Geoscience Canada Volume 14 Number 1 DIAGENESIS #12. Diagenesis in Limestones - 3. The Deep Burial Environment Phitio W. Choquette * Exploration & Production Technology Marathon Oi Company PO, Box 268 Litdeton, Colorado 60160 Noe! P,James ® (Genire for Earth Resources Research Department of Earth Scionces Memoria! University of Newfoundland ‘StJoha's, Newfoundland A1B.2x5 Present adcrasses: "5111S. Franklin St Litdton, Colorado 80121 ® Dept. of Geological Sclonces Queen's University Kingston, Ontario K7L NB Introduction Carbonate seckments, oF the imestones into which they may have evoWved. once buried below ine reach of seasfoor processes or ‘below the meteonc envionment and the suD- meteoric mixing zone, enter wih progressive burial he ‘deep ptreatic” or subsurface bur ‘aldagenetic realm (Figure 1). Is in this ‘alm that, unless exhumed by tectonic upit or lowered sea level, the great majoty of sedimentary carbonates must inevitably spend most of thei geologic existence. I is hore, to, that the majorty of carbonate sod ‘ments which escaped sea-fooithficaton or prolonged meteoric diagenesis undergo ‘mast ofthe changes that ead to ter thilica- tion and recuction of porosity ‘The importance of deep-buria diagenes:s hasbeen recognized more widely inthe last filteen years or so, in considerable part because of the publication of a major syn- thesis on carbonate diagenesis by Bathurst (1975), Since tat ime, aspects ofthe subject have been examined in a number of general OF pectic studies, most notably the thought ful works by Bathurst (1975, 1980a, 19806, 1984, 1985), Schlanger and Douglas (19%) Garrison (1981), Shinn and Robbin (1963) and Schole and Halley (1985). During tis same period, the development and retine- iment of instruments and techniques for the study of cathodoluminescence, ultraviclet fWvorescence, stablesotope, rare-earth ard ‘ming-elerent compostions, and microscopic fad inclusions have made possible the ac- {uistion of mach new information about the potrlogic, mineralogic and chemical changos ‘hat ake place in the deep-bura realm. ‘The fundamental importance of dia. genesis in is largely cocul reaim in shaping te porosity, mineralogy, basic fabrics and humerous other features of carhonales és ow clear, but many aspects remain to be ‘atiteg. The quest for @ basic understanding and a geroral theory of diagenesis A the ‘deep-burial setting has only bogun. The Deep-Burial Setting Definitions. Burial diagenesis can be defined in goneral as any change or collec: tion of changes that takes place below the zone of noar-surlace diagenesis and above {ho roalm of low-grade metamorphism (Fig ture 1). Thess limits can vary rom one sec ‘mentary basin to another ot even within a single basin. By “near-surface processes! we mean the changes caused by processes ‘operating ator very cose tothe sea foo or in the rolaively shalow meteoric envronment ‘within the reach of suface-elated processes (Choquette and Pray, 1970). The subentcu- {ar mixing zone (see James and Choquet 1984) i often thougnt of as part ofthe mete: ‘ore, although its rature and verte as wall {a geographic extent are poorly known in all but few subtropical Cenozoic limestone Jslands and a few aqullers in Conozoic and Mosoz0e carbonates. Defined in this way, ‘buria) diagenesis is mainly a consequence of ‘overburden due to burial beneath younger ‘stata, and of resulting changes in hycrology, pore-water chemistry, pressure, and tem- perature. The bural-dagenetic realm would include, for example, the mesogenetic or "deeper burial realm of Choquette and Pray (1970); the "“compactiona’” and "thermo: baric” subsurface regimes suggested by Galloway (1985) for sandstone-shale ‘sequences: the "deep-phreatic" realm of many workers; and for geologists in the petroleum industry tne “subsurface” in gon- fetal, The term phreatic 's not very useful because for many It connotes the zone of salutation and watorfiled pores anywhere blow the water table Differences from Near-Surlace Pro- ‘cesses.Tho dominant processes, ambient ‘conditions, space and imme distributions, and Principal products of diagenesis in deep ‘burial satin aro quite diffocont from those in near-surface settings. In the soa-fioor ‘environment, cementation by aragonite and [Mg-catcte is the main inorganic agont of tihtcation James and Choquoto, 1989) and 's Inghiy faces-specife. Litcation in this settings vitualy instantaneous geologically Probab Involving time spans onthe order ot 10° to 10 years. Inthe meteoric environment, the main pro- cesses of lication inotve the precietation cate, impelied ether by dissolution of aragonite and micro-dssobsion ol Mg-calcie (Jorms of minere-contoled alteration as dis- ‘cussed by James and Choquetio, 1984), of ‘by more wholesale dissolution and precpita- tion of calcite (water-controlled alteration) Minera-controlled alteration redisinbutes porosity from inter- and intrapartcle sedi ‘ment pores to new mold pores, often with litle net change in percent porosity (Harrison, 1975), Water-contrliad alteration, on the ‘oiner hand, croatos naw, large, non-salee tive volds or ads CaCO, and reduces