Diagenesis

Diagenesis is the term used for all the physical and chemical changes taking place in a sediment or sedimentary rock between deposition and either: a) metamorphism, or b) uplift and weathering. Sediment converted into consolidated sedimentary rock. Low temperature near-surface processes to higher temperature subsurface processes (<300C and 1-2 kb)

The multifarious processes that come under the term diagenesis are chemical, physical, and biological. They include compaction, deformation, dissolution, cementation, authigenesis, replacement, recrystallization, hydration, bacterial action, and development of concretions. The study of diagenesis continues to be an active field of research in sedimentary geology, in part because the variety and complexity of the processes involved has left many uncertainties, but also because of the importance of diagenesis to petroleum geology, in as much as diagenesis is a significant control on porosity and permeability of deeply buried sedimentary rocks, comprising the fine siliciclastic source beds, the coarser reservoir rocks, and the seals that cause those reservoir rocks to be petroleum reservoirs. Diagenesis is an essential aspect, although quite different in processes and effects, of mudrocks, sandstones, and carbonate rocks.

Controls on Diagenesis
Movement of pore fluids

Meteoric/surface waters into sedimentary basins Potentiometric head defined by ground water table above sea level, pore fluids will readily flow into marine sedimentary basins Thermal convection Inverse density gradient caused by thermal expansion of water (batholiths, salt domes, etc.) Compaction Porosity reduction drives interstitial waters

Shallow Carbonate Diagenesis

Carbonates
Micritization Carbonate grains may be bored by fungi, bacteria, algae Fine-grained (micrite) carbonate (aragonite, high-mag calcite) may then precipitate in holes In some cases, only exteriors of grains affected micrite rims/envelopes In other cases, grains may be completely micritized

Diagenetic Processes
The two most important diagenetic processes are compaction, and lithification, the term used for the complex of processes including compaction by which a loose sediment is converted into a solid sedimentary rock.

Four main processes of Mesodiagenesis are, Compaction Dissolution Precipitation Recrystallization

Compaction

Most sediments deposited under normal surface conditions have primary porosities of on the order of 30% to 70%. The lower values are more typical of coarser, sandy sediments, and the higher initial porosities are more typical of finer-grained, clay-rich sediments. Porosity in carbonate rocks varies widely, depending upon sediment type: the porosity of well-sorted carbonate sands is in the same general range as that of the corresponding siliciclastic sands, whereas reef carbonates commonly have much higher initial porosities.

Loosely packed sand porosity approaches 25%; saturated mud 60-80% water. Porosity reduced during burial due to overburden pressure Fabrics may form identifiable in thin section including: deformation, distortion, flattening Pseudomatrix formation when rock fragments alter to clays under pressure looks like a primary clay matrix Pressure solution where grain boundaries undergo dissolution and crystallization

Because of the difference in compaction between mudrock and sandstone, a sandstone dike emplaced vertically upward or downward before much compaction can become contorted because the mudrock undergoes so much more compaction than the sandstone

Deformation of vertical sandstone dyke by compaction of mudrock, A) Before compaction ; B) After compaction

Dissolution Silicate and carbonate minerals dissolved under conditions that are the opposite for cementation Calcite and silicates show opposite behaviour conditions for precipitation of the one are favourable for dissolution of the other

a Cementation Development of new precipitates in pore spaces Carbonates (calcite) and silicates (quartz) most common, also clays in siliciclastic rocks May be in response to groundwater flow, increasing ionic concentration in pore waters, and increased burial temperatures Overgrowths or microcrystalline cement when high pore-water concentrations of hydrous silica Iron oxide (hematite, limonite) determined by oxidation statectors

Factors influencing the solubility

Cementation Cementation of carbonates may take place in a variety of realms Meteoric vadose/phreatic Marine (phreatic) - seawater Subsurface - basinal brines

Use fabric to help infer origin

Mineral Replacement Dissolution of one mineral is replaced by another, simultaneously

No volume change Carbonate replacement by microcrystalline quartz; chert by carbonates; feldspars and quartz by carbonates; feldspars by clay minerals

Mineral Recrystallization Existing mineral retains original chemistry but increases in size Volume change Amorphous silica to coarse crystalline quartz; fine lime mud into coarse sparry calcite

Burial Dolomitization Dolomite may form as a replacement of a precursor limestone Use textural relationships to determine origin Certain types of calcium carbonate may be preferentially dolomitized Dolomite may be a fracture/void space infill Problem: need mechanism for circulating large volumes of Mg-rich water

Diagenetic Structures Liesegangen bands - result from groundwater precipitates in porous sandstones Concretions - nucleated, regular shaped rounded objects Nodules - irregularly shaped rounded objects Calcite, siderite, pyrite authigenesis around an organic nucleus Geodes - concentric layers of chalcedony with internal crystals of euhedral quartz or calcite

Indicators of Diagenetic Histories Conodont color alteration (Harris, 1979) - Cambrian-Triassic phosphatic fossils from pale yellow (1; <80C) to black (5; >300C) Vitrinite Reflectance - resistant plant cells altered under T&P, and reflect more light the higher the rank (100-240C)

Clay Mineral Transformation - stability of certain clay minerals (>100C smectites form mixedlayer clays; >200C become illites; >300C only mica remains) Zeolite facies - hydrous aluminosilicates alteration (<100C heulandite & analcime; 100- 150C laumontite; >150C prehnite & pumpellyite) Stable isotope ratios

Diagenesis of Sandstones
All changes, physical, chemical, and biological, that occur in a sediment after deposition and before metamorphism (<150-200oC). These changes happen at sediment-water interface and after burial. Two important processes Compaction - decrease in volume, largely by squeezing out of water Cementation - introduction of chemical precipitates between grains Together these result in lithification = the change from a loose sediment into a cohesive rock Compaction Spaces between grains of sediment are usually filled with water Porosity = void volume / total rock volume Permeability = ability of a rock to transmit a fluid (water, oil, gas), requires connected porosity.

Compaction of Muds Modern muds contain > 60% water, which can be squeezed out by exerting little pressure Muds can be compacted because grains are ductile (flexible) and can pack easily

Compaction of Sands. Sands are not easily compacted because they are supported by grain-to-grain

contacts Quartz and feldspar are not ductile at diagenetic P and T Modern sands 45+5% porosity Compacted quartz sandstone ~30% porosity Ductile lithic fragments can be squeezed into pore spaces, so lithic sandstones can be compacted more

Can compaction alone convert sand into sandstone? Sometimes Quartz + Feldspar + water squeezed to the limit of sedimentary conditions, still loose grains 80% Quartz + 20% schist or mudstone fragments yields multigrain aggregates 100% Mud yields mudrock Compaction alone can produce a rock from a sediment with high content of ductile lithic fragments or mud

Cementation Growth of new authigenic minerals from pore fluids Authigenic = grown in the sediment after deposition (as opposed to detrital) Cements precipitate in pores: usually coat grains, increase areas of grain-grain contact, decrease pore space (porosity) Most common Cements are: Quartz - SiO2 Calcite - CaCO3 Hematite - Fe2O3 Clay - kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, chlorite (not really a clay mineral) Quartz (SiO2) Cement Quartz cement commonly nucleates on quartz grains, is optically and crystallographically continuous with detrital grain Quartz cement is most common where quartz grains are abundant SiO2 must come from pore waters that move through the sandstone Quartz cemented quartz arenites (Tuscarora Ss.) are very resistant to weathering Dust rings may show detrital grain boundaries

Calcite (CaCO3) Cement

 Very common Reacts with acid Requires permeability for CaCO3 saturated waters (with [Ca++] x [CO32-] above a certain value) Calcite is orders of magnitude more soluble than Quartz, may form and later dissolve Often discontinuous May form concretions = locally cemented areas in friable Ss, typically around fossils

Calcite-cemented Sandstone Calcite (and dolomite) Cement, stained

Hematite (Fe2O3) Cement Forms in oxidizing environment Makes red beds red only about 1% Fe2O3 required to make red color Fe2+ dissolved from ferromagnesian minerals during diagenesis gets oxidized to Fe3+ and precipitated as hematite cement Hematite Cement

Clay Cement Some clay in sandstones is detrital Some clay is authigenic Clay cement coats sand grains Clay plates grow perpendicular to surface and form honeycomb texture Clay coatings can prevent quartz cement from growing and preserve porosity

Clay Coatings Authigenic clay is perpendicular to grain boundaries

Diagenesis is complex Compaction depends on mud content, sorting, % ductile fragments, angularity of grains, depth of burial (pressure)

 Cementation depends on chemistry and amount of pore fluid