Clay Mineral Diagenesis in Argillaceous Sediments and Rocks

Abstract

Mineral assemblages found in argillaceous rocks have been utilized in many phases of oil exploration. Consideration of depositional environment, correlation of formations, analysis of paleotemperature, and interpretation of primary migration of oil in a basin are the main subjects discussed in this article. Many researchers, therefore, have been concentrating on this special subject. Review papers on diagenesis in argillaceous sediments and rocks also have been published in U.S.A., Japn, and elsewhere. In this paper, several studies on the clay mineral assemblages in argillaceos sediments and rocks in the world and Japan are reported. Discussions on the diagenetic transformation of clay minerals in argillaceous sediments and rocks and studies on phase equilibria of mineral transformations are reviewed. Many works on this special subject studied by Japanese scientists are introduced.