Diagenetic Products Research Articles

Diagenetic History of the Chuping Limestone at Bukit Tungku Lembu, Perlis, Malaysia

The Early Permian to Late Triassic limestone of Chuping Formation in Bukit Tungku Lembu consists of six microfacies and exhibits various types of diagenetic products, reflecting it’s complicated diagenetic history. Out of 89 samples collected for petrographic studies, six major microfacies have been identified, namely brecciated limestone, dolomites, mudstones, wackestones, packstones and grainstones. Four major diagenetic processes comprising micritization, cementation, compaction and dolomitization have also been identified. Micritization occurs as the first phase diagenesis after the sediments were deposited on the sea floor, followed by cementation in the marine environment and also in meteoric environments when the shallow marine carbonate at some points in time was subjected to subaerial exposure. Early burial were indicated by fractures and deformation as well as destruction of grains whole structure. Increasing pressure during deeper burial has produced dissolution seams and stylolites. Dolomitization also occurred in the deeper burial environments.

Diagenesis in salt dome roof strata: Barite - calcite assemblage in Jebel Madar, Oman

Halokinesis causes a dynamic structural evolution with the development of faults and fractures, which can act as either preferential fluid pathways or barriers. Reconstructing reactive fluid flow in salt dome settings remains a challenge. This contribution presents for the first time a spatial distribution map of diagenetic phases in a salt dome in northern Oman. Our study establishes a clear link between structural evolution and fluid flow leading to the formation of diagenetic products (barite and calcite) in the salt dome roof strata. Extensive formation of diagenetic products occurs along NNE-SSW to NE-SW faults and fractures, which initiated during the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) and were reactivated in the Miocene, but not along the E-W fault, which was generated during Early Paleocene time. We propose that the diagenetic products formed by mixing of a warm (100 °C) saline (17 wt% NaCl eq.) 87Sr enriched (87Sr/86Sr: 0.71023) fluid with colder (35 °C) meteoric fluid during Miocene to Pleistocene. The stable sulphur and strontium isotope composition and fluid inclusion data indicate that a saline fluid, with sulphate source derived from the Ara Group evaporite and Haima Supergroup layers, is the source for barite formation at about 100 °C, predominantly at fault conjunctions and minor faults away from the main graben structure in the dome. In the Miocene, the saline fluid probably ascended along a halokinesis-related fault due to fluid overpressure (due to the rising salt and impermeable layers in the overlying stratigraphic sequence), and triggered the formation of barite due to mixing with barium-rich fluids, accompanied by a drop in temperature. Subsequently, evolving salt doming with associated fault activity and erosion of the Jebel allows progressively more input of colder meteoric fluids, which mix with the saline warmer fluid, as derived from stable isotope data measured in the progressively younger barite-associated calcite, fault zone calcite and macro-columnar calcite. The reconstructed mixing model indicates a 50/50 to 90/10 meteoric/saline fluid mixing ratio for the formation of fault zone calcite, and a 10 times higher concentration of carbon in the saline fluid end member compared to the meteoric fluid end member. The presented mixing model of salt-derived fluids with meteoric fluids is suggested to be a general model applicable to structural diagenetic evolution of salt domes world wide.

Tentative identification of diagenetic products of cyclic biphytanes in sedimentary rocks from the uppermost Permian and Lower Triassic

Biphytanes, which are derived from glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids, are biomarkers for the presence of Archaea in geological samples. They (especially cyclic structures) are rarely reported from sediments or oils that are older than the Triassic period, where their first record may be traced back to the Late Archean. There have been only two studies that have reported diagenetic products of cyclic biphytanes using two dimensional gas chromatography. In this study, we used full scan and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry (MS) to tentatively assign a series of diagenetic products of cyclic biphytanes within uppermost Permian and Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks. We observed three distinct groups derived from mono-, bi-, or tricyclic biphytanes, echoing previous studies. Each group could be further divided into three discrete series according to structure and composition. Using MRM also revealed that numerous sedimentary rocks contained such diagenetic products, but at trace concentration below the limit of detection of full scan MS. This indicates that the presence of Archaea-containing GDGT lipids has been underestimated within paleoenvironments. Episodic occurrences of biphytanes in the Permian-Triassic transition also provide additional evidence for the distribution of Archaea in the geological past.

