1) Evolutionary development of

flora
Organic-rich sedimentary
rocks, and the formation of • Coal is rare in sedimentary rocks older than
Devonian in age
oil and gas • Early Devonian: evolution of herbaceous plants
• Late Carboniferous: luxuriant and diverse
swamps developed in N. hemisphere
GLGY 381: F02 • Diversity has increased through time

Types of organic-rich
sediments
• Coal (terrestrial or marginal
marine): > 50% by wt. or > 70% by vol. organic
carbon

• Oil shale (lacustrine or marine):

generally > 20% by wt. organic carbon

• Hydrocarbon source rock

(mainly marine): > 2% by wt. organic carbon

I. COAL 2) Climate

How formed? • Climate controls the rate of plant growth, type of

- by transformation of organic material (degraded
remains of higher plants and/or algae and other
micro-organisms)
- 3 main factors contribute to the formation of coal:
1) evolutionary development of flora
2) climate
3) depositional environment
plant growth and decomposition rates
• These factors are all important in determining
whether or not peat will form
• Warm, wet tropical and subtropical climates - most
favourable for peat accumulation (e.g. Florida; south
Carolina)
• Coal seams and peat can accumulate wherever the
rates of accumulation are greater than decomposition

1

3) Depositional environment (I)
• Lateral distribution, thickness, composition
and coal quality are determined by the
depositional environment
• Groundwater table must be at or close to the
peat surface
• Low energy; low clastic input
• Accumulation approx. same as subsidence
3) Depositional environment
(II)
Coal forms in two main depositional settings:
1) Paralic (coastal marine settings): e.g. back barrier
(Snuggedy Swamp, S. Carolina); deltas (Mississippi
Delta); coastal and interdeltaic plains (Mist
Mountain Formation, BC)
2) Limnic (non-marine): e.g. fluvial (Tertiary Eureka
Sound Formation, Nunavut); fault-bounded basins in
intermontane regions (Tertiary Hat Creek deposit,
BC)
Coastal marine (back barrier) depositional
setting. Note location of marsh deposits
relative to the lagoon and barrier complex.
Coastal marine (deltaic) depositional setting.
Note location of marsh deposits relative to
the distributary channels.
3) Depositional environment
(III)
Coal forms in two main depositional settings:
1) Paralic (coastal marine settings): e.g. back barrier
(Snuggedy Swamp, S. Carolina); deltas (Mississippi
Delta); coastal and interdeltaic plains (Mist
Mountain Formation, BC)
2) Limnic (non-marine): e.g. fluvial (Tertiary Eureka
Sound Formation, Nunavut); fault-bounded basins in
intermontane regions (Tertiary Hat Creek deposit,
BC)
Tertiary Eureka Sound Group coal seams, central
Ellesmere Island. Coals were deposited in fluvial
environments, and are lignite rank.
2
 Tertiary Eureka
Sound Group coal
seams, southern
Ellesmere Island.
Note fining-
upward, Vitrinite (plane-
meandering fluvial polarized light) Sporinite (a kind of liptinite;
coal depositional fluorescent under UV light)
siltstone
succession, capped
sandstone
by coal seam.

Fining-upward
succession

B=fluorescing Botryococcus
TYPES OF COAL alginite (a kind of
liptinite- nonmarine);
I=inertinite (non-
fluorescing)
Sapropelic: two variations
- cannel coal: rich in spores
- boghead coal: rich in algal remains
Humic:
- predominantly woody material Yellow-fluorescing thin-
walled alginite (a kind of
- stratified and heterogeneous
liptinite)

WHAT ARE THE

COMPONENTS OF COAL? What is coal rank?
Coal Macerals
• Tracks the chemical and physical
-organic constituents in coals that are analagous
to grains in a sandstone changes in coal with increasing depth
-commonly a complex mixture of residues of of burial (P, T)
various parts of the original plant material • Important for determining the end-
3 main groups: use of the coal (thermal; coking)
1) Vitrinite: woody plant tissue
2) Liptinite: H-rich plant material (algae, spores, • Important for studies of thermal
cuticles) maturation of sedimentary rocks
3) Inertinite: oxidized, inert C (may be derived
from fires)

