Depositional Environment

A depositional environment is defined as a site where sediments (e.g. detrital, chem-

ical) accumulated, governed by physical, biological, and chemical processes related
to modern and applied to ancient environments, and lithified into sedimentary rock
units.

From: Coal and Coalbed Gas, 2014

Related terms:

Facies, Mudstone, Sedimentation, Sandstone, Strata, Limestone, Peat

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PETROLEUM GEOLOGY | The Petrole-

um System
C. Cornford, in Encyclopedia of Geology, 2005

Source Rock Deposition

Depositional environments favouring the accumulation of petroleum source rocks
are illustrated in Figure 4 in the context of a section through a tectonic plate.
The amount of kerogen present in sediments is a balance between bioproductivity,
survival, and dilution by inorganic grains. To take some extremes:
Figure 4. Environments where bioproductivity and depositional environment favour
the accumulation of organic-rich sediments.

Low productivity—Aeolian (wind-blown) desert sandstones where land plant

growth is restricted due to the extremely arid environment.
High productivity—Areas of ocean upwelling where the enhanced supply of
nutrients fuels explosive growth of phyto- and zooplankton.
Poor survival—Chalk composed almost exclusively of coccolith skeletal debris
(high bioproductivity) but where all the coccolith body tissues are destroyed by
bacterial activity under strongly oxic open marine conditions.
Excellent survival—Early rifting phases of oceans where both optimum sed-
imentation rates and anoxic conditions of the lakes and enclosed seaways
promote high rates of organic matter preservation.
Strong dilution—The prolific sediment supply of major deltas produces or-
ganic lean delta-front and pro-delta sediments despite high bioproductivity.
Minimal dilution—Coals where the lignocellulosic and other tissues of
high-productivity land plants are well preserved in a delta-top environment
starved of (or bypassed by) mineral grains.

As illustrated above, the aspects of the depositional environment favouring organic

preservation are anoxia and elevated sedimentation rates, though excessive sedi-
mentation rates will eventually lead to dilution.

As implied in Figure 4, organic matter falling to the ocean or lake floor has to pass
through various zones of bacterial degradation (Figure 5). The normal open-water
oxic bacterial community is highly effective at destroying oil-prone organic matter,
so time spent in this zone has disastrous effects on potential oil source rocks. These
conditions are found in the water column and surface sediments in the open ocean,
but in strongly stratified basins (e.g., the present-day Black Sea) only the top of the
water column may be oxic.

Figure 5. Processes affecting organic matter deposition and preservation.

Thus to summarize (Figure 6), the optimum oil-prone source rocks are deposited
where anoxia develops in an aqueous environment enjoying high rates of sedi-
mentation. The combination of high sedimentation rates and oxic environments
favours the accumulation of gas-prone source rocks such as coals. The combination
of depositional conditions and kerogen amount and type is termed ‘organofacies’,
as discussed in the next section.
Figure 6. Summary of major processes controlling petroleum source rock accumu-
lation (red = gas-prone; green = oil-prone).

> Read full chapter

Fluvial-Tidal Sedimentology
N.D. Webb, ... J.P. Grube, in Developments in Sedimentology, 2015

Abstract
Depositional environment controls the architecture, heterogeneity, and ultimately
the quality of oil reservoirs and is therefore one of the most important consider-
ations in the development of any enhanced oil recovery program (EOR). Detailed
characterization of the Pennsylvanian Bridgeport sandstone reservoirs in Lawrence
Field, Illinois Basin, USA, has revealed juxtaposed deltaic and incised valley fill
sediments that were deposited in the fluvial–tidal transition zone. Fluvial–tidal
transition zone sediments are some of the most complex deposits known, but it has
been shown through detailed facies analysis how two seemingly stratigraphically
equivalent reservoirs can exhibit different reservoir properties depending on their
position within the fluvial–tidal transition zone with important implications for
operators considering EOR techniques, including chemical or carbon dioxide (CO2)
EOR and geologic storage. The thinner, finer grained, and more compartmentalized
Griggs sandstone was deposited in a low accommodation tidally influenced deltaic
setting located in a seaward position within the fluvial–tidal transition zone. The
thicker, coarser grained, and younger Robins sandstone was deposited as a fluvial
system in an incised valley system that transitioned upward to estuarine conditions
during transgression but remained in the landward portion of the fluvial–tidal
transition zone. In the Robins sandstone, preserved primary intergranular porosity
in the largely fluvial sandstone has resulted in high-quality, largely homogeneous
reservoirs. Whereas in the Griggs sandstone, porosity and permeability are lower
because of finer grained, more heterolithic deltaic reservoir facies that have had
porosity and permeability reduced to a greater degree by diagenetic alteration. Only
through detailed reservoir characterization were the differences in these reservoirs
realized.

