Carbonate Reservoirs at the Mesozoic-Tertiary Unconformity, Northeast Spain

Mateu Esteban

Carbonates at the Mesozoic-Tertiary unconformity in northeast Spain show four types/stages of evolution of reservoir properties: karstification, coastal reworking, Miocene organic buildups, and Pliocene burial. Subaerial exposure during Paleogene-early Miocene rifting developed a complex fracture-controlled paleokarst facies, showing up to three evolution levels with well-developed cavern and vuggy porosity (1). During the Miocene, the paleokarst profile was intensively reworked into a variety of breccias, conglomerates, and calcarenites in both alluvial and coastal depositional settings. Gravitational displacement of largely karstified hillsides was common. These reworked paleokarst deposits (2) present excellent reservoir properties. The Miocene formations onlap the kar tified Mesozoic and the reworked facies; these formations include coral reefs and foramalgal buildups (3) with primary and secondary porosity. Finally, a late fracture event (attributed to the Pliocene) affected the buried and lithified paleokarst deposits and lower-middle Miocene formations (4). This fracture event is associated with vuggy corrosion, dolomitization, ore mineralization, and leaching of Mesozoic to middle Miocene carbonates. Several horizons with chalky microporosity are also tentatively related to this Pliocene event. These four phases of reservoir evolution are also recognized in northern Morocco and southern Italy.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.