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Organic Geochemical Characteristics of Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks: A Case Study from the Yingxi Area, Qaidam Basin, China

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Abstract

Based on the systematic analyses of samples collected from the western Qaidam basin, the organic geochemical characteristics of representative Paleogene saline lacustrine carbonate source rocks were synthetically studied. The results show that the carbonate source rocks are characterized by total organic carbon (TOC) content varied in the range of 0.07 to 1.57%, with an average of 1%, and hydrocarbon generation potential (S1 + S2) is range from 0.2 to 9.61 mg HC/g rock with an average of 4.6 mg HC/g rock, and organic matters of Types II1 and Type I, which indicated that it belongs to high-quality carbonate source rocks. Meanwhile, the Tmax of source rock range from 409 to 438°C and productivity index (PI) varied in the range of 0.09 to 0.38, which imply that the source rock in immaturity to low-maturity phase. The biomarker compositions are characterized by the Pr/Ph ratio of the source rocks is 0.36, and the gammacerane/αβ-C30 hopane ratio up to 1.25, these data reflect that the presence of a highly reducing saline environment. Meanwhile, a high abundance of C27 sterane and bicyclic terpane indicates that aquatic algae are the main organic parent material. The identification of microscopic organic components of samples also reveals an abundance of the Botryococcus braunii fossil of up to 30% with strong yellow fluorescence. These results, together with comparison research of crude oil and source rocks, show that the saline lacustrine carbonate source rocks from the Yingxi area deposited under an anoxic and saline environment at the stage of low maturity. This study provides guidance for predicting the distributions of high-quality source rocks in the western Qaidam basin.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study is financially supported by the major scientific project of PetroChina Company limited (grant number 2016ZX05003-006X).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Gansu, Lanzhou, China

    Lan-tian Xing, Ping-zhong Zhang & Peng Wang

  2. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Gansu, Lanzhou, China

    Lan-tian Xing

  3. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development Northwest, Petrol China, 730000, Gansu, Lanzhou, China

    Li Xu

  4. Petrolchina Qinhai Oilfield Research Institute of Exploration and Development, 736202, Gansu, Dunhuang, China

    Jing Zhang

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Lan-tian Xing, Xu, L., Zhang, Pz. et al. Organic Geochemical Characteristics of Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks: A Case Study from the Yingxi Area, Qaidam Basin, China. Geochem. Int. 60, 92–108 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702921150015

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