> Read full chapter

Lake systems and their economic im-

portance
Chris Sladen, Domenico Chiarella, in Regional Geology and Tectonics (Second Edi-
tion), 2020

Principal depositional environments in lake basins

Clastic depositional environments are by far the most dominant in lakes (Gierlows-
ki-Kordesch and Kelts, 1994, 2000). The principal depositional environments include
lake margin fans and deltas, shorelines, playa lakes, shallow water lake (typically
<20 m water depth), and deepwater lake (Figs 13.1–13.3, 13.7, 13.8, 13.12, 13.16,
and 13.18).

Figure 13.18. Abandoned river and delta channels commonly form small, short-lived
floodplain lakes (viewed west, part of alluvial system that drains toward Lake Malawi;
width of view c. 10 m).

Shallow lake and shoreline deposits may contain multicoloured horizons created
by groundwater movements, frequent bioturbation, thin shoreface intervals, wave
cross-lamination in sands and silts, coarsening upward bar sequences, coquinas,
and horizons with evidence of aeolian and subaerial reworking, evaporation cracks
and polygons, rootlet horizons, palaeosols, thin coals, shells, and animal tracks.

The relatively deepwater parts of lakes are usually dominated by suspension fallout
comprising mud, fine silt, and organic matter produced in situ in the upper parts
of the water column (Fig. 13.6). Millimetre-scale laminations are common (Figs
13.15 and 13.17). The low sulfate content of most lake waters and lake sediments
frequently sets the tone for subsequent diagenesis with muds and silts often rich in
dolomite or siderite, rather than pyrite.

Gravity flows and turbidite deposits often develop in the relatively deep areas of
lakes distal to fans and deltas. Very large subaqueous deepwater systems analogous
to many submarine fans are unlikely. Instead, gravity flows may spread into and
fill the topographic lows on the lake floor. They may be generated by storm floods,
seismic shocks, rapid lake-level fluctuations, increases in discharge, or because the
high sedimentation rates create oversteepening and unstable pore pressure regimes
that lead to slumping and slope failure.

Carbonate facies may develop, usually in shallower water areas that have reduced
clastic input and the right balance of water chemistry. However, lake carbonates
often bear little resemblance to marine carbonates. Facies typically include charo-
phytes, oncolites, shell blankets and coquinas of gastropods and bivalves, ostracods,
stromatolites, stromatolite bioherms, and polychaetes such as Serpula, together
with opaline silica and chert (Fig. 13.14). There may be build-ups formed in shoals
above structural highs within well-oxygenated parts of alkaline lakes. An example of
exceptionally well-developed carbonate facies, which includes thick shell blankets,
exists in the Early Cretaceous rift lake sequences preserved in the Campos Basin in
Brazil (de Carvalho et al., 2000).

Depending on the interplay of controls, evaporite facies can develop and lakes can
take the form of sabkhas (Fig. 13.8). Minerals such as epsomite, bloedite, thenardite,
trona, natron, mirabalite, ischelite, and glauberite may form, depending on drainage
basin geology, water chemistry, and evaporation conditions (Fig. 13.16). Lithium,
boron, and rare-earth elements often accumulate in anonymously high concentra-
tions. Gypsum and halite may be volumetrically important particularly when a relict
marine water body has been annexed during creation of the lake basin.

> Read full chapter

Varves☆
Saija Saarni, in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences,
2018
Formation and Preservation of Varves
The depositional environment in which varves form is normally aquatic, and varved
sediment records are found from low to high latitudes from marine and lacustrine
environments from modern basins but even from sedimentary sequences repre-
senting Paleozoic Era (Zolitschka et al., 2015; Schimmelmann et al., 2016). Despite
the variety of environments in which varves are found, the varve formation and
preservation is not very common but depends on certain boundary conditions such
as seasonal variability of sedimentary material and preservation of the laminated
structure after accumulation.