Retraction Note to: Depositional environments and porosity distribution in regressive limestone reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation, Southern Iraq

Eight subsurface sections and a large number of thin sections of the Mishrif Limestone were studied to unravel the depositional facies and environments. The allochems in the Mishrif Formation are dominated by bioclasts, whereas peloids, ooids, and intraclasts are less abundant. The sedimentary microfacies of the Mishrif Formation includes mudstone, wackestone, packstone, grainstone, floatstone, and rudstone, which have been deposited in basinal, outer shelf, slop followed by shoal reef and lagoonal environments. The formation displays various extents of dolomitization and is cemented by calcite and dolomite. The formation has gradational contact with the underlying Rumaila Formation but is unconformably overlain by the Khasib Formation. The unconformity is recognized because the skeletal grains are dominated by Chaophyta (algae), which denotes the change of environment from fully marine to lacustrine environment. Thus, the vertical bioclast analysis indicates that the Mishrif Formation is characterized by two regressive cycles, which control the distribution of reservoir quality as well as the patterns of calcite and dolomite cement distribution. Mishrif Formation gradationally overlies Rumaila Formation. This was indicated by the presence of the green parts of Chaophyta (algae) as main skeletal grains at the uppermost part of well Zb-47, which refer to lacustrine or fresh water environment. Petrographical study shows that the fossils, peloids, oolitis, and intraclasts represent the main allochem. Calcite and dolomite (as diagenetic products) are the predominant mineral components of Mishrif Formation. Fossils were studied as an environmental age and facial boundaries indicators, which are located in a chart using personal computer programs depending on their distributions on the first appearance of species. Fifteen principal sedimentary microfacies have been identified in the Mishrif Formation, which includes lime mudstone, mudstone–wackestone, wackestone, wackestone–packstone, packstone, packstone–grainstone, grainstone–floatstone, packstone–floatstone, packstone–rudstone, and wackestone–floatstone. Markov chain analysis has been used to study the transitional pattern of different microfacies types vertically in each well and laterally in all wells as a composite section. The vertical analysis indicates that the Mishrif Formation characterized by two regressive cycles, the main one started with basinal or outer shelf environment, slop environment followed by shoal or reefal environment, and ended with a lagoonal environment. The lateral analysis shows the same regressive cycle, and by using the lithofacies association concepts, we built the depositional model of the Mishrif Formation environment.

Hyperspectral imaging of sedimentary bacterial pigments: a 1700-year history of meromixis from varved Lake Jaczno, northeast Poland

Hypoxia in freshwater systems is currently spreading globally and putting water quality, biodiversity and other ecosystem services at risk. Such adverse effects are of particular concern in permanently stratified meromictic lakes. Yet little is known about when and how meromixis and hypoxia became established (or vanished) prior to anthropogenic impacts, or how human activities such as deforestation, erosion and nutrient cycling affected the mixing regimes of lakes. We used calibrated hyperspectral imaging (HSI) data in the visible and near infrared range from a fresh, varved sediment core taken in Lake Jaczno, NE Poland, to map sedimentary pigments at very high resolution (sub-varve scale) over the past 1700 years. HSI-inferred bacteriopheophytin a (bphe a, produced by anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria) serves as a proxy for meromixis, whereas HSI-inferred green pigments (chlorophyll a and diagenetic products) can be used as estimators of aquatic productivity. Meromixis was established and vanished long before significant human disturbance in the catchment was observed in the late eleventh century AD. Under pre-anthropogenic conditions, however, meromixis was interrupted frequently, and the lake mixing regime flickered between dimixis and meromixis. During two periods with intense deforestation and soil erosion in the catchment, characterised by sedimentary facies rich in clay and charcoal (AD 1070–1255 and AD 1670–1710), the lake was mostly dimictic and better oxygenated than in periods with relative stability and a presumably closed forest around the lake, i.e. without human disturbances. After ca. AD 1960, meromixis became established quasi-permanently as a result of eutrophication. The persistent meromixis of the last ~60 years is unusual with respect to the record of the last 1700 years.

