Abstract
Evaluating the pre-Jurassic marine source rocks in China has been difficult because these rocks are generally too high- or over-maturated for most traditional methods to work. As to the remaining parameter TOC (%), its lower limit for recognizing the carbonate source rocks in China has been in dispute. Nineteen Phanerozoic sections in the Middle-Upper Yangtze Platform and the Guizhou-Hunan-Guangxi Basin have been studied in search for a different approach to complementing the traditional evaluation method for these source rocks. We have applied a geobiological approach to tracing the organic carbon (OC) output and accumulation from the living stage (primary productivity) to the post-mortem deposited remains, and finally to the preserved burial organics. Four biological and geological parameters are employed to represent the OC of the three stages. A series of proxies of these parameters are discussed and integrated to establish a geobiological evaluation system independent of TOC and other traditional methods. Here we use the Guangyuan section in Sichuan as an example for the geobiological evaluation. Our results indicate that in the argillaceous rocks, the geobiological parameters show the qualified source rocks in accordance with high TOC values; but in the carbonates, the good source rocks delineated by the geobiological parameters have a wide range of TOC, from 0.03% to 1.59%, mostly <0.3%. We suggest that it is still premature to set TOC=0.3% or 0.5% as the lower limit for the pre-Jurassic carbonate source rocks in South China.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mu S L, ed. Explotation Theory, Technology and Practice for Oil and Gas in China’s Marine Strata (in Chinese). Beijing: Geological Publishing House, 2009. 752
Jin Z J, Wang Q C. Prediction on the Petroleum Formation, Enrichment and Distribution of the Typical Congruent Basins in China (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press, 2007. 381
Qing J Z. The Petroleum Source Rocks of China (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press, 2005. 614
Francois R, Honojo S, Manganini S J. Biogenic barium fluxes to the deep sea: Implications for palaeoproductivity reconstruction. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 1995, 5: 289–303
Hayes J M, Strauss H, Kaufman A J. The abundance of δ13C in marine organic matter and isotopic fractionation in the global biogeochemical cycle of carbon during the past 800 Ma. Chem Geol, 1999, 161: 103–125
McManus J, William M B, Silke S. Molybdenum and uranium geochemistry in continental margin sediments: Paleoproxy potential. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 2006, 70: 4643–4662
Meyers S R, Sageman B B, Lyons T W. Organic carbon burial rate and the molybdenum proxy: Theoretical framework and application to Cenomanian-Turonian oceanic anoxic event 2. Paleoceanography, 2005, 20: 2002–2020
Rimmer S M. Geochemical paleoredox indicators in Devonian-Mississippian black shales, Central Appalachian Basin (USA). Chem Geol, 2004, 206: 373–391
Siebert C, McManus J, Bice A, et al. Molybdenum isotope signatures in continental margin marine sediments. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2006, 241: 723–733
Tyson R V. The “productivity versus preservation” controversy: cause, flaws, and resolution. In: Harris N B, ed. The Deposition of Organic-carbon-rich Sediments: Models, Mechanisms, and Consequences. Oklahoma: Soc Sediment Geol, 2005. 17–33
Vető I, Péter O, István F, et al. Extension of carbon flux estimation to oxic sediments based on sulphur geochemistry and analysis of benthic foraminiferal assemblages: A case history from the Eocene of Hungary. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol, 2007, 248: 119–144
Xie S C, Yin H F, Xie X N, et al. On the geobiological evaluation of hydrocarbon source rocks. Front Earth Sci China, 2007, 1: 389–398
Yin H F, Xie S C, Qing J Z, et al. Discussion on geobiology, biogeology, and geobiofacies. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2008, 51: 1516–1524
Ziegler A M. Silurian marine communities and their environmental significance. Nature, 1965, 207: 270–272
Boucot A J. Principles of Benthic Marine Paleoecology. New York: Academic Press, 1981. 463
Yin H F, Ding M H, Zhang K X, et al. Dongwuan-Indosinian (Late Permian-Middle Triassic) Ecotratigraphy of the Yangtze Region and its Margins (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press, 1995. 338
Cisne J L, Rabe B D. Coenocorrelation: Gradient analysis of fossil communities and its application in stratigraphy. Lethaia, 1978, 11: 341–364
Dodd J R, Stanton R J. Paleoecology, Concepts and Applications. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1981. 559
Grice K, Cao C Q, Love G D, et al. Photic zone euxinia during the Permian-Triassic superanoxic event. Science, 2005, 307: 706–709
Summons R E, Jahnke J J, Hope J M, et al. 2-Methylhopanoids as biomarkers for cyanobacterial oxygenic photosynthesis. Nature, 1999, 400: 554–557
Xie S C, Lai X L, Huang X Y, et al. Principles, methodology and application of molecular stratigraphy. J Stratigr, 2007, 31: 209–221
Mucci A, Sundby B, Gehlen M, et al. The fate of carbon in continental shelf sediments of Eastern Canada: A case study. Deep-Sea Res, 2000, 47: 733–760
