Sandstone Petrography, Petrology, and Modeling

About this book

This volume provides both an updated foundation in modern sandstone petrology and a practical guide for the petrographic analysis of sandstones.

Sandstones typically undergo enormous changes in their mechanical and fluid-flow properties from deposition through burial to the present day. Quantitative, rigorously collected petrographic data provide the best available basis for understanding the controls on these properties, which are of fundamental importance in engineering and the geosciences. For instance, sandstone reservoir characteristics are essential controls on fluid production (e.g., geothermal energy and hydrocarbons) and injection (e.g., greenhouse gases and contaminants). The spatial and temporal variations in sandstone properties are central concerns in fields such as paleohydrology, structural deformation, geomechanics, and seismology.

Methods for three types of petrographic analyses are documented in Sandstone Petrography, Petrology, and Modeling: (1) modal (volume abundances of pore types and solid components), (2) grain size distribution, and (3) grain coating (an important control on quartz cement growth). Common detrital components, authigenic materials, and porosity types are reviewed and the principles of paragenetic analysis are described and illustrated. Factors affecting sandstone compaction, cementation, and replacement are considered and mechanisms for porosity reduction, preservation, and enhancement are reviewed. The volume concludes with an overview of diagenesis and rock property modelling approaches that includes a case study involving a pre-drill reservoir quality prediction.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Forewword

- Petrography, Petrology, and Petrophysics
- Detrital Components of Sandstones
- Authigenic Materials in Sandstones
- Porosity Types in Sandstones
- Paragenesis of Sandstones
- Quantitative Textural Analysis
- Quantitative Modal Analysis of Sandstone
- Quantitative Grain Coat Analysis
- Compaction of Sandstones
- Origin of Cements and Replacements
- Porosity Preservation and Enhancement
- Modeling Sandstone Diagenesis and Rock Properties

References

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