Geochemical transect through a travertine mount: A detailed record of CO 2 -enriched fluid leakage from Late Pleistocene to present-day – Little Grand Wash fault (Utah, USA)

Frery, Emanuelle; Gratier, Jean‐Pierre; Ellouz-Zimmerman, Nadine; Deschamps, Pierre; Blamart, Dominique; Hamelin, Bruno; Swennen, Rudy

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.09.035

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…If the fracture was actively precipitating gypsum during this time it would give an average linear extension rate of gypsum ~0.17 mm/yr. It is very unlikely precipitation occurred at a uniform rate though time, but this rate is comparable to the rapid carbonate extension rates reported in Frery et al (2017) for veins in travertine mounds near Green River.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

A siltstone reaction front related to CO2- and sulfur-bearing fluids: Integrating quantitative elemental mapping with reactive transport modeling

Maskell

Scott

Buisman

et al. 2018

American Mineralogist

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For the purpose of geological carbon storage, it is necessary to understand the long-term effects of introducing CO 2 and sulfur-species into saline aquifers. CO 2 stripped from the flue gas during the carbon capture process may contain trace SO 2 and H 2 S and it may be economically beneficial to inject S-bearing CO 2 rather than costly purified CO 2. Furthermore, reactions between the S-CO 2-bearing formation brines and formation minerals will increase pH and promote further dissolution and precipitation reactions. To investigate this we model reactions in a natural analog where CO 2-and SO 4-H 2 S bearing fluids have reacted with clay-rich siltstones. In the Mid-Jurassic Carmel formation in a cap rock to a natural CO 2-bearing reservoir at Green River, Utah, a 3.1 mm wide bleached alteration zone is observed at the uppermost contact between a primary gypsum bed and red siltstone. Gypsum at the contact is ~1 mm thick and shows elongate fibers perpendicular to the siltstone surface, suggesting fluid flow along the contact. Mineralogical concentrations, analyzed by Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by SCANning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN), show the altered siltstone region comprises two main zones: a 0.8 mm wide, hematite-poor, dolomite-poor, and illite-rich region adjacent to the gypsum bed; and a 2.3 mm wide, hematite-poor, dolomite-poor, and illite-poor region adjacent to the hematite alteration front. A one-component analytical solution to reactive-diffusive transport for the bleached zone implies it took less than 20 yr to form before the fluid self-sealed, and that literature hematite dissolution rates between 10-8 and 10-7 mol/m 2 /s are valid for likely diffusivities. Multi-component reactive-diffusive transport equilibrium modeling for the full phase assemblage, conducted with PHREEQC, suggests dissolution of hematite and dolomite and precipitation of illite over similar short timescales. Reaction progress with CO 2-bearing, SO 4-rich, and minor H 2 S-bearing fluids is shown to be much faster than with CO 2-poor, SO 4rich with minor H 2 S-bearing fluids. The substantial buffering capacity of mineral reactions demonstrated by the Sand CO 2-related alteration of hematite-bearing siltstones at the Green River CO 2 accumulation implies that corrosion of such a cap rock are, at worst, comparable to the 10 000 yr timescales needed for carbon storage.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

A siltstone reaction front related to CO2- and sulfur-bearing fluids: Integrating quantitative elemental mapping with reactive transport modeling

Maskell

Scott

Buisman

et al. 2018

American Mineralogist

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“…However, the considerably larger volumes of travertines located at the tip of the Coyote Wash Fault and along the Buttes Fault illustrate that the majority of CO 2 leakage occurred at fault induced fracture networks. The long lifespan of the studied travertine mounds highlights that CO 2 flow through fracture networks does not necessarily lead to self-sealing due to mineral precipitation as observed elsewhere 24,42 and high rates of flow can be sustained over geological times. Factors governing fluid flow through fracture networks at the study site could be of geomechanical nature as the continuous influx of magmatic CO 2 into the shallow reservoir, which is needed to sustain the high leakage rates, could increase pore pressure and potentially bring fractures closer to failure and increase the fracture permeability 5,43 .…”

