Diagenesis and its effect on reservoir quality of Silurian sandstones, Tabei area, Tarim Basin, China

The diagenetic processes of the Tabei sandstones in the Tarim Basin include compaction, cementation (quartz overgrowths, calcite, clay minerals and a minor amount of pyrite), and dissolution of the feldspar and calcite cement. Porosity was reduced by compaction from an assumed original 40% to about 22.1%. Cementation reduced porosity to 26.6%. The Tabei sandstones lost a little more porosity by compaction than by cementation. Quartz cementation, especially syntaxial quartz overgrowth, is a major cause of porosity-loss in many reservoirs in moderately to deeply buried sandstone. Calcite cementation played a key role in the porosity evolution of sandstones. At the early stage of burial, the early calcite cement occupied most of the pore spaces resulting in significant porosity. On the other hand, some primary porosity has been preserved due to incomplete filling or the presence of scattered patches of calcite cement. In addition to calcite, several clay minerals, including illite and chlorite occurred as pore-filling and pore-lining cements. The pore-lining chlorite may have helped in retaining the porosity by preventing the precipitation of syntaxial quartz overgrowths. Elite, which largely occurred as hair-like rims around the grains and bridges on the pore throats, caused a substantial deterioration of penetrability of the reservoir. Calcite cement dissolution was extensive and contributed significantly to the development of secondary porosity.