Search results for "Economic Geology"
showing 10 items of 81 documents
Archaeological excavation confirms the geophysical anomalies recorded at the cathedral of tarragona - A comparative study
2011
An integrated geophysical survey was conducted in September 2007 at the Cathedral of Tarragona to search for archaeological remains of the Roman temple dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. Many hypotheses about its location have been put forward, the most recent ones suggesting it could be inside the present cathedral. A project including Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and Ground probing radar (GPR) was planned for a year and conducted during a week of intensive field survey. Both ERT and GPR provided detailed information about subsoil structures. Different ERT techniques and arrays were used, ranging from standard Wenner-Schlumberger 2D sections to full 3D electrical imaging using t…
Fracture stratigraphy and oil first migration in Triassic shales, Favignana Island, western Sicily, Italy
2021
This study aims at evaluating the control exerted by fracture stratigraphy and diagenetic processes on oil first migration through an outcropping, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession. The present work included results of sedimentological, paleontological, mineralogical, petrographic, structural, and microstructural analyses carried out on organic-rich shales exposed at the Favignana Island of Sicily, Italy. The analyses focus on Upper Triassic yellowish siltstones and greyish laminated dolomitic limestones, which form a 10's of m-thick succession exposed along the westernmost portion of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt. The studied succession deposited in a coastal lagoon associated t…
Microbial-mediated pre-salt carbonate deposition during the Messinian salinity crisis (Calcare di Base fm., Southern Italy)
2017
Abstract A multi-scale analysis of sedimentary carbonate facies and post-sedimentary diagenetic features of the Calcare di Base Formation, the precursor to evaporites in Upper Messinian successions of Northern Calabria and Central Sicily, has revealed their microbial bio-mediated origin. Massive to laminated microbial boundstones represent the most common sedimentary facies forming flat to low relief cm to m scale stromatolitic and thrombolitic bodies. The fabric of the micrite varies from peloidal to aphanitic, and almost always preserves filamentous bacteria which characterized the original microbial mat. The mat was dominated by sulphur-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Thiotrichaceae,…
Burial dissolution of micrite in Middle East carbonate reservoirs (Jurassic–Cretaceous): keys for recognition and timing.
2006
14 pages; International audience; This paper discusses burial diagenesis and especially a burial dissolution phase and its effects on micrite microtexture in reservoirs in the Middle East. Three microporous reservoirs were selected: the Cenomanian Mishrif Formation in Iraq; the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian Arab D and the Barremian Kharaib Formations, both in Abu Dhabi. Staining, cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy were used for petrographic observations. In the selected reservoirs, three typical micrite microtextures are distinguished: micro-rhombic, compact anhedral, and rounded. The chronology of diagenesis, based on petrographic observations, shows that mineralogical stabilisa…
The beast burrowed, the fluid followed – Crustacean burrows as methane conduits
2015
Abstract An extensive pockmark field with associated methane-seep carbonates has recently been reported from the late Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Ubidepea Mudstone of the Black Flysch Group in the Basque Country, northern Spain, but the exact pathways of the migrating methane-rich fluids remained elusive. Here we provide petrographic, stable carbon and oxygen isotope evidence that abundant crustacean burrows in the surrounding mudstone, preserved as the trace fossil Thalassinoides, and the seep carbonates themselves have acted as long-lasting fluid conduits in this system. The Thalassinoides infill generations show a diagenetic parasequence often starting with a distinctive lining, followed b…
Textural, chemical and isotopic variations induced by hydrothermal fluids on mesozoic limestones in northwestern Sicily
1984
The results are given of textural and compositional investigations carried out on carbonate materials outcropping in various localities in northwestern Sicily where fluorite, barite and calcite mineralizations of hydrothermal origin occur. Observation of the textural features indicate variations in the degree of calcite recrystallization and silicification that appear to be more marked in rocks that show more evident effects of mineralization. The geochemical behaviour of the minor elements indicate variations in chemical composition (increase of Mn, Fe, and Sr and removal of Mg) as a result of interactions between mineralizing fluids and host-rocks. Comparison between the isotopic composit…
A new simple approach to evaluate pedogenic clay transformation in a Vertic Calcisol
2006
The aim of this study is to characterize the pedogenic clay minerals by using simple approach: Mixing mineralogical and geochemical findings. The fine clay fractions (< 0.1 μm) of a Vertic Cambisol profile were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Qualitative and quantitative mineralogical compositions of the clay mixture were determined. Moreover, chemical equilibria and thermodynamic stabilities of minerals (calcite, gypsum, kaolinite, smectites and illites) were studied using results of ionic activities obtained from total concentration of various aqueous species in water extracts from soil-saturated pastes. XRD ana…
Zirconium and hafnium fractionation and distribution of Rare Earth Elements in neutral–alkaline waters: Case study of Lake Van hydrothermal system, T…
2021
International audience; We investigated the distribution of Zr, Hf, and rare earth elements (REE) as the sum of lanthanides plus Y in the hydrothermal system in the Lake Van area of south-eastern Turkey. This system is characterised by water with variable pH in alkaline conditions resulting from hydrothermal CO2 upraise and neoformation of calcite minerals in near equilibrium with the interacting waters. Zr, Hf, and REE determinations were carried out for aqueous phases and suspended solids in lake water and surrounding thermal springs. We found that dissolved Hf is partitioned relative to Zr during calcite formation and that such fractionation is a function of the Ca2+ activity in warm wat…
Fluid geochemistry in a low-enthalpy geothermal field along a sector of southern Apennines chain (Italy)
2020
Abstract The chemical and isotopic features of the fluids (water and gases) in the Lucane thermal area (southern Italy) have been investigated in order to verify their origin, water temperature in the geothermal reservoir, and to recognize the main natural processes concerning the water composition during ascent towards the surface. The Lucane geothermal system is placed in the southern sector of the Apennines chains, a seismically active area, close to the southern base of the Mt. Alpi carbonate massif. Along the study area, two main sets of high-angle faults form an almost orthogonal fault system that, as suggested by local structural geology, acts as a preferential pathway for uprising d…
Characterization and origin of permeability-porosity heterogeneity in shallow-marine carbonates: from core scale to 3D reservoir dimension (Middle Ju…
2014
21 pages; International audience; Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), stable isotope geochemistry of micro-sampled cores, NMR well-logs and 3D modeling are used to investigate the carbonate permeability-porosity heterogeneity along 230 m-thick limestones of the Paris Basin. Despite the global low porosity and permeability of the limestones, two aquifers units with porosity greater than 15% were identified. These two aquifers are very different in terms of pore through radii and NMR signal. The first one (A1: Aquifer 1) is a 7 m-thick mudstone unit, dominated by extended microporosity with pore throat radii of 0.25 μm to 0.3 μm. The second one (A2: Aquifer 2) is a 15 m-thick oolitic grainstone…