Hydrocarbon charging histories of the Ordovician reservoir in the Tahe oil field, Tarim Basin, China

The Ordovician reservoir of the Tahe oil field went through many tectonic reconstructions, and was characterized by multiple hydrocarbon chargings. The aim of this study was to unravel the complex charging histories. Systematic analysis of fluid inclusions was employed to complete the investigation. Fluorescence observation of oil inclusions under UV light, and microthermometry of both oil and aqueous inclusions in 105 core samples taken from the Ordovician reservoir indicated that the Ordovician reservoir underwent four oil chargings and a gas charging. The hydrocarbon chargings occurred at the late Hercynian, the Indo-Sinian and Yanshan, the early Himalaya, the middle Himalaya, and the late Himalaya,respectively. The critical hydrocarbon charging time was at the late Hercynian.     

Accumulation process and model for the Ordovician buried hill reservoir in the western Lunnan area,the Tarim Basin

The Ordovician buried hill reservoir in the western Lunnan area, a type of dissolved fracture and cavernous reservoir, is mainly composed of heavy oil. The oil is the mixture sourcing from the Middle-Lower Cambrian and Middle-Lower Ordovician, with three stages of pool forming process: (1) the destruction and parallel migration/accumulation during the late Caledonian to early Hercynian; (2) the oil and gas accumulation during the late Hercynian characterized by adjustment upward along faults and parallel migration/accumulation; (3) the formation of heavy oil during the latest Hercynian. The Ordovician buried hill reservoir is affected by the diffusion of light oil and gas but had no hydrocarbon charging during the late Yanshan period to Himalayan period, but in this period, formed the association of heavy oil and dissolved gas cracked from crude oil with dry coefficient of 0.91-0.96. The study on accumulation process of the Ordovician buried hill reservoir has important implications for the exploration potential of early oil and gas accumulation in the cratonic area of the Tarim Basin.     

Accumulation process and model for the Ordovician buried hill reservoir in the western Lunnan area, the Tarim Basin

The Ordovician buried hill reservoir in the western Lunnan area, a type of dissolved fracture and cavernous reservoir, is mainly composed of heavy oil. The oil is the mixture sourcing from the Middle-Lower Cambrian and Middle-Lower Ordovician, with three stages of pool forming process： （1） the destruction and parallel migration/accumulation during the late Caledonian to early Hercynian; （2） the oil and gas accumulation during the late Hercynian characterized by adjustment upward along faults and parallel migration/accumulation; （3） the formation of heavy oil during the latest Hercynian. The Ordovician buried hill reservoir is affected by the diffusion of light oil and gas but had no hydrocarbon charging during the late Yanshan period to Himalayan period, but in this period, formed the association of heavy oil and dissolved gas cracked from crude oil with dry coefficient of 0.91-0.96. The study on accumulation process of the Ordovician buried hill reservoir has important implications for the exploration potential of early oil and gas accumulation in the cratonic area of the Tarim Basin.     

An investigation of water-gas interface migration of the upper Paleozoic gas pool of the Ordos Basin using reservoir fluid inclusion information

There is a particular characteristic in the formation of the Upper Paleozoic gas pool in the Ordos Basin that is its water-gas interface migrated regional during geological history. However, there has been lack of detailed research on this problem and also no similar report on other basins. In this paper, the formation time of the fluid inclusions formed in the water-gas transition zone of the gas pool was deduced using their trapping temperatures and combining of the burial with geothermal history of the basin. On the basis of this, the isochrone of water-gas interface migration for the gas pool was mapped. The result shows that the gas pool began to form around the Yanan Area at about I65Ma, and then developed and enlarged toward the north direction. The gas pool finally formed at about 129 Ma. Since the basin uplifted from the late Cretaceous and gas supply decreased, the water-gas interface of the gas pool migrated back to the present position.     

