Fluvial Sandstones Research Articles

Upstream controls on incised-valley dimensions and fill: Examples from the Upper Mississippian Mauch Chunk Group, Central Appalachian Basin, USA

Subsurface mapping and facies and architectural element analysis on outcrop, combined with published detrital zircon geochronology and sandstone petrography, are used to reconstruct a source to sink system for two incised-valley fills in the Upper Mississippian Mauch Chunk Group. The lower Stony Gap incised valley is relatively broad and filled with quartzarenite fluvial facies consisting of downstream accreting elements with minimum thicknesses of 6m; cross-sets within elements average 62.5cm thick. The lower Princeton incised valley is relatively narrow and filled with sublitharenite fluvial facies consisting of channel elements that range in thickness from 0.25 to 3.6m; cross-sets within elements average 35cm thick.Quantitative estimates of drainage areas, using regional hydraulic geometry curves for comparable climatic settings, are consistent with order-of-magnitude differences for the lower Stony Gap Sandstone (>700,000km2) and the lower Princeton Formation (<100,000km2). Statistical analysis of the detrital zircon age data reveal that the Stony Gap and Princeton sample populations are not the same and were derived, at least in part, from provenances of different age. Drainage areas are consistent with detrital zircon geochronology and petrographic data and suggest that the lower Stony Gap fluvial sandstone was derived from distal, northern and northwestern cratonic sources including, uniquely, the Archean Superior Province and Proterozoic Penokean-Yavapai-Mazatal provinces, possibly through recycling from older sedimentary rocks. Sediment was dispersed into a NE-SW-oriented, axial drainage system. Inferred channel depths and drainage areas of the lower Stony Gap Sandstone are comparable to the modern Brahmaputra River. In contrast, the younger lower Princeton fluvial sandstone was derived from proximal tectonic highland sources along the eastern margin of the Appalachian Basin that included uplifted older sedimentary rocks and accreted island arc terranes. Sediment was dispersed into a transverse drainage system that was deflected by the existent foreland-basin topography into an axial drainage which is preserved in the study area. Drainage area estimates for the Lower Pennsylvanian Corbin Member in the Appalachian Basin follow the same scaling relationship as the lower Stony Gap Sandstone and lower Princeton Formation incised valleys, where dimensions of incised valleys and their internal fill elements scale to the size of their drainage areas. This study has demonstrated that valley dimensions derived from field and subsurface mapping can be used in conjunction with petrographic data and detrital zircon age spectra to constrain drainage basin area and location, at least to a first order.

Hanna of Wyoming—The Rockies’ Deepest Basin

The Hanna Basin is one of the world’s deeper intracratonic depressions. It contains exceptionally thick sequences of mature, hydrocarbon-rich Paleozoic through Eocene rocks and has the requisite structural and depositional history to be a significant petroleum province. The Tertiary Hanna and Ferris formations consist of up to 20,000 ft of organic-rich lacustrine shale, shaly mudstone, coal, and fluvial sandstone. The Upper Cretaceous Medicine Bow, Lewis, and Mesaverde formations consist of up to 10,000 ft of marine and nonmarine organic-rich shale enclosing multiple stacked beds of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone. Significant shows of oil and gas in Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene rocks occur in the basin. Structural prospecting should be most fruitful around the edges where Laramide flank structures were created by out-of-the-basin thrust faults resulting from deformation of the basin’s unique 50-mile wide by 9-mile deep sediment package. Strata along the northern margin of the basin were compressed into conventional anticlinal folds by southward forces emanating from Emigrant Trail-Granite Mountains overthrusting. Oil and gas from Pennsylvanian to Upper Cretaceous aged rocks have been found in such structures near the Hanna Basin. Only seven wells have successfully probed the deeper part of the Hanna Basin (not including Anadarko’s #172 Durante lost hole, Sec. 17, T22N, R82W, lost in 2004, hopelessly stuck at 19,700 ft, unlogged and untested). Two of these wells tested gas at commercial rates from Upper Cretaceous rocks at depths of 10,000 to 12,000 ft. Sparse drilling along the Hanna Basin’s flanks has also revealed structures from 3,000 to 7,000 feet deep which yielded significant shows of oil and gas.

