End-Triassic storm deposits in the lacustrine Sichuan Basin and their driving mechanisms

Storm deposits or tempestites are event sequences formed by storms,requiring at least a water temperature of 26.5℃.While inland lakes are unlikely to form storm deposits because of their limited width and water temperature.The Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation in the Sichuan Basin is a set of coal-bearing,clastic sequences with dominant sedimentary facies varying from braided river delta to lacustrine settings,with storm deposits widely reported.In the Zilanba of Guanyuan area,in situ tree trunks on a palaeosol surface in Member Vof the Xujiahe Formation provide new evidence of a storm event.Six fallen-down directions of nine in situ tree trunks were predominant in the NW direction,contrary to the palaeocurrent direction of the underlying strata,suggesting that the southeasterlies prevailed during the end-Triassic in the northern Sichuan Basin.Massive mud clasts were frequently recorded in sandstones of the Xujiahe Formation,as well as in the Xindianzi section.These mud clasts showed a rip-up or a plastic deformation with upside-down V-shapes,were capped on an erosional surface,showed no transport traces and were therefore interpreted as a storm lag deposit.The megamonsoonal climate prevailed during the Late Triassic,although the megamonsoons themselves could not generate a storm deposition in the Xujiahe Formation due to its low maximum surface wind speed.The driving mechanism for generating storm deposits in the Xujiahe Formation is suggested to be tropical cyclones over the Tethys Ocean moving eastward,further landfalling on the western margin of the Sichuan Basin.Statistics of storm events in the circum-Tethys region show a widespread storm surge in low latitudes during the end-Triassic.The storm deposits at the top of the Xujiahe Formation represent a sedimentary response to the end-Triassic hyperthermal event.

Shale gas reservoir characteristics of Ordovician-Silurian formations in the central Yangtze area, China

The characteristics of a shale gas reservoir and the potential of a shale gas resource of Ordovician-Silurian age in the north of the central Yangtze area were determined. Core samples from three wells in the study area were subjected to thin-section examination, scanning electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance testing, X-ray diffraction mineral analysis, total organic carbon （TOC） testing, maturity testing, gas-bearing analysis, and gas component and isothermal adsorption experiments. A favorable segment of the gas shale reservoir was found in both the Wufeng Formation and the lower part of the Longmaxi Formation; these formations were formed from the late Katian to early Rhuddanian. The high-quality shale layers in wells J1, J2, and J3 featured thicknesses of 54.88 m, 48.49 m, and 52.00 m, respectively, and mainly comprised carbonaceous and siliceous shales. Clay and brittle minerals showed average contents of 37.5% and 62.5% （48.9% quartz）, respectively. The shale exhibited type Ⅱ1 kerogens with a vitrinite reflectance ranging from 1.94% to 3.51%. TOC contents of 0.22%-6.05% （average, 2.39%） were also observed. The reservoir spaces mainly included micropores and microfractures and were characterized by low porosity and permeability. Well J3 showed generally high gas contents, i.e., 1.12-3.16 m^3/t （average 2.15 m^3/t）, and its gas was primarily methane. The relatively thick black shale reservoir featured high TOC content, high organic material maturity, high brittle mineral content, high gas content, low porosity, and low permeability. Shale gas adsorption was positively correlated with TOC content and organic maturity, weakly positive correlated with quartz content, and weakly negatively correlated with clay content. Therefore, the Wufeng and Longmaxi formations in the north of the central Yangtze area have a good potential for shale gas exploration.

Effects of nano-pore system characteristics on CH4 adsorption capacity in anthracite

This study aims to determine the effects of nanoscale pores system characteristics on CH4 adsorption capacity in anthracite.A total of 24 coal samples from the southern Sichuan Basin,China,were examined systemically using coal maceral analysis,vitrinite reflectance tests, proximate analysis,ultimate analysis,low-temperature N2 adsorption-desorption experiments,nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)analysis,and CH4 isotherm adsorption experiments.Results show that nano-pores are divided into four types on the basis of pore size ranges:super micropores (<4 nm),micropores (4-10 nm),mesopores (10-100 nm),and macropores (>100 nm).Super micropores,micropores,and mesopores make up the bulk of coal porosity,providing extremely large adsorption space with large intemal surface area.This leads us to the conclusion that the threshold of pore diameter between adsorption pores and seepage pores is 100 nm.The "ink bottle"pores have the largest CH4 adsorption capacity, followed by semi-opened pores,whereas opened pores have the smallest CH4 adsorption capacity which indicates that anthracite pores with more irregular shapes possess higher CH4 adsorption capacity.CH4 adsorption capacity increased with the increase in NMR porosity and the bound water saturation.Moreover,CH4 adsorption capacity is positively correlated with NMR permeability when NMR permeability is less than 8 ×10^-3 md.By contrast,the two factors are negatively correlated when NMR permeability is greater than 8 × 10^-3 md.

Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record

The extensive transgression that occurred on the Yangtze Plate in Early Cambrian led to a massive organic carbon pool in the Niutitang Formation. A black shale core section from 3 251.08 to 3 436.08 m beneath the Earth＇s surface was studied to estimate the contribution of oxygenic photosynthesis to organic carbon sink fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze shallow sea. Results indicate that the oxygenic photosynthesis played the most important role in carbon fixation in Early Cambrian. Organic carbon sink was mainly contributed by photosynthetic microorganisms, e.g., cyanobacteria, algae and archaea. The Niutitang Formation was formed in a deep anoxic marine shelf sedimentary environment at a sedimentation rate of ~0.09±0.03 mm/yr. The initial TOC abundance in Niutitang shale ranged from 0.18% to 7.09%, with an average of 2.15%. In accordance with the sedimentation rate and initial TOC abundance, organic carbon sink fluxes were calculated and found to range from 0.21 to 8.10×10~3 kg/km^2·yr^（-1）, especially the organic carbon sink fluxes in depth between 3 385 and 3 470 m range from 3.80 to 8.10×10~3 kg/km^2·yr^（-1）, with an average of ~6.03×10~3 kg/km^2·yr^（-1）, which is much higher than that of contemporary marine sediments. The organic carbon sink fluxes of Niutitang shale are equal to 0.56 to 21.61×10~3 kg/km^2·yr^（-1） net oxygen emitted into the Early Cambrian ocean and atmosphere, this emitted oxygen may have significantly promoted the oxygen level of the Earth＇s surface and diversification of metazoans.

Characterization of the pore system in an over-mature marine shale reservoir:A case study of a successful shale gas well in Southern Sichuan Basin,China

During the past two years the shale gas exploration in Southern Sichuan basin received some exciting achievements.Data of a new appraisal well showed that the gas producrtions of vertical well and horizontal well are^1.5×104 m3/day/well(with maximum^3.5×104 m3/day/well)and^12.5×104 m3/day/well(with maximum^40×104 m3/day/well),respectively,indicating a good gas potential in this area.Eight core samples from the reservoir were investigated by using a carbon sulfur analyzer,microphotometry,x-ray diffractometry,field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM),mercury injection porosimetry(MIP),and low-pressure nitrogen adsorption to obtain a better understanding of the reservoir characteristics of the Upper OrdovicianeLower Silurian organic-rich shale.Results show that the total organic carbon(TOC)content ranges from 0.5%to 5.9%,whereas the equivalent vitrinite reflectance(VRr)is between 2.8%and 3.0%.Pores in the studied samples were observed in three modes of occurrence,namely,interparticle pores,intraparticle pores,and intraparticle organic pores.The total porosity(P)ranges from 1.6%to 5.3%,and MIP data sets suggest that pores with throats larger than 20 nm contribute little to the pore volume.Low-pressure N2 adsorption isotherms indicate that the total specific surface area(SBET)ranges from 9.6 m2/g to 18.9 m2/g,and the pore volume(V)ranges from 0.011 cm3/g to 0.020 cm3/g.The plot of dV/dW versus W shows that the fine mesopores(pore size(BJH)<4 nm)mainly contribute to the pore volume.The P,SBET,and V show a good positive correlation with TOC and a weak positive correlation with the total clay mineral content,thus indicating that the nanopores are mainly generated by the decomposition of organic matter.The reservoir characteristics of the Upper OrdovicianeLower Silurian organic-rich shale are comparable with commercial shale gas plays in North America.The sample gas contents with TOC>2%are more than 3.0 m3/ton.The observation can be a good reference for the future exploration and evaluation of reservoir in this area.

Pressure transient analysis for a fractured well in a stress-sensitive tight multi-medium oil reservoir

Tight multi-medium oil reservoirs are the main source of hydrocarbon resources around the world.Acid fracturing is the most effective technology to improve productivity in such reservoirs.As carbonates are primarily composed of dolomite and calcite,which are easily dissolved by hydrochloric acid,high-permeability region will be formed near the well along with the main artificial fracture when acid fracturing is implemented in tight multi-medium oil reservoirs.In this study,a comprehensive composite linear flow model was developed to simulate the transient pressure behavior of an acid fracturing vertical well in a naturally fractured vuggy carbonate reservoir.By utilizing Pedrosa's substitution,perturbation,Laplace transformation and Stehfest numerical inversion technol-ogy,the pressure behavior results were obtained in real time domain.Furthermore,the result of this model was validated by comparing with those of previous literature.Additionally,the influences of some prevailing parameters on the type curves were analyzed.Moreover,the proposed model was applied to an acid fracturing well to evaluate the effectiveness of acid fracturing measures,to demonstrate the practicability of the proposed model.