Analysis on forming conditions of deep marine reservoirs and their concentration belts in superimposed basins in China

By taking the Tarim Basin, Sichuan Basin and Ordos Basin as examples, the conditions for deep marine reservoir formation were illustrated in three aspects listed below： late-stage superimposition style, burial history and structural deformation of the marine stratigraphic system. The burial history of marine source rocks can be divided into three types, i.e., type I, type II and type III, which are obviously different from the case with present hydrocarbon phases in terms of hydrocarbon generation and pe- troleum-reservoir formation. Based on evolution history, the structural belts in the marine stratigraphic sequence can also be divided into four types, i.e. earlier normal fault-later fault-fold type, earlier uplift-later fault-fold type, earlier uplift-later flattened slope type, and earlier depression-later thrust type. In this paper, a successive gas generation model was proposed, and it was particularly pointed out that coupling of geothermal field annealing evolution and tectonic subsidence and late gas generation from dispersed liquid hydrocarbon in highly matured to over-matured source rocks are key factors for formation of marine petroleum reservoirs. The geological conditions for formation of high-grade reservoirs in deep marine system, covering early hydrocarbon injection, deep denudation and buried dolo- mitization, were summarized. It was finally concluded that three major structural belts, i.e. paleo-uplift belt characterized by composite hydrocarbon accumulation, paleo-fault belt and high-energy sedimentary facies belt, were involved in marine hydrocarbon accumulation.     

A late Mesozoic high plateau in eastern China: Evidence from basalt vesicular paleoaltimetry

Eastern China is made of a number of large and small continental fragments throughout late Paleozoic and Mesozoic time,and is still the best natural laboratory for examining kinematic models of continent tectonics.The paleoelevation history of eastern China provides direct insight into the tectonic processes in China.Here we present basalt-vesicularity based estimates of the paleoaltimetry of the early Cretaceous basalts in northern East China,which indicate that the studied basalt units were at an elevation of more than 4 kilometers in late Mesozoic.Two vesicular basaltic rocks have been collected form bottom to top along the lava flow outcrop in eastern Inner Mongolia.After the digital precessing to the sample cross-sections,and taking advantage of the stereological conversion method to acquire the bubble size distributions,paleoelevation estimate was calculated for East China in the early Cretaceous.The results show that the elevation has been near 4700±750 m when the lava flows was cooling,implying that there were highland regions in the northern part of the East China Plateau during the early Cretaceous.Combined with other geological evidence,we conclude that there was a high plateau with elevation near 5000 m above sea level in Eastern China during the late Mesozoic.This ancient high plateau in eastern China was most likely formed by the collision of the north and south China blocks.     

Control of coupling among three major factors for formation of high-efficiency gas reservoir——A case study on the oolitic beach gas reservoir in Feixianguan Formation in the northeast Sichuan Basin

Through a case study of the high-efficiency gas reservoir in Feixianguan Formation in the northeast Sichuan Basin, quantitative and semi-quantitative analyses of key elements such as hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation, and reservoir evolution as well as their interplay in the critical moment of reservoir formation controlled by the energy field were carried out, by means of numerical modeling of the energy field. It was found that the climax time for Permian hydrocarbon generation was Late Triassic-Early Jurassic and accumulation of oil and gas has resulted in large-scale paleoreservoirs in paleostructural traps in Feixianguan Formation, a process facilitated by fractures connecting the sources. The paleoreservoirs have been turned into high-efficiency gas kitchens due to pyrolysis, which resulted from deep burial at a temperature of 170―210 ℃ as induced by tremendously thick sedimentation in the foreland basin of Daba Mountain in Late Jurassic-Cretaceous period. Meanwhile, abundant acid gas like H2S produced from thermo-chemical sulfate reduction (TSR) at high temperatures leads to extensive dissolution of dolostone in the paleoreservoirs, which may in turn result in modification of the reservoirs and preservation of the reservoir rock porosity. The present distribution of gas reservoirs was ultimately determined in the processes of adjustment, cooling and decompression of the paleoreservoirs resulting from intense deformation in the front of Daba Mountain during the Himalayan orogeny.     

