Mobile Shale Research Articles

Shortening a mixed salt and mobile shale system: A case study from East Breaks, northwest Gulf of Mexico

The coexistence of two low-shear strength layers in a continental margin, such as salt and shales, conditions the resulting structural style and also constitutes a challenge for seismic imaging and energy resource exploration. We have analyzed the 3D structure of a mixed salt-shale system in the western Gulf of Mexico, in the East Breaks foldbelt, by interpreting a depth-migrated seismic data set. Overlying the allochthonous Sigsbee canopy and pierced by isolated salt diapirs, the Oligocene shale-prone sequences were shortened during the Miocene through pervasive deformations, developing a major suprasalt detachment system associated with duplexes below and different fold and thrust systems above. Oligocene shales locally reach a critical state and flow, resulting in: (1) inflated shale-cored detachment anticlines, with the stacking of allochthonous mobile shale domains; (2) detached lift-off anticlines with shale bulbs and fishtail thrusted welds; (3) allochthonous shale sheets at the upper tip of thrusts, fed by fluidized material migrating along associated fault zones; (4) hourglass shale diapirs; and (5) Christmas trees and vertical mud pipes connected to small mud volcanoes. The salt diapirs deformed simultaneously, as did the shales. Salt accommodated the shortening through localized subvertical welds that isolated them from the allochthonous Sigsbee canopy and through weld thrusts formed by fault-bounded blocks with highly sheared salt and mobile shales. Mobile shale structures wrap around the squeezed salt diapirs, presenting a unique pattern that has not yet been documented in experimental models with precursor salt diapirs deformed under contraction. Mixed salt-shale systems are a new challenge for structural analysis and experimental models, as well as for seismic model building in situations where there is a high dispersion of seismic energy due to the unique properties of mobile shales.

The Cibarco anticline of the northernmost San Jacinto fold belt: Possible influence of mud diapirism on the Neogene to the recent evolution of the structure where the first oil and gas wells were drilled in Colombia

The Cibarco anticline, located in the northwestern South American convergent margin, is a long (approximately 40 km) and narrow (2.5 km wide), south-southwest–north-northeast-trending structure that separates two much wider depocenters, the Tubará-Juan de Acosta depocenter (approximately 20 km wide) to the west, and the Sabanalarga syncline (approximately 11 km wide) to the east. Detailed geologic surface mapping and subsurface seismic interpretation suggest that the formation and evolution of the Cibarco anticline have been strongly influenced by mud diapirism, which has been focused along a west-southwest–east-northeast-trending, inverted pre-Oligocene extensional fault. Seismic interpretation and outcrop analyses also confirmed that the source of mobile shales is the Upper Oligocene marlstones of the Lower Ciénaga de Oro Formation. We suggest that the main mechanism that caused the overpressures that triggered and controlled shale mobilization was disequilibrium compaction related to the sedimentary loading of impermeable seals and the shortening and inversion of pre-Oligocene extensional faults. Growth strata indicate that the Upper Oligocene mud started moving in Early Miocene times during the deposition of the thick Porquero mudstones, and it stopped migrating in Latest Miocene times. After an uplift and erosion event, mud diapirism remained inactive in the Early Miocene, and it was then reactivated in Late Pliocene times. Slight mud migration focused on the inverted fault continued throughout the Pleistocene and to the present. Today, the slight mud migration to the surface is observed in volcanoes located in the northern strand of the Cibarco anticline, although the rest of the anticline has become welded. Our new interpretations, carried out more than a century after the first hydrocarbon exploration activities began in Colombia, will hopefully allow us to increase our understanding of shale tectonics, petroleum systems, and plays in this portion of the convergent margin.

