Depositional model of the Member Deng-2 marginal microbial mound-bank complex of the Dengying Formation in the southwestern Sichuan Basin, SW China: Implications for the Ediacaran microbial mound construction and hydrocarbon exploration

Recent advances in hydrocarbon exploration have been made in the Member Deng-2 marginal microbial mound-bank complex reservoirs of the Dengying Formation in the western Sichuan Basin, SW China,where the depositional process is regarded confusing. The microfacies, construction types, and depositional model of the Member Deng-2 marginal microbial mound-bank complex have been investigated using unmanned aerial vehicle photography, outcrop section investigation, thin section identification,and seismic reflections in the southwestern Sichuan Basin. The microbialite lithologic textures in this region include thrombolite, dendrolite, stromatolite, fenestral stromatolite, spongiostromata stone,oncolite, aggregated grainstone, and botryoidal grapestone. Based on the comprehensive analysis of“depositional fabrics-lithology-microfacies”, an association between a fore mound, mound framework,and back mound subfacies has been proposed based on water depth, current direction, energy level and lithologic assemblages. The microfacies of the mound base, mound core, mound flank, mound cap, and mound flat could be recognized among the mound framework subfacies. Two construction types of marginal microbial mound-bank complex have been determined based on deposition location, mound scale, migration direction, and sedimentary facies association. Type Jinkouhe microbial mound constructions(TJMMCs) develop along the windward margin owing to their proximity to the seaward subfacies fore mound, with a northeastwardly migrated microbial mound on top of the mud mound,exhibiting the characteristics of large-sized mounds and small-sized banks in the surrounding area. Type E'bian microbial mound constructions(TEMMCs) primarily occur on the leeward margin, resulting from the presence of onshore back mound subfacies, with the smaller southwestward migrated microbial mounds existing on a thicker microbial flat. The platform margin microbial mound depositional model can be correlated with certain lateral comparison profile and seismic reflection structures in the 2D seismic section, which can provide references for future worldwide exploration. Microbial mounds with larger buildups and thicker vertical reservoirs are typically targeted on the windward margin, while small-sized microbial mounds and flats with better lateral connections are typically focused on the leeward margin.

Sedimentary environment controls on the accumulation of organic matter in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng–Lower Silurian Longmaxi mudstones in the Southeastern Sichuan Basin of China

The Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian mudstones(including the Wufeng, Guanyinqiao and Longmaxi Formations) in the Sichuan Basin are some of the most important shale gas plays in China. In order to enhance our understanding of the process of formation of organic carbon up to 10%, optical, microscopy and geochemical methods have been used to investigate the petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the formation. Firstly, three mudstone lithofacies were identified based on a wide variety of mudstone laminations. These are:(a) indistinctly laminated mudstone;(b) parallellaminated mudstone; and(c) nonparallel-laminated mudstone. Then, combining with the evidence from depocenter migration, Th/U ratios and total organic carbon, the abundant organo-minerallic fabrics suggest that organic carbon was preferentially deposited and preserved in anoxic, low energy and stagnant water conditions during deposition of the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formations. On the contrary, the Guanyinqiao Formation with poor organic carbon was deposited in oxic and high-energy water conditions.

Pore structure and tracer migration behavior of typical American and Chinese shales

With estimated shale gas resources greater than those of US and Canada combined, China has been embarking on an ambitious shale development program. However, nearly 30 years of American experience in shale hydrocarbon exploration and production indicates a low total recovery of shale gas at 12 %-30 % and tight oil at 5 %-10 %. One of the main barriers to sustainable devel- opment of shale resources, namely the pore structure （ge- ometry and connectivity） of the nanopores for storing and transporting hydrocarbons, is rarely investigated. In this study, we collected samples from a variety of leading hydrocarbon-producing shale formations in US and China. These formations have different ages and geologic char- acteristics （e.g., porosity, permeability, mineralogy, total organic content, and thermal maturation）. We studied their pore structure characteristics, imbibition and saturated diffusion, edge-accessible porosity, and wettability with four complementary tests： mercury intrusion porosimetry, fluid and tracer imbibition into initially dry shale, tracer diffusion into fluid-saturated shale, and high-pressure Wood＇s metal intrusion followed with imaging and ele- mental mapping. The imbibition and diffusion tests use tracer-bearing wettability fluids （API brine or n-decane） to examine the association of tracers with mineral or organic matter phases, using a sensitive and micro-scale elemental laser ablation ICP-MS mapping technique. For two molecular tracers in n-decane fluid with the estimated sizes of 1.39 nm x 0.29 nm x 0.18 nm for 1-iododecane and 1.27 nm ~ 0.92 nm ~ 0.78 nm for trichlorooxobis （triph- enylphosphine） rhenium, much less penetration was observed for larger molecules of organic rhenium in shales with median pore-throat sizes of several nanometers. This indicates the probable entanglement of sub-nano-sized molecules in shales with nano-sized pore-throats. Overall findings from the above innovative approaches indicate the limited accessibility （several millimeters from sample edge） and connectivity of tortuous nanopore spaces in shales with spatial wettability, which could lead to the low overall hydrocarbon recovery because of the limited frac- ture-matrix connection and migration of hydrocarbon molecules from the shale matrix to the stimulated fracture network.

Treatment of hydroxyquinone-containing wastewater using precipitation method with barium salt

Hydroxyquinone compounds, such as 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone and alizarin sulfonate, are widely used in dye manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and other industries. However, the treatment of hydroxyquinone-containing wastewater has seldom been examined. This study used a precipitation method with barium salt to treat nano-silver industrial wastewater. The results show that barium chloride was a suitable reagent for significantly degrading COD and color from nano-silver wastewater. When the initial pH value was 10.5, 8 g of BaCl2·2H2O were added to 100 mL of wastewater. After reaction at 15℃ for 1 h, the removal efficiencies of COD and color in the nano-silver wastewater were 85.6% and 97.1%, respectively. Simulated wastewater containing sodium alizarin-3-sulfonate (ARS) or purpurin was used to further investigate the removal mechanism of hydroxyquinone compounds. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and some related experiments showed that hydroxyquinone compounds can directly react with barium ions in the solution so as to transfer from wastewater to precipitate. In addition, the newly produced barium sulfate particles have positive surface charges, which can improve the removal efficiency of hydroxyquinone compounds due to electrostatic attraction.