Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T14:39:53.419Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Clay mineral variation in Tertiary sediments from the eastern flank of the Niger Delta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

S. P. Braide  and
W. D. Huff
S. P. Braide
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
W. D. Huff
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Detailed clay mineralogical and chemical analyses of well cuttings of Tertiary sediments from two wells, Uruan-1 and Uda-1, on the eastern flank of the Niger delta, have been made in an attempt to investigate clay mineral burial diagenesis. The clay mineralogy indicates a transformation of smectite to an interstratified illite-smectite (I/S) phase. The relationship between ordered and random interlayering, however, is nonsystematic. The chemistry of the <0·1 µm size fraction shows some tendency towards a net gain in K2O and Al2O3 and a net loss in SiO2 with depth, but the relationship does not correlate well with the thermal gradient. The distribution of kaolinite and chlorite in both wells appears to be unrelated in any regular way to smectite transformation and these two minerals are considered to be either the products of other diagenetic reactions affecting various stratigraphic levels, or the result of primary sediment deposition. In well Uda-1, kaolinite decreases in relative abundance with depth. This trend has been interpreted elsewhere as indicative of a transition from nonmarine to marine facies. The results of this study indicate that lack of ion mobility, rather than availability, is a significant factor in retarding the formation of ordered I/S with depth, and that lithology, overpressuring, carbonate cement, and original smectite layer charge may be controlling factors in the smectite → illite transformation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , June 1986 , pp. 211 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Biscaye, P.E. (1965) Mineralogy and sedimention of recent deep-sea clay in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas and oceans. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 76, 803–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boles, J.R. & Coombs, D.S. (1975) Mineral reactions in zeolitic Triassic tuff, Hokomui Hills, New Zealand. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 86, 163–173.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boles, J.R. & Franks, S.G. (1979) Clay diagenesis in Wilcox Sandstones of southwest Texas, implication of smectite diagenesis of sandstone cementation. J. Sed. Petrology 49, 55–70.Google Scholar
Brown, G. & Brindley, G.W. (1980) X-ray diffraction procedures for clay mineral identification. Pp. 305–359 in: Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and their Identification. (Brindley, G. W. and Brown, G., editors). Mineralogical Society, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, L.F., Bailey, S.W., Cline, L.M. & Lister, J.S. (1977) Clay mineralogy in relation to deltaic sedimentation patterns of Desmoinesian cyclothems in Iowa-Missouri. Clays Clay Miner. 25, 171–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burst, J.F. (1959) Postdiagenetic clay mineral environmental relationship in the Gulf Coast Eocene. Clays Clay Miner. 6, 327–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burst, J.F. (1969) Diagenesis of Gulf Coast clayey sediments and its possible relation to petroleum migration. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 53, 73–93.Google Scholar
Doebl, F., Heling, D., Homann, W., Karwiel, J., Teichmüller, M. & Welte, D. (1972) Diagenesis of Tertiary clayey sediments and included dispersed organic matter in relationship to geothermics in the Upper Rhinegraben. Pp. 192–207 in: Approaches to Taphrogenesis (Illies, J. H. and Fuchs, K., editors). Verlagsbuchandlung, Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Dunoyer de Segonzac, G. (1970) The transformation of clay minerals during diagensis and low-grade metamorphism: a review. Sedimentology 15, 281–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emery, K.O., Uchupi, E., Phillips, J., Brown, C. & Mascle, J. (1975) Continental margin off western Africa. Angola to Sierra Leone. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 59, 2209–2265.Google Scholar
Evamy, B.D., Haremboure, J., Kamerling, P., Knaap, W.A., Molloy, F.A. & Rowlands, P.H. (1978) Hydrocarbon habitat of Tertiary Niger delta. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 62, 1–9.Google Scholar
