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Characteristics and geological properties of seismic bright spots in the Permian carbonate deposit, Changhsing Formation, Longgang Area, Northeast Sichuan Basin, China

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Abstract

Bright spot seismic reflections in carbonate strata are often correlated with effective reservoirs. Widely distributed bright spot reflections have been found in the Permian Changhsing Formation in the Longgang area, Northeast Sichuan Basin, China. However, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of the types, distribution, and geological origin of these bright spot reflections in the Longgang area. Integrated subsurface analysis has revealed that bright sport characteristics represent a combination of strong troughs and peaks, with thicknesses up to 30 ms of two-way time and have a shape like “a string of pearls” in the seismic section. The bright spots located in the platform margin show a NW-trending intermittent strip-like distribution, while in the open platform they are scattered. Bright spots are mainly distributed at the top of the Changhsing Formation and form in the platform margin and open platform environments. The distribution of bright spots has a good coupling with reefs and shoals located in the high paleogeographic regions of the Upper Changhsing Formation. The integrated analysis based on cores, thin sections, and geophysical data reveals that the “pearl-like” bright spots are indicators of needle-like dissolution pores, small karst caves, fracture–vug cystic caves and piebald karst fracture cave systems resulting from eogenetic karstification. Large-scale regression of sea level, which occurred at the end-Permian section, is the main control for reefs and shoals located in the exposed paleohighs suffering from eogenetic karstification. Exploration based on the location of bright spot seismic reflections may be a favorable target for hydrocarbons.

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modified from Yin et al. 2014)

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project (Grant number 2016ZX05053-002) and the Young Scholars Development Fund of the Southwest Petroleum University (Grant number 201499010091).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oil and Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xiaoxing Gong & Xingui Zhou

  2. School of Geoscience and Technology and State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Wei Yang & Qingsong Tang

  3. School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China

    Wei Yang

  4. College of Energy Resources and State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Wenjie Li

  5. Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company, PetroChina, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Qingsong Tang

  6. East China Oil and Gas Company, Sinopec, Nanjing, 210011, China

    Jin Zhang

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Gong, X., Yang, W., Li, W. et al. Characteristics and geological properties of seismic bright spots in the Permian carbonate deposit, Changhsing Formation, Longgang Area, Northeast Sichuan Basin, China. Carbonates Evaporites 35, 98 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-020-00631-3

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