RESERVOIR GEOSCIENCE

PDB 2012

ASSIGNMENT 1

Name

: Thevaruban S/O Ragunathan

ID

: 19645

Course

: Petroleum Engineering

Group

:2

Sedimentary rocks make up about three-quarters of the rocks at the Earths surface. They
form at the surface in environments such as beaches, rivers, the ocean, and anywhere that sand, mud,
and other types of sediment collect. Sedimentary rocks preserve a record of the environments that

existed when they formed. By looking at sedimentary rocks of different ages, scientists can figure out
how climate and environments have changed through Earths history. Fossils of ancient living things
are preserved in sedimentary rocks too.
To fully understand sedimentary rocks, a few terms must be known. For example,
crystallization is process of formation of solid crystals. Next, diagenesis is the change of sediments or
existing sedimentary rocks into a different sedimentary rock during and after rock formation, at
temperatures and pressures less than that required for the formation of metamorphic rocks.
Lithification is the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and
gradually become solid rock. Metamorphism is the change of minerals or geologic texture in preexisting rocks, without melting into liquid magma (a solid-state change).Weathering is the breaking
down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on Earths surface. Besides, subduction is the process that
takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate
and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge.
Many sedimentary rocks are made from the broken bits of other rocks. These are called
clastic sedimentary rocks. The broken bits of rocks are called sediment. Sediment is the sand you find
at the beach, the mud in a lake bottom, the pebbles in a river, and even the dust on furniture. The
sediment may, in time, form a rock if the little pieces become cemented together.
There are other types of sedimentary rocks whose particles do not come from broken rock
fragments. Biochemical sedimentary rocks are made of mineral crystals such as halite and gypsum
formed by chemical processes. The sediment particles of organic sedimentary rocks are the remains of
living things such as clamshells, plankton skeletons, dinosaur bones, and plants.
Chemical sedimentary rocks in the meanwhile are made up off when large area of water
evaporates and dry up. This large area of water then becomes more concentrated and minerals begin
to precipitate. The resulting rocks are called evaporates.

Examples of sedimentary rocks

Classification of Sedimentary Rocks

Sediments can be broadly divided into two groups which are clastic known as the residues of
weathering and the second one is chemical/biochemical precipitates which are products of
crystallization of ions that were dissolved during weathering.The dominant constituents of
sedimentary rocks are:

Quartz- (SiO2) one of the most abundant minerals in the exposed continental crust, and
an extremely hard, resistant and chemically stable mineral.

Calcite- (CaCO3) a major constituent of limestone (a very common sedimentary rock

type) and a common cementing agent in shale and sandstone (clastic rocks).
Clay- residual product developed from weathering of silicate minerals.
Rock fragments- relatively unweathered remnants of weathering.

Other important constituents of sedimentary rocks are:

dolomite- ((Ca,Mg)CO3) may replace calcite in limestone

feldspar and mica - relatively unweathered residues
halite and gypsum - (NaCl, CaSO4*2H2O) evaporites
organic matter - e.g. coal

Sedimentary rocks are characterized by layering. Layering is produced by physical or

chemical changes that occur in their environment of deposition. Layers can be found in
sedimentary rocks in a wide variety of scales, from much less than a millimetre to many meters.
Layering and other structures within sedimentary rocks provide important clues as to their
origin. Many of the specimens cannot be seen to have obvious layering due to the small size of
the samples relative to the layering. In your description of the rocks, make a note of any
evidence for layering.
Texture is an important aspect of identifying and describing sedimentary rocks. The
important textures you will be examining today are:

clastic - made up of grains

crystalline - interlocking crystals resulting from crystallization
skeletal - composed of fossil shells

Rock textures can be classified

types, which are:

into

Grain Size
Grain Sorting
Grain Shape
Grain Roundness
Crystalline (Coarse, Fine)

Sandstones
are
classified
to the percentage of matrix present
on their composition. The best
characterise sandstones is by using
Pettijohn
classification
of
chart:

Transportation of sediments
There are 5 types of transporting agents, which are:

Water (Most important)

Air
Gravity
Ice
Dense sediment and water mixtures

according
and based
way
to
the
sandstone

There are 2 types of fluid flow which are laminar flow and turbulent flow. The different
between this two fluids are flow velocity, bed roughness and type of fluid. In addition, there are
three mechanisms involved in transporting the particles known as traction, saltation and suspension.
Another name for sediment transport is sediment load. The total load includes all particles
moving as bed load, suspended load, and wash load.
To understand the relationship between particle size and velocity, the use of the Hjulstorms
diagram is required.
As from the diagram, it can be seen that as for clay and
silt, the smaller the grain, the higher the velocity
required to erode it. This is due to the high cohesive
force between the grain particles which requires more
energy to break it down.
Sedimentary structures can be found at the bed surface
as well as within the beds. There are 5 categories of
sedimentary structures which are:

Erosional
Depositional
Post-depositional
Diagenetic
Biogenic.