Control of coupling among three major factors for formation of high-efficiency gas reservoir A case study on the oolitic beach gas reservoir in Feixianguan Formation in the northeast Sichuan Basin

Through a case study of the high-efficiency gas reservoir in Feixianguan Formation in the northeast Sichuan Basin, quantitative and semi-quantitative analyses of key elements such as hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation, and reservoir evolution as well as their interplay in the critical moment of reservoir formation controlled by the energy field were carried out, by means of numerical modeling of the energy field. It was found that the climax time for Permian hydrocarbon generation was Late Triassic-Early Jurassic and accumulation of oil and gas has resulted in large-scale paleoreservoirs in paleostructural traps in Feixianguan Formation, a process facilitated by fractures connecting the sources. The paleoreservoirs have been turned into high-efficiency gas kitchens due to pyrolysis, which resulted from deep burial at a temperature of 170-210℃ as induced by tremendously thick sedimentation in the foreland basin of Daba Mountain in Late Jurassic-Cretaceous period. Meanwhile, abundant acid gas like H2S produced from thermo-chemical sulfate reduction （TSR） at high temperatures leads to extensive dissolution of dolostone in the paleoreservoirs, which may in turn result in modification of the reservoirs and preservation of the reservoir rock porosity. The present distribution of gas reservoirs was ultimately determined in the processes of adjustment, cooling and decompression of the paleoreservoirs resulting from intense deformation in the front of Daba Mountain during the Himalayan orogeny.     

Water content in the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle beneath the south-central Taihang Mountains: implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

Based on studies of the water content of the early Cretaceous Feixian high-magnesium basalts in the eastern part of the North China Craton （NCC）, it has been suggested that the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC was highly hydrous （〉1,000 ppm, HeO wt.） and that this high water content had significantly reduced the vis- cosity of the lithospheric mantle and provided a prerequisite for the destruction of the NCC. The eastern part of the NCC had undergone multistage subduction of oceanic plates from the south, north, and east sides since the early Paleozoic, and these events may have caused the strong hydration of the NCC lithospheric mantle. To determine which subduction had contributed most to this hydration, we measured the water contents of the peridotite xenoliths hosted by the early Cretaceous high-magnesium diorites of Fushan in the south- central part of the Taihang Mountains. Our results demon- strate that the water content of the early Cretaceous litho- spheric mantle beneath the south part of the Taihang Mountains was ~ 40 ppm and significantly lower than that of the contemporary lithospheric mantle beneath the eastern part of the NCC. Thus, the hydration of the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle of the eastern part of the NCC can be ascribed to the subduction of the Pacific plate from the west side. Thus, the main dynamic factor in the destruction of the NCC was likely the subduction of the Pacific plate.     

Comparative study of gas accumulations in the Permian Changxing reefs and Triassic Feixianguan oolitic reservoirs between Longgang and Luojiazhai-Puguang in the Sichuan Basin

Reef and oolitic gas reservoirs in the Permian Changxing and Triassic Feixianguan formations have been discovered in both the Luojiazhai-Puguang and Longgang areas of the Sichuan Basin, but the accumulation scale, abundance and distribution patterns differ greatly. In fact, the two areas have more differences than they have similarities. Similarities include: (1) the lithology, properties and types of porosity of the reef and oolitic reservoirs are primarily consistent in the two areas; (2) well-developed regional caprocks that seal the fluid system; and (3) accumulation process histories, with liquid hydrocarbon charging at an early stage, cracking into gas at a high to over-mature stage, adjustment of gas reservoirs at an uplifting stage, and final reservoir generation at a late stage. Differences include: (1) gas accumulations in the Luojiazhai-Puguang area that are dominated by oil-type cracked gas, with multiple and sufficient gas sources, contrasting with gas accumulations in the Longgang area that are dominated by coal-sourced gas with insufficient gas sources; (2) heterogeneity and horizontal diversity of reservoirs in the Longgang area that are stronger than in the Luojiazhai-Puguang area; and (3) the development of deep and large faults in the Luojiazhai-Puguang area that link source, reservoir and migration pathways, contrasting with poorly developed faults in Longgang area, where laterally variable fractures are the major migration pathway. Because of these differences, abundant large-scale structurally-controlled gas accumulations are developed in the Luojiazhai-Puguang area, whereas lithology plays a more important role in gas accumulation in the Longgang area where accumulations are smaller-scale and have lower gas-bearing abundance. We suggest that future exploration for reef and oolitic gas accumulations should be strengthened in NE Sichuan and NW Sichuan Jiulongshan. In particular, the transitional zone between Longgang and Kaijiang-Liangping Bay has the best potential for new discoveries.     