Stratigraphic Intervals for Oil and Tar Sand Deposits in the Uinta Basin, Utah

To better understand oil and bitumen generation and migration in the Paleogene lacustrine source rocks of the Uinta Basin, Utah, analyses of 182 oil samples and tar-impregnated intervals from 82 core holes were incorporated into a well-established stratigraphic framework for the basin. The oil samples are from the U.S. Geological Survey Energy Resources Program Geochemistry Laboratory Database; the tar-impregnated intervals are from core holes drilled at the Sunnyside and P.R. Spring-Hill Creek tar sands deposits. The stratigraphic framework includes transgressive and regressive phases of the early freshwater to near freshwater lacustrine interval of Lake Uinta and the rich and lean zone architecture developed for the later brackish-to-hypersaline stages of the lake. Two types of lacustrine-sourced oil are currently recognized in the Uinta Basin: (1) Green River A oils, with high wax and low β-carotane contents thought to be generated by source rocks in the fresh-to-brackish water lacustrine interval, and (2) much less common Green River B oils, an immature asphaltic oil with high β-carotane content thought to be generated by marginally mature to mature source rocks in the hypersaline lacustrine interval. Almost all oil samples from reservoir rocks in the fresh-to-brackish water interval are Green River A oils; however four samples of Green River A oils were present in the hypersaline interval, which likely indicates vertical migration. In addition, two samples of Green River B oil are from intervals that were assumed to contain only Green River A oil. Tar sand at the P.R. Spring-Hill Creek deposit are restricted to marginal lacustrine and fluvial sandstones deposited during the hypersaline phase of Lake Uinta, suggesting a genetic relationship to Green River B oils. Tar sand at the Sunnyside deposit, in contrast, occur in marginal lacustrine and alluvial sandstones deposited from the early fresh to nearly freshwater phase of Lake Uinta through the hypersaline phase. The Sunnyside deposit occurs in an area with structural dips that range from 7 to 14 degrees, and it is possible that some tar migrated stratigraphically down section.

POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY VARIATIONS IN A TIGHT GAS SANDSTONE RESERVOIR ANALOGUE, WESTPHALIAN D, LOWER SAXONY BASIN, NW GERMANY: INFLUENCE OF DEPOSITIONAL SETTING AND DIAGENESIS

Understanding the spatial variability of reservoir properties in tight gas sandstones can significantly reduce uncertainties in reservoir characterization. This study focuses on two outcrops of Upper Carboniferous (Westphalian D) fluvial sandstones in the southern part of the Lower Saxony Basin, NW Germany, which are analogues for tight, gas‐producing reservoir rocks at fields in the north of the basin. Large‐scale differences in reservoir quality occur between the two outcrops which are separated by a distance of approximately 15 km and by 600 m of stratigraphy. Smaller‐scale heterogeneities in the form of channel geometries occur within individual fluvial cycles, as evidenced in a 30 m (high) by 150 m (long) porosity‐permeability profile at one of the outcrops studied.In the Woitzel quarry, lower Westphalian D deposits consist of fining‐upwards cycles of channel and bar sandstones with intercalated floodplain sediments and coal seams. In abandoned quarries at the Hüggel location, upper Westphalian D strata are composed of grey and red coloured sandstones which suggest deposition in a fluvial – alluvial plain environment under increasingly arid conditions.Reservoir quality is higher in the upper Westphalian D sandstones at Hüggel (permeability: up to 1 mD; mean porosity: 19%) than in the lower Westphalian D sandstones at Woitzel (permeability: &lt;0.1 mD; mean porosity: 15%). Due to the high degree of compaction of the upper and lower Westphalian D deposits (intergranular volumes of 21.9% and 19.4% respectively) and the high proportions of pseudomatrix, porosity in these sandstones is mainly secondary with up to 80% microporosity. Reservoir quality is in general higher in the upper Westphalian D sandstones where kaolinite is present. In contrast, intense illitization has degraded the reservoir quality of the lower Westphalian D sandstones.A positive correlation between permeability and grain size is exhibited by the kaolinite‐bearing upper Westphalian D sandstones. No such correlation is evident in the illite‐bearing lower Westphalian D sandstones, unless samples with permeabilities of &lt;0.01 mD are excluded from the correlation. However, such a low permeability cut‐off is not related to sorting, grain size or authigenic quartz cementation.At a small scale, permeability varies laterally by two orders of magnitude from 0.001 mD to 0.1 mD in a single, approximately 3 m thick tight sandstone bed over a distance of 150 m. Repeated, centimetre‐scaled fining‐upwards grading and bed‐internal erosion contribute to lateral variations in reservoir flow characteristics.Integrated studies of the depositional environment, diagenesis and sedimentary geometries of the deposited units are a key to the understanding of heterogeneities in tight fluvial sandstones and thus to the successful development of Upper Carboniferous reservoirs in the Lower Saxony Basin and elsewhere.

A window into the Cambrian basement and early Carboniferous sedimentation of the Hathern Shelf: the British Geological Survey borehole at Ticknall, South Derbyshire, UK

The Ticknall Borehole was drilled in 1995 to a depth of 209 m in order to investigate the succession on the Hathern Shelf, a fault-bounded structural province that lies on the southern margin of the Widmerpool Half-graben, part of a major early Carboniferous rift system. The borehole demonstrated a ‘basement’ of Upper Cambrian cleaved mudrocks, correlated with the Stockingford Shale Group. Unconformably overlying this is a basal Carboniferous unit, the Calke Abbey Sandstone Formation, of probable Visean (?Holkerian) age, comprising 82.34 m of fluvial sandstones and conglomerates, with interbedded red-grey palaeosols exhibiting highly distinctive ‘pseudogley’ fabrics indicative of emergent episodes. The unit may have been deposited in a localized, possibly fault-controlled basin and was in part sourced from the Precambrian volcanic terrain of Charnwood Forest. As rifting and subsidence proceeded, the encroachment of nearshore/peritidal environments is indicated at the top of the formation by interbedded calcilutites that have yielded marine faunas. Fully marine conditions were established during deposition of the overlying Peak Limestone Group, comprising the early Asbian Cloud Hill Dolostone Formation succeeded by the Ticknall Limestone Formation, of Brigantian age. Comparisons between the Ticknall Borehole and Peak Limestone strata exposed in quarries farther east, around Breedon, show major changes in water depths over a distance of only 4.5 km. Such variations can be reconciled with seismostratigraphical studies in the adjacent Widmerpool Half-graben, which show that sedimentation on the Hathern Shelf was in part controlled by movements along nearby rift-bounding faults.