Petrological record of hydrocarbon accumulation in the Kela-2 gas field, Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin

The reservoir diagenetic process and the petroleum charge histories of the Cretaceous Bashijiqike Formation (K1bs) in the Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin were studied using an integrated petrographic, fluid inclusion, reservoir diagenesis and basin modeling approach. A suite of techniques were used in the investigation including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fluorescence spectroscopy, microthermometry, and Laser Raman microspectroscopy. The workflow comprises petrographic characterization of the reservoir sandstone, identification of fluid inclusion assemblages, and construction of the diagenetic history of the reservoir sandstone with reference to the hydrocarbon charge and emplacement. Key diagenetic events identified include quartz overgrowths, early calcite cementation, dolomite cementation, alteration of kaolinite, bitumen emplacement, micro-quartz and ankerite cementation. The first diagenetic event was characterized by quartz overgrowths and followed by calcite and dolomite cementation. Kaolinite and ankerite cementation were the last diagenetic events, coincided with hydrocarbon charge and emplacement. Three episodes of hydrocarbon charge and emplacement have been recorded by the diagenetic products and fluid inclusions in the K1bs Formations: (1) the first episode of oil charge was recorded in the early calcite cement, and were trapped around at 18 Ma; (2) the second and third episodes of hydrocarbon charge were recorded in the telo-diagenetic ankerite, and were trapped around at 4–6 Ma. The timing of oil emplacement determined from fluid inclusion homogenization temperature and basin modeling is consistent with the formation order of the diagenetic minerals. This study has thus demonstrated that integrated analysis of fluid inclusion and reservoir diagenesis can be an effective tool for determining hydrocarbon charge and emplacement history.

High resolution ion microprobe investigation of the δ18O of carbonate cements (Jurassic, Paris Basin, France): New insights and pending questions

The scope of this work is to investigate, at a high resolution, the oxygen isotope composition (δ18Ocarb) of diagenetic products (synsedimentary and burial calcite cements) in shallow-marine carbonates. SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) microprobe analyses were performed on thin sections from Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian Formations of the eastern Paris Basin and compared to data obtained on the same diagenetic products by conventional mass spectrometry (acid digestion). Hereby obtained, δ18O are similar, but the SIMS dataset displays a larger range of values.The isotopic zonation obtained by SIMS transects through sequences of cements filling pores, reveals an (expected) isotopic depletion from older stage synsedimentary calcites to younger stage blocky calcites and that follows the CL (cathodoluminescence) zonation. SIMS analyses however show that synsedimentary cements precipitated in intra-skeletal pores, have heavier δ18O than their inter-particle counterparts, with an offset of +4‰V-PDB, despite similar petrographical characteristics. This difference is maintained in the δ18O of the first stages of blocky calcite cements, intra-skeletal blocky calcites showing heavier δ18O than the time equivalent and petrographically identical inter-particle calcites, with an offset of +5‰V-PDB. These offsets are tentatively explained by the precipitation of cements under non-equilibrium conditions in intra-skeletal pores, where organic matter decay may have played a key role, acting notably on the pH.The occurrence of isolated micro-diagenetic environments, co-existing at the thin section scale, is tentatively proposed as an explanation to these small scale and high amplitude δ18O heterogeneities. These results may question the sampling strategy for future works. Microdrilling may miss the observed range of variation, but averaging the values may not necessarily lead to real misinterpretations if a critical selection of samples is performed, targeting potentially similar micro-diagenetic environments and avoiding potentially specific ones, i.e. closed intra-skeletal pores.These results also definitely underscore the need for additional experiments to improve the reliability of SIMS, in order to develop the use of this very high resolution technique for carbonate diagenesis studies.

Sedimentary Bacteriopheophytin a as an indicator of meromixis in varved lake sediments of Lake Jaczno, north-east Poland, CE 1891–2010

