Effects of lacustrine hydrothermal activity on the organic matter input of source rocks during the Yanchang period in the Ordos Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 104868
Author(s):  
Liming Ji ◽  
Jianfeng Li ◽  
Mingzhen Zhang ◽  
Hong Lu ◽  
Cong He ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyuan You ◽  
Yiqun Liu ◽  
Dingwu Zhou

<p>The "black chimney" type of hydrothermal vents in the modern deep sea have become a popular research topic in many disciplines. Due to the actual conditions, the research on palaeo-thermal vents in geological history is relatively low. Fortunately, the discovery of hydrothermal vents and bio-fossils from the Chang 7 source rocks of the Yanchang Formation of the Triassic in the Ordos Basin, China, provides the best evidence for deciphering hydrothermal activity during geological history. Here, we report a case study. Through ordinary sheet observation, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe observation, layered grained siliceous rocks, dolomites, and hydrothermal mineral combinations, such as pyrite + dolomite + gypsum and calcite + barite, are found. Their unique petrological characteristics, mineral composition, and structure confirm the existence of palaeo-thermal fluid vents. We further analysed the geochemical characteristics and in situ isotope characteristics. The study found that Cs, U, Th, Pb, Ba and other trace elements of the sample showed positive abnormalities, in which values of U/Th were high; in addition, the enrichment of major elements such as Sr, Mn, and the in situ sulphur isotopes of pyrite reached 7.89%-10.88%. This study of hydrothermal vents over geological history is expected to provide new insights on the life forms of various extreme microorganisms in hydrothermal environments and on their formation of high-quality source rocks.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian-Jun Li ◽  
Zhi-Long Huang ◽  
Xuan Chen ◽  
Xin-Ning Li ◽  
Jun-Tian Liu

AbstractVolcanic activity was quite frequent during the deposition of the Late Carboniferous Ha’erjiawu Formation in the Santanghu Basin. The petrology and organic and inorganic geochemical indicators were used to investigate hydrocarbon potential, paleoenvironmental conditions and organic matter enrichment of the mudstones. The results show that the oil generation capacity of the Ha’erjiawu Formation mudstones, which has abundant oil-prone organic matter (Type II kerogen with hydrogen index values mainly ranging from 250 to 550 mg HC/g TOC) in mature stage (Tmax values mainly ranging from 435 to 450 °C), is considerable. The Ha’erjiawu Formation was deposited in a dysoxic, freshwater-mildly brackish, and warm-humid environment. During its deposition, the Ha’erjiawu Formation received hydrothermal inputs. The volcanic hydrothermal activities played an important role in the organic matter enrichment. In addition, the total organic carbon (TOC) is significantly positively correlated with the felsic mineral content, but it is negatively correlated with the carbonate mineral content and C27/C29 ratios, indicating that terrigenous organic matter input also contributed to the primary productivity in the surface water. Therefore, the formation of the high-quality source rocks in the Ha’erjiawu Formation was jointly affected by the hydrothermal activity and the terrigenous organic matter input.


Geofluids ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
L. Zhang ◽  
Q. Zhao ◽  
C. Wu ◽  
Z. Qiu ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
...  

In the Ordos Basin, multiple sets of coal seams, organic-rich shale, and limestone are well developed in the Permian Taiyuan Formation, which are favorable targets for collaborative exploration of various types of unconventional natural gas resources, including coalbed methane, shale gas, and tight gas. In this study, core samples from the Permian Taiyuan Formation in the eastern margin of the Ordos Basin were used to carry out a series of testing and analysis, such as the organic matter characteristics, the mineral composition, and the pore development characteristics. In the shale of the Taiyuan Formation, the total organic carbon (TOC) content is relatively high, with an average of 5.38%. A thin layer of black shale is developed on the top of the Taiyuan Formation, which is relatively high in TOC content, with an average of 9.72%. The limestone in the Taiyuan Formation is also relatively high in organic matter abundance, with an average of 1.36%, reaching the lower limit of effective source rocks (>1%), being good source rocks. In the shale of the Taiyuan Formation, various types of pores are well developed, with relatively high overall pore volume and pore-specific surface area, averaging 0.028 ml/g and 13.28 m2/g, respectively. The pore types are mainly mineral intergranular pores and clay mineral interlayer fractures, while organic matter-hosted pores are poorly developed. The limestone of the Taiyuan Formation is relatively tight, with lower pore volume and pore-specific surface area than those of shale, averaging 0.0106 ml/g and 2.72 m2/g, respectively. There are mainly two types of pores, namely, organic matter-hosted pores and carbonate mineral dissolution pores, with a high surface pore rate. The organic matter in the limestone belongs to the oil-generation kerogen. During thermal evolution, the organic matter has gone through the oil-generation window, generating a large number of liquid hydrocarbons, which were cracked into a large number of gaseous hydrocarbons at the higher mature stage. As a result, a large number of organic matter-hosted pores were generated. The study results show that in the Ordos Basin, the shale and limestone of the Permian Taiyuan Formation have great potential in terms of unconventional natural gas resources, providing a good geological basis for the collaborative development of coal-bearing shale gas and tight limestone gas in the Taiyuan Formation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyuan You ◽  
Yiqun Liu ◽  
Dingwu Zhou ◽  
Yiyao Yang