In situ measurement of velocity-stress sensitivity using crosswell continuous active-source seismic monitoring

The ability to characterize time-varying reservoir properties, such as the state of stress, has fundamental implications in subsurface engineering, relevant to geologic sequestration of [Formula: see text]. Stress variation, here in the form of changes in pore fluid pressure, is one factor known to affect seismic velocity. Induced variations in velocity have been used in seismic studies to determine and monitor changes in the stress state. Previous studies conducted to determine velocity-stress sensitivity at reservoir conditions rely primarily on laboratory measurements of core samples or theoretical relationships. We have developed a novel field-scale experiment designed to study the in situ relationship between pore-fluid pressure and seismic velocity using a crosswell continuous active-source seismic monitoring (CASSM) system. At the Cranfield, Mississippi, [Formula: see text] sequestration field site, we actively monitored seismic response for five days with a temporal resolution of 5 min; the target was a 26 m thick injection zone at approximately 3.2 km depth in a fluvial sandstone formation (lower Tuscaloosa Formation). The variation of pore fluid pressure was obtained during discrete events of fluid withdrawal from one of the two wells and monitored with downhole pressure sensors. The results indicate a correlation between decreasing CASSM time delay (i.e., velocity change for a raypath in the reservoir) and periods of reduced fluid pore pressure. The correlation is interpreted as the velocity-stress sensitivity measured in the reservoir. This observation is consistent with published laboratory studies documenting a velocity ([Formula: see text]) increase with an effective stress increase. A traveltime change ([Formula: see text]) of 0.036 ms is measured as the consequence of a change in pressure of approximately 2.55 MPa ([Formula: see text]). For [Formula: see text] total traveltime, the velocity-stress sensitivity is [Formula: see text]. The overall results suggest that CASSM measurements represent a valid technique for in situ determination of velocity-stress sensitivity in field-scale monitoring studies.

Large-scale mud diapirism as a record of late-stage Laramide tectonism within the Eocene Green River Formation, Wyoming

The Gruene and Verde mud diapirs, which range in size from 70 to 95m in diameter, are exposed within the Wilkins Peak Member of the Eocene Green River Formation near Flaming Gorge Reservoir, southwest Wyoming. These diapirs are sourced from the lower unit of the Wilkins Peak Member (lower, middle, and upper units can be defined based on dominant lithology), and were emplaced into the upper unit of the Wilkins Peak Member, cross-cutting hundreds of meters of strata. The structures contain brecciated dolomicritic and lime mudstones with minor amounts of siliciclastic clays. Pervasive quartz veining is present throughout both diapirs. Though heavily disturbed, original bedding can be seen in both localities, either dipping radially outward towards the margins of the diapir as is dominant at the Gruene diapir or tilted but near horizontal as is the dominant expression at the smaller Verde diapir. The Gruene diapir can be seen in contact with several fluvial sandstone bodies within the upper Wilkins Peak strata in outcrop, and these fluvial sandstones transition from regional, near-horizontal dips to steeply dipping beds and bedsets within 50m of the diapir. These sands show no signs of brittle deformation, and dip ranges from 20 to 50° radially away from the center of the diapir to the north, west, and east where sands are observed. These are interpreted here to have been deformed pre-lithification, at or near the surface, by the rising mud diapir, offering an important control on the timing of diapirism near the end of the early Eocene. Deformation structures such as clastic dikes, brecciation, and convoluted bedding have been documented by others at or near this stratigraphic interval in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, and these smaller structures have been interpreted as seismites. We suggest that these mud diapirs are a larger-scale expression of this same seismic activity.