3
 Where does coal occur in Hydrocarbon source rocks
Canada? and oil shales
What are the controls on hydrocarbon
• Maritimes, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British source rock development?
Columbia- some in Ontario
• Thermal- electric: - 99.9% of organic C is recycled
- Lignite to sub- bituminous B coal - Small leak of 0.1 to 0.01% of organic C
- > 90% of electricity in Alberta is from coal gets preserved in sedimentary rocks
- Interior plains and outer Foothills belt (AB, - How is this amount concentrated into
SK) organic-rich rocks?

Where does coal occur in Factors controlling the

Canada? preservation of organic C
1) Enhanced bioproductivity
• Metallurgical coke:
- high to low volatile bituminous coal 2) Enhanced preservation of organic
- Coals must meet standards for matter (anoxia)
strength and quality 3) Sedimentation rate
- Front Ranges and Inner Foothills Belt 4) Organic matter type
(AB, BC) 5) Rate of transport to site of deposition
6) Sediment particle size

II. Hydrocarbon source Factors controlling the

rocks and oil shales
How formed?
- by transformation of organic material (degraded remains of
algae and other micro-organisms and/or higher plant material)
- End members of a continuum of organic-rich, fine-grained rocks
- May be siliciclastic or carbonate in composition
- Most hydrocarbon source rocks are formed in marine
environments; most oil shales formed in lacustrine environments
OIL SHALES MAY BE HYDROCARBON SOURCE
ROCKS, BUT THE REVERSE IS NOT USUALLY TRUE
preservation of organic C
1) Enhanced bioproductivity
! Under normal bioproductivity conditions, carbon
fixed organically via photosynthesis is efficiently
recycled in the depositional environment (Figure 1)
! During times of algal bloom (enhanced
bioproductivity; Figure 2), the higher volume of
decaying biomass overwhelms the organic carbon
recycling system, and more organic matter reaches
the seafloor.

4
 TYPE II KEROGEN
Factors controlling the
D
preservation of organic C Blue-green-fluorescing
dinoflagellates (D) and A
yellow-fluorescing
1) Enhanced preservation alginite (A) (two kinds of
! Under normal bioproductivity conditions, the water liptinite)
column is well-oxygenated, and conditions are
optimum for water column and bottom-dwelling
scavengers (Figure 1)
! During times of enhanced bioproductivity (Figure 2), Yellow-fluorescing
the higher volume of decaying biomass overwhelms alginite
the organic carbon recycling system, creating
conditions of water anoxia. Few organisms can
tolerate these conditions, and thus relatively more
of the OM reaching the seafloor is preserved.
(both photomicrographs taken
under UV light)

Figure 1
A and B same view: A=UV
Phytoplankton production in the photic zone TYPE I/II KEROGEN light; B=white light
1 0 ' s to 1 0 0 's o f m

A B
Amorphous OM
Water column is well-oxygenated
Inertinite
(Type IV)
Abundant bottom-dwelling scavengers - little organic matter is preserved
Figure 2

Enhanced bioproductivity (algal bloom) Coccolith-dominated OM

C D
1 0 's to 1 0 0 's o f m

More organic matter escapes scavengers oxic

Bottom water is anoxic anoxic
Few bottom-dwelling organisms to scavenge organic matter

Abundant organic matter is preserved in the sediments

What are the types of What are the types of

organic matter? organic matter?
For oil formation (OIL-PRONE
Higher plant material is H-poor, and is
KEROGEN), H-rich organic matter more GAS-PRONE KEROGEN
is required
- mainly phytoplankton and/or bacteria KEROGEN TYPE III

KEROGEN TYPES I and II Inert carbon will not generate any HC’s -
this is TYPE IV kerogen

5
 Figure 3 Burial of organic - rich unit beneath layers of sediment and rock

1000
I
Hydrogen Index

a b o u t 1 k il o m e tr e
900
OSTRACODE
800
ZONE (HI) vs. Oxygen
700 Index (OI)
II diagram for the
600
Lower Cretaceous Area enlarged in Fig. 4
HI

