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Influence of Mechanical Compaction and Clay Mineral Diagenesis on the Microfabric and Pore-Scale Properties of Deep-Water Gulf of Mexico Mudstones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Andrew C. Aplin ,
Ingo F. Matenaar ,
Douglas K. McCarty  and
Ben A. van der Pluijm
Andrew C. Aplin*
Affiliation:
NRG, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Ingo F. Matenaar*
Affiliation:
NRG, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Douglas K. McCarty
Affiliation:
Chevron ETC, 3901 Briarpark, Houston, TX 77042, USA
Ben A. van der Pluijm
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, C.C. Little Building, 425 E. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1063, USA
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: a.c.aplin@ncl.ac.uk
†Present address: ExxonMobil Exploration Company, 222 Benmar Drive, Houston, Texas 77060, USA
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Abstract

We report on how the effects of mechanical compaction and clay mineral diagenesis have affected the alignment of phyllosilicates in a suite of Miocene-Pliocene mudstones buried to sub-seabed depths of between 1.8 and 5.8 km in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. Mechanical compaction has reduced the porosity of the samples to 15% at 5 km, with modal pore sizes between 10 and 20 nm. High-resolution X-ray texture goniometry data show that the intense mechanical compaction has not resulted in a strongly aligned phyllosilicate fabric. The muds were apparently deposited with a weak or isotropic phyllosilicate fabric which was not substantially realigned by mechanical compaction. Unusually, X-ray diffraction of <0.2 µm separates shows that: (1) there is no illitization trend between 90 and 120°C; and (2) discrete smectite persists to ∼120°C, coexisting with R1 I-S or R0 I-S with 30–40% expandable layers. Between 120 and 130°C, discrete smectite disappears and the expandability of I-S decreases to ∼25–30%. We propose a two-stage diagenetic process involving (1) the alteration of volcanic glass to smectite and (2) the illitization of smectite and I-S; the alteration of glass results in smectite without a preferred orientation and retards the illitization reaction. We suggest that the lack of a strongly aligned phyllosilicate fabric reflects the apparently limited extent of illitization, and thus recrystallization, to which these mudstones have been subjected.

Keywords

CompactionGulf of MexicoHigh-resolution X-ray Texture GoniometryMicrofabricMudstoneShaleSmectite
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 54 , Issue 4 , August 2006 , pp. 500 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © 2006, The Clay Minerals Society

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