Upper Paleozoic glacigenic deposits of Gondwana: Stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental significance of a tillite succession in Northern Victoria Land (Antarctica)

Late Paleozoic glacial deposits are widespread in Gondwana. In Antarctica the best outcrops occur in the Central Transantarctic Mountains, Ellsworth Mountains, Pensacola Mountains, and in Southern Victoria Land, whereas they are rare and very scattered in Northern Victoria Land, which represents a linkage sector with Tasmania and eastern Australia. The aim of the present research is to define the stratigraphic setting and the environmental interpretation of a poorly studied Lower Permian glacigenic succession located near Orr Glacier in the Lanterman Range in Northern Victoria Land. It has great importance because it represents the only significant glacigenic succession for this wide area, marking and defining time and modality of a glacial-postglacial transition during the early Permian, a critical time-interval in the paleoenvironmental evolution of southern Gondwana. This succession, named here as the Lanterman Formation, lies directly on to crystalline basement, and is overlain by a thick Permian fluvial succession (Takrouna Formation). The results provided by sedimentological facies analysis and palynological analysis, integrated with a limited petrographic characterization, show a correlation framework between two isolated successions, outlining their stratigraphic architecture and subdivided into a lower glacial portion and an upper postglacial portion. The former, Asselian in age, is dominated by diamictite, sandstone, mudstone with lonestones, and carbonate deposits, suggesting repeated advance and retreat of a terrestrial glacier, with facies associations indicating environmental changes from subglacial to glaciofluvial, to glaciolacustrine. The latter is dominated by lacustrine mudstone with decreasing lonestones upward, thin bedded sandstone, conglomerate and a thick fluvial sandstone and pebbly sandstone succession at the top, signalling the transition to a fluvial system through time. The overall dataset suggests that the late Paleozoic glacigenic deposits of Northern Victoria Land record the evolution from a setting characterized by a terrestrial small ice cap that underwent repeated advances and retreats due to climate cycles in a lacustrine setting, into a postglacial paleoenvironmental scenario with a wide fluvial system draining northwards from Victoria Land towards the Tasmanian Basin. The results contribute to increasing knowledge of the timing and modalities of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Gondwana, particularly for polar regions such as Antarctica.

Palynology of the Albian Makhtesh Qatan site, northern Negev (Israel), with descriptions of two new pollen species

Three levels of an independently dated Early Cretaceous succession in the northern Negev have yielded palynofloras of Albian age. The Afropollis jardinus-Tricolpites-Trisectoris-Qatanipollis Assemblage is from the lowermost level, a shale bed of about 60cm thickness intercalated in the predominantly fluvial sandstones of the upper Hatira Formation at Makhtesh Qatan (IQ1 locality). The IQ1 palynoflora is dominated by psilatrilete spores, which are interpreted as influx from a fern bog. Altogether 46 formal and informal taxa were identified among the pteridophytic and bryophytic spores of this locality. The gymnosperms yielded 33 taxa including the new species Partitisporites krassilovii. The angiosperms are represented by 36 mono- and triaperturate species including Afropollis jardinus, the new species Foveomonocolpites ravnii and representatives of the genera Foveotricolpites, Qatanipollis, Rousea, Tricolpites and Trisectoris. A middle Albian age of this assemblage is supported by correlation of the IQ1 level with a marine intercalation, the Uza marine tongue of middle-late Albian age and by the stratigraphic position of the IQ1 bed below the ammonite-dated late Albian lower Hazera (Hevyon) Formation at Makhtesh Ramon.Immediately above the dark grey palyniferous IQ1 shale, grey or light grey shales occur, which are either barren or yielded the remains of a weathered, residual palynoflora with freshwater algae such as Botryococcus and Ovoidites.The upper Hatira Formation discussed so far is overlain by the marine carbonates of the Hazera (=Hevyon Formation). The lower part of this formation yielded at Makhtesh Ramon a late Albian ammonite (Hypengonoceras, Lewy), which is associated with an elaterate pollen-bearing assemblage corresponding largely to the Afropollis jardinus–Elaterosporites klaszii Assemblage recovered by the author from the same formation and locality.In contrast to the spore-dominated IQ1 Assemblage, the late Albian palynoflora from Makhtesh Ramon (Miz7/6) is dominated by Classopollis, followed by psilatrilete spores and dinoflagellate cysts. The IQ1 palynoflora reflects high humidity and influence from a vegetation rich in ferns, while the abundance of Classopollis (Cheirolepidiaceae) in the late Albian sample may suggest a shift towards drier conditions.

Stratigraphic Controls on Petrophysical Attributes and Fluid-Flow Pathways in an Exhumed Fluvial Reservoir

