Responses of trace elements and optical textures of ultra-deep pyrobitumen to hydrothermal alteration

Abstract

The hydrothermal activity in the Ediacaran Dengying (DY) Formation in central Sichuan has modified the reservoirs and paleo-oil reservoirs; however, these modifications are not specific due to the challenges in recovering the hydrothermal scale. This paper classified pyrobitumen in the DY Formation into five categories by optical textures and analyzed the physical structure and trace element composition of the different pyrobitumen using scanning electron microscope, reflectance, and trace elements. Finally, the responses of the trace element concentrations and optical textures of the pyrobitumen to hydrothermal alteration were discussed and used to restore the hydrothermal scale in the central Sichuan Basin. The results show that isotropic, fine-grained, medium-grained, coarse-grained mosaic, and fibrous pyrobitumen develop in the DY Formation. As the optical texture of the pyrobitumen changes from isotropic to mosaic to fibrous, the order degree of aromatic lamella in pyrobitumen gradually increases, the maturity, the maximum reflectance, and the bireflectance of pyrobitumen gradually increase. Except for isotropic pyrobitumen, anisotropic pyrobitumen is subject to varying degrees of hydrothermal alteration. The hydrothermal alteration on pyrobitumen is primarily in the form of material exchange, precipitating illite, salt, and barium-enriched minerals in pyrobitumen pores and enriching some elements (Ba, Cr, Nb, and Sr) in the pyrobitumen. As the optical texture changes from isotropic to mosaic to fibrous, the element enrichment degree gradually increases. Medium-grained mosaic, coarse-grained mosaic, and fibrous pyrobitumen are widely observed in central Sichuan. Therefore, hydrothermal modification on the DY reservoirs and paleo-oil reservoirs is not limited to the deep faults but widely develop in central Sichuan, and should be an essential part of the further study of hydrocarbon accumulation.