Unlocking the Nile Delta subsurface via advanced processing and imaging

The subsurface of the Nile Delta is infamous for challenges that are caused by a variety of geologic features that need to be resolved to unlock the full potential of the basin. The primary cause for many of the issues is the Messinian interval. This is a well-studied regional salt body with significant variation in composition, ranging from mobile shales to sand bodies over contaminated salt to anhydrite. The layer locally shows a hard top and base, which sets up mode conversions and complex multiples. The Messinian is also highly variable in terms of its geometry, thickness, faulting, and rugosity, which results in significant scattering of the seismic wavefield. The problem is further complicated by the presence of mud volcanoes that are scattered throughout the basin. Some of the mud volcanoes are currently active, and others are buried beneath more recent deposits. Free gas is often associated with these structures, and a high degree of lateral and vertical rock property variation is present, leading to complexities in seismic velocity and attenuation. The water depth varies considerably within the basin. Some producing assets exist that straddle the coastline, while others are located in water depths in excess of 1000 m. The transition is not simple due to erosional features on the seabed, leading to complex free-surface multiples. While many discoveries and developments have already been made in the post-Messinian, prospectivity in the basin is now located in the pre-Messinian, with targets ranging in depth from 2 to 10 km. When all of these features are combined, it results in a truly complex geophysical challenge.

Modeling mobile shales under contraction: Critical analyses of new analog simulations of shale tectonics and comparison with salt-bearing systems

Weak substrates, such as salt and mobile shales, exert a strong control on deformation styles in all structural settings, especially those undergoing contraction. Despite both materials being very weak, they are mechanically very different. Salt is weak and will flow in a ductile fashion under most geologic conditions, whereas shales only become mobile after reaching a critical state. Many sandbox-style physical or analog modeling studies have typically used a salt analog, viscous silicone polymer, as a proxy for mobile shales. However, to more accurately model mobile shale behavior, the model material needs to exhibit yield strength. One such material is Carbopol, which is made up of microgel grains that are elasto-plastic, separated by a viscous interstitial fluid. The abundance of the grains depends on the concentration of the mixture. Our results show that Carbopol does behave much differently than the traditional salt analog during contraction. Polydimethylsiloxanes typically undergoes bulk deformation and inflation under contraction, whereas Carbopol forms discrete, intense shear zones and contains zones of little to no strain where its yield strength has not been exceeded. Below the shale analog, brittle layers typically form imbricate thrust stacks, jacking up the overburden, with shear zones propagating out from thrust tips along and through the shale proxy. Strain analyses reveal complex switching of activity within the Carbopol and overlying sediments. Models reveal that even a very thin layer of Carbopol can act as a highly efficient detachment, and form more geologically realistic shortening structures, especially where these detachments are vertically stacked and horizontally offset. We believe that Carbopol is a powerful mobile-shale analog and opens new modeling directions because, as far as we are aware, this material has never been incorporated into a traditional sandbox model. Future work will seek to incorporate this material into more complex and 3D sandbox-style models.

Interaction between salt and mobile shale in the East Breaks foldbelt, northwestern Gulf of Mexico

The East Breaks foldbelt comprises a series of dominantly slope-parallel folds and thrusts detached on a mostly evacuated salt canopy on the northern Gulf of Mexico slope. The canopy was emplaced near the end of the Eocene. The foldbelt formed mostly in the Oligocene, although minor amounts of shortening continued through the Miocene. We attribute the anomalous trend of structures in the foldbelt to convergent gravity gliding produced by the bend in topography in the northwest corner of the Gulf of Mexico. We suggest that convergent deformation was localized in the East Breaks foldbelt because the area comprised a shale-dominated slope between two sand-prone slope aprons during the Oligocene. These aprons were stronger than the shalier East Breaks area in between, allowing convergent deformation to be partitioned into weak shales.The fact that the Oligocene sequence in the area is shale prone means that shortening was accommodated on multiple detachment levels with fishtail thrusts, as well as in mobile shales, which occur alongside salt diapirs sourced from the canopy. The coincidence of salt structures and mobile shales allows a comparison of their behavior during shortening. Mobile-shale deformation is most intense near a minimally shortened salt massif, leading us to conclude that salt behaved more competently than mobile shale during shortening. This conclusion is counter to the general assumption that salt, where present, is the weakest part of any geologic system.