Trends in eutrophication and meromixis pose serious threats to water quality and biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems around the world. Because long-term observational data rarely exist, it is very difficult to assess whether meromixis is the result of anthropogenic impacts, climate variability, natural ecosystem development or a combination of these factors. Lake sediment proxy-data may help understand how and why eutrophication and meromixis occurred and disappeared in the past. In this study, we present a novel method and proxy to investigate past episodes of meromixis and hypolimnetic anoxia recorded in lake sediments. We use high-resolution (70×70μm/pixel) calibrated hyperspectral imaging of a varved lake sediment core from meromictic Lake Jaczno (north-east Poland), to quantitatively map the spatial distribution of Bacteriopheophytin a (Bphe a) at very high sub-varve (i.e. seasonal) resolution. Bphe a is a bacterial pigment and stable degradation product of Bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a), which is produced by anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (APBs) at the chemocline of meromictic lakes. Using sedimentary Bphe a we infer episodes of meromixis (i.e. long-term hypolimnetic anoxia) and changing mixing conditions (i.e. seasonal temperature, event-based water mixing) for the past ca. 120years. Absence of meromixis occurred on several occasions. From the beginning of our record in CE 1891 until ca. CE 1918, meromixis was not observed. During this time, green pigments (mainly chlorophyll a [Chl a] and diagenetic products) produced by phototrophic algae were deposited while Bphe a was absent. This suggests that regular lake overturning prevented the formation of a persistent chemocline. Bphe a was identified before CE 1890 (Butz et al. 2015), but over the studied period 1891–2011, meromixis was established in CE 1918 and generally persisted through modern times. However, short-term interruptions of the chemocline were observed following events of rapid sedimentation (CE 1943, CE 1946, CE 1950) and after a strong pulse of terrigenous material in CE 1978. These events were able to break up meromixis for a short period. After a few years, the system always turned back to meromixis. After ca. CE 1960, meromixis became particularly persistent. This can be attributed to the increased use of fertilizers (causing eutrophication) and warm summers after CE 1990. While interannual summer temperature variability played a major role in the mixing regime until ca. CE 1920, the climatic influence generally decreased in the following decades as the lake remained persistently in a meromictic state due to eutrophication. However, the climatic fingerprint remained detectable for very warm or cold summers.

Investigation on the role of microorganisms in manganese mineralization from Abadeh-Tashk area, Fars Province, southwestern Iran by using petrographic and geochemical data

Hydrothermal manganese and ferromanganese deposits associated with Neyriz ophiolite colored mélange occurred as small ore deposits in the Abadeh-Tashk area, SE of Fars Province, SW Iran. The deposits are found in three types: a) banded syngenetic ores, b) massive boudin and lens shaped diagenetic ores and c) vein and veinlet epigenetic ores. Microtextural, geochemical and mineralogical data associated with petrographic Raman, FTIR and SEM studies indicated that the primary Fe compounds formed series of microbially mediated biomats and Mn compounds were precipitated as an amorphous oxide on an active oxide surface accompanying silica gels. Field relationships between ore and host rock, high Mn/Fe ratio (17.43 to 40.79), ΣLREE, positive Eu and negative Ce anomalies in syngenetic ore types reveal that the ores were formed by hydrothermal fluid in an oceanic floor environment. Manganese was fractionated from iron due to physicochemical changes as well as microbial activities in the sedimentary environment. Microbial remains as filamentous beads with regular circular shapes, vermiform structures, series of Fe-rich biomats, traces of embedded organic material besides trace metals and REE concentrations in Mn ores emphasize the role of microorganisms in Fe and Mn precipitation. Syngenetic mineralization took place under suboxic neutrophilic conditions, while diagenetic processes resulted in variably reduced Fe- and Mn-oxides via organic matter decomposition, forming rhodochrosite as the end product. Braunite formation occurred most probably as a biogeochemically mediated early diagenetic product. Diagenetic and epigenetic Mn ores were formed when primary Mn deposits underwent subsequent diagenetic and remobilization–redeposition events respectively.

Release of Ni from birnessite during transformation of birnessite to todorokite: Implications for Ni cycling in marine sediments

The phyllomanganate birnessite is the main Mn-bearing phase in oxic marine sediments where it exerts a primary control on the concentration of micronutrient trace metals in seawater. However, during sediment diagenesis and under mild hydrothermal conditions birnessite transforms into the tectomanganate todorokite. We have recently shown that the transformation of birnessite to todorokite proceeds via a four-stage nucleation and growth mechanism, beginning with todorokite nucleation, then crystal growth from solution to form todorokite primary particles, followed by their self-assembly and oriented growth via oriented attachment to form crystalline todorokite laths, culminating in traditional crystal ripening (Atkins et al., 2014). Here we determine the fate and mobility of Ni sorbed by birnessite during this transformation process. Specifically, in our recent work we predict that the presence of Ni within the phyllomanganate matrix will disrupt the formation of todorokite primary particles. As such, contrary to current understanding, we suggest that Ni sorbed by birnessite will slow the transformation of birnessite to todorokite and/or be released to marine porewaters during sediment diagenesis. Here we transform a synthetic, poorly crystalline, Ni-sorbed (∼1wt% Ni) hexagonal birnessite, analogous to marine birnessite, into todorokite under a mild reflux procedure, developed to mimic marine diagenesis and mild hydrothermal conditions. We characterise our birnessite and reflux products as a time series, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. In addition we determine Ni speciation and mineral phase associations in a suite of natural marine ferromanganese precipitates, containing intermixed phyllomanganate and todorokite. Our work shows for the first time that Ni significantly slows the transformation of birnessite to todorokite and reduces the crystallinity of the neo-formed todorokite phase, but does not alter the mechanism and pathway of todorokite formation, compared to a Ni-free system. Furthermore, in systems tending towards todorokite as the final diagenetic product, we see that up to 50% of the Ni originally sequestered by birnessite is released to solution during the transformation. Our work indicates that the transformation of birnessite to todorokite in oxic marine sediments likely provides a significant source of Ni to marine sedimentary porewaters and potentially a hitherto unrecognized benthic flux of Ni to seawater.

