expected before compaction owing to the high initial porosity suggesting that the final fabric is a direct result of the effective stress. Both P- and S-wave velocities increased in all silt-clay mixtures with increasing effective stress. The maximum P- and S-wave velocities were observed in the 25:75 silt-clay mixture whereas the minimum Vp and Vs were recorded in the pure silt mixture. At 50 MPa effective stress P- wave velocities as high as 3 km/s resulted from experimental mechanical compaction alone. The results show that fine-grained sediment porosity and velocity are dependent on microfabric, which in turn is a function of grain size distribution, particle shape, sediment composition and stress. At 5 MPa effective stress, quartz orientation increased as a function of the amount of clay indicating that clay facilitate rotation of angular quartz grains. Adding clay from 25% to 75% in the silt-clay mixtures at 50 MPa effective stress decreased the quartz alignment. The clay mineral orientation increased by increasing both the amount of clay and the effective stress, the mica/illite fabric alignment being systematically higher than that of kaolinite. Even small amount of silt (25%) added to pure clay reduced the degree of clay alignment significantly. This study demonstrates that experimental compaction of well characterized synthetic mudstones can be a useful tool to understand microfabric and rock properties of shallow natural mudstones where mechanical compaction is the dominant process.     

Investigation of the morphology of pore space in mudstones—first results

A suite of selected Tertiary mudstones was studied to improve the knowledge about microstructure and related transport processes in mudstones. Samples were investigated by mercury- and Wood's metal injection, SEM, XRD, and grain size analysis. Wood's metal injection has the advantage of visualising the ‘frozen’ injection process. The smallest pore casts observed were down to 40 nm in diameter, while the largest, bottle-shaped pores were up to 5 μm in diameter. Bottle-shaped pores occurred in all the samples, usually around silt or sand grains. One sample, which had a porosity of 28.5% according to mercury injection data, had not been impregnated by the molten alloy. We suggest this to reflect a strong deformation of the clay fabric by the high pressure without intrusion into the matrix. This raises questions about the reliability of mercury injection data for very fine-grained, highly porous sediments.After excluding these very fine-grained samples and one very calcareous sample regressions were found which relate porosity (φ), clay content (C), and sand content (S) to capillary displacement pressure (P_d(Hg)): P_d(Hg)=−25.05+0.63 C+0.29S (R²=0.92), and P_d(Hg)=−10.24+0.47 C−0.15φ (R²=0.88).     

济阳坳陷泥质岩油气藏类型及分布特征

 济阳坳陷目前已发现的泥质岩油气藏主要分布于东营凹陷和沾化凹陷的断裂、断鼻构造带附近,依据其储集空间可分为裂缝型、孔隙型及孔—缝复合型3种类型。其中,裂缝型油气藏占主要地位,主要发育于富钙质的脆性泥页岩中;孔隙型油气藏主要发育于含砂质条带的欠压实泥岩中;孔—缝复合型油气藏发育于钙质泥-页岩互层且夹薄层砂质条带的岩类中。泥质岩油气藏以自生自储为主,需要富钙质或欠压实等特定的岩性条件,一般发育在断裂活动带附近。横向上,裂缝型油气藏主要分布于厚层生油层中富钙质高阻层段,尤其是页岩发育的薄互层段,孔隙型油气藏只分布于具有断裂或隆起背景且富含砂质条带的欠压实区;纵向上,泥质岩油气藏主要分布于2200m以下的沙河街组四段上亚段、沙河街组三段下亚段及沙河街组一段下亚段等层位。     

Progress on Formation Mechanism of the Fibrous Veins in Mudstone and Its Implications to Hydrocarbon Migration

The fibrous mineral veins are widespread in mudstones. According to the different microscopic morphology of the minerals, the fibres can be divided into stretched crystals, elongate-blocky crystals and the very fibrous crystals. Veins can also be classified according to the growth direction of these crystals into stretched veins, syntaxial veins and antitaxial veins. The resulting texture in the vein depends on the morphology of the fracture surface, the width of the fracture and the growth habit of the vein forming mineral. The crack-seal mechanism can only interpret the formation of the stretched crystal veins and the elongate-blocky crystal veins, and the antitaxial well-developped fibrous veins form without fracturing and the growth competition is inhibited during the rock deformation, which implies that the nutrient transport is by diffusional flow transport. Horizontal crack is the primary condition of the formation of the antitaxial bedding-parallel fibrous calcite veins in muddy hydrocarbon source rocks. The formation of the horizontal crack which caused by the abnormal high pressure can enhance the hydrocarbon generation efficiency and has a great effect on the rate and direction of hydrocarbon migration in the local. The presence of the veins indicates the hydrocarbon fluid can migrate laterally along the layers. The antitaxial bedding-parallel fibrous calcite veins in muddy hydrocarbon source rocks can be the sign of the generation and migration of hydrocarbon under the abnormal high pressure condition in petroleum-bearing basins.