Mud volcanoes guided by thrusting in compressional settings

Mud volcanoes are fed largely by fracture systems, but fracture systems are common in fold-and-thrust belts (FTBs), and not all of them extrude mud volcanoes. One popular hypothesis is that mud volcanoes extrude up normal faults and fractures in the crests of thrust-related anticlines. Using a high-resolution depth-migrated seismic cube in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, we demonstrate the occurrence of buried mud volcanoes (shale sheets) that appear to have been fed by fluids moving up the thrust faults themselves. Mobile shales in this deepwater FTB detach a mostly welded allochthonous salt sheet. The main phase of shortening was during the Miocene, accompanying the sedimentation. Shortening generated multiple detachment levels, stacked duplexes, thrusts, and folds affecting the Oligocene mobile shales. Above these detachments, syn-sedimentary shortening initially generated detachment folds that progressively evolved into upward-propagating listric thrusts and fault-propagation anticlines. Shale sheets formed near the central thrust domains, associated with higher fault dips and larger fault displacements. We argue that their feeder systems were probably thrust-related shear zones that widened upward and comprised networks of anastomosing fractures. Finally, we propose that the position of mud volcanoes with respect to the underlying thrust systems depends on the path of least resistance to the surface. Although overpressured muds may vertically reach the surface via extensional fractures in the crests of thrust-related anticlines, we have shown to the contrary that when thrusts are emergent in a deepwater FTB, fluids continue up the inclined thrusts and adjacent fractures, forming mud volcanoes at the thrust tips.

Extensional deformation of a shale‐dominated delta: Tarakan Basin, offshore Indonesia

AbstractDeformation on shale‐rich continental margins is commonly associated with thin‐skinned extension above mobile shales. Normal faulting and shale mobilization are widespread on such margins, being associated with and controlled by progradation and gravitational failure of deltaic sedimentary wedges. However, due to uncertainties in seismically imaging mobile shales, our understanding of problems like how base mobile‐shale controls deformation, and the shape, size, and distribution of shale structures remains poorly understood. Here, we use 3D seismic reflection data from the platform region of the Tarakan Basin, offshore eastern Indonesia to investigate the temporal and spatial evolution of thin‐skinned deformation of the Neogene sedimentary section. Our detailed seismic interpretation reveals up to 74 km long, concave‐ and convex‐into‐the‐basin normal faults, dipping both basinward (eastwards) and locally landward (westwards), which detach downwards on a basal mobile shale (Early‐Middle Miocene). The base of the mobile‐shale unit dips gently (<17°) seaward, although older (Eocene‐Early Miocene), rift‐related normal faults originate local structural highs deforming the base of mobile shales. Our isochore (thickness map) analysis shows that supra‐shale normal faulting commenced in the Middle Miocene and was accompanied by the formation of hanging‐wall rollover folds and associated crestal grabens, with the subsequent along‐ and across strike migration of the deformation related to the nucleation, lateral linkage and reactivation of individual fault systems. Updip growth normal faulting was also accompanied by the downslope flow of mobile shale, accompanied by parallel and perpendicular variations of the differential loading in the delta system, and local contraction and mobile‐shale upbuilding, resulting in the growth of large, margin‐parallel shale anticlines further downdip. The growth faults and anticlines are locally overlain by up to 5 km tall mud pipes and volcanoes. We suggest that variations in the rate of sedimentary loading, mobile‐shale flow, fault growth and gravitational failure of the delta system above a seaward‐dipping, but locally rugose base mobile‐shale surface, controlled Neogene deformation in the Tarakan Basin. We also demonstrate how variations in the trend and dip of the base mobile‐shale surface influence the position, timing of formation and evolution of supra‐shale normal faults and their associated depocentres along shale‐rich, deltaic margins.