Relationship between fracturing and porogenesis in a carbonate reservoir: Example from the Middle Turonian Bireno Member in Jebel M’rhila, Central Tunisia

The aim of the present work is to study the Middle Turonian carbonate Bireno Member in Jebel M’rhila area (Central Tunisia). This member mainly consists of dolostones. The sampling of the dolomitic rocks was carried out on both sides of the several fractures affecting the Bireno Member. We also measured the directions and dips of the fractures.The Studied dolomites basically consist of subhedral to euhedral dolospar. The porosity associated to the dolomites show a gradual variation both laterally and vertically. In fact, porosity increases respectively, laterally while going toward the fractures and vertically from the bottom to the top of the dolomitic member.The mineralogical and geochemical analyses of dolomite, carried out respectively by X-Ray Diffraction and Atomic Absorption, show that the studied dolomites broadly range from a sub-stoechiometric dolomite (48% CaCO3) far from the fractures to a dolomitic calcite (84% CaCO3) near the fractures. In the same way, the MgCO3 contents vary from 35% to 11%. Such high contents in Ca against low contents in Mg could probably related to the dilution of the dolomitizing marine waters by meteoric waters which would have been introduced within the platform during the Middle Turonian sea-level fall and the subsequent subaerial exposure of the Bireno platform. The Sr and Na contents (respectively, 4 ppm and 15 ppm in average) are rather low and they gradually decrease while approaching the fractures. Such a gradual decrease in Sr and Na concentrations may be the result of salinity lowering caused by the meteoric waters that would have circulated through the existing fractures networks.The previous analyses were supplemented by the SEM examination of the dolomite and the measurement of porosity and permeability. The SEM allowed us to identify the dolomite petrographic phases and the associated diagenetic products (solution, cementing, dedolomitization.), whereas the porosity and permeability evaluation highlights the relationship between fracturing and the reservoir potentiality of dolomites and the dolomitization process. Although the porosity in dolomites is not important enough, its gradual lateral variation with the distance from the fractures reflects the role of the latter in the porogenesis.The field observation and the results of the petrographic and petrophysical analysis show that the fractures must have played a substantial role in conducting the meteoric waters from the emerged platform surface to its base and laterally, resulting in a cementing dolomitization and a solution-related porogenesis. Therefore, it seems that if the dolomitic Bireno Member is rather a good potential reservoir due to the associated fractures networks.

Recent Warming, Rather than Industrial Emissions of Bioavailable Nutrients, Is the Dominant Driver of Lake Primary Production Shifts across the Athabasca Oil Sands Region.

Freshwaters in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) are vulnerable to the atmospheric emissions and land disturbances caused by the local oil sands industry; however, they are also affected by climate change. Recent observations of increases in aquatic primary production near the main development area have prompted questions about the principal drivers of these limnological changes. Is the enhanced primary production due to deposition of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from local industry or from recent climatic changes? Here, we use downcore, spectrally-inferred chlorophyll-a (VRS-chla) profiles (including diagenetic products) from 23 limnologically-diverse lakes with undisturbed catchments to characterize the pattern of primary production increases in the AOSR. Our aim is to better understand the relative roles of the local oil sands industry versus climate change in driving aquatic primary production trends. Nutrient deposition maps, generated using geostatistical interpolations of spring-time snowpack measurements from a grid pattern across the AOSR, demonstrate patterns of elevated total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and bioavailable nitrogen deposition around the main area of industrial activity. However, this pattern is not observed for bioavailable phosphorus. Our paleolimnological findings demonstrate consistently greater VRS-chla concentrations compared to pre-oil sands development levels, regardless of morphological and limnological characteristics, landscape position, bioavailable nutrient deposition, and dibenzothiophene (DBT)-inferred industrial impacts. Furthermore, breakpoint analyses on VRS-chla concentrations across a gradient of DBT-inferred industrial impact show limited evidence of a contemporaneous change among lakes. Despite the contribution of bioavailable nitrogen to the landscape from industrial activities, we find no consistency in the spatial pattern and timing of VRS-chla shifts with an industrial fertilizing signal. Instead, significant positive correlations were observed between VRS-chla and annual and seasonal temperatures. Our findings suggest warmer air temperatures and likely decreased ice covers are important drivers of enhanced aquatic primary production across the AOSR.