The seasonal variability in temperature and precipitation causes change in physical

and chemical processes in water body and in the catchment controlling the supply of
different sedimentary material. Sediment constituents are formed at the catchment
(allochthonous components) and in the water body (autochthonous components).
Allochthonous components are transported in the water body by water or winds.
These components include eroded and weathered minerogenic matter as well as
terrigenous organic matter. Autochthonous components include biogenic matter
derived from the productivity in the water body and the chemical precipitation of
authigenic minerals.

The preservation of the newly formed varve requires a lack of bioturbation and
resuspension of the sediments. Burrowing activities of the benthic organisms are re-
stricted in the anoxic bottom waters. Resuspension caused by for example, sediment
remobilization as a consequence of wave activity or bottom currents are restricted in
the deep lakes or lakes with great relative depth compared to the small surface area
(Ojala et al., 2000; Tylmann et al., 2013a; Zillén et al., 2003). Strong stratification
formed in such basins restricts ventilation of the bottom waters at least seasonally
and favors the development of seasonal anoxia (Zolitschka et al., 2015).

In marine environments the bottom waters are isolated due to chemical and thermal
processes and varves are found for example in tectonic basins such as Cariaco
Basin off Venezuela (Hughen et al., 1996) and Santa Barbara Basin off California
(Fig. 1G Schimmelmann et al., 2013), restricted lagoons or silled fjord systems
such as Saanich inlet in British Columbia, North America (Dean and Kemp, 2004).
Generally marine varves occur in coastal regions or proximity of the shore because
of the necessity of sufficient sedimentation rate (Schimmelmann et al., 2016).
At present, the expansion of benthic hypoxia due to eutrophication, not only in
lacustrine, but also marine environments have led to formation of “dead zones” with
no macroturbation below stratified water column that can potentially induce varve
formation (Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008; Jokinen et al., 2018; Lui et al., 2014; Rabalais
et al., 2014; Schimmelmann et al., 2016).
The lakes and their catchments are influenced by local geology, hydrology, climate,
and land use and thus varve records from different lakes are not directly compared.
In contrast, some marine varved sites are successfully connected over distances of
more than 1000 km (Schimmelmann et al., 2016).

> Read full chapter

Geochemistry, Organic
Jürgen Rullkötter, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edi-
tion), 2003

II.D.2 Geological Factors Influencing Crude Oil Composition

The depositional environment of the source rock, its thermal evolution, and sec-
ondary alteration processes are the most important factors determining the com-
position of crude oils. Among the environmental factors, those that influence the
nature of the organic matter in the source rock and its mineral composition are of
primary significance.

Although hydrocarbon source rocks are deposited under aquatic conditions, they
may contain varying amounts of land-derived organic matter. The terrestrial contri-
bution can be significant, particularly in intracontinental basins and in the deltas
of large rivers, which may extend far into the open sea. Continental organic matter
(type III kerogen) is rich in cellulose and lignin which, due to their oxygen content, are
not considered to contribute much to oil formation. The subordinate lipid fraction
together with the biomass of sedimentary microorganisms incorporated into the
source rock yields crude oils which are rich in aliphatic units (from wax esters, fats,
etc.), i.e., straight-chain and branched alkanes (paraffins). Polycyclic naphthenes,
particularly steranes, are present in very low concentration. Total aromatic hydro-
carbons are also significantly less abundant than in crude oil derived from marine
organic matter, as is the sulfur content.

Marine organic matter (usually type II kerogen) produces oils of paraffinic naph-
thenic or aromatic intermediate type (Fig. 7). The amount of saturated hydrocarbons
is moderate, but isoprenoid and polycyclic alkanes, such as steranes (from algal
steroids) and hopanes (from membranes of eubacteria), are relatively more abundant
than in oils from terrigenous organic matter. Kerogen derived from marine organic
matter, particularly when it is very rich in sulfur, is particularly suited to release
resin- and asphaltene-rich heavy crude oils at a very early stage of catagenesis.
Type II kerogens are preferentially deposited where the environmental conditions
are favorable for organic matter preservation (anoxic water column in silled basins
or in areas of coastal upwelling) and where the continental runoff is limited for
physiographical or climatic reasons.