Interaction between Salt and Mobile Shale in the East Breaks Foldbelt, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Interaction between Salt and Mobile Shale in the East Breaks Foldbelt, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Shale mobility: From salt-like shale flow to fluid mobilization in gravity-driven deformation, the late Albian–Turonian White Pointer Delta (Ceduna Subbasin, Great Bight, Australia)

Large offshore depocenters above a weak detachment level (either salt or shale) can undergo gravity spreading and/or gliding. The gravitational systems (e.g., gliding deltas) are classically composed of an updip domain affected by extensional listric normal faults and a downdip domain affected by toe thrusts. While the role of salt in such systems is a classic tectonic process, the role and mechanical behavior of mobile shale levels in shale-prone gravity-driven systems are increasingly questioned. A three-dimensional seismic data set in the Ceduna Subbasin (Australia) displays the late Albian–Turonian White Pointer Delta (WPD) as having an unusual diversity of shale-cored structures. The early flow of shale resulted in depocenters showing wedges, internal unconformities, and shale diapirs and ridges, while fluidization of shales underneath a significant burial resulted in mud volcanism, secondary radial fault sets, and collapse features beneath the Campanian–Maastrichtian Hammerhead Delta, which lies above the WPD. Massive shale mobilization, together with downdip shortening and distal margin uplift, localized a major thrust in the core of the basin, ending the downward-propagating failure of the WPD. Mobilization of thick shale intervals, either as salt-like flow or mud volcanism, appears to have been a key process in the deformation, which should be considered at large scale for worldwide gravity-driven deformation systems.

Shale mobility: From salt-like shale flow to fluid mobilization in gravity-driven deformation, the late Albian–Turonian White Pointer Delta (Ceduna Subbasin, Great Bight, Australia)

Abstract Large offshore depocenters above a weak detachment level (either salt or shale) can undergo gravity spreading and/or gliding. The gravitational systems (e.g., gliding deltas) are classically composed of an updip domain affected by extensional listric normal faults and a downdip domain affected by toe thrusts. While the role of salt in such systems is a classic tectonic process, the role and mechanical behavior of mobile shale levels in shale-prone gravity-driven systems are increasingly questioned. A three-dimensional seismic data set in the Ceduna Subbasin (Australia) displays the late Albian–Turonian White Pointer Delta (WPD) as having an unusual diversity of shale-cored structures. The early flow of shale resulted in depocenters showing wedges, internal unconformities, and shale diapirs and ridges, while fluidization of shales underneath a significant burial resulted in mud volcanism, secondary radial fault sets, and collapse features beneath the Campanian–Maastrichtian Hammerhead Delta, which lies above the WPD. Massive shale mobilization, together with downdip shortening and distal margin uplift, localized a major thrust in the core of the basin, ending the downward-propagating failure of the WPD. Mobilization of thick shale intervals, either as salt-like flow or mud volcanism, appears to have been a key process in the deformation, which should be considered at large scale for worldwide gravity-driven deformation systems.

A major Miocene deepwater mud canopy system: The North Sabah–Pagasa Wedge, northwestern Borneo

Abstract Three-dimensional seismic reflection data, well data, and analogues from areas with extensive shale tectonics indicate that the enigmatic deepwater “shale nappe or thrust sheet” region of northern offshore Sabah, Malaysia, now referred to as the North Sabah–Pagasa Wedge (NSPW), is actually a region of major mobile shale activity characterized by mini-basins and mud pipes, chambers, and volcanoes. A short burst of extensive mud volcano activity produced a submarine mud canopy complex composed of ~50 mud volcano centers (each probably composed of multiple mud volcanoes) that cover individual areas of between 4 and 80 km2. The total area of dense mud canopy development is ~1900 km2. During the middle Miocene, the post-collisional NSPW was composed predominantly of overpressured shales that were loaded by as much as 4 km thickness of clastics in a series of mini-basins. Following mini-basin development, there was a very important phase of mud volcanism, which built extensive mud canopies (coalesced mud flows) and vent complexes. The mud canopies affected deposition of the overlying and interfingering deposits, including late middle to early late Miocene deepwater turbidite sandstones, which are reservoirs in some fields (e.g., Rotan field). The presence of the extensive mud volcanoes indicates very large volumes of gas had to be generated within the NSPW to drive the mud volcanism. The Sabah example is only the second mud canopy system to be described in the literature and is the largest and most complex.

