The Effect of Stylolite Spacing on Quartz Cementation in the Lower Jurassic Sto Formation, Southern Barents Sea

Interfacial energy effects and the evolution of pore size distributions during quartz precipitation in sandstone

“…2). Crucially for the study of mineralization, much of the dissolved mineral phase often precipitates in the porous matrix (Mapstone, 1975;Wong and Oldershaw, 1981;Oelkers et al, 1996;Walderhaug and Bjørkum, 2003), and spatial gradients in porosity can develop. As the source of the mineralizing phase is known, well constrained models can be constructed to describe the evolution of the porous domain, and in particular the evolution of pore size distributions (e.g., Emmanuel and Ague, 2009).…”

“…1), and the formation of "honeycomb" cement can even create bimodal pore size distributions (Sullivan and McBride, 1991). In other instances the precipitating mineral may coat existing grains in continuous overgrowths (e.g., Walderhaug and Bjørkum, 2003;Zhu, 2005). While such phenomena are commonly observed in rocks, the quantification of their effect on pore size distributions and an understanding of the rates at which they occur has been limited.…”

Sandstones and Sandstone Reservoirs

“…The assumption that the quartz precipitation is the rate limiting factor may not always be strictly true in clean quartz arenites where silica sources (stylolites) are widely spaced, resulting in decreasing quartz cementation away from the stylolites (Walderhaug 2003). The modelling does, however, require that the burial curve and the temperature as a function of geological time are known.…”

Sandstones and Sandstone Reservoirs

“…When dissolution is concentrated along stylolites with relatively large spacing (>50-100 cm), studies suggest that the amount of quartz cement may decrease away from the stylolites, indicating some degree of transport control (Walderhaug and Bjørkum 2003). The stylolites represent a barrier for fluid flow both during Walderhaug et al 2001).…”

“…The assumption that the quartz precipitation is the rate limiting factor may not always be strictly true in clean quartz arenites where silica sources (stylolites) are widely spaced, resulting in decreasing quartz cementation away from the stylolites (Walderhaug and Bjørkum 2003). The modelling does, however, require that the burial curve and the temperature as a function of geological time are known.…”