Ibach L E J. Relationship between sedimentation rate and total organic carbon content in ancient marine sediments. AAPG Bull, 1982, 66: 170–188
Tyson R V, Pearson T H. Modern and ancient continental shelf anoxia: An overview. In: Tyson R V, Pearson T H, eds. Modern and Ancient Continental Shelf Anoxia. Geol Soc Spec Publ, 1991, 58: 1–24
Huang J H, Luo G M, Bai X, et al. Organic fraction of the total carbon burial flux deduced from carbon isotopes across the Permo-Triassic boundary at Meishan, Zhejiang Province, China. Front Earth Sci China, 2007, 1: 425–430
Tait V. Elements of Marine Ecology. 3rd ed. London: Butterworths Scientific, 1981. 345
Takeda S, Ramaiaha N, Mikia M, et al. Biological and chemical characteristics of high-chlorophyll, low-temperature water observed near the Sulu Archipelago. Deep-Sea Res, 2007, 54: 81–102
Paytan A, Kastner M, Chavez F P. Glacial to interglacial fluctuations in productivity in the equatorial Pacific as indicated by marine barite. Science, 1996, 274: 1355–1357
McManus J, Berelson W M, Klinkhammer G P. Geochemistry of barium in marine sediments: Implications for its use as a paleoproxy. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1998, 62: 3458–3473
Murray R W, Leinen M. Scavenged excess aluminum and its relationship to bulk titanium in biogenic sediment from the central equatorial Pacific Ocean. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1996, 60: 3869–3878
Tonger, Liu W H, Xu Y C. The discussion on anoxic environments and its geochemical identifying indices. Acta Sediment Sin, 2004, 22: 365–372
Watanabe S, Tada R, Ikehara K, et al. Sediment fabrics, oxygenation history, and circulation modes of Japan Sea during the Late Quaternary. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol, 2007, 247: 50–64
Raiswell R, Buckley F, Berber R A, et al. Degree of pyritization of iron as a paleoenvironmental indicator of bottom-water oxygenation. J Sediment Petrol, 1988, 58: 812–819
Hatch J R, Leventhal J S. Relationship between inferred redox potential of the depositional environment and geochemistry of the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) stark shale member of the Dennis Limestone, Wabaunsee County, Kansas, USA. Chem Geol, 1992, 99: 65–82
Jones B, Manning D A C. Comparison of geochemical indices used for the interpretation of palaeoredox conditions in ancient mudstones. Chem Geol, 1994, 111: 111–129
Berner R A. The long-term carbon cycle, fossil fuels and atmospheric composition. Nature, 2003, 426: 323–326
Kump L R, Arthur M A. Interpreting carbon isotope excursions: Carbonates and organic matter. Chem Geol, 1999, 161: 181–198
Zheng Y F, Chen J F. The Geochemistry of Stable Isotopes (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press, 2000. 231
Zhou L, Huang J H, Archer C, et al. Molybdenum isotope composition from Yangtze block continental margin and its indication to organic burial rate. Front Earth Sci China, 2007, 1: 417–424
Raiswell R, Berner R A. Pyrite formation in euxinic and semi-euxinic sediments. Am J Sci, 1985, 285: 710–724
Mozley P S, Burns S J. Oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of marine carbonate concretions: An overview. J Sediment Petrol, 1993, 61: 73–83
Huggett J M, Gale A S, Evans S. Carbonate concretions from the London Clay (Ypresian, Eocene) of Southern England and the exceptional preservation of wood-boring communities. J Geol Soc, 2000, 157: 187–200
Woo K S, Khim B K. Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes of carbonate concretions of the Miocene Yeonil Group in the Pohang Basin, Korea: Types of concretions and formation condition. Sedimen Geol, 2006, 183: 15–30
Dymond J, Suess E, Lyle M. Barium in the deep-sea sediment: A geochemical proxy for paleoproductivity. Paleoceanography, 1992, 7: 163–181
Deuser W G, Brewer P G, Jickells T D, et al. Biological control of the removal of abiogenic particles from the surface ocean. Science, 1983, 219: 388–390
Raiswell R A. Geochemical framework for the application of stable sulfur isotopes to fossil pyritization. J Geol Soc, 1997, 154: 343–356
Zhou L, Zhang H Q, Wang J, et al. Assessment on redox conditions and organic burial of siliciferous sediments at the latest Permian Dalong Formation in Shangsi, Sichuan, South China. J China Univ Geosci, 2008, 19: 496–506
Yang H, Wang Y B, Chen L, et al. Calci-microbialite as a potential source rock and its geomicrobiological processes. Front Earth Sci China, 2007, 1: 438–443
Gehman H M Jr. Organic matter in limestones. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1962, 26: 885–897
Yan J X. Origin of Permian Chihsian carbonates from South China and its geological implications (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Sediment Sin, 2004, 22: 579–587
Yan J X, Liu X Y. Geobiological interpretation of the oxygen-deficient deposits of the middle Permian marine source rocks in South China: A working hypothesis (in Chinese with English abstract). Earth Sci—J China Univ Geosci, 2007, 32: 789–796
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, H., Xie, S., Yan, J. et al. Geobiological approach to evaluating marine carbonate source rocks of hydrocarbon. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 1121–1135 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-011-4236-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-011-4236-8