Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:27:25.415Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Clay Mineralogy of the Central North Sea Upper Cretaceous—Tertiary Chalk and the Formation of Clay-Rich Layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Holger Lindgreen ,
Victor A. Drits ,
Finn C. Jakobsen  and
Boris A. Sakharov
Holger Lindgreen*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Victor A. Drits
Affiliation:
Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Pyzhevsky per D7, 119017 Moscow, Russia
Finn C. Jakobsen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Boris A. Sakharov
Affiliation:
Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Pyzhevsky per D7, 119017 Moscow, Russia
*
* E-mail address of corresponding author: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Upper Cretaceous—Danian chalk and interbedded clay-rich layers from wells of the South Arne Field and adjacent wells in the North Sea and from Stevns in Zealand have been investigated to determine the clay mineralogy in the chalk and the origin of the interbedded clay-rich layers. The mineralogy, with emphasis on clay mineralogy, was determined after removal of the calcite by dissolution at pH 4.5–5 in order to preserve the other minerals. Generally, mixed-layer minerals are the dominant clay minerals, except for two wells, Rigs-1 and Rigs-2, where a 3D ordered kaolinite prevails. A detailed structural characterization of the mixed-layer minerals was carried out by modeling of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. In most of the samples dominated by mixed-layer minerals, two mixed-layer phases, a high-smectite illite-smectite (I-S) and a low-smectite illite-smectite-chlorite (I-S-Ch), prevail, irrespective of depth or location of the samples. However, some samples contain I-S-Ch and ordered S-Ch, and others a chlorite-serpentine (Ch-Sr) phase, and these samples probably formed during diagenesis at higher temperatures. The clay-rich layers and the adjacent chalk have the same or quite similar clay mineralogy, both with respect to kaolinite vs. mixed-layer minerals and with respect to their detailed structure. In conclusion, the kaolinite is detrital and the I-S minerals formed in the chalk from volcanic ash. The main conclusion is that the clay-rich layers in the North Sea chalk formed by dissolution of the calcite in the chalk and that this dissolution took place at burial depths of >1 km, probably through migration of solutions through permeable chalk layers.

Keywords

ChalkChlorite-smectiteClay LayersCretaceousDanianDiagenesisIllite-smectiteKaoliniteNorth SeaSeamsXRD
Type
Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 56 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 693 - 710
Copyright
Copyright © 2008, The Clay Minerals Society