poros- ity. Meteoreeaim diagenesis must involve lime intervals which approximate the dura- Sion of subaerial exposure al uncontoxmites; in PlioPetstocene sequences on modern platforms glacio-eustatic uncontormities 'nvolve time intervals onthe order of 10°10 10> yoars(ag., Steinen and Matthews, 1973;SHALLOW BURIAL —~ \ BURIAL DIAGENETIC MIXING Pe p2O WE Ee eee eee ee eee eee eee EE DOMAINS SHALLOW MARINE, PERITIDAL AND ASSOCIATED SEDIMENTS pore waters of multiple origins BASINAL SEDIMENTS marine-derived pore waters DEEP BURIAL ES METAMORPHIC DOMAIN at Figuce 1 4 shtch outing two gener! demain of dep burl aganess. The nature and depth ange of te Boundary wih the matamoroms ream ar poy Known. The depths ely to range ram a hlometre or iss f several hiomatres or more Table 1 General processes and products In the deep-burial domain. ‘Table 2 Principal controle in deep-burial diagenesis. Processes Products Intrineic Extrinsic Physical compaction Reduced thickness, porosity and perme- ablity; reoriented and commonly broken Mineralogy Temperature allocherns; compressed textures and Grain 20 and texture Pressure structures COrganie matter, kerogen and hydrocarbons Time Early cement or dvomization Flurd Flux Porewater chemisiry Chemical compaction Reduced thiknass, porosity and porme- Poresty and permeability ability; styloltes and other pressu solution structures; ions for new carbonat ‘coment ‘Comentation Mosasctrusy to very coarse or pokilotopic calota and saddle dolomite Butal doiomitzation _Anhedtalcrystaline dolomite, generally rather coarse Mineral reactions ‘Smectite to ae Gypsum to annyaite Opal A & CT to quartz Fe hydroxides to Fe oxides Biochemical alteration Kerogen and organic acids ‘of organic matter Thermochemical Hydrocarbons and CO, aeration of kerogen ‘Burial dissolution of Ca Solution porosity carbonate and suiphateGeoscience Canada. Volume 14 Number 1 Enos and Perkins, 1877; Beach, 1982); older Phanerozoic platforms contain regional anc interregional uncontormities representing {ime intervals up to 108 to 10” years (Sando, 197, 1985; Sloss, 1984), In the deep-buriai ‘nvironment far more complex arrays of ro- 0580s are operative (Table 1). Dominant ‘among them are physical (mechanical) com fpacton and dewatering, chemical compac- tion (pressure solution), cementation, Subsurface dolomitization, alteration of hhycrous minerals to anhydrous ones, ther- rmaiy criven mineral stabization reactions, and aeration and maturation of organic mat ter with attendant producton of ganic acids land hydrocarbons. A dominant long-term trond is progressive reduction of porosity by Compaction and cementation, at higher and higher temperatures and pressures, in the ‘can continua lover milons to tens oF rarely hundreds of rmlions of years (108-108 ys), though rates ‘of diagenetic change falloff rapily wth in- creasing depth and time. Factors influencing Deep-Burlal Diagenesie Intrinsic Factors. Amorg the most impor tant intresic factors (Table 2) are the mineral ‘ogy, the amount and nature ofthe organic Traction, the presence of introduced liquid Inydrocarbons. and the pore-water compos tion. A sediment that retains aragonite and Mgcalcite as it goes into the deep-buriat ‘environment will have more “diagenetic otomiat” (Schianger and Douglas, 19%) 10 ‘generate calcite coment through dissolution {and reprecptation than wil a seciment com posed oni of calcite, We know relativaly le ‘about the mineralogy of platform fmestones {a thay leave the meteoric and sub-meteoric mixing zones and onter the deop-burial realm, Schole and Halley (1985) have argued ‘nat many platform limestones atereé in tho meteone zone are calcite and therefore have relatwaly low dagenete potential ike manne chalks. However calete cement of meteoric ongin is rarely homogeneous either iso- ‘opealy or elemental, and therefore must hhave atleast some diagenetc potential (LS. Land, pers, comm. 1986). in any case, many ‘studies of Recent and Plio Pleistocene ime- stones have shown that mineralogic stabi. Zzalion in meteorc water trom aragocite and Mgcalite to low-Mg cake can take place ulehy altor a tow metres to tens of metres of burial (e.g, Stoinen and Matthews, 1975; ‘Seinen, 19%; Beach, 1982), 1 another kin ot "mineralogeea!” eect, limestones that contain at east afew parcant clay minerals or unstable organie mater (in _adaion o being tne grained) are mare sus- cepibie than pure limestones to physical ‘compaction, chemical compaction (pressure solution, and even spaced cleavage due to {ectonicaly induced pressure solution. Fur- ‘thormor tis widely thought that the amount of clay andlor organic mater may be impor. tant, Whether clay and sit content is ess than ‘¢ more than about 1086 appears infential in determining whether pressure solution pro- ‘duces, respectively. sutured styles or now sulured soams and lited fabrics (R.G.C. Bathurst, pers. comm. 1986). ‘Grain size and texture influence the rates at which CaCO, components change and sediments compact. Fine-rained and poorly ‘Sorted seciments undergo neomorphic and soluton-preciptation reactions mare rapity because of their larger