Lithofacies and sequence stratigraphy of the Barnett Shale in east-central Fort Worth Basin, Texas

Abouelresh, Mohamed O.; Slatt, Roger M.

doi:10.1306/04261110116

Cited by 196 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…At least fifteen higherfrequency cycles of ∼0.5-3My (3rd order cyclicity) duration occurred during this time [38,39]. Many processes have been suggested for providing sediment into the Fort Worth Basin [15,22,23,25,40]. Our studies, reported here, from Barnett core and thin section analyses have revealed a variety of primary sedimentary textures and structures (listed in Table 2) which indicate a variety of potential transport and depositional processes other than 'hemipelagic rain' (Figure 12) [4].…”

Section: Discussion and Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although sequence stratigraphic and other larger-scale aspects are dealt with in another paper [25], it can be speculated here that the frequency of turbidity and hyperpycnal flows, and the degree of oxygenation at the sea floor, would vary according to climatic and relative sea level fluctuations [17]. Periods of falling sea level would provide greater riverine input (hyperpycnal flows) as well as submarine slumps (turbidity flows) to an oxygenated bottom; periods of rising sea level would generate anoxic bottom waters and perhaps fewer turbidity and hyperpycnal flows and more hemipelagic rain.…”

Section: Discussion and Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…-The richness of detrital sponge spicules attests to a westerly source from the Chappel Limestone ( Figure 2B), which contains spiculite-bearing sponge reefs as well as carbonate pinnacle reefs [23,25,28,29].…”

Section: : Massive Mudstonementioning

confidence: 96%

“…The Barnett Shale has been well documented in the literature [20][21][22][23][24][25] so is not reviewed in detail here. Of importance to this paper is the interpretation that in the northern part of the Ft. Worth Basin, sediments were sourced mainly from the Munster Arch, but in the eastern part, which is the focus of this paper, the Barnett Shale was also sourced from the carbonate and siliceous sponge reef-rich Chappel shelf to the west (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shale depositional processes: Example from the Paleozoic Barnett Shale, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, USA

Abouelresh¹,

Slatt

2011

Open Geosciences

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A long held geologic paradigm is that mudrocks and shales are basically the product of 'hemipelagic rain' of silt-and/or clay-sized, detrital, biogenic and particulate organic particles onto the ocean floor over long intervals of time. However, recently published experimental and field-based studies have revealed a plethora of microsedimentary features that indicate these common fine-grained rocks also could have been transported and/or reworked by unidirectional currents. In this paper, we add to this growing body of knowledge by describing such features from the Paleozoic Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin, Texas, U.S.A. which suggests transport and deposition was from hyperpycnal, turbidity, storm and/or contour currents, in addition to hemipelagic rain. On the basis of a variety of sedimentary textures and structures, six main sedimentary facies have been defined from four 0.3 meter intervals in a 68m (223 ft) long Barnett Shale core: massive mudstone, rhythmic mudstone, ripple and low-angle laminated mudstone, graded mudstone, clay-rich facies, and spicule-rich facies. Current-induced features of these facies include mm-to cmscale cross-and parallel-laminations, scour surfaces, clastic/biogenic particle alignment, and normal-and inverse-size grading. A spectrum of vertical facies transitions and bed types indicate deposition from waxing-waning flows rather than from steady 'rain' of particles to the sea floor. Detrital sponge spicule-rich facies suggests transport to the marine environment as hypopycnal or hyperpycnal flows and reversal in buoyancy by transformation from concentrated to dilute flows; alternatively the spicules could have originated by submarine slumping in front of contemporaneous shallow marine sponge reefs, and then transported basinward as turbidity current flows. The occurrence of dispersed biogenic/organic remains and inversely size graded mudstones also support a hyperpycnal and/or turbidity flow origin for a significant part of the strata. These processes and facies reported in this paper are probably present in other organic-rich shales.

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Section: Discussion and Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Depositional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: : Massive Mudstonementioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shale depositional processes: Example from the Paleozoic Barnett Shale, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, USA

Abouelresh¹,

Slatt

2011

Open Geosciences

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“…The distributive luvial systems (DFS) [35], which have been investigated in this book, are a particular type of luvial system, which is characterized by a downstream whose size decreases, is not bounded from valleys and shows a patern of diferent rays coming from an apex. The sequence stratigraphy of the ine-grained shales is an interesting research topic of this book, and theoretical aspects applied to several geological setings have been pointed out by several papers [36][37][38][39][40]. In particular, the sequence stratigraphy of the Barnet Shale and subordinately of the Woodford Shale is among the most studied research topics regarding the shales and has been coupled with other geological methodologies, including the geochemistry and the evaluation of the gas content for petroleum studies [41][42][43][44][45].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introductory Chapter: An Introduction to the Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy and to the Integrated Stratigraphy: Concepts and Meanings

Aiello¹

2017

Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy and Integrated Stratigraphy - New Insights and Contributions

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Low nanopore connectivity limits gas production in Barnett formation

2015

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Gas‐producing wells in the Barnett Formation show a steep decline from initial production rates, even within the first year, and only 12–30% of the estimated gas in place is recovered. The underlying causes of these production constraints are not well understood. The rate‐limiting step in gas production is likely diffusive transport from matrix storage to the stimulated fracture network. Transport through a porous material such as shale is controlled by both geometry (e.g., pore size distribution) and topology (e.g., pore connectivity). Through an integrated experimental and theoretical approach, this work finds that the Barnett Formation has sparsely connected pores. Evidence of low pore connectivity includes the sparse and heterogeneous presence of trace levels of diffusing solutes beyond a few millimeters from a sample edge, the anomalous behavior of spontaneous water imbibition, the steep decline in edge‐accessible porosity observed in tracer concentrations following vacuum saturation, the low (about 0.2–0.4% by volume) level presence of Wood's metal alloy when injected at 600 MPa pressure, and high tortuosity from mercury injection capillary pressure. Results are consistent with an interpretation of pore connectivity based on percolation theory. Low pore connectivity of shale matrix limits its mass transfer interaction with the stimulated fracture network from hydraulic fracturing and serves as an important underlying cause for steep declines in gas production rates and a low overall recovery rate.

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Lithofacies and sequence stratigraphy of the Barnett Shale in east-central Fort Worth Basin, Texas

Cited by 196 publications

References 13 publications

Shale depositional processes: Example from the Paleozoic Barnett Shale, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, USA

Shale depositional processes: Example from the Paleozoic Barnett Shale, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, USA

Introductory Chapter: An Introduction to the Seismic and Sequence Stratigraphy and to the Integrated Stratigraphy: Concepts and Meanings

Low nanopore connectivity limits gas production in Barnett formation

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