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Outcrop characterization of reservoir quality and interwell-scale cement distribution in a tide-influenced delta, Frontier Formation, Wyoming, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

S. P. Dutton ,
B. J. Willis ,
C. D. White  and
J. P. Bhattacharya
S. P. Dutton*
Affiliation:
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78713-8924 USA
B. J. Willis
Affiliation:
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78713-8924 USA
C. D. White
Affiliation:
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78713-8924 USA
J. P. Bhattacharya
Affiliation:
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78713-8924 USA
*
*E-mail: shirley.duttons@beg.utexas.edu
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Abstract

Petrographic study of the Frewens sandstone, Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation, documents reservoir-scale diagenetic heterogeneity. Iron-bearing calcite cement occurs as large concretions that generally follow bedding and are most common near the top of the sandstone. Median thickness of the concretions is 0.6 m, length 4.5 m, and width 5.7 m; median volume is 5.2 m3. Concretions comprise 12% of the sandstone.

The minus-cement porosity of concretion samples is low, indicating that the calcite precipitated near maximum burial depth. Isotopic and burial history data suggest that the calcite precipitated at ~54°C from evolved meteoric water enriched in 18O or from a mixed meteoric±marine pore-water. Shell-bearing transgressive shales above the Frewens sandstone are interpreted to be the source of calcium carbonate. Concretions of this size and distribution would influence fluid flow in a reservoir and would reduce the amount of hydrocarbons in place.

Keywords

sandstone diagenesiscalcite cementreservoir heterogeneitypermeabilitydeltasfluid flow
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2000 , pp. 95 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2000

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Footnotes

**

Present address: State University of New York at Oswego, NY

†

Present address: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

‡

Present address: The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX

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