reactive surlace ‘areas; hey also compact more readily than coarse sediments, in marine pore waters at Yeast, because of their greater pore water content and potential for particle vearrange- ‘ment and reosentation, One consequence of {hiss that some sediments that were depos 4d as ime muds undergo so much physical ‘compaction oftheir fine-grained traction that they become “siagenetic” wackestono or [acksione (Shinn and Rabin, 1983) Poro-water chemistry has a variety of im- portant elfects and roles in burial dia- ‘genesis. For one thing, pore waters transmit, by physical fuid flow or son difusion, he solute fons produced by dissolution o: con- ‘sumed by cementation and replacement r0- ‘actions, Moreover, wal chemisry seems to hhave a strong influence on major bunal-ia- {genetic processes. One of the most impor {ant of these, pressure-solution (chemical ‘compaction, seems to operate less rapicly in Mgtich (0.9, marinederived) pore waters, a {actor that may be party responsibe fr the tetertion of high porosity in many chalks (Neugebauer, 1973, 197). ‘The introduction of quid hydrocarbons Ino the pore systems of limestones during Dura diagenes's, especialy tthe pore walls ‘are cilwet, inhibits pressure solution andican preclude the formation of styloites; Oun- ington (1967), who first suggested these cect, also noted thatthe emplacement of cilin some limestone reservors o he Middle East might actually have provented their ‘compaction and created diferena-compac- tion waps for hyerocarbons. Liquid hydrecar- bons in pores can also shut off or pravent ‘cementation. This mechanism has been Invoked to explain aiferences in eatert of pressuresoluion cementation and porosity Feduetion in some chalk reservoirs in the North Sea (Feazel of a, 1985; Feaze! and ‘Schatzinger, 1985). Eartyprociotated coment or early replace- mont dolomite formed at or pol ar bolow the ‘depositional interface wil increase the boar {ng strength ofa sochment go thal t compacts lass readiy, at least at rolatively shallow opts (<2 km?) Final, the porasty and permeabity of a ‘eciment o: rock. which govern both the vol ‘ume of contained pore fud and he rate at which uids are transite, afec the speed al which diagenetic reactions lake place, In Holocene sediments, porosity is generally ‘greater in fine-grained sediments such as lime muds than in coarser carbonate sands (Enos and Sawatshy, 1981). In the goologc ‘ecord the highest Known limestone poros- fies (up to 80% with very low permeabilities coften Below 1 md) are found in some Cre- taceous and Danian chalks (Scholle, 1977). Pormeablity in imestones with iterpartice porosity, however — other things boing equal is Groctly related to grain sizo, so that in ‘general the coarser-grained carbonates wil transmit fuids in larger volumes and at higher flow rates Extrinsic Factors. Arnong the many extin- sic factors affecting burial diagenesis (Table 2) it appears that pressure and tem- ‘perature ate most important. Pressuce of at feast three kinds is applied to sedimentary sequences being buried: (1) lthostatic pres- ‘ure, tranemited through the solid frame- work: (2) hydrostatic pressure, transmitted only through the pore-system “water column"; and what Bathurst (1975) called (8) near or directed pressure. The frst two (of these are induced by gravity, The thied is really of tectonic origin and has been recog rized increasingly in recent years as a major ‘cause of spaced cleavage in tectonized car- ‘bonales that yield by brite tracture. Typcal hydrostatic and thostatic pressure gra: ents, shown in Figure 2A, give an idea of the pressure ranges ambient over the range fof subsurface depths that have been ‘sampled thus far by petiloum exploration filing. Pore pressure determines the offec- tive stress on a seciment under overburden oad, because the eflective or net sress is the lthostatic prassure (r total loa) less tho Pore pressure (Terzaghi, 1940). Most subsur- face strata at temperatures grealer than ‘bout 100°C have pore pressures which are Pigher then “normal hydrostatic” and would li in the stippled area of Figure 2A, Usually the diferences between linostatic and pore- fluid pressure aro small, but under varous ‘conditions the porerfluid pressures can ‘become abnormally high, in which case the 10 be overpressured or ‘geopressurod” and the poreiuid column ‘may support par or allot the everburéen lad, Abnormally high poresfluid pressure can ‘be an important inhibtng factor in bul die ‘genesis. It can actually “prop up” orginal ore spaces — either independent or in Concert with early near-surface cementation ~ thereby retarding o° preventing physical Compaction. It also can slow or shutoff the export and import of pore water and prevent ‘any changes in the partial pressure of CO, and other issoWved gases, thereby creating 28 porerluid system which 1s both over pressured and static, in which both pressure solution and cementation may be sharply retarded. Faazal and Schatzingar (1985) also have discussed racenty the retarding efects (of high pore pressure, ‘Many processes seem able o cause over pressuring of sedimentary rock poreiad