Diagenesis, provenance and reservoir quality of Triassic TAGI sandstones from Ourhoud field, Berkine (Ghadames) Basin, Algeria

Abstract

The Triassic TAGI (Trias Argilo-Gréseux Inférieur) fluvial sandstones are the main oil reservoirs in the Berkine Basin, Algeria. Nonetheless, their provenance and diagenesis, and their impact on reservoir quality, are virtually unknown. Samples from the Ourhoud field, representing the Lower, Middle and Upper TAGI subunits, were studied using a combination of petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical techniques. The Lower TAGI sandstones have an average framework composition of Q98.3F0.6R1.1 and 95% of the quartz grains are monocrystalline. By contrast, the Middle–Upper TAGI sandstones have an average framework composition of Q88.3F9.8R1.9 and 79.7% of the quartz grains are monocrystalline. The Lower TAGI quartz arenites derived from Paleozoic siliciclastic rocks, whereas the Middle–Upper TAGI subarkoses originated mainly from metamorphic terrains. This change in provenance is a potential criterion for correlation within the TAGI. Also, this change has contributed to the significantly different diagenetic paths followed by the Lower TAGI quartz arenites and the Middle–Upper TAGI subarkoses.

Grain-coating illitic clays are abundant in the Lower TAGI, where they exert a critical control on reservoir quality. These clays are interpreted as pedogenic and/or infiltrated in origin and to have had, in part, smectitic precursors. Shallow burial Fe-dolomite cementation was favored in the downthrown block of the field-bounding fault, where it contributed to the poor reservoir quality. Magnesite–siderite cements are multiphase. The earliest generation is composed of Fe-rich magnesite that precipitated during shallow burial from hypersaline fluids with high Mg/Ca ratios, probably refluxed residual brines associated with the Liassic evaporites. Later magnesite–siderite generations precipitated during deeper burial from waters with progressively higher Fe/Mg ratios. Authigenic vermicular kaolin largely consists of dickite that replaced previously formed kaolinite. Dickitization was followed by late-stage illitization related to the dissolution of detrital and authigenic K-feldspar. Quartz, the most abundant cement, was mainly sourced by the pressure- or clay-induced dissolution of detrital quartz and is a critical factor controlling the reservoir quality. Overall, quartz cement is more abundant in the Lower TAGI than in the Middle–Upper TAGI, and this increase correlates with a decrease in average porosity. Within the Lower TAGI, quartz cement abundance is stratigraphically very variable, which is in part related to facies controlled variations in grain-coating clay, resulting in major vertical variations in reservoir quality. Anhydrite and barite cements postdate quartz overgrowth. The sulfate necessary for their formation was likely sourced by deep subsurface dissolution of Late Triassic–Liassic evaporites.