Activation of stylolites as conduits for overpressured fluid flow in dolomitized platform carbonates

Martín‐Martín, Juan Diego; Gomez‐Rivas, Enrique; Gómez‐Gras, David; Travé, Anna; Ameneiro, R.; Koehn, Daniel; Bons, Paul D.

doi:10.1144/sp459.3

Cited by 50 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…The occurrence of non stratabound, non facies selective dolomitization within the vicinity of faults has been widely described in the literature (e.g. Braithwaite, Rizzi, & Darke, ; Davies & Smith, ; Dewit et al., , ; Duggan, Mountjoy, & Stasiuk, ; Lonnee & Machel, ; López‐Horgue et al., ; Martin‐Martin et al., ; Sharp et al., ). Most of these studies emphasize the importance of faults as conduits for hot, magnesium‐enriched brines responsible for dolomitization and describe an asymmetric “Christmas Tree” geometry attributed to fluid flow up and away from faults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural controls on non fabric‐selective dolomitization within rift‐related basin‐bounding normal fault systems: Insights from the Hammam Faraun Fault, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

et al. 2018

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Fault-controlled dolostone bodies have been described as potential hydrocarbonbearing reservoirs. Numerous case studies have described the shape and size of these often non fabric selective dolostone bodies within the vicinity of crustal-scale lineaments, usually from Palaeozoic or Mesozoic carbonate platforms, which have undergone one or more phases of burial and exhumation. There has been little attention paid, however, to fault-strike variability in dolostone distribution or the preferential localization of these bodies on particular faults. This study focuses on dolostone bodies adjacent to the Hammam Faraun Fault (HFF), Gulf of Suez. This crustalscale normal fault was activated in the Late Oligocene, coincident with the onset of extension within the Suez Rift. Dolomitization in the prerift Eocene Thebes Formation occurred in the immediate footwall of the HFF forming two massive, non facies selective dolostone bodies, ca. 500 m wide. Facies-controlled tongues of dolostone on the margins of the massive dolostone bodies extend for up to 100 m. The geochemical signature of the dolostone bodies is consistent with replacement by Miocene seawater, contemporaneous with the rift climax and localization of strain along the HFF. A conceptual model of dolomitization from seawater that circulated within the HFF during the rift climax is presented. Seawater was either directly drawn down the HFF or circulated from the hanging wall basin via a permeable aquifer towards the HFF. The lateral extent of the massive dolostone bodies was controlled by pre-existing HFF-parallel fracture corridors on the outer margins of the damage zone of the fault. The behaviour of these fracture corridors alternated between acting as barriers to fluid flow before rupture and acting as flow conduits during or after rupture. Multiple phases of dolomitization and recrystallization during the ca.10 Ma period in which dolomitization occurred led to mottled petrographical textures and wide-ranging isotopic signatures. The localization of dolomitization on the HFF is interpreted to reflect its proximity to a rift accommodation zone which facilitated vertical fluid flow due to perturbed and enhanced stresses during fault interaction. It is possible that the presence of jogs along the strike of the fault further focused fluid flux. As such, it is suggested that the massive dolostones described in --

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural controls on non fabric‐selective dolomitization within rift‐related basin‐bounding normal fault systems: Insights from the Hammam Faraun Fault, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

et al. 2018

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“…The occurrence of sedimentary stylolites, usually oriented parallel to bedding (bedding-parallel stylolites or BPS) impacts fluid flows, by forming either barriers or drains in reservoir rocks (Koepnick, 1987;Ehrenberg et al, 2006;Hassan, 2007;Heap et al, 2013;Baud et al, 2016;Koehn et al, 2016;Bruna et al, 2018;Martín-Martín et al, 2018, Toussaint et al, 2018. The characteristic teeth of stylolites, oriented oblique or normal to the dissolution surface, are related to the distribution of insoluble elements in the host rock, leading to local pinning under an oriented applied stress (Fletcher and Pollard, 1981;Merino et al, 1983;Koehn et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bedding-parallel stylolites as a tool to unravel maximum burial depth in sedimentary basins: Application to Middle Jurassic carbonate reservoirs in the Paris basin, France

