Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:07:25.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Physical and chemical aspects of the development of overpressuring in sedimentary environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

P. L. Hall
P. L. Hall*
Affiliation:
Department of Pure & Applied Physics, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fluid pressures in argillaceous sediments depend on, inter alia, mechanical stresses, temperature, diagenetic volume changes and permeability. However, the relative influence of the pressuring mechanisms depends critically upon the long time-scale compliance, C, of the overpressured layer.

In sediments undergoing first-time burial and currently exposed to their historically maximum applied stresses, C can be relatively large. Here, fluid pressure increases are principally due to mechanical causes, and overpressuring will be associated with undercompaction. The tendency for undercompaction (compaction disequilibrium) depends on the sediment thickness, burial rate and vertical permeability. In other cases, when applied stresses have been reduced by uplift, or when impermeable hard caps or seals have been formed, C may be substantially smaller. Here pore pressures may be predominantly controlled by diagenetic and aquathermal processes, with mechanical (undercompaction) phenomena being relatively less significant.

Three-dimensionally sealed overpressured zones may exhibit vertical fluid pressure discontinuities. Within a sealed aquifer, fluid pressures may rise to almost lithostatic values, relieved by episodic fracturing of the seal.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 425 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkinson, J.H. & Bransby, P.L. (1978) The Mechanics of Soil. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Audet, D.M. & Fowler, A.C. (1992) A mathematical model for compaction in sedimentary basins. Geophys. Int. 110, 577–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Audet, D.M. & Mcconnell, J.D.C. (1992) Forward modelling of porosity and pore pressure evolution in sedimentary basins. Basin Research, 4, 147–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, C. (1972) Aquathermal pressuring—role of temperature in development of abnormal pressure zones. A.A.P.G. Bull 56, 2068–2071.Google Scholar
Barker, C. & Horsefield, B. (1982) Mechanical versus thermal cause of abnormally high fluid pressures in shales: discussion. A.A.P.G. Bull. 66, 99–111.Google Scholar
Borst, R.L. (1982) Some effects of compaction and geological time on the pore parameters of argillaceous rocks. Sedimentology, 29, 291–298.Google Scholar
Bredehoeft, J.D. & Hanshaw, B.B. (1968) On the maintenance of abnormal fluid pressures. I. Thick sedimentary sequences. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 79, 1097–1106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhrig, C. (1989) Geopressured Jurassic reservoirs in the Viking Graben: modelling and geological significance. Mar. Pet. Geol. 6, 31–48.Google Scholar
Burst, J.F. (1969) Diagenesis of Gulf Coast clayey sediments and its possible relation to petroleum migration. A.A.P.G. Bull. 53, 73–93.Google Scholar
Carstens, H. & Dypvlk, H. (1981) Abnormal formation pressure and shale porosity. A.A.P.G. Bull. 65, 344–350.Google Scholar
Cathles, L.M. & Smith, A.T. (1983) Thermal constraints on the formation of Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc deposits and their implications for episodic dewatering and deposit genesis. Econ. Geol. 78, 983–1002.Google Scholar
Chapman, R.E. (1980) Mechanical versus thermal causes of abnormally high fluid pressures in shales. A.A.P.G. Bull. 64, 2179–2183.Google Scholar
Chiarelli, A. & Dufeaud, F. (1980) Pressure origin and distribution in the Jurassic of Viking Graben (United Kingdom-Norway). A.A.P.G. Bull. 64, 1245–1250.Google Scholar
Chilingar, G.V. & Knight, L. (1960) Relationship between pressure and moisture content of kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite clays. A.A.P.G. Bull. 44, 101–106.Google Scholar
Chiu, V.K., Johnston, Z.W. & Donald, I.B. (1983) Appropriate techniques for triaxial tests of saturated soft rock. Int. J. Rock. Mech. Min. Sci. Geomech. Abs. 20, 107–120.Google Scholar
Daines, S.R. (1982) Aquathermal pressuring and geopressure evaluation. A.A.P.G. Bull. 66, 931–939.Google Scholar
Denis, J. (1991) Compaction and swelling of Ca-smectite in water and CaCI2 solutions: water activity and matrix resistance to compaction. Clays Clay Miner. 39, 35–42.Google Scholar
Denis, J.H., Keall, M.J., Hall, P.L. & Meeten, G.H. (1991) Influence of potassium on the swelling and compaction of mixed (Na, K) ion-exchanged montmorillonites. Clay Miner. 26, 255–268.Google Scholar
Dickinson, G. (1953) Geological aspects of abnormal reservoir pressures in Gulf Coast Louisiana. A.A.P.G. Bull. 37, 410–432.Google Scholar
Doligez, B., Ungerer, P., Chenet, Y., Burros, J., Bossis, F. & Bessereau, G. (1987) Numerical modelling of sedimentation, heat transfer, hydrocarbon formation and fluid migration in the Viking Graben, North Sea. Pp. 1039- 1048 in: Petroleum Geology of NW Europe (Brooks, J. & Glennie, R., editors), Graham & Trotman, London.Google Scholar