Mass balance calculation of the pyrolysates generated from marine crude oil： A prediction model of oil cracking gas resources based on solid bitumen in reservoir

Oil cracking gas plays an important role in the resources of natural gas in the basins with high and over mature marine source rocks in China. The prediction of the oil cracking gas resources becomes nec-essary and urgent in the gas exploration in these basins. A marine crude oil sample was pyrolyzed using sealed gold tubes system. The pyrolysates including gas,liquid and solid were quantitatively analyzed. Based on the pyrolysis data and kinetic calculation,the yield correlativity among gas,liquid and solid products was regressed with high correlative coefficients to establish a prediction model suitable for the resource estimation of oil cracking gas. The verification formula for this model was also established on the principle of mass conservation. The affecting factors and the application precondi-tions of this prediction model were discussed. This model would enlighten and provide some new ideas for the resource assessment of natural gas in the high and over mature marine carbonate source rock areas in China. It is expected to be valuable in gas exploration.     

The genesis of H2S in the Weiyuan Gas Field, Sichuan Basin and its evidence

The Sinian Dengying Formation gas pool in Weiyuan is the oldest large-scale sulfur-bearing gas field in China, which has a H2S content ranging from 0.8% to 1.4%. The Cambrian Xixiangchi Formation gas pool discovered recently above the Dengying Formation contains gas geochemical behaviors similar to those of Dengying Formation but different in sulfur isotopes of H2S. Investigations show that though these two Sinian and Cambrian gas pools are separate ones, they share the same Cambrian source rock. The higher dry coefficient, heavier carbon isotopes, sulfur isotopes of sulfide, lower filling of gas pools, formation water characteristics, reservoir properties and H2S distribution, indicate that H2S in both the Sinian and Cambrian gas pools originates from TSR. The sulfur isotopes of sulfates have shown that H2S was formed in respective pools, namely hydrocarbons charged into the pools reacted with the Dengying Formation and the Xixiangchi Formation gypsum （TSR）, respectively, to form H2S. Compared with sulfur isotopes of sulfates in each pool, δ^34S values of H2S are 8‰ lighter for the Dengying Formation pool and 12‰ lighter for the Xixiangchi Formation pool, respectively, which is attributed to the difference in temperatures of TSR occurrence. The reservoir temperature of the Xixiangchi Formation pool is about 40℃ lower than that of the Dengying Formation pool. Temperature plays a controlling role in both the sulfur isotopic fractionation and amounts of H2S generation during TSR.     

Late Miocene–early Pleistocene paleoproductivity variations of the Lop Nor in the Tarim Basin and its implications on aridification in Asian Interior

Extensive lacustrine deposits in the eastern Tarim Basin provide records of climate change influenced by the westerly winds and the Asian monsoon. To char- acterize the evolution of climate change in this region, we analyze elemental concentrations of barium （Ba） from the Ls2 drill core of Lop Nor, a paleo-lakebed located in the eastern Tarim Basin. Biogenic Ba concentrations from this drill core display a large-amplitude oscillation that gener- ally follows a pattern similar to that of Artemisia content and ostracod assemblages, suggesting that is may serve as an index for climate change experienced in the basin. Our results indicate that biogenic Ba is especially sensitive to precipitation. All climatic proxies served in this study vary significantly over late Miocene to early Pleistocene time period. Strong aridification of eastern Tarim in the late Miocene to the early Pliocene may be attributed to a lati- tudinal shift in the westerly winds, which would have resulted in more moisture transported to southern and eastern Tibet. The growth of the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau may have acted as an orographic barrier that blocked moisture sourced in the south from the northern margins of the plateau. We link weaker aridification in the late Pliocene to an increased intensity of the Indian Monsoon.     