The sulfur content of crude oils shows a close relationship to the type of mineral
matrix in the source rocks. Organic matter in sediments consisting of calcareous
(e.g., from coccolithophores or foraminifera) or siliceous shell fragments (e.g., from
diatoms or radiolaria) of decayed planktonic organisms and at the same time
containing abundant organic matter is enriched in sulfur. The reason for this is
that under the anoxic conditions which are required to preserve organic matter,
sulfate-reducing bacteria form hydrogen sulfide (H2S). This may react with the
organic matter, and the sulfur will become incorporated into the kerogen. Examples
are the Monterey Formation with the related crude oils produced onshore and
offshore southern California and many of the carbonate source rocks of the Middle
East crude oils.

In clastic rocks containing an abundance of detrital clay minerals, the iron content
usually is high enough to remove most of the H2S generated by the sulfate-reducing
bacteria through formation of iron sulfides. Because terrigenous organic matter is
commonly deposited together with detrital mineral matter (e.g., in deltas), waxy
crude oils derived from type III kerogen usually are depleted in sulfur.

> Read full chapter

Volume 5
Bruce Levell, in Encyclopedia of Geology (Second Edition), 2021

Stratigraphic Traps
All depositional environments are capable of producing a juxtaposition of permeable
and impermeable sediments which have the potential to form stratigraphic traps.
In such cases the reservoir geometry becomes part of the trap geometry, normally
with a component of simple dip, in which case the impermeable rocks are up-dip.
Examples include eolian sand dunes encased in lacustrine mudstone, sand-filled
fluvial channels cut into mud-rich overbank deposits, shallow marine bar sandstones
surrounded by marine shales, carbonate reefs isolated by enclosing marls, and
submarine fan sands trapped within pelagic mud.

The Paradox Basin (Colorado and Utah, USA) contains a large array of small oil and
gas fields in stratigraphic pinch-out traps. Devonian reservoirs occur within shallow
marine bar sandstones and Carboniferous reservoirs within carbonate mounds
produced largely by algae. Pinch-out traps formed in “paralic”, or near-shore, deltaic
settings are often much more complex in outline resulting in discontinuous reser-
voir sandstones and formation of multiple fields (Fig. 16).
Fig. 16. Paralic field outlines commonly have complex shapes because of the interac-
tion between structure and sediment bodies. This complexity is multiplied because
individual paralic sandstones tend to be stacked. The four examples show: (A) field
shape on a simple faulted anticline for which the reservoir interval is much larger
than the anticline; (B) the same structure as in (A), but with the reservoirs developed
in channel and crevasse splay sandstones that are smaller in area than the structure;
(C) the same structure as in (A), but with mouthbar sandstones which are also
smaller than the structure; (D) a combination of channel and mouthbar sandstones
at different levels.A. Reynolds, personal communication, 1994. Reproduced courtesy
of BP.

Thinning to zero in the up-dip portions of a potential reservoir because of erosion

beneath an unconformity can create large traps with enormous petroleum catch-
ment (i.e. drainage from the source rock up-dip to the trap) areas. The largest oilfield
in North America, Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, is an unconformity trap. It contains about
25 billion barrels of oil and more than 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. East Texas, the
largest oilfield in the Lower 48 states of the United States, is also a stratigraphic trap.

Both unconformity traps described above are formed by a combination of trapping

mechanisms, comprising a gently folded unconformity above, and a mudrock “seat
seal” below and lateral to the reservoir. Unconformities have a variety of shapes.
The most spectacular of the unconformity-bounded traps are those referred to as
“buried hills.” Such hills are the topography of a previous land surface and it is the
unconformity surface itself that provides the trapping geometry (Fig. 17). Buried hill
traps are common in karstified areas, such as northern China.