New insight of sedimentological and geochemical characterization of siliciclastic-carbonate deposits (Alveolina Limestone Formation, Graus-Tremp basin, Spain)

Abstract This article is a first attempt of combining sedimentological analysis and geochemical systematics of the Alveolina Limestone Formation as a tool to identify the major stratigraphic surfaces, and to improve the sequence stratigraphy interpretation. This formation is Early Eocene in age and crops out in several well-exposed cliffs in the Serraduy – Roda de Isabena area (Graus-Tremp basin, NE Spain). Within this succession, nineteen carbonate and siliciclastic facies have been identified and grouped in environmental facies associations (based on their vertical stacking and lateral relationships): 1) coastal plain; 2) clastic deltaic complex; 3) shallow carbonate inner-ramp; 4) mid-ramp; 5) outer-ramp; 6) reefal facies. The depositional architectures studied in the Serraduy area can be directly assessed on the field, and a 3D reconstruction is proposed. This enables us to build a synthetic depositional model and to identify five small-scale T/R cycles, bounded by different kinds of sedimentary discontinuities : angular unconformity, firmground, erosional surface… In parallel, geochemical analyses (C and O isotopes, major, minor and trace elements) were carried out to help at hierarchizing the cycles and the boundaries previously identified. Four of them may be considered as major stratigraphic surfaces, corresponding either to regional-scale angular unconformities, or to exposure surfaces. The latter are characterized by a selective dissolution, a slight but sharp decrease in δ13CV-PDB and in Mg, Fe and Sr contents below the surface. The absence of typical sedimentary criteria of exposure (with the exception of these geochemical signatures) may be explained by short-term exposure, an arid to semi-arid climate, and a dominant low-magnesian calcite original mineralogy, precluding the development and the preservation of widespread vadose diagenetic products. A new sequence stratigraphy model for the Alveolina Limestone Fm is finally proposed and discussed.

Orbital evidence for clay and acidic sulfate assemblages on Mars based on mineralogical analogs from Rio Tinto, Spain

Outcrops of hydrated minerals are widespread across the surface of Mars, with clay minerals and sulfates being commonly identified phases. Orbitally-based reflectance spectra are often used to classify these hydrated components in terms of a single mineralogy, although most surfaces likely contain multiple minerals that have the potential to record local geochemical conditions and processes. Reflectance spectra for previously identified deposits in Ius and Melas Chasma within the Valles Marineris, Mars, exhibit an enigmatic feature with two distinct absorptions between 2.2 and 2.3µm. This spectral ‘doublet’ feature is proposed to result from a mixture of hydrated minerals, although the identity of the minerals has remained ambiguous. Here we demonstrate that similar spectral doublet features are observed in airborne, field, and laboratory reflectance spectra of rock and sediment samples from Rio Tinto, Spain. Combined visible-near infrared reflectance spectra and X-ray diffraction measurements of these samples reveal that the doublet feature arises from a mixture of Al-phyllosilicate (illite or muscovite) and jarosite. Analyses of orbital data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) shows that the martian spectral equivalents are also consistent with mixtures of Al-phyllosilicates and jarosite, where the Al-phyllosilicate may also include kaolinite and/or halloysite. A case study for a region within Ius Chasma demonstrates that the relative proportions of the Al-phyllosilicate(s) and jarosite vary within one stratigraphic unit as well as between stratigraphic units. The former observation suggests that the jarosite may be a diagenetic (authigenic) product and thus indicative of local pH and redox conditions, whereas the latter observation may be consistent with variations in sediment flux and/or fluid chemistry during sediment deposition.