Geochemical characteristics and petrogenesis of Mesozoic basalts from the North China Craton： A case study in Fuxin, Liaoning Province

Occurrence of Cretaceous basalts in Fuxin County, Liaoning Province provides us an opportunity to understand Mesozoic mantle processes beneath the northern margin of the North China Craton (NNCC). Fuxin Jianguo basalts occur as volcanic channel phases with well-developed columnar jointings and contain few spinel lherzolite and pyroxenite xenoliths. They are poor in silica and rich in alkalis, Ti and Al, belonging to alkaline basalts. In trace element compositions, Jianguo basalts are moderately enriched in LREE and LILE, but not depleted in HFSE. They have low Sr and high Nd and Pb isotopic ratios. These geochemical characteristics suggest that Jianguo basalts originated from the depleted asthenosphere, representing an undifferentiated and uncontaminated primitive magma. Presence of these basalts indicates that the lithosphere beneath the region had thickness less than 65 km at the time of basalt eruption and was mainly composed of fertile pargasite-bearing spinel Iherzolite and plagioclase pyroxenite. The voluminous basaltic-andesitic magmatism during the early Jurassic-late Cretaceous time indicates that the commencement and accomplishment of lithosphere thinning in the NNCC was much earlier than that in the southern margin, since the mafic-intermediate volcanism only occurred at the Cretaceous time in the southern margin and the basalts with an asthenosphere isotopic signature at the Tertiary. This shows that highly spatial and temporal heterogeneity existed in the Mesozoic lithosphere evolution.     

The equilibrium between diagenetic calcites and dolomites and its impact on reservoir quality in the sandstone reservoir of Kela 2 gas field

Based on the equilibrium theory of chemical reactions between water and rocks,this paper establishes a thermodynamic phase relationship diagram among calcites,dolomites and water solution under the condition of diagenesis based on the thermodynamic database of related minerals and fluids and dolomite's degree of order parameters.It has been discovered that the equilibrium between calcites and dolomites in the diagenetic environment is strongly impacted by temperature and the Ca/Mg ratios in groundwater,and that the dolomite's degree of order in the diagenetic environment is a function of crystallization temperature and time,not controlled by water solution.Hereby,the authors make a further analysis of the close relationship of chemical reaction between carbonate cements and pore water in the sandstone reservoirs of Kala 2 gas field in Kuche sag.It can be seen that there are different impacts on sandstone reservoir quality among the equilibrium system of calcites,dolomites and pore water at different depths of reservoirs.     

Experimental observation of deep crust fluid-NaCl aqueous solution at elevated temperatures and pressures and its significance

In order to reveal the nature of deep crust fluids, the phase relations of NaCI-saturat-ed solution at high temperatures and pressures in a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell (HDAC) are investigated. Salinity of the solutions observed is about 35%-50% . The temperatures for the observation range from 25 to 850℃ and the pressures from 1 atm to about 1 GPa. A supercritical single phase, liquid phase (L), vapor phase (V), solid phase (H), L+H, H + V+L and the near-critical phases L + V can be observed. A two-phase (L + V) immiscibility field for the NaCI solution has been discovered to lie in a wide range of temperatures and pressures: from 250( ±3) to 721℃. Within this field there are two parts, where the upper high temperature part of the two-phase regions is very unstable in character. It is possible to observe a "critical phenomenon". In some of our experiments an "explosion" almost constantly occurred at the interface between the liquid and vapor phases, making the interface obscure, and a continuous transition between the two phases could be found. By a visual microscope it was found that in the two-phase immiscible field near to the critical state the vapor phase and liquid phase compose a crystal structure geometry. It is a special solution structure that was found under a microscope. This discovery is important for us to understand the reason of increasing electronic conductivity of NaCI aqueous solution with respect to temperatures and pressures. And also, it will be easy to interpret the variation of electronic conductivity in the earth crust.     