Eberl, D.D. (1993) Three zones for illite formation during burial diagenesis and metamorphism. Clays Clay Miner. 41, 26–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D. & Hower, J. (1976) Kinetics of illite formation. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 87, 1326–1340.Google Scholar
Eberl, D.D., Whitney, G. & Khouru, H. (1978) Hydrothermal reactivity of smectite. Am. Miner. 63, 401–409.Google Scholar
Fertl, W.H. (1976) Abnormal Formation Pressures. Developments in Petroleum Science, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Fritz, S. (1986) Ideality of clay membranes in osmotic processes: a review. Clays Clay Miner. 34, 214–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gold, T. & Soter, S. (1985) Fluid ascent through the solid lithosphere and its relation to earthquakes. Pure Appl. Geophys. 122, 492–530.Google Scholar
Gretener, P. & Feng, Z.M. (1985) Three decades of geopressures: insights and enigmas. Bull. Verein. Schweiz Petrol. Geol. lug. 51, 1–34.Google Scholar
Göven, N. (1992) Molecular aspects of clay-water interactions. Pp. 1-79 in: Water Interface and its Rheological Implications (Göven, N. & Pollastro, R.M., editors). Clay Minerals Society, Boulder, Colorado, USA.Google Scholar
Hall, P.L., Mildner, D.F.R. & Burst, R.L. (1986) Small angle scattering studies of the pore spaces of shaly rocks. J. Geophys. Res. B91, 2183–2192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, P.L. (1993) Mechanisms of overpressuring: an overview. Pp. 265-315 in: Geochemistry of Clay-Pore Fluid Interactions (Manning, D.A.C., Hall, P.L. & Hughes, C.R., editors), Chapman & Hall, London.Google Scholar
Hanshaw, B.B. & Bredehoeft, J.D. (1968) On the maintenance of anomalous fluid pressures. II. Source layer at depth. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 79, 1107–1122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R. & Egeestaff, P.A. (1980) Interfacial water structure in montmorillonite from neutron diffraction experiments. Clays Clay Miner. 28, 19–28.Google Scholar
Hedberg, H.D. (1974) Relation of methane generation to undercompacted shale, shale diapirism and mud volcanoes. A.A.P.G. Bull. 58, 661–73.Google Scholar
Hunt, J.M. (1979) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco.Google Scholar
Hunt, J.M. (1990) Generation and migration of petroleum form abnormally pressured fluid compartments. A.A.P.G. Bull. 74, 1–12.Google Scholar
Israeeachvili, J.N. (1985) Intermolecular and Surface Forces. Academic Press, London, 296pp.Google Scholar
Jones, M.E. & Addis, M.A. (1986) The application of stress path and critical state analysis to sedimentary deformation. J. Struct. Geol. 8, 575–580.Google Scholar
Magara, K. (1975a) Re-evaluation of montmorillonite dehydration as a cause of abnormal pressure and fluid migration. A.A.P.G. Bull. 59, 292–302.Google Scholar
Magara, K. (1975b) Importance of aquathermal pressuring effect in Gulf Coast. A.A.P.G. Bull. 59, 2037–2045.Google Scholar
Magara, K. (1978) Compaction and Fluid Migration. Developments in Petroleum Science, Vol. 9. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Mesm, G. & Olson, R.E. (1971) Consolidation characteristics of montmorillonite. Geotechnique, 21, 341–352.Google Scholar
Nur, A. & Byerlee, J.D. (1971) An exact effective stress law for the elastic deformation of rock with fluids. J. Geophys. Res. 76, 641–6419.Google Scholar
Palciauskas, V.V. & Domenico, P.A. (1980) Microfracture development in compacting sediments: relation to hydrocarbon maturation kinetics. A.A.P.G. Bull., 64, 927–937.Google Scholar
Plumley, W.J. (1980) Abnormally high fluid pressure: survey of some basic principles. A.A.P.G. Bull. 64, 414–430.Google Scholar
Rieke, H.H. in & Chilingarian, G.V. (1974) Compaction of Argillaceous Sediments. Developments in Sedimentology, Vol. 16. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Sharp, J.M. Jr. (1976) Momentum and energy balance equations for compacting sediments. Math. Geol. 8, 305–332.Google Scholar
Sharp, J.M. Jr. (1983) Permeability controls on aquathermal pressuring. A.A.P.G. Bull. 67, 2057–2061.Google Scholar
Skipper, N.T., Refson, K. & Mcconnell, J.D.C. (1993) Pp. 40–1 in: Geochemistry of Clay-Pore Fluid Interactions (Manning, D.A.C., Hall, P.L. & Hughes, C.R. editors), Chapman & Hall, London.Google Scholar
Smith, J.E. (1971) The dynamics of shale compaction and evolution of pore fluid pressures. Math. Geol. 3, 239–263.Google Scholar
Sposlro, G. & Prost, R. (1982) Structure of water adsorbed in smectite. Chem. Rev., 82, 553–573.Google Scholar
Stoneley, R. (1982) The structural development of the Wessex Basin. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 139, 543–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart, C.A. & Kozlk, H.G. (1977) Geopressuring mechanism of Smackover Gas reservoirs, Jackson Dome Area, Mississippi. J. Pet. Tech. 29, 579–585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swan, G., Cook, J., Bruce, S. & Meehan, R. (1989) Strain rate effects in Kimmeridge Bay Shale. Int. J. Rock. Mech. Min. Sci. Geomech. Abs. 26, 135–149.Google Scholar
Thorne, J.A. & Watts, A.B. (1989) Quantitative analysis of North Sea subsidence. A.A.P.G. Bull 73, 88–116.Google Scholar
Walder, J.S. & Nur, A. (1984) Porosity reduction and crustal pore pressure development. J. Geophys. Res. B89, 11, 539–11, 548.Google Scholar