Thermal maturity of northern Appalachian Basin Devonian shales: Insights from sterane and terpane biomarkers

Hackley, Paul C.; Ryder, Robert T.; Trippi, Michael H.; Alimi, Hossein

doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2012.12.032

Cited by 63 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Along this north to south transect burial depth increases as does thermal maturity based on previous thermal maturity studies (East et al, 2012;Hackley et al, 2013;Araujo et al, 2014;Berea Consortium Release, 2017;Schmidt et al, 2017). Table 1 provides well and lithology information for the samples used in this study, which range from 1,024 to 4,220 ft in depth, and 0.5 to 1.29 VRo%.…”

Section: Materials and Methods Samples And Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 80%

Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

et al. 2017

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The thermal maturity of shale is often measured by vitrinite reflectance (VRo). VRo measurements for the Devonian-Mississippian black shale source rocks evaluated herein predicted thermal immaturity in areas where associated reservoir rocks are oil-producing. This limitation of the VRo method led to the current evaluation of Raman spectroscopy as a suitable alternative for developing correlations between thermal maturity and Raman spectra. In this study, Raman spectra of Devonian-Mississippian black shale source rocks were regressed against measured VRo or sample-depth. Attempts were made to develop quantitative correlations of thermal maturity. Using sample-depth as a proxy for thermal maturity is not without limitations as thermal maturity as a function of depth depends on thermal gradient, which can vary through time, subsidence rate, uplift, lack of uplift, and faulting. Correlations between Raman data and vitrinite reflectance or sample-depth were quantified by peak-fitting the spectra. Various peak-fitting procedures were evaluated to determine the effects of the number of peaks and maximum peak widths on correlations between spectral metrics and thermal maturity. Correlations between D-frequency, G-band full width at half maximum (FWHM), and band separation between the G-and D-peaks and thermal maturity provided some degree of linearity throughout most peak-fitting assessments; however, these correlations and those calculated from the G-frequency, D/G FWHM ratio, and D/G peak area ratio also revealed a strong dependence on peak-fitting processes. This dependency on spectral analysis techniques raises questions about the validity of peak-fitting, particularly given the amount of subjective analyst involvement necessary to reconstruct spectra. This research shows how user interpretation and extrapolation affected the comparability of different samples, the accuracy of generated trends, and therefore, the potential of the Raman spectral method to become an industry benchmark as a thermal maturity probe. A Raman method devoid of extensive operator interaction and data manipulation is quintessential for creating a standard method.

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Section: Materials and Methods Samples And Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 80%

Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

et al. 2017

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“…Soxhlet extraction, saturate-aromatic-resin-asphaltene (SARA) fractionation, gas chromatography (GC) analysis of saturate fractions and aromatic fractions, and carbon (C) isotope analysis were made by standard operating methods at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS; see http://energy.usgs.gov/GeochemistryGeophysics/GeochemistryLaboratories/GeochemistryLabor atoriesMethods.aspx). GC-mass spectrometry analysis of the saturate and aromatic fractions were obtained from Weatherford Laboratories following standard procedures, e.g., as described by Hackley et al (2013). As described below, analytical data from all methods was compared to proprietary data on the full core and found to be consistent and representative.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic petrology and geochemistry of mudrocks from the lacustrine Lucaogou Formation, Santanghu Basin, northwest China: Application to lake basin evolution

Hackley

Fishman

et al. 2016

International Journal of Coal Geology

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Exploration for tight oil in the frontier Santanghu Basin of northwest China has resulted in recent commercial discoveries sourced from the lacustrine Upper Permian Lucaogou Formation, already considered a "world class source rock" in the Junggar Basin to the west. Here we apply an integrated analytical program to carbonate-dominated mudrocks from the Lucaogou Formation in Santanghu Basin to document the nature of organic matter (OM) in the context of an evolving lake system. The organic-rich samples wt.%; n=10) were widely spaced from a ~200 m cored section, interpreted from textural and mineralogical evidence to document transition from a lower under-filled to an overlying balanced-filled lake. Organic matter is dominated by moderate to strongly fluorescent amorphous material with Type I geochemical signature (HI values 510-755; n=10) occurring in a continuum from lamellar stringers, 10-20 µm thick, some ≥1 mm in length (possible microbial mat; preserved only in lower under-filled section) to finely-disseminated amorphous groundmass intimately intermixed with mineral matrix. Biomarkers for methanotrophs and photosynthetic cyanobacteria indicate a © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the Elsevier user license http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ complex microbial consortium. A unicellular prasinophyte green alga(?), similar to Tasmanites in marine rocks, is present as discrete flattened discs 50-100 µm in diameter. Type III OM including vitrinite (some fluorescent) and inertinite also is abundant. Solid bitumen, indicating local kerogen conversion, fills voids and occurs throughout the cored section. Vitrinite reflectance values are 0.47-0.58%, consistent with strong OM fluorescence but may be "suppressed". Other proxies, e.g., biomarker parameters, indicate the Lucaogou Formation is in the early oil window at this location. On average, slightly more amorphous OM and telalginite are present in the lower section, consistent with a shallow, stratified, saline environment with low sediment dilution. More inertinite is present in the upper section, indicating greater terrestrial influx and consistent with higher quartz and plagioclase content (dominantly authigenic chalcedony and albite). Laminated mudstones in the upper section indicate anoxia prevented bioturbation from benthic grazing, also indicating stratified water column conditions.A decrease upsection in authigenic dolomite with reciprocal increase of ankerite/siderite is consistent with decreasing salinity, as is an overall decrease in gammacerane index values. These observations suggest evolution from a shallow, stratified evaporative (saline) setting to a deeper, stratified freshwater basin with higher water input during Lucaogou deposition. The evolution from an under-filled to balance-filled lake in Santanghu Basin is similar to Lucaogou deposition in Junggar Basin, suggesting similar tectonic and climatic controls. Paleoclimate interpretations from other researchers in this area suggested an evolution from semi-arid ...

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“…The occurrence of this insoluble pyrobitumen fraction impacts both geochemical and petrological evaluations of the rock. The presence of these bitumens in a hydrocarbon source rock can affect geochemical analyses (e.g., affecting the Tmax value) and petrographic analyses (e.g., appearing as vitrinite-like organic matter affecting the vitrinite reflectance analysis and visual kerogen analysis) in isolated kerogen-concentrate pellets (Glikson et al, 1992;Snowdon, 1995;Hackley et al, 2013).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hackley et al (2013) concluded that vitrinite reflectance measurements of early mature Devonian shale may erroneously include solid bitumen lower reflectance values. Landis and Castano (1994) identified three types of solid bitumen (homogenous, granular, and coked).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-oil solid bitumen network in the Woodford Shale, USA — A potential primary migration pathway

Cardott

Landis²,

Curtis

2015

International Journal of Coal Geology

194

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Thermal maturity of northern Appalachian Basin Devonian shales: Insights from sterane and terpane biomarkers

Cited by 63 publications

References 18 publications

Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

Organic petrology and geochemistry of mudrocks from the lacustrine Lucaogou Formation, Santanghu Basin, northwest China: Application to lake basin evolution

Post-oil solid bitumen network in the Woodford Shale, USA — A potential primary migration pathway

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