Evolution of submarine channel morphology in intra-slope mini-basins: 3D-seismic interpretation from offshore Niger delta

The morphological characteristics of a submarine channel system, within buried intra-slope mini-basins in the offshore Niger Delta have been investigated on 3D seismic data. The studied submarine channel named Amaku Channel Levee System (ACLS) initiated after avulsion of a feeder channel called Amaku Major System (AMS). The ACLS runs across three folds (A, B, and C), related to mobile shale deformation, being underlain by mass transport complexes (MTCs), lobes, and levees. From three defined channel reaches (upper, middle, and lower reaches), we have used seismic facies description, channel architecture characterization and quantitative analyses to decipher the spatial and temporal evolution of the channel levee system. Our results reveal that the western channel margin was controlled by structural barriers associated with mobile shale deformation, while the eastern channel margin was influenced by depositional barriers linked to levees and mass transport complexes (MTCs). We argue that the depositional barriers are in some cases more efficient than the structural barriers in controlling channel pathways, since pre-channel sediments confine the channel elements and divert them against positive reliefs. Seismic observations show that channels migrate from folds to structural lows causing flow stripping processes. Downstream variations of morphological parameters (such as sinuosity, width, and levee width), indicate that pre-existing deposits prevented these basin-ward migrations, driving straightening and narrowing of the channel system. This study reveals that submarine channels can undergo dramatic morphological and stratigraphic changes in structurally complex areas because of the configuration of sidewall reliefs, which is controlled, in turn, by the interplay between structural deformation and pre-channel deposition.

Mud Diapir or Fault‐Related Fold? On the Development of an Active Mud‐Cored Anticline Offshore Southwestern Taiwan

AbstractThere has been a controversial debate about the roles of diapiric folding versus fault‐related folding in mud‐cored anticlines. This study tackles this debate by looking into the structural developments in southwestern Taiwan. Among all the structures, the Liuchiu anticline is the only active structure exposed above sea level and therefore offers a unique opportunity to integrate land and marine data sets. On Liuchiu Island, we obtained the fold core geometry at the surface and identified three terrace groups with age constraints. In the offshore area, we obtained the fold limb geometry from seismic profiles. Given the tight fold shape and the asymmetric terrace tilting, we found that a hybrid fault tip fold‐fault propagation fold model can best explain the geologic and geomorphic features. In this regard, mud diapirism should be a secondary process, possibly along discrete patches of mobile shales to enhance fold amplification. Our model yields decreasing shortening rates from 0.7 mm/yr during the Plio‐Pleistocene to 0.375 mm/yr since 120 ka. The uplift rate however increases since the mid‐Holocene, which we tentatively attribute to larger mobile shale deformation triggered by earthquakes along the fault after the near‐fault fluids are drained. At the regional scale, we further suggest that the remaining plate convergence is absorbed by a few major structures west of Liuchiu Island.

