Microstructural Analysis of Coupled Mechanical and Chemical Diagenetic Processes in Deformation Bands in Sandstone

Abstract:

Deformation bands in sandstone and other porous rock have been shown to act as barriers or baffles to fluid flow. Changes in flow properties are related to microscale textural changes that occur within the deformation bands through coupled mechanical and chemical diagenetic processes. Microscale textures relating to flow properties, such as brittle grain deformation, preferred cementation, and the entrainment of fines within bands can be studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging techniques. Conventional techniques for imaging deformation bands by SEM involve using mechanically polished thin sections. However, mechanical polishing can cause induced sample damage that limits microstructural observations. To mitigate sample damage, we use large-area and cross-sectional Ar ion beam milling to prepare deformation band samples for SEM imaging. These techniques preserve sample integrity allowing the imaging of cement and pore textures at submicron resolution.

In an ion milled deformation band from the Entrada sandstone, we observe delicate euhedral quartz crystals that precipitated after band formation. In the same band, broken grain fragments that occupy space between larger framework grains are angular in shape, suggesting that they still bear freshly broken surfaces, not dulled and rounded by grain dissolution and cement overgrowth. The lack of widespread isopachous cement on grain fragments, and the observation, instead, of isolated slender quartz cement prisms indicates that cementation in these bands is highly localized. These localized cement growths increase roughness in the pore walls, increasing surface area and tortuosity in the flow pathway through the band. This may reduce permeability in the band without completely occluding flow pathways and pore connections within the bands.