Fluvial, floodplain and lake strata of the Green River Formation (Eocene) occur within an exhumed oil reservoir exposed in a quarry near Sunnyside, Utah. Strata in the quarry highwalls define three, asymmetrical, 15- to 20-m thick, base-level-rise genetic sequences arranged in a long-term base-level-rise (landward stepping) stacking pattern. Variable intensity of oil stain on rock surfaces is a qualitative measure of pore volumes, as all permeable facies are fully saturated with oil. Visual estimates of oil-stain intensity, combined with petrophysical measurements and petrographic analysis of the different facies, were used to define fluid-flow compartments and their boundaries. Strata and facies that functioned as fluid-flow conduits, retardants and barriers were mapped on photomosaics of the quarry highwall. Three separate fluid-flow compartments coincide with the three genetic sequences. Amalgamated fluvial sandstones at the base of each genetic sequence functioned as flow units of varying permeability and degree of interconnectedness. Laterally continuous floodplain and/or lacustrine mudstones, which cap each genetic sequence, entirely lack oil in matrix porosity and functioned as fluid-flow barriers and compartment boundaries. Petrophysical properties of specific sedimentary facies are sensitive to stratigraphic position at three spatial scales, even though the sedimentary facies appear nearly identical. At the long-term scale, porosity and permeability of the same facies (trough cross-stratified sandstone is the most common) in channel sandstones of the three genetic sequences decrease in stratigraphic succession. Within each genetic sequence, porosity and permeability are highest at the base and decrease quasilinearly to the top. Using oil-stain intensity as a proxy, porosity and permeability generally decrease from base to top of each scour-based channel macroform. Petrophysical variations coincide with subtle variations in grain size and trough cross-stratification set thickness within otherwise indistinguishable sedimentary facies. These results demonstrate that conventional crossplots of porosity/permeability versus sedimentary facies are unnecessarily broad and imprecise. When such petrophysical data are plotted in a stratigraphic context, porosity and permeability values have significantly reduced scatter. Porosity and permeability measurements and predictions of each sedimentary facies should be made from a stratigraphic perspective. From our observations of variations in intensity of oil stain, homogeneity of fluid flow may not be equated directly with facies homogeneity. At one extreme of an apparent continuum, fluid-flow pathways are tortuous and extremely variable within homogeneous, high permeability, amalgamated channel sandstones. Sweep efficiencies may be low in these cases. At an intermediate position in the continuum, increased diversity of sedimentary facies and stratigraphic variability usually cause sufficient stratigraphic separation of permeable and impermeable strata such that fluid-flow pathways are more confined and have a reduced tortuosity. Sweep efficiencies may be high in these cases. At the other extreme of the continuum, where diversity of sedimentary facies and stratigraphic variability is very high, stratigraphic units are discontinuous and restricted in area. In such cases, fluid-flow pathways are not laterally connected, and sweep efficiencies would be low.

Regional study of controls on reservoir quality in the Triassic Skagerrak Formation of the Central North Sea

Abstract An improved understanding of the controls on reservoir quality is key to ongoing and future exploration of the Central North Sea Triassic play. This paper presents a regional integrated study of 50 000 ft of wireline log data, 10 000 ft of core, 4431 routine core analyses measurements and 377 thin sections from 86 cored wells. Triassic Skagerrak Formation sandstones represent thin-bedded heterogeneous reservoirs deposited in a dryland fluvial–lacustrine setting. Fluvial-channel facies are typically fine–medium grained and characterized by a low clay content, whilst lake-margin terminal splay facies are finer grained, more argillaceous and micaceous. Lacustrine intervals are mud-dominated. Primary depositional textures retain a primary control on porosity evolution through burial. Optimal reservoir quality occurs in aerially and stratigraphically restricted fluvial-channel tracts on the Drake, Greater Marnock, Puffin and Gannet terraces, and the J-Ridge area. These primary textural and compositional controls are overprinted by mechanical compaction, the development of early overpressure and diagenesis. Anomalously high porosities are retained at depth in fluvial sandstones that have a low degree of compaction and cementation, including chlorite. Forward modelling of reservoir quality using Touchstone™ software has been validated using well UK 30/8-3 where reservoir depths are &gt;16 000 ft TVDSS (true vertical depth subsea).

Provenance of Lower Paleogene Strata In the Huerfano Basin: Implications For Uplift of the Wet Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A.

Abstract: Sedimentary basins throughout the western interior of North America preserve a record of Late Cretaceous through latest Eocene sedimentation derived from flanking Laramide uplifts and Sevier hinterland. In northern and western basins, the strata contain a well-documented record of Laramide-style exhumation. However, the tectonic histories of more southerly basins, such as the Huerfano Basin studied herein, are comparatively poorly known despite being key for understanding the spatiotemporal evolution of Laramide tectonism. In this study we address this issue with a comprehensive analysis of provenance for the Poison Canyon, Cuchara, and Huerfano formations in the Huerfano Basin (south-central, Colorado, U.S.A.). As part of our provenance analysis, we characterized gravel clast composition, petrographic compositions of sandstone bodies (N = 31 thin sections), and U–Pb detrital-zircon age spectra (n = 848 age determinations) from fluvial sandstone units in each of the three formations. The results are used to construct a new unroofing and source history for the sediments in the basin that contradicts previous hypotheses. Diagnostic zircon peaks at 516–517 Ma, 1423–1430 Ma, and 1678–1687 Ma show that sediment delivered to the Huerfano Basin did not originate in the San Luis Highlands or the incipient Sangre de Cristo Mountains, but from the Precambrian crystalline core and associated Cambrian plutons of the Wet Mountains, which were exposed by the time Laramide deposition began in the basin. There are no detected provenance shifts upsection, indicating a largely stable or lithologically uniform sediment source from the Paleocene through at least ∼ 51 Ma. This suggests that the major changes recorded in the rock record were more likely related to variations in tectonic and climatic conditions rather than changes in lithology of the rocks being eroded.