Cenozoic evolution of mobile shales and fluid migration to seafloor: 3D seismic evidence from the offshore western Niger Delta

The offshore Niger Delta provides a spectacular example of gravity collapse tectonics, but the timing of shale mobilisation remains poorly understood. Here we present new information from the western Niger Delta, based on a detailed interpretation of a 3D seismic volume, calibrated with biostratigraphic data from exploration wells. The study area is underlain by mobile shales containing thrust-fold anticlines, overlain by >5 km thick Late Eocene to present succession of folded and faulted sediments with fluid migration features. Sedimentation rates estimated at one deep well increased during two phases, more than doubling during the Late Eocene to Serravallian (39.5–12.5 Ma), and by up to ten times during the Tortonian (9.5 Ma) to present. Thinning and onlapping geometries within the lowermost, Late Eocene-Burdigalian (39.5–18.5 Ma) interval are interpreted to record syn-depositional deformation. This indicates that shale tectonics in the offshore western Niger Delta initiated early in the evolution of the region, supporting previous interpretations that the active compressional zone of the Niger Delta was in the present continental slope before prograding to the outer-fold-thrust belt in the Pliocene. Stratal thinning above the crests of thrust-fold anticlines in the northeast and southwest of the study area suggests that shale tectonics persisted throughout the Neogene and Quaternary. A chaotic column that rises to seafloor from the crest of thrust-fold anticline, interfingering with the stratified succession is interpreted as a mud volcano edifice that has been active since at least the Burdigalian. This supports early shale mobilisation in response to generation of overpressure and also the fact that mud volcano system once formed, may act as conduits for pressure release throughout the history of a gravity-driven collapse system. The spatial association of seafloor mud volcanoes and pockmarks with deeper thrust-fold anticlines and normal faults suggests fluid migration from depth. In contrast, pockmarks overlying mass-transport deposits and submarine channels suggest fluid-flow from dewatering of more recent sediments. Our findings provide new insights into the Cenozoic tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the offshore western Niger Delta and the relation of shale mobility to fluid migration and escape during continental margin collapse.

Distribution characteristics and oil mobility thresholds in lacustrine shale reservoir: Insights from N2 adsorption experiments on samples prior to and following hydrocarbon extraction

The pore structure and oil content of shales have an important influence on the oil mobility and enrichment. In this study, the lacustrine shale samples from the Qingshankou Formation (Q1) of Songliao Basin were selected. TOC, pyrolysis, XRD and nitrogen adsorption were performed on the original and extracted shale samples. Then the influence of mineral composition and organic matter (OM) on the development of nano-scale pore, the oil phase states and mobility were analyzed. The Q1 shale samples can be sub-divided into three types according to the isotherm characteristics. Type A samples are characterized by high kerogen content, with oil mainly existing in the free phase state. Type B samples are characterized by medium kerogen content, oil mainly exists in the absorbed phase state. Type C samples are characterized by low kerogen content, with trace oil found in the absorbed phase state. Nano-scale organic pores are well developed in the Q1 Formation. Oil is primarily found in the pore spaces with diameters less than 10 nm, this being the pore size threshold for mobile shale oil. When TOCo > 2.0 wt% and EOM >1.0 wt%, Q1 Formation shale oil mobility is high, resulting in prospective drilling targets.

Proposal for a mechanical model of mobile shales

Structural systems involving mobile shale represent one of the most difficult challenges for geoscientists dedicated to exploring the subsurface structure of continental margins. Mobile-shale structures range from surficial mud volcanoes to deeply buried shale diapirs and shale-cored folds. Where mobile shales occur, seismic imaging is typically poor, drilling is hazardous, and established principles to guide interpretation are few. The central problem leading to these issues is the poor understanding of the mechanical behaviour of mobile shales. Here we propose that mobile shales are at critical state, thus we define mobile shales as “bodies of clay-rich sediment or sedimentary rock undergoing penetrative, (visco-) plastic deformation at the critical state”. We discuss how this proposition can explain key observations associated with mobile shales. The critical-state model can explain the occurrence of both fluidized (no grain contact) shales (e.g., in mud volcanoes) and more viscous shales flowing with grain-to-grain contact (e.g., in shale diapirs), mobilization of cemented and compacted shales, and the role of overpressure in shale mobility. Our model offers new avenues for understanding complex and fascinating mobile-shale structures.