Section: Co2 Volume Stored In the Reservoirmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…However, travertine deposits indicate CO 2 leakage to the surface in recent geological times at several locations in the region. This includes the well-studied Green River/Crystal Geyser area where CO 2 -rich fluids are leaking to the surface through fractures in the damage zones of two normal faults, through an abandoned petroleum exploration well, and in natural, off fault springs and seeps 12,21–24 . Travertine deposits linked to tectonic structures can also provide a record of fault movement as they can be dated using U-series methods 25 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

420,000 year assessment of fault leakage rates shows geological carbon storage is secure

Miocic

Gilfillan

Frank

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is routinely cited as a cost effective tool for climate change mitigation. CCS can directly reduce industrial CO2 emissions and is essential for the retention of CO2 extracted from the atmosphere. To be effective as a climate change mitigation tool, CO2 must be securely retained for 10,000 years (10 ka) with a leakage rate of below 0.01% per year of the total amount of CO2 injected. Migration of CO2 back to the atmosphere via leakage through geological faults is a potential high impact risk to CO2 storage integrity. Here, we calculate for the first time natural leakage rates from a 420 ka paleo-record of CO2 leakage above a naturally occurring, faulted, CO2 reservoir in Arizona, USA. Surface travertine (CaCO3) deposits provide evidence of vertical CO2 leakage linked to known faults. U-Th dating of travertine deposits shows leakage varies along a single fault and that individual seeps have lifespans of up to 200 ka. Whilst the total volumes of CO2 required to form the travertine deposits are high, time-averaged leakage equates to a linear rate of less than 0.01%/yr. Hence, even this natural geological storage site, which would be deemed to be of too high risk to be selected for engineered geologic storage, is adequate to store CO2 for climate mitigation purposes.

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“…At the surface, this swelling appears as a slight uplift, maintaining or amplifying the flat mound morphology. Authigenic processes in hydrothermal settings are well known: one such well-studied case concerns thermogenic mounds and ridges above Little Grand Wash and Salt Wash normal faults in central Utah, USA [80,81]. There, the rapid growth of numerous authigenic aragonite crystals within extensive horizontal veins in the sediment is able to uplift the overlying sediments.…”

Section: Origin Of the Flat Moundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic–Abiotic Influences on Modern Ca–Si-Rich Hydrothermal Spring Mounds of the Pastos Grandes Volcanic Caldera (Bolivia)

et al. 2019

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The lacustrine-to-palustrine Pastos Grandes Laguna (Bolivia) is located in a volcanic caldera fed by active hot springs, with a carbonate crust extending over 40 km2. An integrated approach based on geology and hydrochemistry was used to characterize La Salsa, one of its hydrothermal systems, composed of a flat mound with a hydrothermal discharge. The mound is composed of carbonate–diatom aggregates, forming muds that accumulate and undergo slight swelling. The discharge area along the hydrothermal pathway exhibits several facies and microfabrics, with considerable biological activity and microbialite development. Both the downstream evolution of carbonate and silica content in sediments and the distribution of microbialites can be linked to changes in biotic-abiotic processes occurring along the pathway. The spatial distribution of microbialites and their morphologies are related to hydrodynamic conditions, the nature of the substrate on which they grow and, to a lesser extent, to the accommodation space available. The evolution of the physicochemical properties of the water and biological activity mainly impact mineral precipitation but also affect microbialite morphologies and microstructures. This atypical Si- and Ca-rich hydrothermal system therefore provides insights into the diversity of environmental, chemical, and biotic factors controlling mineralization, which also responds to independent thermodynamic controls.

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Geochemical transect through a travertine mount: A detailed record of CO 2 -enriched fluid leakage from Late Pleistocene to present-day – Little Grand Wash fault (Utah, USA)

Cited by 17 publications

References 31 publications

A siltstone reaction front related to CO2- and sulfur-bearing fluids: Integrating quantitative elemental mapping with reactive transport modeling

A siltstone reaction front related to CO2- and sulfur-bearing fluids: Integrating quantitative elemental mapping with reactive transport modeling

420,000 year assessment of fault leakage rates shows geological carbon storage is secure

Biotic–Abiotic Influences on Modern Ca–Si-Rich Hydrothermal Spring Mounds of the Pastos Grandes Volcanic Caldera (Bolivia)

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