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Petrophysical characterization of the South Georgia Rift Basin for supercritical CO2 storage: a preliminary assessment

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Abstract

The Triassic–Jurassic South Georgia Rift (SGR) Basin, buried beneath Coastal Plain sediments of southern South Carolina, southeastern Georgia, western Florida, and southern Alabama, consists of an assemblage of continental rift deposits (popularly called red beds), and mafic igneous rocks (basalt flows and diabase sills). The red beds are capped by basalts and/or diabase sills, and constitute the target for supercritical CO2 storage as part of a Department of Energy funded project to study the feasibility for safe and permanent sequestration. The purpose of this research is to evaluate subsurface suitability for underground CO2 storage in terms of the local and regional distribution of porous and permeable reservoirs. In addition, unlike shale-capped CO2 reservoirs, very little is known about the ability of basalts and diabase sills to act as viable seals for CO2 storage. New results demonstrate the presence of confined porous rocks that may be capable of storing significant quantities of supercritical CO2. Reservoir thicknesses as high as 420 m and an average porosity as high as 14 % were obtained. The SGR Basin manifests distinct porosity–permeability regimes that are influenced by the depositional environments. These are: a high-porosity, medium/low-permeability zone associated with lacustrine deposits, a medium/low-porosity, low-permeability zone dominated by fluvial fine- to very fine-grained sandstone, and an extremely low porosity and permeability zone characterized by fluvial and alluvial-fan deposits. Analyses further show that the basalt flows and diabase sills are characterized by low porosity as well as high seismic velocities and densities that are favorable to caprock integrity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank John Shafer, Mike Waddell, Adrian Addison, Duke Brantley and Mark Evans from the Earth Sciences Resources Institute (ESRI), Columbia, South Carolina as well as David Heffner, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, for their contributions to this work. Also, we thank Scott Howard and Bill Clendenin of the South Carolina State Geological Survey for unrestricted access to the sandstone cores that we used. Basalt samples from Clubhouse Crossroads were provided by Paul Olsen of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York. The Well logs from Norris Lightsey #1 were provided by the Southern Company based in Georgia. Our appreciation also goes to Manika Prasad and Mike Batzle, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado for permission to use their laboratory facilities. X-ray computed tomographic images were acquired by George Radziszewski of the Colorado School of Mines (basalt samples) and by Jessica Maisano and the UT Austin XCT team (Palisade/Diabase sills). XRD analysis was performed by the Mineral Lab Inc, in Golden Colorado. Thin section and photomicrograph on the Dorcehster-211 basalt sample were provided by James Rine of the Weatherford Laboratories in Houston, Texas. Darrell Terry, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, provided helpful review and comments.

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  1. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter Street, EWS 617, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Olusoga Martins Akintunde, Camelia Knapp & James Knapp

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  1. Olusoga Martins Akintunde
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  2. Camelia Knapp
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  3. James Knapp
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Correspondence to Olusoga Martins Akintunde.

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This material is based upon work supported by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) under Award Number DE-FE0001965. This paper was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

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Akintunde, O.M., Knapp, C. & Knapp, J. Petrophysical characterization of the South Georgia Rift Basin for supercritical CO2 storage: a preliminary assessment. Environ Earth Sci 70, 2971–2985 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2355-6

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