Carbonate cementation-dissolution in deep-seated sandstones near the overpressure top in central Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, NW China

Fluid/rock interaction occurs frequently in the sandstones near the overpressure top in central Junggar Basin, and carbonate cementation-dissolution is related closely to the formation of secondary pores in the reservoir sandstones. From petrological, hydrochemical and fluid-inclusion studies of the deep-seated sandstones near the overpressure top in central Junggar Basin and the carbon and oxygen isotopic characteristics of carbonate cements in those sandstones, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) Carbonates are the major cements. Two-stage cementation was commonly developed, with late-stage ferroan carbonate cementation being dominant; several secondary porosity zones were developed vertically in the sandstones near the overpressure top, and there is a mutually compensatory relationship between the carbonate contents and the mean porosity; (2) the alkalescent formation-water chemical environments are in favor of carbonate precipitation; (3) there were two phases of thermal fluid activity which are related to the late-stage carbonate cementation-dissolution; (4) with the overpressure top as the boundary, carbonate cements in the sandstones have slightly negative δ13C and δ18O values, showing such a variation trend that the δ13C and δ18O values near the coal-bearing Jurassic strata are lighter, those in the overpressure top are heavier, and those at the upper part of the overpressure top are lighter, which is considered to be the result of kinetic isotope fractionation driven by episodically overpressured fluid flow; (5) carbonate cementation is closely associated with the decarboxylation of organic acids, and secondary porosity zones resultant from dissolution by organic acids and CO2 derived from Jurassic coal-bearing strata, are the most important reservoir space of hydrocarbon, Studies of the mechanisms of carbonate cementation-dissolution and formation of secondary pores in the deep-seated sandstones near the overpressure top are of great significance both in theory and in practice in further investigating the rules of overpressured fluid flow (especially oil/gas migration) and predicting the reservoir space of hydrocarbon.