About This Item
- Full TextFull Text(subscription required)
- Pay-Per-View PurchasePay-Per-View
Purchase Options Explain
Share This Item
The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
DOI: 10.1306/10261816501
Flow pathway and evolution of water and oil along reverse faults in the northwestern Sichuan Basin, China
Changyu Fan,1 Alvar Braathen,2 Zhenliang Wang,3 Xiaoqiang Zhang,4 Suiying Chen,5 Nana Feng,6 Aiguo Wang,7 and Lei Huang8
1State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected], [email protected]
2Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; [email protected]
3Hydrocarbon Accumulation Branch, Laboratory of State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics and Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected]
4Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected]
5Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected]
6Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected]
7Department of Geology, State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Northwest University, Xi’an, China; [email protected]
8Department of Geology, State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
As a three-dimensional geological body, a fault
zone has a complex internal structure. Disputes remain over flow pathways of fluids within
fault
zones. Well and seismic data cannot be used to effectively identify the internal structures of a
fault
zone. Furthermore, continuous core sampling in
fault
zones is commonly limited. Fewer studies of flow pathways along reverse faults are done in a sedimentary basin. Through extensive outcrop observations, sampling, and measurements in the northwestern Sichuan Basin of China, this study enhances our understanding of fluid evolution and the main pathway of vertical fluid flow along a reverse
fault
. In the studied carbonates, deep hot brine initially entered the
fault
zone and migrated upward along the
fault
core, then moved to shallow strata, mixed with meteoric water, and cooled in the
fault
zone. In the studied sandstone and shale, a paleo-oil pool formed in the
fault
damage zone. After that, forced by uplift and reactivation, oil migrated into the
fault
core along fractures and was cooled, washed, biodegraded, and oxidized by meteoric water. In the sandstone–sandstone juxtaposition faults, the oil shows are distinctly different between hanging wall and footwall.
Fault
rocks (sand and shale gouges) that developed along the principal slip surface seem to have prevented fluid flow across the
fault
. This evidence suggests that
fault
core and inner damaged zone are the main pathways of vertical fluid flow along the investigated reverse
fault
zone.
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].