500
Ostracode Zone, Kerogen formation in organic - rich unit

400
showing kerogen Figure 4

Oil expulsion into adjacent porous and permeable carrier bed

300 evolution
pathways for

1 0 's to 1 0 0 's o f m i c r o n s
3-D kerogen network
200
100 III kerogen types I, Oil formation from kerogen

0 IV II, III, IV
0 50 100 150 3-D kerogen network
OI
Fine-grained sedimentary rock

How is the organic matter How is the organic matter

transformed into oil? transformed into oil?
DIAGENESIS STAGE (up to 50-60°C) CATAGENESIS STAGE (60 to 150°C)
! Once the oil enters the carrier bed, it can
! After arrival at the sea floor, migrate updip, mainly due to the forces of
organic matter undergoes a series buoyancy, and hopefully be trapped in a
of biochemical reactions hydrocarbon reservoir (Figure 5)
! At the end of catagenesis, the OM is spent,
! This results in formation of and will produce no more liquid HC’s- only gas
KEROGEN

How is the organic matter

Figure 5

transformed into oil?

oil-filled
1 -1 0 m m

= sand pores
grains
in the rock
water-filled
CATAGENESIS STAGE (60 to 150°C) pores

! As the source rock is buried deeper, the

KEROGEN starts to break down to liberate
liquid hydrocarbons (Figure 3)
1 0 0 's t o 1 0 0 0 ' s o f m e tr e s

! Once a threshold volume is reached, oil will be Oil accumulation

e al r
oc k

le s
expelled from the rock (Figure 4) into Im p
e rm
ea b

adjacent porous and permeable carrier beds

Mature hydrocarbon
source rock

6
 How does gas form?
CATAGENESIS and METAGENESIS
! During catagenesis, some gas will form directly
from the KEROGEN
HYDROCARBON SOURCE
! At the end of CATAGENESIS, if the source
rock is buried even deeper, gas will be generated ROCKS IN ALBERTA
from the kerogen during METAGENESIS
A few examples
! Gas will also form due to disproportionation of
oil in reservoirs that are deeply buried (Fig. 6)
OIL- -- >GAS + PYROBITUMEN

Figure 6
Exshaw Formation (Jura
Creek, near Exshaw,
Alberta)
The Lower Black Shale
Member of the Exshaw is
Devonian-Mississippian in
age, and is arguably the
most prolific source rock
for oil in Alberta. It
Lower Black
Shale Mbr., Palliser Fm.
contains up to 14 wt%
Exshaw Fm. TOC, and is the main
source rock for the vast
Alberta tar sands
deposits

HYDROCARBON SOURCE ROCKS IN

ALBERTA P-T
boundary

Active Source Conventional Crude Oil Reserves,

Rocks Alberta (AEUB, 1999)
Llama
Mbr.
Upper Cretaceous
Whistler Permian
Colorado Group

Ostracode Zone
Lower Cretaceous
Mbr. Vega-Phroso Fantasque Fm.
Fernie Jurassic Mbr.
"Nordegg"
Doig "Phosphate" Triassic

Permian

Mississippian
Exshaw
Duvernay
Upper Devonian

Keg River Middle Devonian Whistler Member (Meosin Mountain, west-central AB)
Other The phosphatic beds of the Whistler are Middle Triassic (Anisian) in age, and are
0.00 500.00 1000.00 1500.00 2000.00 2500.00 3000.00
correlative with the Phosphate Zone of the Doig Formation in the
Crude oil volume (x106m3) subsurface. This unit contains up to 12 wt% TOC, and is the main source
rock for oils found in Triassic reservoirs in Alberta and BC

7
 Scalp Creek Member of the
Fernie Group (near
Bighorn Falls, west-
central Alberta)
The Scalp Creek Member is
Early Jurassic
(Pliensbachian) in age, and
is correlative (in part)
with subsurface
occurrences of the
Nordegg Member, a
known source rock for oil
in Alberta with TOC
values up to 30 wt%

FORMATION OF OIL

SUMMARY