Study on Sedimentary Environment and Organic Matter Enrichment Model of Carboniferous–Permian Marine–Continental Transitional Shale in Northern Margin of North China Basin

Abstract

The shales of the Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation in the North China Basin have good prospects for shale gas exploration and development. In this study, Well KP1 at the northern margin of the North China Basin was used as the research object for rock mineral, organic geochemical, and elemental geochemical analyses. The results show that brittle minerals in the shales of the Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation are relatively rare (<40%) and that the clay mineral content is high (>50%). The average TOC content is 3.68%. The organic matter is mainly mixed and sapropelic. The source rocks of the Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation are mainly felsic, and the tectonic background lies in the continental island arc area. The primary variables that influenced the enrichment of organic materials during the sedimentary stage of the Taiyuan Formation were paleosalinity and paleoproductivity. Paleosalinity acted as the primary regulator of organic matter enrichment during the sedimentary stage of the Shanxi Formation.