AbstractBecause few well-preserved hydrothermal chimneys have been found in terrestrial sedimentary rocks, research on paleo-thermal vents in geological history is relatively sparse. In this study, we present our original discovery of “hydrothermal chimneys” from the Chang 7 source rocks of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin, China, and provide the best evidence for deciphering hydrothermal activity preserved in the geological record (i.e., sedimentary rocks). Three possible chimney samples (i.e., samples 1551.6, 1551.6–2 and 1574.4) were collected for this study; they were interbedded with mudstones and oil shales, indicative of a deep-lake sedimentary environment. All three samples consist mainly of anhydrite, pyrite, and dolomite with the formation of mineral zoning across the walls of these structures, suggesting a sulfate-dominated stage and a carbonate-sulfide replacement stage. Moreover, their in situ geochemistry is characterized by high Eu, U, Th, Sr, Mn and U/Th ratios, which are typical indicators of hydrothermal vents. In addition, their S isotopes range from 7.89% to 10.88%, near the values of magma sulfur, implying a possible magmatic trigger for these hydrothermal vents. All this evidence shows that the Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Ordos Basin probably contain hydrothermal chimneys. Comparing ancient hydrothermal chimneys to modern hydrothermal chimneys, we should note the important implications of ancient chimneys; their formation mechanism may have been related to oil production, and they are possible indicators for future oil investigations. Further, they have great significance for studying the hydrothermal properties of primary dolomite.


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (12) ◽  
pp. 1228-1247
Author(s):  
Zhengjian Xu ◽  
Luofu Liu ◽  
Tieguan Wang ◽  
Kangjun Wu ◽  
Wenchao Dou ◽  
...  

With the success of Bakken tight oil (tight sandstone oil and shale oil) and Eagle Ford tight oil in North America, tight oil has become a research focus in petroleum geology. In China, tight oil reservoirs are predominantly distributed in lacustrine basins. The Triassic Chang 6 Member is the main production layer of tight oil in the Ordos Basin, in which the episodes, timing, and drive of tight oil charging have been analyzed through the petrography, fluorescence microspectrometry, microthermometry, and trapping pressure simulations of fluid inclusions in the reservoir beds. Several conclusions have been reached in this paper. First, aqueous inclusions with five peaks of homogenization temperatures and oil inclusions with three peaks of homogenization temperatures occurred in the Chang 6 reservoir beds. The oil inclusions are mostly distributed in fractures that cut across and occur within the quartz grains, in the quartz overgrowth and calcite cements, and the fractures that occur within the feldspar grains, with blue–green, green, and yellow–green fluorescence colours. Second, the peak wavelength, Q650/500, and QF535 of the fluorescence microspectrometry indicate three charging episodes of tight oil with different oil maturities. The charging timings (141–136, 126–118, and 112–103 Ma) have been ascertained by projecting the homogenization temperatures of aqueous inclusions onto the geological time axis. Third, excess-pressure differences up to 10 MPa between the Chang 7 source rocks and the Chang 6 reservoir beds were the main driving mechanism supporting the process of nonbuoyancy migration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. SF225-SF242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Sun ◽  
Quansheng Liang ◽  
Chengfu Jiang ◽  
Daniel Enriquez ◽  
Tongwei Zhang ◽  
...  

Source-rock samples from the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin of China were geochemically characterized to determine variations in depositional environments, organic-matter (OM) source, and thermal maturity. Total organic carbon (TOC) content varies from 4 wt% to 10 wt% in the Chang 7, Chang 8, and Chang 9 members — the three OM-rich shale intervals. The Chang 7 has the highest TOC and hydrogen index values, and it is considered the best source rock in the formation. Geochemical evidence indicates that the main sources of OM in the Yanchang Formation are freshwater lacustrine phytoplanktons, aquatic macrophytes, aquatic organisms, and land plants deposited under a weakly reducing to suboxic depositional environment. The elevated [Formula: see text] sterane concentration and depleted [Formula: see text] values of OM in the middle of the Chang 7 may indicate the presence of freshwater cyanobacteria blooms that corresponds to a period of maximum lake expansion. The OM deposited in deeper parts of the lake is dominated by oil-prone type I or type II kerogen or a mixture of both. The OM deposited in shallower settings is characterized by increased terrestrial input with a mixture of types II and III kerogen. These source rocks are in the oil window, with maturity increasing with burial depth. The measured solid-bitumen reflectance and calculated vitrinite reflectance from the temperature at maximum release of hydrocarbons occurs during Rock-Eval pyrolysis ([Formula: see text]) and the methylphenanthrene index (MPI-1) chemical maturity parameters range from 0.8 to [Formula: see text]. Because the thermal labilities of OM are associated with the kerogen type, the required thermal stress for oil generation from types I and II mixed kerogen has a higher and narrower range of temperature for hydrocarbon generation than that of OM dominated by type II kerogen or types II and III mixed kerogen deposited in the prodelta and delta front.


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