Fig. 17. Sub-unconformity trap beneath the base Cretaceous unconformity, Buchan
Field, UK North Sea (fractured Devonian sandstone reservoir).Reproduced from
Abbots IL (1991) United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields, 25 Years Commemorative Volume,
Geological Society Memoir No. 14. London: Geological Society.
Mineral cements are known to form top, lateral, and even seat seals to reservoirs.
Examples in carbonate systems are more numerous than those in clastic systems. In
the Albion-Scipio Field of Michigan (USA), all surrounding rock to the trap is thor-
oughly cemented limestone and dolomite. A comparable situation exists for many
of the carbonate-hosted oilfields of Abu Dhabi - porosity only exists where there is
oil. Rock volumes that at one time must have been the aquifers to the oilfields, and
through which oil must have migrated to the traps, have been thoroughly cemented.
For a few fields, such cementation has allowed traps to retain petroleum despite
tilting of the field after petroleum accumulated.

Tar-mat seals are common in the shallow subsurface. They act as “cap rock” for the
largest single accumulation of heavy (viscous) oil in the world, namely, the Faja of
south-eastern Venezuela which contains about 1.2 trillion barrels of oil. Tar seals and
tar sands are also common within the Western Canada Basin and Californian basins.

Gas trapped beneath permafrost forms large fields in the northern part of the
West Siberia basin, adjacent to the Kara Sea. In cold regions, gas (methane) is also
trapped as gas hydrate, with gas molecules accumulating within the open molecular
structure of the ice itself. Such hydrates near the sea bottom may themselves form
top seals to free gas beneath.

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PALEOCLIMATOLOGY | Varves
R. Gilbert, in Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences (Second Edition), 2015

Formation of Varves
The depositional environment in which varves form is normally aquatic, although
varves may occur subaerially, for example as a result of seasonally varying aeolian
processes or snowfall (deposition of the crystalline mineral H2O) in the accumulation
areas, especially mid- and low-latitude alpine glaciers. In the latter case, melt or
windblown dust in summer distinguishes depositions in each year as the snow
transforms into glacial ice.

Aquatic varves have been described from many settings in lakes and the sea, but they
all fall into one of three classes. Clastic varves normally consist of laminae of fine
silt and clay-sized sediment deposited from suspension during periods of limited
inflow of water and sediment, and periods of diminished processes of distribution
in the water body. Coarse silt and sand layers are deposited in response to abundant
inflow and vigorous circulation in the water body. Commonly, these couplets cannot
be distinguished in fresh samples of wet sediment, but on drying, the sand and
coarse silt take on a light tone, while the hydrophilic clay remains moist and dark.
Thus, with careful attention during drying, clastic varves are easily distinguished by
eye (Figure 1(a)–1(c)), and photographic records are normally the best for analysis of
thick varves, while thin sections are commonly used for submillimeter-sized varves.

The deposition of fine- and coarse-grained layers in a clastic varve is enhanced

by processes within the water body. In lakes experiencing sediment-laden inflow,
turbidity currents efficiently deliver bursts of sediment that are deposited nearly
instantaneously as graded beds, and thus distinct layers are associated with each,
often daily, event. Complex varves commonly form in this manner. The silty sand
layers within the dark winter clay layers shown in Figure 1(c) result from the incursion
of intense autumn and winter storms from the Pacific Ocean into the mountains.
Snowmelt augmented by warm rain generates large floods that deliver bursts of
coarser sediment to the lake, where turbidity currents efficiently transport them
to the lake floor. The fine-grained laminae are deposited from settling through the
water column. According to Stokes' law, a 1 μm diameter particle requires about
3 years to settle through a 100 m deep lake. Recent studies have demonstrated that
the formation of small flocs in fresh water greatly increases settling velocity and
allows the fine-grained sediments to accumulate during several months of quiet
conditions, which are appropriate for the formation of the winter cap on a varve. In
salt water, much larger flocs are formed and are removed from the water column
in a few days to weeks. This may be a reason why clastic varves are uncommon in
marine settings.

Biogenic varves form by the seasonal deposition of organic material derived from
land (e.g., pollen production in spring) or originating in the water body itself (most
commonly as blooms of diatoms or other aquatic organisms). Deposition of darker
terrigenous organic residue and inorganic sediment separates the lighter biogenic
laminae and so forms varves. These are the most common type of marine varves
(Figure 1(d)); they usually form in basins with anoxic bottom water that prevents the
establishment of a benthos that would bioturbate and destroy varves as they formed.
Biogenic varves are also found in lakes, but here anoxic conditions are less important
because the lacustrine benthos is commonly sparse or absent. Nevertheless, some
of the best varve sequences occur in strongly stratified meromictic lakes that have
almost no currents at depth and where dissolved oxygen is low or absent. Anoxia
also slows the decay of organic carbon that may form the distinctive lamina in some
biogenic varves.