Cenozoic tectonostratigraphic evolution and architecture of the Central Andes in northern Chile based on the Aquine region, Western Cordillera (19°-19º30’ S).

Crustal thickening by horizontal shortening and associated deformation have been broadly considered as prime mechanisms for mountain building in the Central Andes of western South America. However, timing and structural style of Andean orogeny in northernmost Chile remains to be fully understood. By means of this contribution we attempt to unravel the Cenozoic tectonostratigraphy and structural architecture of a narrow segment within the Western Cordillera (western flank of the Altiplano plateau), based on detailed structural mapping, available and new geochronological data gathered from the Aquine region (~19°15’ S). The geology of this area indicates that compressive tectonics dominated for ~21 Myr, between 27 Ma and 6 Ma, and that onset of deformation probably occurred in the middle Eocene (after ca. 49 Ma). According to angular unconformities registered throughout the region, three principal compressive episodes have been determined: (1) middle Eocene-late Oligocene (ca. 49-27 Ma); (2) late Oligocene-middle Miocene (ca. 27-14 Ma); and (3) middle-latest Miocene, 14-6 Ma. Paleogene and Neogene structural development within the Aquine region was concomitant to activity on the bordering West and East Vergent Thrust Systems (WTS and ETS), which controlled uplift of the western Altiplano since the late Oligocene-early Miocene, located at the foot of the Precordillera and within the eastern part of the Western Cordillera, respectively. Major structures in the western segment of the region are high-angle, east-vergent, substratum-involving thrusts that affect late Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary intra-arc deposits. Unalike, a west-vergent fold-and-thrust belt is developed in the southeastern segment of the region, involving only Miocene deposits. These contrasting structural styles and opposite vergences indicate a combination of thin- and thick-skinned tectonics in a “pop-up” like structural array. Growth strata and sedimentological features in alluvial and fluvial sandstones and conglomerates of the upper Miocene Mauque Formation suggest the occurrence of syntectonic deposition. In addition, gentle angular unconformities within upper Oligocene-upper Miocene arc deposits suggest that sedimentation and volcanism developed synchronic to compressive tectonics throughout the Miocene and coeval to deposition in the active bordering thrust systems (WTS and ETS). The interpreted tectonostratigraphic development of the study area is similar to but slightly diachronic with the Cenozoic evolution in the Belen region (18°-19° S) of northernmost Chile. We interpret that east- and west-vergent thrusts within the Western Cordillera, are deeply rooted in a crustal-scale “pop-up” structure that accommodated Cenozoic deformation on the western flank of the Altiplano. Uplift as a consequence of contraction along the Western Cordillera was coeval to late Paleogene block exhumation and subsequent Neogene development of fold-and-thrust belts on the eastern border of the Altiplano. The main structural characteristics within the Aquine region suggest that inversion of an Upper Cretaceous intra-arc basin was of major relevance for the Cenozoic structural development of the Western Cordillera.

Influence of textural parameters on detrital-zircon age spectra with application to provenance and paleogeography during the Ediacaran−Terreneuvian of southwestern Laurentia

Multiple sedimentary structures of different scales and representative of various flow conditions were sampled from single, sand-dominated, fluvial channels in the Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) upper member of the Stirling Quartzite and the Cambrian (Terreneuvian) middle member of the Wood Canyon Formation. Sampling was designed to determine if sorting of detrital-zircon populations by their textural properties affects detrital-zircon age spectra in fluvial sandstones. Grain sizes of the sampled host sandstones range from fine to coarse sand, and sorting ranges from moderately well to poorly sorted. Four Wood Canyon Formation samples contain detrital-zircon grains of similar size, whereas detrital zircons in samples of the Stirling Quartzite differ greatly in size between two samples. Paired Kolmogorov-Smirnov, overlap, and likeness statistical tests demonstrate that all samples from each channel are similar. Comparing size, sphericity, and roundness of detrital-zircon grains to their ages yielded no linear correlation. Sorting of sediments by their textural properties did not affect detrital-zircon age spectra in either unit. In this study, different sedimentary structures within a single fluvial channel do not control the age distribution of detrital zircons. Furthermore, the two braidplain systems (Wood Canyon Formation, Stirling Quartzite) have substantially different detrital-zircon age spectra, indicating that the fluvial environment in general is not responsible for selecting specific age populations. The dominant ca. 1.1 Ga Grenvillian peak in the middle member Wood Canyon Formation results from provenance, not sampling bias. Uplift and erosion of Grenvillian rocks along the Ouachita rift flank during the earliest Cambrian may have generated a pulse of sediment that entered a northwestward-flowing braidplain.