et al. 2018

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In recent years stylolites, which are rough dissolution surfaces commonly found in carbonates, have been used for paleopiezometry estimates. The Stylolite Roughness Inversion Technique (SRIT) applied on sedimentary bedding-parallel stylolites (BPS) grants access to the maximum principal vertical stress experienced by the host carbonates and thus to their maximum burial paleo-depth. This study reports the results of SRIT applied to a BPS population hosted in carbonate platform reservoirs of the Paris basin sub-surface (France). Middle Jurassic carbonates from two well cores from the depocenter and margin of the basin, for which the burial and thermal history are known, based on a thermally calibrated 3-D basin model, were analyzed. By defining a consistency criterion and using two signal treatment methods, we propose a new approach to select which BPS can be reliably used to reconstruct the maximum vertical stress undergone by the host carbonates, which then can be converted into maximum burial depth. The study of a BPS population shows that there is a control operated by the host rock texture and the stylolite morphology on the burial depth recorded. Especially suture and sharp peak BPS are better suited to estimate the real maximum depth, whereas seismogram pinning BPS record preferentially intermediate depths. Median values of maximum depth derived from our data set (1300 and 1650 m for the margin and depocenter cores, respectively) are in line with maximum burial estimates provided by conventional basin modeling (1450 and 1800 m, respectively), thus showing that SRIT is a standalone robust depth gauge in sedimentary basins, provided sample selection and data treatment are carried out in a rigorous and thoughtful manner.

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“…López‐Horgue et al ., ; Shah et al ., ; Dewit et al ., , ; Gasparrini et al ., ), the Iberian Chain in Spain (e.g. Nadal, ; Martín‐Martín et al ., , , ; Corbella et al ., ; Gomez‐Rivas et al ., ), the Oman mountains (e.g. Vandeginste et al ., ; Beckert et al ., ), North America (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Benicàssim area has been the focus of several recent studies (e.g. Martín‐Martín et al ., , , ; Corbella et al ., ; Gomez‐Rivas et al ., ), which focused on dolostones with stratabound distribution, and dealt with the analysis of depositional facies, diagenetic evolution and source of the dolomitization fluids. These studies, however, did not tackle controls on variable dolomitization geometries across different fault blocks and in relation to the sedimentary facies and stratigraphic sequences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fault‐controlled dolostone geometries in a transgressive–regressive sequence stratigraphic framework

et al. 2020

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This study investigates the geometries of fault‐controlled dolostone geobodies and their structural and sequence stratigraphic controls, which provide new insights for the prediction and production of fault‐controlled dolomitized hydrocarbon reservoirs. A very thick succession (>1600 m) of Aptian–Albian shallow‐marine carbonates of the Benassal Formation that crop out in the Benicàssim area (Maestrat Basin, eastern Spain) is partly replaced by dolomite, resulting in dolostone geometries ranging from massive patches to stratabound bodies. Detailed mapping, systematic logging and correlation were carried out to characterize the structural, sedimentary and sequence stratigraphic framework of the area and to constrain the principal controls on the full‐range of dolostone geometries. The results show that carbonate sediments accumulated in a half graben stacked in three transgressive–regressive sequences. Large‐scale massive dolostone patches (with up to kilometre extension) formed near large‐scale faults indicating that they acted as entry points for warm dolomitizing fluids into the basin. These dolostone patches laterally pass to large stratabound bodies that extend for long distances (at least 7 km) away from feeding faults, forming a continuum. The presence of a regional unconformity and a clastic fine‐grain low‐permeability unit (Escucha Formation) on top of the Benassal Formation likely constrained the dolomitization fluids to an up to 580 m thick interval below the base of the Escucha Formation. Thus, only limestones within this interval, corresponding to the two uppermost transgressive–regressive sequences, were dolomitized. There is a clear relationship between the stratigraphic framework and the preferred replaced beds. Dolomitization preferentially affected sediments deposited in inner to middle ramp settings with predominant wackestone to packstone textures. Such facies are laterally most abundant in the east of the study area (i.e. basinward) and vertically in layers around the maximum flooding zone of the top sequence, which is preferentially affected by dolomitization.

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Activation of stylolites as conduits for overpressured fluid flow in dolomitized platform carbonates

Abstract: This study investigates the late Aptian-early Albian platform carbonates of the Benicàssim area (Maestrat Basin, Spain)

Cited by 50 publications

References 70 publications

Structural controls on non fabric‐selective dolomitization within rift‐related basin‐bounding normal fault systems: Insights from the Hammam Faraun Fault, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Structural controls on non fabric‐selective dolomitization within rift‐related basin‐bounding normal fault systems: Insights from the Hammam Faraun Fault, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Bedding-parallel stylolites as a tool to unravel maximum burial depth in sedimentary basins: Application to Middle Jurassic carbonate reservoirs in the Paris basin, France

Fault‐controlled dolostone geometries in a transgressive–regressive sequence stratigraphic framework

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