Chemogenic varves form in lakes as a result of the seasonal precipitation of salts,

especially calcium carbonate, from a supersaturated solution created during sum-
mer when water temperature is high or when the uptake of carbon dioxide by
aquatic vegetation is greatest. Coarse particulate carbonate normally settles through
the water and becomes buried sufficiently quickly that most is not redissolved
in the undersaturated cold-water deep in these lakes. In winter, the whole lake is
sufficiently cold that carbonate does not precipitate, and even a small amount of
terrigenous sediment is sufficient to produce a distinctive lamina to form a varve.
Biogenic and chemogenic processes are more likely to form simple varves because
they commonly occur only once per year, whereas processes associated with the
deposition of clastic sediment are often of shorter duration and higher frequency.

> Read full chapter

Classification of Estuarine and

Nearshore Coastal Ecosystems
D.M. Kennedy, in Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, 2011

Abstract
Estuaries are depositional environments which receive and store sediment from both
fluvial and marine sources. Their evolution is primarily linked to eustatic sea-level
fluctuations, which flood coastal embayments, creating accommodation space for
sediment accumulation. The style of infill within an estuary will depend on the five
boundary-condition processes of the system: (1) tidal range; (2) wave climate; (3)
tectonic stability; (4) glacial history; and (5) magnitude of fluvial inflow. The relative
dominance of each process will determine the type of landforms that form within an
estuary and resulting sediment facies, which progressively infill the drowned coastal
embayment.

> Read full chapter

PALEOCEANOGRAPHY, BIOLOGI-
CAL PROXIES | Alkenone Paleother-
mometry Based on the Haptophyte Al-
gae
S.L. Ho, ... F. Lamy, in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (Second Edition), 2013

Stratigraphic Offsets Between the Alkenones and Other Sedi-

mentary Proxies
In some depositional environments, vigorous currents or eddies are able to transport
alkenones laterally over great distances from their source, as seen in the southwest-
ern Atlantic (Benthien and Müller, 2000) and sediment drifts in the Cape Basin (Sachs
and Anderson, 2003). Depending on the source of these advected alkenones, one
could observe cold or warm biased SSTs in the sediment, or a discrepancy between
different paleoceanographic proxies at the same site. However, lateral advection at
sediment drifts does not necessarily result in erratic downcore SST variation patterns
as demonstrated by Sachs and Anderson (2003) using a multiproxy approach and
thorium-derived focusing factors.

Recent advancements in the radiocarbon technique provide additional ways of

constraining the source origin of alkenones in marine sediments. For instance, at
the Bermuda Rise (Ohkouchi et al., 2002) and the Benguella upwelling system off N
amibia (Mollenhauer et al., 2003), studies using accelerator mass spectrometry
(AMS) 14C revealed discrepancies between the fine organic matter (<63 μm), includ-
ing the algal C37 alkenones, and planktonic Foraminifera in the marine sediments,
which implied that the alkenones were several hundreds or even thousands of years
older than the Foraminifera that are taken as reference materials deposited at the
same depth. This sedimentary asynchrony is explained by the strong differences in
size between coccoliths (on the order of 5 μm) and the foraminiferal tests (>150 μm).
In cases of resuspension due to intense bottom currents, the finer alkenone-bearing
particles are susceptible to easier mobilization than the larger foraminiferal remains
(Ohkouchi et al., 2002). The result is that older, previously deposited material can be
remobilized and deposited in a new environment, leaving the fine fraction signal old
with respect to the adjacent coarse material. However, the differences in particle size
are not a priori very relevant for sedimentation through the water column because
most algal remains arrive to the bottom as aggregates, for example, in the form of
zooplankton fecal pellets (~50 μm).