Sedimentology and depositional environments of the Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation in southern Jordan

The Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation of Jordan comprises approximately 200-m-thick succession of fluvial quartzarenites with subordinate claystone and siltstone lithologies of shallow marine conditions. The Umm Sahm Formation is characterized by its dark brown color, frequent jointing, and steep scarps. The Umm Sahm Formation is bounded by the marine claystones of Hiswah Formation at the top and the fluvial sandstones of the Disi Formation at the bottom. The Umm Sahm Formation is composed of two main facies: fluvial facies and tidal facies. The fluvial facies constitutes about 93% of the total thickness. The lower few meters of the succession passes upward from the Disi Sandstone Formation into similar massive white sandstone facies exhibiting similar white color, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone, with round-shaped pebbles. Trough and planar cross-bedding show a northwest unidirectional palaeocurrent trend. Light brown colored quartzarenites similar to those of the Cambrian Umm Ishrin Sandstone Formation are most common in the upper part of the succession. The tidal facies occupies three intervals in the middle part of the succession. It is composed of laminated and thin-bedded sandstones, siltstones, and claystones. They are rippled and varicolored with abundant trace fossils (Cruziana, Harlania, ruzophycus). The presence of hummocky cross stratification indicates the earliest short-lived tempestite conditions during the Paleozoic erathem of Jordan. The first appearance of Graptolites in the Ordovician rocks of Jordan was recorded during this study in the tidal facies of the Umm Sahm Formation. The vertical arrangement of both fluvial and tidal facies indicates three successive short-lived transgressions and regressions. These marine incursions indicate the successive shoreline advances of the Tethys Ocean, which was located northward, and inundated the southern braid plain. The three short-lived transgressive events took place, and the Tethys marine margin was displaced southward, giving rise to deposition of tidal facies in an open coast tidal flat. Following the transgressive events, renewed progradation and strandline retreat took place, fed by large amounts of siliciclastics derived from the continent and transported by braided streams across the intertidal zone.

Using unmanned aerial vehicles and structure-from-motion photogrammetry to characterize sedimentary outcrops: An example from the Morrison Formation, Utah, USA

Recently developed data collection techniques allow for improved characterization of sedimentary outcrops. Here, we outline a workflow that utilizes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry to produce sub-meter-scale outcrop reconstructions in 3-D. SfM photogrammetry uses multiple overlapping images and an image-based terrain extraction algorithm to reconstruct the location of individual points from the photographs in 3-D space. The results of this technique can be used to construct point clouds, orthomosaics, and digital surface models that can be imported into GIS and related software for further study. The accuracy of the reconstructed outcrops, with respect to an absolute framework, is improved with geotagged images or independently gathered ground control points, and the internal accuracy of 3-D reconstructions is sufficient for sub-meter scale measurements. We demonstrate this approach with a case study from central Utah, USA, where UAV-SfM data can help delineate complex features within Jurassic fluvial sandstones.

Speculative petroleum systems of the southern Pelotas Basin, offshore Uruguay

The Pelotas Basin of Brazil and Uruguay represents a frontier basin with under-explored hydrocarbon potential. Although oil and gas accumulations have yet to be identified, only 21 exploratory wells have been drilled in an area of more than 330,000 km2, 20 of which are located in the Brazilian portion of the basin. A detailed study of the petroleum system of offshore Uruguay has strong potential to contribute to a better characterization of the capacity of the basin to generate and accumulate hydrocarbons. Three stages have previously been recognized during the evolution of Pelotas basin: (1) a prerift phase which preserved Paleozoic and Mesozoic units of the Paraná Basin; (2) an Early Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary synrift phase; and (3) a Cretaceous to Cenozoic postrift phase deposited during the passive margin stage. In this study, we use sequence stratigraphy methodology to interpret 2D multichannel seismic sections of the southern segment of the Pelotas Basin in the Uruguayan Atlantic margin. This analysis allows us to identify depositional sequences, systems tracts and the distribution of the main elements of the potential petroleum systems. Following our analysis, we propose six speculative petroleum systems (SPS) in the Pelotas Basin. The first SPS is related to the prerift phase and is represented by a Lower Permian restricted marine source rock and reservoirs related to Permian to Upper Jurassic aeolian and fluvial sandstones. The second SPS corresponds to the synrift phase and is constituted by a Barremian lacustrine source rock with reservoirs of alluvial/fluvial sandstones of the same age. The other four proposed SPS are associated with the postrift phase, represented by marine source rocks related to Aptian-Albian, Cenomanian-Turonian and Paleocene transgressions, all of which are identified in the region and interpreted in seismic lines from Uruguay. These postrift SPS have predominantly siliciclastic reservoirs represented by Early Cretaceous aeolian sandstones and Cretaceous to Cenozoic deltaic sandstones and turbidites.