Late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian sulphur cycle-An isotopic investigation of sedimentary rocks from the Yangtze Platform

The sulphur cycle responds to changes in seawater chemistry, biological evolution and tectonic activity. We follow an isotopic approach in order to constrain the state of the ocean/atmosphere system during late Neoproterozoic and early Cambrian. For this purpose, a sedimentary succession deposited on the Yangtze Platform, South China, was analysed for its sulphur isotopic composition in different S-bearing phases. Redox changes were defined by the degree of pyritization (DOP) values in order to show variations in the oxygenation of the depositional environment. The sulphur isotopic composition of late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian seawater sulphate ranges from +30‰ to +35‰ as evident from trace sulphate in unaltered carbonates and phosphorites. The isotopic composition for pyrite and organic sulphur varies between -16‰ and +23‰. The apparent sulphur isotopic fractionation between seawater sulphate and pyrite as well as organically bound sulphur varies between 7‰ and 50‰. This large fractionation, as well as its variability suggests a biological origin for pyrite and organically bound sulphur. The temporal evolution of different geochemical proxy signals is comparable for different successions across the Yangtze Platform.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating for lamprophyre from Liaodong Peninsula： Constraints on the initial time of Mesozoic lithosphere thinning beneath eastern China

It is undebated fact that the lithospheric mantle beneath eastern China was considerably thinned during the Mesozoic time. However, it has no adequate evidence for the exact timing when the lithosphere thinning started. The Liaodong Peninsula is located in the eastern segment of the North China Craton and is one of the important domains to explore the event of lithosphere thinning. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating and geochemical study were carried out for the lamprophyre dike swarm that intruded into the magnesite ore-beds in the Dashiqiao Formation of Paleoproterozoic Liaohe Group at the Huaziyu magnesite ore district, Liaodong Peninsula. The results indicate that these lamprophyre dikes were intruded in late Jurassic （155±4 Ma） and show some geochemical characteristics of potassic magmas. It is now accepted that the lithosphere thinning took place in the late Mesozoic, and the peak thinning stage occurred in early Cretaceous （130-120 Ma）. Considering the potassic mafic magmatism marking the onset of the lithospheric thinning, we therefore suggest that the studied late Jurassic potassic lamprophyre dike swarm could imply that the late Jurassic is the time that lithosphere thinning started.     

CeO2: an active and selective catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2

It was assumed that the homogeneous dehydrogenation of CiHg occurred in the gas phase was independent of the presence of catalysts and this is applicable to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2 over CeO2 . On the basis of this assumption, a method was developed to analyze the contribution of C2rtj formation from heterogeneous catalysis. In this study, ceria was found to be active and selective for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2 and the selectivity to C, H4 was above 60 % and the actual contribution for C, H4 formation from heterogeneous catalysis was about 55%— 75% in the range of 953—993 K.     

Breathing "Trap" Mechanism for C60 Nanocage

A new trap mechanism has been proposed to generate H@C 60 . Buckyball excited by shaped laser pulse could have large Raman-active vibration mode A g (1), which enlarges and shrinks buckyball alternately, and raises and decreases the energy barrier repeatedly, forming a trap to capture the incoming H atom. In this trap mechanism, the A g (1) vibration mode is excited before the encapsulation process of H atom. Simulations of semiclassical electron-radiation-ion dynamics showed that the kinetic energy threshold for H atom in this mechanism was lowered from 17.51 eV to 10.51 eV, and successful encapsulation happened in the range from 10.51 eV to 15.55 eV.