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Diagenetic evolution of a shallow marine Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp (Jabaloyas, NE Spain): implications for hydrocarbon reservoir quality

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Abstract

The upper Kimmeridgian outcrops in Jabaloyas (NE Spain) studied here have significant similarity in terms of carbonate ramp morphology and its facies architecture with Member D of the Upper Jurassic Arab Formation reservoirs in the Middle East. Geological models from analogue outcrops enhance or challenge the understanding of multi-scale sedimentological and diagenetic heterogeneities in the subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir models by providing morphometric parameters. For this purpose, conventional diagenetic studies (petrographic microscopy analysis and cathodoluminescence) have been performed to assess the impact of diagenetic modifications through burial. More than 50 thin sections have been used to define a full paragenetic sequence. Additional mineralogical mapping (Qemscan®) on a selection of thin sections serves as a calibration tool for semiquantitative analytic studies of every mineral phases and the proposed porosity evolution. This work unravels the whole paragenetic diagenetic processes and focused on those that occurred right after deposition to shallow burial (eogenesis). High-sequence stratigraphy allows linking these events to variations of the environmental domains that, in fact, respond most likely to sea-level fluctuations. In particular, it provides key parameters to frame the diagenetic overprint such as cementation processes plugging primary interparticle porosity and selective dissolution linked to master bounding surfaces: calcite meniscus cements in vadose zones and selective dissolution processes linked to firmgrounds. Ultimately, they offer valuable trends that would be potentially relevant to decipher and characterize reservoir parameters for the upscaling workflow of fabrics from microscopic to inter-well scale in carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was funded by project CGL2014-53548-P of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the H54 Research Group-IUCA “Reconstrucciones palaeoambientales” supported by the Gobierno de Aragón and the European Social Fund. We are grateful for the revision that has been done by the two anonymous reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief, Abdullah M. Al-Amri. We would also thank TOTAL E&P, especially C. Pabian-Goyheneche, head of the Carbonate Team at the R&D Department back in 2010–2011, for having funded field investigations. We would like to acknowledge Total SA laboratory at CSTJF Research and Scientific Centre for giving access to laboratory resources.

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  1. Departamento Ciencias de la Tierra-IUCA, University of Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Galo San Miguel, Marcos Aurell & Beatriz Bádenas

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  1. Galo San Miguel
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  2. Marcos Aurell
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Correspondence to Galo San Miguel.

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San Miguel, G., Aurell, M. & Bádenas, B. Diagenetic evolution of a shallow marine Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp (Jabaloyas, NE Spain): implications for hydrocarbon reservoir quality. Arab J Geosci 10, 376 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3157-z

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