Improvement of in situ LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating method for carbonate minerals and its application in petroleum geology

In situ carbonate U-Pb dating is gaining popularity,and it has great potential for application in petroleum geology.However,the low U content(<10μg/g)and high common Pb content of carbonate minerals,along with the uneven distribution of U and Pb and the lack of matrix-matched reference material make carbonate U-Pb dating inaccurate and less successful,which limits the widespread application in geosciences.This study evaluated the limitations of in situ carbonate U-Pb dating and proposed a method to rationally determine the laser ablation parameters of samples by improving the experimental approach based on the laser ablation sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(LA-SF-ICP-MS).By setting a different spot size and laser frequency for the reference material and unknown samples in the same session based on the U content of the sample,the ablation craters of the reference material and unknown samples were given the same depth/width ratio,avoiding systematic offset caused by differences in down-hole element fractionation and reducing the consume of reference material.Depending on the heterogeneous distribution of U and Pb contents in carbonate minerals,the method of grid screening and setting ablation spots during screening were used to quickly select domains with high U and low common Pb,which improves the efficiency of setting laser spots and the success rate of dating,as well as reduces the experimental time and economic cost.The accuracy and success rate of carbonate U-Pb dating were effectively improved by improving the experimental method,and the technique was applied to two carbonate samples with low U and high common Pb contents that were difficult to date by traditional methods.The two samples are the saddle dolomite in the central Sichuan Basin and the calcite cement in the sandstone reservoir of the Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation in the South Junggar Basin.The robust ages have been obtained,which constrains the timing of the diagenetic and hydrocarbon accumulation process in the studied area.

Formation condition of deep gas reservoirs in tight sandstones in Kuqa Foreland Basin

Due to the high expense of deep oil and gas exploration,prediction of gas-bearing properties before drilling is crucial for deep gas reservoir of tight sandstone.Deep tight sandstone gas fields in Kuqa Foreland Basin are characterized by high abundance,high gas saturation,high pressure,high and stable yield,which belong to high-efficiency tight gas reservoir.Based on theoretical analysis of controlling factors and mechanisms of gas-bearing properties for tight sandstone gas reservoir,and taking tight sandstone gas fields with high effectiveness such as Dibei,Keshen and Dibei gas fields in Kuqa Foreland Basin as examples,formation condition and mechanism of high-efficiency tight sandstone gas reservoir in Kuqa area are studied through a comparative analysis of typical tight sandstone gas reservoir in Sichuan Basin and Ordos Basin.The results show that the formation condition of deep gas reservoir of tight sandstone in Kuqa foreland basin includes four factors:i.e.,overpressure gas charging,fracture development,“early-oil and late-gas”accumulation process and favorable preservation condition.The overpressure gas charging and fracture development are the most important factors for formation of high-efficiency tight gas reservoirs in Kuqa Foreland Basin.High-quality source rocks,high sourcereservoir pressure difference,and overpressure filling induced thereby are preconditions for formation of tight sandstone with high gas saturation.The fracture development controls gas migration,accumulation,and high yield of tight sandstone gas reservoir.The reservoir wettability changed by the early oil charging is beneficial to late natural gas charging,and the preservation condition of high-quality gypsum cap rocks is the key factor for gas reservoirs to maintain overpressure and high gas saturation.Matching of above four favorable factors leads to the tight sandstone gas reservoir with high abundance,high gas saturation and high gas production in Kuqa Foreland Basin,which is very different from other basins.Under the condition of little difference in physical property of tight sandstone reservoir,excessive source-reservoir pressure difference,facture development,preservation condition and current formation overpressure are the most significant factors to be considered in exploration and evaluation of deep tight sandstone gas.