On the surface, bedding surface structure can be found such as

Ripples
shrinkage cracks
parting lineation
rain spot impressions
tracks and trails

Just below the surface, bedding under surface structures such as

flute casts
groove casts
tool marks
load casts
Scours and channels.

Internal sedimentary structures contain

Bedding
Lamination
Graded bedding
Cross-stratification
Massive bedding

Porosity
Porosity is the void space in between the rocks. The higher the porosity, the higher the rocks
capacity to store fluid. There are three types of porosity:

Effective Porosity ------ The pores which are interconnected

Ineffective Porosity ---- The pores which are isolated and the fluids inside it cannot be
retrieved
Total Porosity---- The total pores the rock contain.

Catenary pores are those which has more than one throat passage (effective porosity). Cul-de-sac
pore has only one throat passage. Closed pores has no throat pores (ineffective porosity).
In a rock formation, there are two types of porosity which are the primary porosity and the
secondary porosity. Primary porosity is developed at the deposition stage where it contains
intergranular pores of clastic /carbonates, intercrystalline and fenestral pores of carbonates and usually
more uniform than induced porosity. The factors affecting primary porosity are particle spherecity and
angularity, packing and sorting.
Secondary porosity developed by geologic processes after deposition (diagenitic process). The
secondary porosity contains grain dissolution in sandstones / carbonates, vugs and solution cavities in
carbonates and fracture development in some sandstones and carbonates. Factors affecting secondary
porosity are cementing particle, overburden stress and vugs, dissolution and fractures.
Sandstone Porosity Types:

Integranular
Micropores
Disolution
Fractures

Carbonate Porosity Types:

Interparticle
Intraparticle
Intercrystal
Moldic
Fenestral
Fracture
Vug

Permeability
The ability of a fluid to flow. Absolute permeability is the ability of a fluid to flow when one
fluid is present. Effective permeability is the ability of a fluid to flow when more than one fluid is
present. Relative permeability is the ratio of effective permeability to absolute permeability.
Tortuosity is the property of curve being twisted. Permeability is parallel to the bedding planes
(horizontal permeability). Factors affecting permeability are:
Grain size
Grain sorting
Grain roundness

Diagenesis

Diagenesis is the change of sediments or existing sedimentary rocks into a different sedimentary rock
during and after rock formation (lithification), at temperatures and pressures less than that required for
the formation of metamorphic rocks. It does not include changes from weathering and it is any
chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition. This
process excludes weathering and metamorphism. These changes happen at relatively low
temperatures and pressures and result in changes to the
rock's original mineralogy and texture. There is no sharp
boundary between diagenesis and metamorphism, but the
latter occurs at higher temperatures and pressures than the
former. After deposition, sediments are compacted as they
are buried beneath successive layers of sediment and
cemented by minerals that precipitate from solution. Grains
of sediment, rock fragments and fossils can be replaced by
other minerals during diagenesis. Porosity usually decreases
during diagenesis, except in rare cases such as dissolution of
minerals and dolomitization. The study of diagenesis in
rocks is used to understand the geologic history they have
undergone and the nature and type of fluids that have
circulated through them.
Three stages of diagenesis:

Eodiagenesis------ takes place at shallow depths

Mesodiagenesis--- occurs at deep burial

Telodiagenesis---- uplift of buried sediments into the system of meteoric waters.

There are 5 main diagenetic processes;

Compaction
Dissolution
Cementation
Replacement
Recrystallization

REFERENCES

Boggs, S. (2009). Petrology of sedimentary rocks (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Glossary:
Diagenesis.
(n.d.).
Retrieved
November
14,
2015,
https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?
Term=digenesis

from

Nichols, G. (1999). Sedimentology and stratigraphy. Oxford: Blackwell Science.

Sedimentary
Rocks.
(n.d.).
Retrieved
http://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml

November

14,

2015,

from

Sediment Transport and Deposition - Environmental Measurement Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved

November 14, 2015, from http://www.fondriest.com/environmentalmeasurements/parameters/hydrology/sediment-transport-deposition/
The Solid Earth System. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2015, from
http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/lithosphere/labs/dep_environs.html
Tucker, M. (1981). Sedimentary petrology: An introduction. New York: Wiley.