Diagenetic Interaction of Sandstones and Shales in Gulf Coast Clastic
Sediments: Predicting
Reservoir
Porosity
and Permeability Evolution in Deep
Reservoirs
Anthony Park1 and Kitty Milliken2
1 Sienna Geodynamics & Consulting, Inc, Bloomington, IN
2 University of Texas,
Austin, TX
It has been long suspected that mudrocks are significant sources and
sinks of various cations that affect diagenesis of nearby sands. Cations are
mobilized from within mudrocks as chemically incompatible clays and feldspars
react toward establishing a more stable mineralogical assemblage. Because
reaction rates of both clays and feldspars are dramatically
temperature-dependent, understanding this disequilibrium-driven network of
reactions has particular significance for predicting
porosity
and permeability
characteristics of deeper reservoirs.
Sym.8 is a diagenesis simulator that addresses compaction, diffusive and advective mass-transfer, conservation of mass through kinetic and equilibrium reactions, and associated sediment compositional and textural changes.
In this study Sym.8 is used to assess the role of coupled reactions,
diffusion-driven mass-transfer and compaction, on porosity
and permeability
modification of Gulf Coast
reservoir
sand-shale pairs. Initial results verify
that dissolution of detrital smectite and feldspars in shales contribute to
early quartz cementation and progressive albitization of the feldspar grains in
adjacent sandstones. Relative immobility of aluminum is clearly demonstrated,
with significant precipitation of authigenic clay within the shale. The results
show a range of mobility for cations, with calcium being one of the most mobile.
It is estimated that the range of mobility is in the scale of meters, however
sediment heterogeneity can strongly affect the mass redistribution process.
Therefore, a significant component of late-stage
reservoir
permeability
modification can be attributed to detrital sediment heterogeneity as well as the
mineralogy and burial history.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005