Pore structure and adsorption hysteresis of the middle Jurassic Xishanyao shale formation in the Southern Junggar Basin, northwest China

Abstract

In order to understand the pore structures of the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation in the Junggar Basin, 11 shale samples from a single well were picked and were subjected to several analyses including mineralogy, (programmed) Rock-Eval pyrolysis for geochemical and N2 adsorption for pore structure analysis. The results showed that the mean value of total organic carbon (TOC) content of these samples is around 1.54% while Tmax varies between 429 to 443°C, indicating they are in the oil window. Mineral assemblages of the samples is mainly quartz and clay (illite, chlorite and kaolinite). Moreover, negative correlations between the K-feldspar/plagioclase and micro-mesopore volume was found, depicting that few of such pore sizes exist in these two abundant minerals. In contrast, micro, meso and macro pores all were detected in clay minerals. Particularly, the pores with radii of around 5.35 nm were abundant in clay minerals and there was not a robust relationship between the organic matter, surface area and pore volume. Finally, fractal analysis was performed to better delineate heterogenous characteristics of pore structures which showed that D2 (representing the larger pores) is greater than D1 (smaller pores). In addition, the differences between the fractal dimensions of the adsorption and desorption (D2d–D2a) branches to better interpret the hysteresis, was defined. The positive correlation between the (D2d–D2a) and the meso-macro pore volume, pointed out that the meso-macro condensation is the main reason for hysteresis that was observed in N2 adsorption experiments in the Xishanyao Shale samples.