How to distinguish between marine and lacustrine sedimentary environments? —A case study of Lishui Sag, East China Sea Shelf Basin

Abstract

The identification and characterization of marine versus lacustrine sedimentary environments can aid in the assessment of source and reservoir rock distribution, which is important for hydrocarbon exploration. Analysis of sedimentary facies, trace fossils, micropaleontology, geochemical characteristics, and relative water-levels was conducted in this study. Analysis of the core revealed typical sedimentary structures, including fourteen lithofacies and eleven lithofacies associations, which are indicative of wave-influenced origins and tidal processes. The sediments of the Yueguifeng Formation and upper Mingyuefeng Formation were deposited in shallow water settings, which later transitioned into the semi-deep water environments of the Lingfeng Formation and lower Mingyuefeng Formation. Sediments of the lower Mingyuefeng Formation and Lingfeng Formation were deposited in semi-brackish water or brackish water environments, whilst from the lower Mingyuefeng Formation to upper Mingyuefeng Formation and lower Lingfeng Formation to Yueguifeng Formation, the environment was semi-brackish to freshwater. The Lishui Sag experienced a large-scale and rapid relative water-level increase from the Yueguifeng Formation to the lower Mingyuefeng Formation and a decrease during the upper Mingyuefeng Formation. The relative water-level of the Lingfeng Formation and the lower Mingyuefeng Formation was consistent with the inferred eustatic global sea-level, and the relative water-level of the Yueguifeng Formation and the upper Mingyuefeng Formation deviated from the inferred global eustatic sea-level. The typical lithofacies associations, micropaleontology, and geochemical characteristics are identified as the key indicators to determine the sedimentary environments. The sedimentary environment analysis results show that the Lingfeng Formation to the lower Mingyuefeng Formation developed in a marine setting, whereas the Yueguifeng Formation and the upper Mingyuefeng Formation developed in a lacustrine sedimentary environment. The sediments deposited within shallow marine settings form good source rocks, the coastal sediments form good reservoirs, sediments of shallow lacustrine can generate source rock, and the deep-lacustrine sediments form good source rocks that produce waxy crude. Therefore, accurately distinguishing the difference between marine and lacustrine basins is important in terms of the overall understanding of the basin and the hydrocarbon play elements contained within it.