About This Item

Share This Item

The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 100, No. 4 (April 2016), P. 597-621.

Copyright ©2016. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1306/01141615055

Impacts of hydrothermal dolomitization and thermochemical sulfate reduction on secondary porosity creation in deeply buried carbonates: A case study from the Lower Saxony Basin, northwest Germany

Bianca C. Biehl,1 Lars Reuning,2 Johannes Schoenherr,3 Volker Lüders,4 and Peter A. Kukla5

1Energy and Mineral Resources Group, Geological Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstraße 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany; [email protected]
2Energy and Mineral Resources Group, Geological Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstraße 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany; [email protected]
3ExxonMobil Production Germany, Riethorst 12, 30659 Hannover, Germany; [email protected]
4GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany; [email protected]
5Energy and Mineral Resources Group, Geological Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstraße 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The role of deep-burial dissolution in the creation of porosity in carbonates has been discussed controversially in the recent past. We present a case study from the Upper Permian Zechstein 2 carbonate reservoirs of the Lower Saxony Basin in northwest Germany. These reservoirs are locally characterized by high amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and variable amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which are derived from thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) and inorganic sources. To study the contribution of these effects on porosity development, we combine petrography, stable isotope, and rare earth and yttrium (REY) analyses of fracture cements with Raman spectroscopy and δ13C analyses of fluid inclusions. It is shown that fluid migration along deep fault zones created and redistributed porosity. Fluid inclusion analyses of vein cements demonstrate that hydrothermal fluids transported inorganic CO2 into the reservoir, where it mixed with minor amounts of TSR-derived organic CO2. The likely source of inorganic CO2 is the thermal decomposition of deeply buried Devonian carbonates. The REY distribution patterns support a hydrothermal origin of ascending iron- and CO2-rich fluids causing dolomitization of calcite and increasing porosity by 10%–16% along fractures. This porosity increase results from hydrothermal dolomitization and dissolution by acids generated from the reaction of Fe2+ with H2S to precipitate pyrite. In contrast, hydrothermal dolomite cements reduced early diagenetic porosity in dolomitic intervals by approximately 17%. However, the carbonate dissolution in the predominantly calcitic host rock results in a net increase in porosity and permeability in the vicinity of the fracture walls, which has to be considered for modeling reservoir properties and fluid migration pathways.

Pay-Per-View Purchase Options

The article is available through a document delivery service. Explain these Purchase Options.

Watermarked PDF Document: $14
Open PDF Document: $24

AAPG Member?

Please login with your Member username and password.

Members of AAPG receive access to the full AAPG Bulletin Archives as part of their membership. For more information, contact the AAPG Membership Department at [email protected].