References

Davison, I. Alsop, G.I. Evans, N.G. and Safaricz, M., 2000 Overburden deformation patterns and mechanisms of salt diapir penetration in the Central Graben, North Sea Marine and Petroleum Geology 17 601–618 10.1016/S0264-8172(00)00011-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deconinck, J.F. and Chamley, H., 1995 Diversity of smectite origins in Late Cretaceous sediments: Example of chalks from Northern France Clay Minerals 30 365–379 10.1180/claymin.1995.030.4.09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deconinck, J.-F. Amedro, F. Baudin, F. Godet, A. Pellenard, P. Robaszynski, F. and Zimmerlin, I., 2005 Late Cretaceous palaeoenvironments expressed by the clay mineralogy of Cenomanian-Campanian chalks from the east of the Paris Basin Cretaceous Research 26 171–179 10.1016/j.cretres.2004.10.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Heur, M., 1984 Porosity and hydrocarbon distribution in the North Sea chalk reservoirs Marine and Petroleum Geology 1 211–238 10.1016/0264-8172(84)90147-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drits, V.A. and Sakharov, B.A., 1976 X-ray Analysis of Mixed-layer Minerals Moscow Nauka 256 pp. (in Russian).Google Scholar
Drits, V.A. Weber, F. Salyn, A.L. and Tsipursky, S.L., 1993 X-ray identification of one-layer illite varieties: Application to the study of illites around uranium deposits of Canada Clays and Clay Minerals 41 389–398 10.1346/CCMN.1993.0410316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drits, V.A. Środoń, J. and Eberl, D.D., 1997 XRD measurements of mean crystallite thickness of illite and illite/smectite: Reappraisal of the Kübler index and the Scherrer equation Clays and Clay Minerals 45 461–475 10.1346/CCMN.1997.0450315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drits, V.A. Lindgreen, H. Sakharov, B.A. Jakobsen, H.J. and Zviagina, B.B., 2004 The detailed structure and origin of clay minerals at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, Stevns Klint (Denmark) Clay Minerals 39 367–390 10.1180/0009855043940141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeberg, P.K. and Aagaard, P., 1989 Origin and evolution of formation waters from oil fields on the Norwegian shelf Applied Geochemistry 4 131–142 10.1016/0883-2927(89)90044-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeberg, P.K. and Saigal, G.C., 1991 North Sea chalk diagenesis: cementation of chalks and healing of fractures Chemical Geology 92 339–354 10.1016/0009-2541(91)90078-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrison, R.E. and Kennedy, W.J., 1977 Origin of solution seams and flaser structure in Upper Cretaceous chalks of Southern England Sedimentary Geology 19 107–137 10.1016/0037-0738(77)90027-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaultier, M. Schott, J. and Oelkers, E.H., 2007 An experimental study of dolomite dissolution rates at 80°C as a function of chemical affinity and solution chemistry Chemical Geology 242 509–517 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.05.008.Google Scholar
Hansen, P.L. and Lindgreen, H., 1989 Mixed-layer illite/smectite diagenesis in Upper Jurassic claystones from the North Sea and onshore Denmark Clay Minerals 24 197–213 10.1180/claymin.1989.024.2.07.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inoue, A. and Utada, M., 1991 Smectite to chlorite transformation in thermally metamorphosed volcanoclastic rocks in the Kamikata area, northern Honshu, Japan American Mineralogist 76 628–640.Google Scholar
Jakobsen, F. Lindgreen, H. and Springer, N., 2000 Precipitation and flocculation of spherical nano-silica in North Sea chalk Clay Minerals 35 175–184 10.1180/000985500546567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeans, C.V., 1968 The origin of the montmorillonite of the European chalk with special reference to the Lower Chalk of England Clay Minerals 7 311–329 10.1180/claymin.1968.007.3.05.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeans, C.V., 2006 Clay mineralogy of the Cretaceous strata of the British Isles Clay Minerals 41 47–150 10.1180/0009855064110196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeans, C.V. Merriman, J. Mitchell, J.G. and Bland, D.J., 1982 Volcanic clays in the Cretaceous of southern England and northern Ireland Clay Minerals 17 105–156 10.1180/claymin.1982.017.1.10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensenius, J., 1987 High-temperature diagenesis in shallow chalk reservoir, Skjold oil field, Danish North Sea: Evidence from fluid inclusions and oxygen isotopes American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 71 1378–1386.Google Scholar
Lindgreen, H. Drits, V.A. Sakharov, B.A. Jakobsen, H.J. Salyn, A.L. Dainyak, L.G. and Krøyer, H., 2002 The structure and diagenetic transformation of illite-smectite and chlorite-smectite from North Sea Cretaceous-Tertiary chalk Clay Minerals 37 429–450 10.1180/0009855023730055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maliva, R.G. and Dickson, J.A.D., 1994 Origin and environment of formation of late diagenetic dolomite in Cretaceous/Tertiary chalk, North Sea Central Graben Geological Magazine 131 609–617 10.1017/S0016756800012395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maliva, R.G. Dickson, J.A.D. and Fallick, A.E., 1999 Kaolin cements in limestones: Potential indicators of organic-rich pore waters during diagenesis Journal of Sedimentary Research 69 158–163 10.2110/jsr.69.158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallon, A.J. and Swarbrick, R.E., 2002 A compaction trend for non-reservoir North Sea chalk Marine and Petroleum Geology 19 527–539 10.1016/S0264-8172(02)00027-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millot, G., 1970 Geology of Clays New York Springer Verlag 10.1007/978-3-662-41609-9 429 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D.M. and Reynolds, R.C., 1989 X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals Oxford, UK Oxford University Press 321–322.Google Scholar
Morgan, D.J., 1977 Simultaneous DTA-EGA of minerals and natural mineral admixtures Journal of Thermal Analysis 12 245–263 10.1007/BF01909481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morse, J.W. and Mackenzie, F.T., 1990 Geochemistry of Sedimentary Carbonates Amsterdam Elsevier 10.1016/S0070-4571(08)70329-7 707 pp.Google Scholar
Orton, R. and Unwin, P.R., 1993 Dolomite dissolution kinetics at low pH: A channel-flow study Journal of the Chemical Society — Faraday Transactions 89 3947–3954 10.1039/ft9938903947.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pokrovsky, O.S. and Schott, J., 2002 Surface chemistry and dissolution kinetics of divalent metal carbonates Environmental Science and Technology 36 426–432 10.1021/es010925u.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prieto, F.J.M. and Millero, F.J., 2002 The values of pK1 +pK2 for the dissociation of carbonic acid in seawater Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 66 2529–2540 10.1016/S0016-7037(02)00855-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowicz, M. Dandurand, J.-L. Jabukowski, M. Schott, J. and Cassan, J.-P., 1985 Convection in a North Sea oil Reservoir: inferences on diagenesis and hydrocarbon migration Earth and Planetary Science Letters 74 387–404 10.1016/S0012-821X(85)80010-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R.C., 1986 The Lorentz-polarization factor and preferred orientation in oriented clay aggregates Clays and Clay Minerals 34 359–367 10.1346/CCMN.1986.0340402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Safaricz, M. and Davison, I., 2005 Pressure solution in chalk American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 89 383–401 10.1306/10250404015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonsen, L. and Toft, J., 2006 Texture, composition and stratigraphy of volcanic ash beds in lower Palaeocene chalk from the North Sea Central Graben area Marine and Petroleum Geology 23 767–776 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2006.06.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S.R. Lapré, J.F., Brooks, J. Glennie, K., 1987 North Sea chalk diagenesis: its effect on reservoir location and properties Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 3rd Conference London Graham & Trotman 483–495.Google Scholar
Thiry, M. and Jacquin, T., 1993 Clay mineral distribution related to rift activity, sea-level changes and paleoceanography in the Cretaceous of the Atlantic Ocean Clay Minerals 28 61–84 10.1180/claymin.1993.028.1.07.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, E.A. Smalley, P.C. Howarth, R.J., Warren, E.A. Smalley, P.C., 1994 Compositional variations of North Sea formation waters North Sea Formation Waters Atlas London The Geological Society 119–208.Google Scholar
Webb, T.L. and Krüger, J.E., 1970 Carbonates Differential Thermal Analysis 1 303–342.Google Scholar
Wray, D.S., 1995 Origin of clay-rich beds in Turonian chalks from Lower Saxony — a rare-earth element study Chemical Geology 119 161–173 10.1016/0009-2541(94)00089-Q.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wray, D.S., 1999 Identification and long-range correlation of bentonites in Turonian-Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) chalks of northwest Europe Geological Magazine 136 361–371 10.1017/S0016756899002836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, R. Hu, S. Zhang, X. and Yu, W., 2007 Dissolution kinetics of dolomite in water at elevated temperatures Aquatic Geochemistry 13 309–338 10.1007/s10498-007-9022-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar