Diagenesis of the Marinoan cap dolostone, Southern Amazon Craton: An unconventional petroleum system in the evolution of the Araras-Alto Paraguai Basin

The post-snowball Earth world favors the development of hydrocarbon source rock intimately linked to periods of post-glacial marine transgression generating important potential petroleum plays. In the Southern Amazon Craton, hydrocarbons occur in one of the most spectacular examples of post-Marinoan cap carbonate, related to the mid-Ediacaran to Early Cambrian (c. Post 635 Ma) interval associated with the early stabilization of the Gondwana Supercontinent. The Puga cap carbonate consists of the basal portion of the Araras Group exposed in the Araras Alto-Paraguai Basin inserted as a reservoir in an unconventional petroleum system. The cap dolostone overlies diamictites and is overlaid by bituminous limestone and shales (source-rock), and dolostone in the top of a 700 m-thick depositional sequence. The cap dolostone has a diachronic relation with the limestone beds typifying as a secondary reservoir characterized by bitumen-filled fenestral and interpeloidal porosity. The upper dolostone has a closed framework and acts as sealing rocks. This study aims to establish paragenesis sequence and decipher its control on the quality of the cap dolostone as a microbialites-dominated reservoir. Drill core and outcrop samples were analyzed using microfacies, scanning electron microscopy, and cathodoluminescence to unravel the diagenetic history. Aftermath, the Marinoan events favored dolomuds precipitation in the shallow platforms, preserving primary porosity and permeability reduced by early gypsum cementation during oversaturation events. Other destructive processes, such as mechanical and chemical compaction (e.g., stylolites) and authigenesis of pyrite and low-Mg ferroan calcite cementation, occurred during burial and mesodiagenesis. The low permeability restricts hydrocarbon migration concentrated in the upper cap dolostone, and the early cementation increases the potential for preserving these carbonate deposits. Hydrocarbon maturation was triggered during the burial and uplift of the Araras-Alto Paraguai basin. The cementation phases described here enhance our understanding of the mechanisms behind syndepositional diagenesis in microbially-induced reservoirs. This study uses proxies associated with diagenetic studies to quantify the quality of microbially induced dolostone reservoir linked to the evolution of the Neoproterozoic unconventional petroleum system. In addition, this conception will promote a guide for future exploration and understanding of petroleum plays and suggests a possible Precambrian source rocks component of traditional Phanerozoic Petroleum systems in the central part of Brazil.

Automated summary

The post-snowball Earth world is favorable for the development of hydrocarbon source rocks and potential petroleum exploration. In the Southern Amazon Craton, there is a remarkable example of post-Marinoan rocks which act as unconventional petroleum reservoirs. This study aims to understand the paragenesis sequence and control factors of these reservoir rocks dominated by microbialites. The findings enhance our knowledge of syndepositional diagenesis in microbial-induced reservoirs and provide a guide for future petroleum exploration.