Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2024, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 1155-1167.doi: 10.11743/ogg20240418

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics and factors controlling the development of weathered crust reservoirs in buried granite hills, YA area, Songnan swell, Qiongdongnan Basin

Yuancao GUO1,2(), Jianhua GUO2,3(), Haigang LAO4, Zhiyu LI3, Ye YU2, Guang Chen3, Shiqing WU3, Yanran HUANG2   

  1. 1.School of Civil Engineering,Hunan University of Science and Technology,Xiangtan,Hunan 411201,China
    2.School of Earth Sciences and Spatial Information Engineering,Hunan University of Science and Technology,Xiangtan,Hunan 411201,China
    3.School of Geosciences and Info-physics,Central South University,Changsha,Hunan 410083,China
    4.College of Mining Engineering,North China University of Science and Technology,Tangshan,Hebei 063210,China
  • Received:2023-10-11 Revised:2024-05-10 Online:2024-09-05 Published:2024-09-05
  • Contact: Jianhua GUO E-mail:xctmac@sina.cn;gjh796@csu.edu.cn

Abstract:

This study aims to reveal the developmental mechanisms and scale of hydrocarbon reservoirs in buried granite hills in the YA area, Songnan swell, Qiongdongnan Basin. Using the analytical and test data of cores, physical properties, elements, and apatite fission tracks, as well as log and seismic interpretations, we investigate the characteristics and factors controlling the development of weathered crust reservoirs in the buried granite hills, as well as the developmental history and residual thickness of the weathered crust. The results indicate that the granite series in the YA area are formed during the Early Triassic of the Indo-Chinese Epoch. The granite basinal basement underwent multiple tectonic uplifts and subsidence from the Paleocene to the Miocene, during which the weathered crust is formed and preserved in two distinct phases. The tropical monsoon paleoclimate promoted the chemical weathering of the granite series in the area. Key factors governing the development of the weathered crust of ancient buried hills in the area include regional tectonic evolution, paleoclimate, and rock types. The weathered crust exhibits significantly different developmental degrees across the area, with the weathered granite crust at paleo-structural crests exhibiting substantial residual thicknesses. Granites in the YA area possess distinct calc-alkaline to alkaline and meta-aluminous to peraluminous characteristics, which make them prone to weathering. Vertically, the weathered crust in the YA area can be categorized into five layers, namely eluvial-deluvial, sandy, weathered fractured, horizontal phreatic, and bedrock layers from top to bottom. The weathered fractured layer, among others, emerges as the most favorable reservoir, demonstrating an average porosity of 11.46 % and an average permeability of 5.98 ×10-3 μm2, and its physical properties deteriorate with increasing burial depth. The weathered granite crust exhibits high natural gamma-ray (GR), high resistivity, low density, and high interval transit time values, as indicated on logging curves, which are consistent with its physical property evolution. Furthermore, there exists a positive correlation between the degree of high-amplitude anomalies in seismic wave reflections and the developmental degree of fractures within the weathered crust.

Key words: weathered fractured layer, reservoir characteristics, reservoir development, weathered crust, buried granite hill, Songnan swell, Qiongdongnan Basin

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