Journal
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Volume 55, Issue -, Pages 214-229Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.12.009
Keywords
Fluid pressure; Overpressure reservoir; Stress tensor; Fracture population; Basin contraction; Fold development
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Funding
- Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris (ISTeP, UPMC Paris 6, France)
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Reconstructing the evolution of paleofluid (over)pressure in sedimentary basins during deformation is a challenging problem, especially when no hydrocarbon-bearing fluid inclusions are available to provide barometric constraints on the fluid system. This contribution reports the application to a natural case (the Bighorn Basin) of recent methodological advance to access fluid (over)pressure level prevailing in strata during sub-seismic fracture development. The fluid pressure evolution in the Mississippian-Permian Madison-Phosphoria limestone reservoir is tentatively reconstructed from the early Sevier Layer Parallel Shortening to the Laramide folding in two basement-cored folds: the Sheep Mountain Anticline and the Rattlesnake Mountain Anticline. Results point out that supra-hydrostatic pressure values prevail in the limestone reservoir during most of its whole Sevier-Laramide history. The comparison of the reconstructed fluid overpressure values within situ measurements in various overpressure reservoirs in other oil-producing basins highlights that the supra-hydrostatic fluid pressure gradually reaches the lithostatic value during the whole basin contraction and fold development. During most of the LPS history, however, overpressure level can be defined by a mean gradient. Among the factors that control the pressure evolution, the mechanical stratigraphy, the stress regime under which fractures developed and regional fluid flow are likely dominating in the case of the Bighorn Basin, rather than classical factors like disequilibrium compaction or fluid generation during burial. A coeval evolution between fluid overpressure and differential stress build-up is also emphasized. The approach presented in this paper also provides estimates of strata exhumation during folding. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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