Quantifying the Texture, Composition, and Coupled Chemical-Mechanical Diagenesis of Deformation Bands within Sandstone Reservoir Outcrop Analogs of Assorted Detrital Compositions, Southwestern USA

Abstract:

In porous sandstones many factors including grain size, sorting, stress-state, and composition influence deformation mechanisms and resulting deformation band properties, especially those related to fluid flow. Using high resolution SEM-CL, EDS, and BSE images we quantitatively point counted various band types and their associated host rocks at the sub-micron scale, performed comprehensive grain size analyses on the undeformed host rocks, and calculated the total porosity lost through coupled chemical-mechanical means for each host rock and band. Our goals were to 1) determine the influence of detrital composition and texture [Cedar Mesa, Navajo, and Entrada sandstones] both on bands formed by different mechanisms and on bands formed by the same deformation mechanism at various stages of development, and to 2) assess the effects of coupled chemical-mechanical processes leading to deformation localization within these sandstone reservoir outcrop analogs. Analyzed samples include a non-cataclastic disaggregation band, a non-cataclastic pressure solution band, and single, multistrand, and clustered cataclastic bands, all of which formed through combinations of grain reorganization, brittle processes, pressure solution, and cementation. The textural, compositional, and diagenetic properties of the older burial-related bands (pressure solution and disaggregation) are more comparable to the detrital host rocks than the later, faulting-related cataclastic bands, regardless of the host rock characteristics. Furthermore, the relative influence of the detrital sandstone properties varies throughout the evolutionary stages of cataclastic band development. For example, multistrand bands across formations have undergone similar chemical-mechanical deformation, yet their remnant porosities and compositions vary drastically. Cluster bands, on the other hand, represent a later developmental stage than multistrand bands, and yet their porosities and compositions are similar across formations, while the amount of chemical versus mechanical diagenesis seems to be dependent on the detrital host rock.