Carbonate diagenetic products and processes from various diagenetic environments in Permian paleokarst reservoirs: a case study of the limestone strata of Maokou formation in Sichuan Basin, South China

Carbonate diagenetic products and processes from various diagenetic environments in Permian paleokarst reservoirs: a case study of the limestone strata of Maokou formation in Sichuan Basin, South China

The control of basin evolution on patterns of sedimentation and diagenesis: an example from the Mississippian Great Orme, North Wales

The Mississippian North Wales Platform is located on the margins of the East Irish Sea Basin and has been little studied over the last 30 years. The exposed Visean limestones provide new insights into the deposition, porosity evolution, distribution of dolomitization, and Pb–Zn and Cu mineralization on the North Wales carbonate platform. This is of relevance to the characterization of fault-related dolomite hydrocarbon reservoirs and age-equivalent Mississippi Valley-type mineral deposits. In particular, the study demonstrates the intimate relationship between sedimentation, basin-scale tectonism and post-depositional fluid flux. Depositional cyclicity is marked, with metre-scale upward-shallowing cycles in which pervasive marine and meteoric calcite cements occlude matrix porosity and syndepositional fractures. Consequently, subsequent burial diagenetic replacive dolomitization is matrix selective and cements are primarily restricted to fractures. Seven phases of dolomite are defined based on texture and cathodoluminescence petrography, with phases D1–D3 as the most volumetrically significant. Dolomite phases D0–D2 are matrix replacive, cross-cutting stratigraphy and locally fingering along beds for several metres. Dolomite phases D3–D7 are hosted by faults and fractures and also line vugs. Evidence of telogenesis is recorded where burial diagenetic products are post-dated by calcite cements precipitated from meteoric fluids. Dolomitization probably occurred during the Mississippian and continued into the Pennsylvanian. Pb–Zn mineralization is also interpreted to have occurred during the Pennsylvanian, associated with Variscan tectonism. Overall, the North Wales Platform displays a more complex paragenesis than age-equivalent platforms in the Pennine Basin, owing to multiple phases of burial and exhumation. The study demonstrates the importance of linking burial history to detailed field and petrographical data to understand and predict the spatial and temporal controls on diagenetic processes and products within syn- and post-rift sequences.

Protosalvinia revisited, new evidence for a land plant affinity

The Upper Devonian Protosalvinia phytoclasts from Ohio Shale and its host rock were analyzed using GC/MS, GC-ir/MS, in situ FTIR and pyrolysis–GC/MS, in order to determine its chemical composition and to discuss the taxonomic position of this enigmatic fossil. Based on molecular ratios, the maturity of the organic matter present in the phytoclasts and rocks is comparable to a bituminous rank coal. Diagenetic products of Chlorobiaceae carotenoids were observed in the hosting rocks of Protosalvinia, indicating that anoxia prevailed during the sedimentary deposition. The soluble organic matter of phytoclasts shows land-derived biomarkers including long chain n-alkanes with a slight odd/even predominance and bicyclic sesquiterpenes with eudesmane skeletons. The carbon isotopic composition of n-alkanes is consistent with a land plant origin. The macromolecular fraction of Protosalvinia consists of a condensed aromatic network. The pyrolysis products of the phytoclasts show polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons commonly observed in coals, including naphthalenes, phenanthrenes and dibenzofurans. Based on what is known about the thermal evolution of organic matter, these components could derive from demethylation and condensation of phenylpropanoids or polysaccharides present in the original structure of Protosalvinia. The former components are exclusively metabolized by land plants.

A distinct pathway for tetrahymanol synthesis in bacteria

Tetrahymanol is a polycyclic triterpenoid lipid first discovered in the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis whose potential diagenetic product, gammacerane, is often used as a biomarker for water column stratification in ancient ecosystems. Bacteria are also a potential source of tetrahymanol, but neither the distribution of this lipid in extant bacteria nor the significance of bacterial tetrahymanol synthesis for interpreting gammacerane biosignatures is known. Here we couple comparative genomics with genetic and lipid analyses to link a protein of unknown function to tetrahymanol synthesis in bacteria. This tetrahymanol synthase (Ths) is found in a variety of bacterial genomes, including aerobic methanotrophs, nitrite-oxidizers, and sulfate-reducers, and in a subset of aquatic and terrestrial metagenomes. Thus, the potential to produce tetrahymanol is more widespread in the bacterial domain than previously thought. However, Ths is not encoded in any eukaryotic genomes, nor is it homologous to eukaryotic squalene-tetrahymanol cyclase, which catalyzes the cyclization of squalene directly to tetrahymanol. Rather, heterologous expression studies suggest that bacteria couple the cyclization of squalene to a hopene molecule by squalene-hopene cyclase with a subsequent Ths-dependent ring expansion to form tetrahymanol. Thus, bacteria and eukaryotes have evolved distinct biochemical mechanisms for producing tetrahymanol.