Foscolos, A.E. & Kodama, H. (1974) Diagenesis of clay minerals from Lower Cretaceous shales of northeastern British Columbia. Clays Clay Miner. 22, 319–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foscolos, A.E. & Powell, T.G. (1978) Mineralogic and geochemical transformation of clays during burial diagenesis (categenesis): relation to oil generation. Proc. 6th Int. Clay Conf. Oxford, 261–270.Google Scholar
Foscolos, A.E., Reinson, G.E. & Powell, T.G. (1982) Controls on clay mineral authigenesis in the Viking sandstone, Central Alberta. 1. Shallow depths. Can. Miner. 20, 141–150.Google Scholar
Heling, D. (1974) Diagenetic alteration of smectite in argillaceous sediments of the Rhinegraben (S.W. Germany). Sedimentology 21, 465–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heling, D. (1978) Diagenesis of illite in argillaceous sediments of the Rhinegraben. Clay Miner. 13, 211–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, J. & Hower, J. (1979) Clay mineral assemblages as low grade metamorphic geothermometers, application to the thrust faulted disturbed belt of Montana, U.S.A. Pp. 55–59 in: Aspects of Diagenesis (Scholle, P. A. and Schluger, R. R., editors) Soc. Econ. Paleon. Min. Sp. Pub. 26. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hower, J., Eslinger, E.V., Hower, M.E. & Perry, E.A. (1976) Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediments. I. Mineralogical and chemical evidence. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 87, 725–737.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hower, J. (1981) Shale diagenesis. Pp. 60–80 in: Short Course in Clays and the Resource Geologist, Calgary. Miner Assoc. Canada.Google Scholar
Huff, W.D. & Türkmenoglu, A.G. (1981) Chemical characteristics and origin of Ordovician K-bentonites along the Cincinnati arch. Clays Clay Miner. 17, 5–22.Google Scholar
Johns, W.D., Grim, R.E. & Bradley, W.F. (1954) Qualitative estimations of clay minerals by diffraction methods. J. Sed. Pet. 24, 242–251.Google Scholar
Koster van Groos, A.F. & Guggenheim, S. (1984) The effect of pressure on the dehydration reaction of interlayer water in Na-montmorillonite (SWg-1). Am. Miner. 69, 872–879.Google Scholar
Lambert-Aikhionbare, D.O. & Shaw, H.F. (1982) Significance of clays in the petroleum geology of the Niger delta. Clay Miner. 17, 91–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medlin, J.H., Suhr, N.H. & Bodkin, J.B. (1969) Atomic absorption of silicates employing LiBO2 fusion. Atomic Absorption Newsletter 8, 25–29.Google Scholar
Moort, J.C. van (1971) A comparative study of the diagenetic alteration of clay minerals in Mesozoic shales from Papua, New Guinea, and in Tertiary shales from Louisiana. Clays Clay Miner. 19, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadeau, P.H. & Reynolds, R.C. (1981) Burial and contact metamorphism in the Mancos shale. Clays Clay Miner. 29, 249–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Olphen, H. (1963) Compaction of clay sediments in the range of molecular particle distances. Clays Clay Miner. 11, 249–258.Google Scholar
Perry, E.A. & Hower, J. (1970) Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast pelitic sediments. Clays Clay Miner. 18, 165–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, E.A. & Hower, J. (1972) Late-stage dehydration in deeply buried pelitic sediments. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 56, 2013–2021.Google Scholar
Powers, M.C. (1959) Adjustment of clays to chemical change and the concept of the equivalence level. Clays Clay Miner. 6, 309–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R.C. & Hower, J. (1970) The nature of interlayering in mixed-layer illite/montmorillonites. Clays Clay Miner. 18, 25–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R.C. (1980) Interstratified clay minerals. Pp. 249–303 in: Crystal structures of Clay Minerals and their X-ray Identification (Brindley, G. W. and Brown, G., editors). Mineralogical Society of London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz, L.G. (1978) Mixed-layer clay in Pierre Shale and equivalent rocks, northern Great Plains region. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 1064 A.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Short, K.C. & Stauble, A.J. (1967) Outline of the geology of the Niger delta. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 51, 761–779.Google Scholar
Środoń, J. (1980) Precise identification of illite/smectite interstratification by X-ray powder diffraction. Clays Clay Miner. 28, 401–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, R.G. (1981) Sample Examination Manual. Methods in Exploration Series, Am. Assoc. Petrol. GeoL, Tulsa, Oklahoma.Google Scholar