Piercement mechanisms for mobile shales

AbstractWe have identified seven mechanisms by which mobile shales can pierce their roofs. The operative piercement mechanism depends on mobile‐shale viscosity, roof strength and stress state. For mobile shales at depths of several kilometres, three mechanisms are possible: fracture piercement, thrust piercement and ductile “piercement.” However, injection up fractures and faults appears to be the dominant mechanism by which mobile shales rise towards the surface. In this process, mobile shales behave similar to magmas rising through the Earth's crust. Nearer the surface, a wider range of piercement mechanisms becomes possible: passive piercement, reactive piercement, active piercement and erosional piercement. These mechanisms all have salt‐tectonics analogues. Although shale tectonics and salt tectonics share common piercement mechanisms, in many cases the resulting structures are different. This is because near‐surface mobile shales can have much lower viscosities than salt. Mobile shales that reach the surface extrude very rapidly, in many cases leading to caldera collapse of the underlying shale chamber. This instability in the near‐surface means that long‐term, stable growth of passive shale diapirs is unlikely, in contrast with the behaviour of salt. A key question in seismic interpretation of mobile‐shale structures is whether large‐volume mobile‐shale diapirs exist. We show that both active piercement and ductile “piercement” can create such structures. Both of these mechanisms create steeply upturned beds on diapir flanks, which are diagnostic. However, active shale diapirs appear to be rare, and ductile “piercements” are not documented. We therefore suggest that large‐volume shale diapirs should be interpreted with caution on seismic data.

Using Shale as a Barrier Simplifies Well Abandonment

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 199654, “Simplifying Well Abandonments Using Shale as a Barrier,” by Eric van Oort, SPE, and Maria Juenger, The University of Texas at Austin, and Munir Aldin, SPE, Metarock Laboratories, et al., prepared for the 2020 IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Galveston, Texas, 3-5 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The complete paper presents the results of an investigation into the creep behavior of North Sea shales and their ability to form effective annular barriers. The large-scale laboratory results show that Lark-Horda shales will form competent low-permeability annular barriers when left uncemented, as confirmed using pressure-pulse-decay measurements. Experimental conditions were found to influence the rate of barrier formation. Higher effective stress, higher temperature, and beneficial manipulation of annular fluid chemistry all have a significant effect. Introduction An alternative to traditional plug-and-abandonment techniques presented it-self more than a decade ago, with observations that formations such as mobile salts and shales could creep into uncemented annular spaces and form competent annular barriers that could be identified on sonic and ultrasonic bond logs and verified using pressure testing. Shale particularly has the necessary characteristics that several guidelines require of a good barrier, being largely impermeable, nonshrinking, ductile, and resistant to chemicals and substances, all of which help provide long-term integrity. Shales that appeared to be particularly well-suited to beneficial annular creep behavior were characterized by low strength and high ductility, high clay content with relatively high smectite content, low levels of quartz and carbonate cementation, relatively high porosity and low compressional wave velocity, and a tendency to yield wellbore instability problems while being drilled. Mechanisms other than creep were considered for the annular blockage behavior observed, but the mounting body of evidence indicates that the predominant mechanism is indeed creep (i.e., the viscoplastic behavior of argillaceous rocks). In the laboratory and field work published to date, stimulation of shale barriers through accelerated creep by pressure and temperature manipulation has received the most attention. The authors investigate barrier activation not only by temperature and pressure activation but also by chemical activation, because it offers practical advantages and reduces risks associated with temperature and pressure activation. Temperature has a significant effect on the viscoplastic behavior of shale, but heating a long shale section (with a minimum barrier length of 50 m) through casing with an effective downhole heater presents considerable practical challenges. Pressure reduction in the annulus through reduction of the hydrostatic head in the wellbore brings with it well-control concerns, particularly when no functional annular barrier is in place. By contrast, circulating a chemical solution in place in an annular space through casing perforations with a workstring and packer arrangement is relatively straightforward and is routine when practicing the perforate, wash, and cement technique in the field.