Impact of sequence stratigraphy, depositional facies and diagenesis on reservoir quality: A case study on the Pennsylvanian Taiyuan sandstones, northeastern Ordos Basin, China

The Pennsylvanian Taiyuan Formation of the Shenmu Field in the northeastern Ordos Basin of China contains tight sandstone reservoirs that have recently been commercially produced. An evaluation of the reservoir quality of the Taiyuan sandstones will play a critical role in the development of the field. An investigation was conducted to explore possible effects of the sequence stratigraphy, depositional facies and diagenetic alterations on the reservoir quality of the Taiyuan sandstones based on core descriptions, the examination of thin-sections, and core plug and scanning electron microscope analyses. The Taiyuan Formation consists of lowstand system tracts (LST), transgressive system tracts (TST) and highstand system tracts (HST). The LST sandstones are principally medium-to coarse-grained and are interpreted to have been deposited in the dominant distributary channels of a delta plain. The early TST fine-to coarse-grained sandstones were largely deposited in the underwater distributary channel and mouth bar of a delta front, and the middle TST fine-to medium-grained sandstones were deposited in the shoreface to foreshore environment. The HST silt to medium-grained sandstones were mostly deposited in the mouth bar of a delta front and shoreface to foreshore. The Taiyuan sandstones, which are composed of sublitharenites, quartzarenites and litharenites, suffered from extensive compaction that resulted in a large loss of intergranular porosity before the sandstones were further cemented severely. The sandstone cements are mostly composed of illite, ankerite, calcite and quartz. The Taiyuan sandstones have a particularly low average core plug porosity of 7.41% and horizontal permeability of 0.916 mD, which results from that most of the pores of the sandstones are micropores and secondary pores with poor connectivity. The LST dominant distributary channel, early TST underwater distributary channel and proximal mouth bar, and HST shoreface to foreshore sandstones with relatively coarser grain sizes (mostly medium-to coarse-grained) have relatively higher porosities and permeabilities than the sandstones with relatively finer grain size, which is ascribed to a widespread early dissolution by meteor water leaching and lower content of cements within the coarser-grained sandstones. However, the LST dominant distributary channel sandstones had undergone a more effectively early dissolution and less carbonate cementation than the TST underwater distributary channel and proximal mouth bar and HST shoreface and foreshore sandstones had, which lead to the relatively best reservoir quality of the LST dominant distributary channel sandstones among the Taiyuan sandstones. The study revealed that the reservoir quality of the tight Taiyuan sandstones was controlled by sequence stratigraphy framework, depositional facies, grain size and diagenetic alterations together. The sequence stratigraphy framework played a key role in controlling the reservoir quality of the Taiyuan sandstones by governing the depositional facies and corresponding diagenetic products while the grain size affected the reservoir quality of the sandstones by controlling the content of cement within the sandstones.

Effects of carrier bed heterogeneity on hydrocarbon migration

Reservoir/carrier bed heterogeneity is a common geological phenomenon. This study applied a hydrocarbon migration model based on the invasion percolation theory to simulate the formation of hydrocarbon migration pathways in heterogeneous carrier beds. The results indicate that the pathways and hydrocarbon accumulations in reservoirs may differ from conventional models when continuous low-permeability layers occur as networks within reservoirs. Such low-permeability layers may have formed through depositional or diagenetic processes within reservoir rocks at variable scales. Oil-bearing reservoir in Donghe Sandstone in Hadexun Oilfield in northern Tarim Basin, China, was analyzed to demonstrate the forming mechanisms of substantial tilting of oil-water contact. Donghe Sandstone is a quartz sandstone deposited in an open marine shoreface-shelf environment during a major transgression in Early Carboniferous. . Major diagenetic products are abundant tabular concretions along bedding planes and cross laminae. The low-permeability concretions serve as fluid flow barriers which compartmentalize the Donghe Sandstone reservoir. As a result, the oil-water contacts and the saturation of oil in the reservoir appear irregular and tilted in Hadexun Oilfield and neighboring regions.