The ages of the marine sedimentary sections are currently determined from the
composition of Foraminifera, either by interpretation of the 18O curve or by mea-
surement of AMS 14C in their carbonate skeleton. The potential temporal offset be-
tween alkenone SST and foraminiferal records may thus jeopardize the possibility of
using alkenones for high-resolution studies in sedimentary environments because
the signal that is stored in their composition may be older than the age determined
for the sedimentary sections in which they are found.

Close comparison of high-resolution alkenone-derived SST and 18O profiles afford

a practical way to detect whether this problem is significant in the sedimentary
core sections under study. When both proxies exhibit synchronous changes, possible
temporal offsets due to dissimilar sedimentation processes between organic matter
and Foraminifera are negligible. This approach has been followed in some studies
(e.g., Martrat et al., 2004), and in most cases, no sedimentation asynchrony was
observed.

> Read full chapter

The Formation of Petroleum Accumu-

lations
Harry Dembicki, Jr., in Practical Petroleum Geochemistry for Exploration and Pro-
duction, 2017

Carbon Dioxide
In the depositional environment, carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced by aerobic res-
piration in the sediments. If the sediments are anaerobic, CO2 could also be formed
by microbial oxidation of methane. In either case, the carbon dioxide formed during
this early stage of sediment diagenesis is unlikely to significantly contribute to
reservoired gases.

There are many sources for the carbon dioxide that is found in reservoired gases. It is
a by-product of the oil generation process via the decomposition of oxygen bearing
function groups such as carboxyl (COOH), carbonyl (CO), and hydroxyl/phenolic
(OH). This occurs mainly in the temperature range from 80 to 120°C (176–248°F).
Types III kerogen produces the most CO2, followed by Type II, while Types I and II-S
kerogens produce the least. Coals can be a substantial source of carbon dioxide and
are capable of producing up to 75 L of CO2 per kilogram of coal (Karweil, 1969).

Another source of significant carbon dioxide in a reservoir at low temperatures is

related to the biodegradation of crude oil. This will be discussed later in the section
on biodegradation in Chapter 4.

At temperatures above 120°C, thermal decomposition of carbonates becomes a

more significant source of carbon dioxide gas. In argillaceous sandstone reservoirs
with carbonates cements, Smith and Ehrenberg (1989) attributed observed increases
in CO2 with increasing temperature to the interaction of feldspars and clay minerals
with the carbonate cements, as shown in Fig. 2.31. This process initiates at tempera-
tures of about 120–140°C (248–284°F) and accelerates as the temperature increases.
The potential for these reactions is not confined to the reservoir rock. Similar
interaction may also occur in the source rock during late-stage gas generation (Smith
and Ehrenberg, 1989).
 Figure 2.31. Mechanism for thermal decomposition of carbonates in argillaceous
sandstone and shale.As proposed by Smith, J.T., Ehrenberg, S.N., 1989. Correlation
of carbon dioxide abundance with temperature in clastic hydrocarbon reservoirs:
relationship to inorganic chemical equilibrium. Marine and Petroleum Geology 6,
129–135.

Direct thermal decomposition of carbonates to produce CO2 requires temperatures

in excess 300°C. This can occur during contact metamorphism when igneous intru-
sions penetrate into carbonate rocks. Carbonate minerals in contact with magma can
produce large quantities of carbon dioxide that can migrate to and accumulate in
nearby reservoirs. High concentrations of carbon dioxide from magmatic-induced
thermal decomposition of carbonates have been documented in many areas world-
wide including the Rockies, West Texas, and Indonesia (Thrasher and Fleet, 1995).

Magmatic degassing may also contribute carbon dioxide to reservoirs. This can
happen during exsolution of gases from high-volatile magmas. This may occur in
tectonically active areas where deep penetrating faults or fractures can access the
magma bodies. A large igneous body is required for significant CO2 contributions.
In these instances, the carbon dioxide is associated with radiogenic sourced gases,
such as helium and argon.

CO2 derived from organic matter is usually distinguished from CO2 derived carbon-
ate decomposition and magmatic outgassing by its carbon isotope ratio. Carbon
dioxide from carbonates typically has 13C in the range of +4 to −5‰, while
magmatic CO2 is in the −4 to −8‰ range. Carbon dioxide derived from thermal
maturation of sedimentary organic matter is usually much more depleted in 13C and
falls into the range of −10 to −25‰ 13C (Thrasher and Fleet, 1995).

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