Pliocene and Pleistocene stratigraphic evolution of the western Niger Delta intraslope basins: A record of glacio-eustatic sea-level and basin tectonic forcings

Although climate proxy (δ18O) across the world ocean basins reveals that orbital forcing significantly controlled the Pliocene and the Pleistocene sediment deposition, and has been demonstrated in seismic and outcrop studies on the continental shelves of many margins, few or no seismic stratigraphic studies have investigated orbital forcing on deep-water sediment records. In this study, we combined detailed seismic stratigraphy and 3D geomorphological analysis of a high-resolution 3D seismic block in a detailed study of the stratigraphic evolution of the western Niger Delta intraslope basins over the last 5.5 Ma. Two mega seismic units named MSU 1 and MSU 2 were identified. The change in sedimentary architecture from (i) mass flows and turbidite sequences to (ii) hemipelagic and turbidite sequences at the MSU 1/MSU 2 transition coincides with a significant (x3) increase in sedimentation rates and a transition from dominant 400 ka eccentricity cycles (from 5.3 Ma-0.8 Ma) to dominant 100 ka eccentricity cycles, at the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT) (circa 0.8‐–0 Ma). The timing of these changes was estimated based on a detailed analysis of seismic facies succession, correlation of seismic markers with high-resolution sea-level and oxygen isotope curves, and estimation of sequence duration. Further changes in the sedimentary record, characterised by turbidite-dominated sequences at the lower part of MSU 1 to mixed mass flows and turbidite sequences at the upper part of MSU 1, were respectively correlated with changes that occurred in the early Pliocene (circa 4.9 Ma) and in the early Pleistocene (circa 2.6 Ma). The depositional sequence on the western Niger Delta intraslope basin is usually characterised by a falling stage erosional surface (FSES) at its base and top (sequence boundary), and by (i) basal MTDs/bypass facies (where preserved), (ii) turbidite feeder channels/aggrading or meandering channel levee complexes and/or MTDs (slides/slumps) and (iii) hemipelagic drapes that successively document the falling stage, lowstand to early transgressive and late transgressive to highstand transits of the shoreline. The Pliocene and Pleistocene sedimentary records of the western Niger Delta intraslope basins were controlled by interplay between allocyclic forcing linked to glacio-eustatic sea-level oscillations and basin tectonics associated with mobile shale movements. .

Shale tectonic processes: Field evidence from the Parras Basin (north-eastern Mexico)

Major decollements located within buried overpressured shale commonly develop in thrust fronts, accretionary prisms and sedimentary deltas controlled by gravity tectonics. In seismic data, it is possible to observe only large scale deformation of what is commonly designed as mobile shale but the precise geometry and the dynamic evolution of these bodies remains poorly understood. It is often difficult to define if we are dealing with ductile or brittle deformation and to understand the role of the fluids in time and space during deformation. For this reason, large scale outcrops were studied in the Parras Basin (Mexico), which makes possible a direct observation of the shale tectonic processes. This work suggests changes in space and time of the deformation processes which occurred within the shale formation hosting the decollement. Distributed deformation was observed within the shale formation hosting the decollement compared to more localized deformation above. Also a change of the rheology of the shale over time occurred progressively toward brittle processes in the whole sedimentary pile. XRD and microscopic studies have shown that diagenetic processes are favored in the shear zones of penetrative deformation leading notably to reverse gradient of illitization. The isotopic analysis of cements in veins and the study of associated fluid inclusions have shown that fluid dynamics also evolved during time showing notably evidence for widespread fluid migration issued from rocks located below the decollement during the beginning of the deformation. Progressively, the tectonic system located above the decollement tends to be preserved from fluid migration coming from below the decollement and to be influenced only by local fluid migration (closed system).