Mineralogical and geochemical analysis of Fe-phases in drill-cores from the Triassic Stuttgart Formation at Ketzin CO2 storage site before CO2 arrival

Reactive iron (Fe) oxides and sheet silicate-bound Fe in reservoir rocks may affect the subsurface storage of CO2 through several processes by changing the capacity to buffer the acidification by CO2 and the permeability of the reservoir rock: (1) the reduction of three-valent Fe in anoxic environments can lead to an increase in pH, (2) under sulphidic conditions, Fe may drive sulphur cycling and lead to the formation of pyrite, and (3) the leaching of Fe from sheet silicates may affect silicate diagenesis. In order to evaluate the importance of Fe-reduction on the CO2 reservoir, we analysed the Fe geochemistry in drill-cores from the Triassic Stuttgart Formation (Schilfsandstein) recovered from the monitoring well at the CO2 test injection site near Ketzin, Germany. The reservoir rock is a porous, poorly to moderately cohesive fluvial sandstone containing up to 2–4 wt% reactive Fe. Based on a sequential extraction, most Fe falls into the dithionite-extractable Fe-fraction and Fe bound to sheet silicates, whereby some Fe in the dithionite-extractable Fe-fraction may have been leached from illite and smectite. Illite and smectite were detected in core samples by X-ray diffraction and confirmed as the main Fe-containing mineral phases by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Chlorite is also present, but likely does not contribute much to the high amount of Fe in the silicate-bound fraction. The organic carbon content of the reservoir rock is extremely low (<0.3 wt%), thus likely limiting microbial Fe-reduction or sulphate reduction despite relatively high concentrations of reactive Fe-mineral phases in the reservoir rock and sulphate in the reservoir fluid. Both processes could, however, be fuelled by organic matter that is mobilized by the flow of supercritical CO2 or introduced with the drilling fluid. Over long time periods, a potential way of liberating additional reactive Fe could occur through weathering of silicates due to acidification by CO2.

Facies Architecture of the Fluvial-Aeolian Buchan Formation (Upper Devonian) and Its Implications on Field Exploration: A Case Study from Ardmore Field, Central North Sea, UK

The Upper Devonian Buchan Formation in the Central North Sea is a typical terrestrial deposit and predominantly comprises fine to medium-grained sandstones with occasional conglomerates and mudstones. The Buchan Formation has been previously described as being made up mostly of braided fluvial sandstones; however, this study confirms the presence and significance of aeolian sandstones within this fluvial-dominated sequence. Facies architecture is investigated through analogue outcrop study, well log curves and numerical facies modelling, and the results show contrasting differences between fluvial and aeolian facies. The fluvial facies is composed of multiple superimposed and sand-dominated fining-upward cycles in the vertical direction, and laterally an individual cycle has a large width/thickness ratio but is smaller than the field scale. However, the high channel deposition proportion (CDP, average value = 72%) in fluvial-dominated intervals means that it is likely all the sand bodies are interconnected. Aeolian facies comprise superimposed dune and interdune depositions and can be laterally correlated over considerable distances (over 1 km). Although the aeolian sandstones are volumetrically minor (approx. 30%) within the whole Buchan Formation, they have very high porosity and permeability (14.1% - 28%, 27 - 5290 mD) and therefore are excellent potential reservoirs. The fluvial sandstones are significantly cemented by quartz overgrowth and dolomite and by comparison with the aeolian sandstones are poor reservoirs. Aeolian sandstones can be differentiated from fluvial sandstones using several features: pin-stripe lamentation, good sorting, high visible porosity, friable nature and lack of muddy or conglomeratic contents; these characteristics allow aeolian sandstones can be tentatively recognized by low gamma ray values, high sonic transit time and low density in uncored wells. The thin, laterally correlatable and permeable aeolian sandstones within the Buchan Formation are effective reservoirs and could form important exploration targets when the Devonian is targeted elsewhere in the North Sea.

Sedimentology of the Early Jurassic limestone beds of the Kota Formation: record of carbonate wetlands in a continental rift basin of India

Pranhita–Godavari is one of the major rift basins of peninsular India that was actively filled when the Indian landmass was a part of Gondwanaland, the southern supercontinent. The basin-fill succession of this continental rift basin is characterized mainly by fluvial sandstones and mudstones. In the Early Jurassic this basin hosted a freshwater carbonate deposit characterized by a 20–30 m thick alternation of laminated and massive limestones. The remains and traces of land vertebrates, invertebrates and plants suggest that this limestone serves as one of the rare examples of freshwater carbonate depositing environment within a continental rift basin. The limestone interval is characterized by repeatedly stacked meter-thick laminated and massive carbonate-rich sediments. These sediments are classified into two facies associations representing two main depositional domains of a rift-bound, large, freshwater wetland system: a shallow lacustrine palaeoenvironment and a palustrine paleoenvironment. The former palaeoenvironment is characterized by laminated carbonate facies and the later one is by mottled, nodular and bioturbated limestone. Repeated influx of siliclastics by surface flow into ca-rich water bodies produced the laminated carbonates. Whereas, subaerial modifications and reworking of primary deposits resulted in palustrine carbonates. Vertebrate tracks, evidences of rooting, and the absence of deep basinal facies in this succession along with repetitive stacking of sediments formed in subaqueous and subaerial conditions indicates that the depositional environment was more akin to a modern wetland. This Jurassic carbonate wetland developed in the rift basin when the watershed on the adjacent rift shoulder exposed Proterozoic carbonate rocks that provided the ions necessary for carbonate accumulation. The repeated stacking of meter-scale lacustrine and palustrine carbonates in this limestone reflect long-periodicity fluctuations in water level possibly related to subsidence events of the rift valley.