--> Kerogen Networks and Hydrocarbon Generation in the Chattanooga (Woodford) Shale of Oklahoma and Kansas, by M. W. Lambert, P. J. Burkett, W-A. Chiou, R. H. Bennett, and D. M. Lavoie; #90986 (1994).

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Abstract: Kerogen Networks and Hydrocarbon Generation in the Chattanooga (Woodford) Shale of Oklahoma and Kansas

Michael W. Lambert, Patti J. Burkett, Wen-An Chiou, Richard H. Bennett, Dennis M. Lavoie

The middle shale member of the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Chattanooga (Woodford) Shale of Oklahoma and Kansas consists of two distinct organic facies in the study area. In Oklahoma and southern Kansas, the middle shale member is a black shale, containing oil-prone type I and type II kerogen and total organic carbon (TOC) values as high as 13%. In northern Kansas, closer to the paleoshoreline at deposition, the middle shale member is commonly a gray shale, containing gas-prone type III kerogen and TOC values as low as 0.5%. In black shale samples examined using the transmission electron microscope (TEM), kerogen apparently flowed into cracks in the shale matrix, as demonstrated by clay domains within the kerogen that have their long axes oriented parallel to the walls of the cr cks. For black shale samples that were within the oil generation window, the TEM electron beam heated the kerogen to the point where oil droplets were generated, and which then moved along the kerogen-filled cracks. This artificial generation and primary migration of hydrocarbons within kerogen networks in high TOC, oil-prone samples of the middle shale member of the Chattanooga (Woodford) Shale will be contrasted with the behavior of low TOC, gas-prone samples of the middle shale member.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90986©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994