The creation of calcite microcrystals and microporosity through deep burial basinal flow processes driven by plate margin obduction – A realistic model?

Wenwen Wei; Fiona Whitaker; Hussein Hoteit; Volker Vahrenkamp

doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105432

The creation of calcite microcrystals and microporosity through deep burial basinal flow processes driven by plate margin obduction – A realistic model?

Wenwen Wei, Fiona Whitaker, Hussein Hoteit, Volker Vahrenkamp

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Calcite microcrystals and associated microporosity are ubiquitous and extensively developed in Jurassic and Cretaceous carbonate sequences in the Middle East. Clumped isotope analyses of calcite microcrystals in the Lower Cretaceous Thamama-B strata in UAE reservoirs indicate temperatures of 60–90 °C and burial of 1.5–2.5 km suggesting formation synchronous with and updip of Late Cretaceous ophiolite obduction at the Eastern Arabian continental margin. Assuming that recrystallization of precursor calcite to calcite microcrystals requires initially undersaturation to drive dissolution/re-precipitation a basin-scale 2D reactive transport model (RTM) was constructed. The model is constrained by hydro-mechanical simulations and used to quantitatively evaluate the hypothesis that the formation of calcite microcrystals and associated microporosity is driven by expulsion of compaction fluids during rapid burial. The combined influence of fluid flux and cooling results in trace net calcite dissolution (porosity increase

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	105432
Journal	Marine and Petroleum Geology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105432
State	Published - Nov 15 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-25
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): ORS #4174
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Maxim Yutkin, KAUST, for many discussions during this work. This work was supported by a KAUST funded Collaborative Research Project (reference ORS #4174) and KAUST baseline research funding to V. Vahrenkamp and H. Hoteit. The suggestions of two reviewers helped improved the final manuscript and we are particularly grateful for thoughtful input from David Budd. We also thank CMG Ltd. for providing the academic license for CMG-GEM simulator used for the hydro-mechanical model.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economic Geology
Oceanography
Stratigraphy
Geophysics
Geology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105432

Cite this

@article{53ae24d2e6004621a621a1480476a1a7,

title = "The creation of calcite microcrystals and microporosity through deep burial basinal flow processes driven by plate margin obduction – A realistic model?",

abstract = "Calcite microcrystals and associated microporosity are ubiquitous and extensively developed in Jurassic and Cretaceous carbonate sequences in the Middle East. Clumped isotope analyses of calcite microcrystals in the Lower Cretaceous Thamama-B strata in UAE reservoirs indicate temperatures of 60–90 °C and burial of 1.5–2.5 km suggesting formation synchronous with and updip of Late Cretaceous ophiolite obduction at the Eastern Arabian continental margin. Assuming that recrystallization of precursor calcite to calcite microcrystals requires initially undersaturation to drive dissolution/re-precipitation a basin-scale 2D reactive transport model (RTM) was constructed. The model is constrained by hydro-mechanical simulations and used to quantitatively evaluate the hypothesis that the formation of calcite microcrystals and associated microporosity is driven by expulsion of compaction fluids during rapid burial. The combined influence of fluid flux and cooling results in trace net calcite dissolution (porosity increase",

author = "Wenwen Wei and Fiona Whitaker and Hussein Hoteit and Volker Vahrenkamp",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-25 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): ORS #4174 Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Maxim Yutkin, KAUST, for many discussions during this work. This work was supported by a KAUST funded Collaborative Research Project (reference ORS #4174) and KAUST baseline research funding to V. Vahrenkamp and H. Hoteit. The suggestions of two reviewers helped improved the final manuscript and we are particularly grateful for thoughtful input from David Budd. We also thank CMG Ltd. for providing the academic license for CMG-GEM simulator used for the hydro-mechanical model.",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105432",

language = "English (US)",

pages = "105432",

journal = "Marine and Petroleum Geology",