The Chamdo Basin is a secondary basin in the eastern part of Tibet China and is one of the most promising of petroliferous basins for new petroleum exploration. The Qamdo Basin records a complex burial history from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic; however, the poorly constrained sedimentology of Cenozoic strata in this basin has severely obscured the overall profile and impeded further explorations of oil and gas resources. Here, we conduct whole-rock geochemical analyses of major, trace, and rare earth elements in fine-grained clastic rocks of the Paleocene Gongjue Formation, Qamdo Basin to reveal depositional environments, provenance, and tectonic setting. Petrologically, the Gongjue Formation is dominated by red fine-grained sandy mudstones/siltstones with ripple marks. The high values of the chemical index of alteration (avg. of 78.93), chemical index of weathering (avg. of 90.10), and index of compositional variability (avg. of 2.5) suggest that the basin has undergone heavy weathering. Cross-plots of La vs Th, Th vs Sc vs Zr/10, and Th vs Co vs Zr/10 reveal a continental arc tectonic setting. Paleosalinity (Sr/Ba), paleoclimate (Sr/Cu), and redox proxies (V/Cr, U/Th, and enrichment factors of Mo and U) indicate brackish to saline and oxidizing paleowater masses during deposition of the Gongjue Formation. Provenance analyses via elements and petrology reveal that sediments in the Gongjue Formation are mainly derived from intermediate-acidic rocks of the upper crust. We conclude that the first and third members are more arid climate and heavily chemically weathered than the second member. In combination with previous studies of the structural evolution of the Qamdo Basin since the Paleogene, a model is built to describe the sedimentary environment and evolution of the Qamdo Basin during transition to the Paleocene. The first and third members, i.e., the Eg1 and Eg3 members of the Gongjue Formation, are dominated by an oxidizing environment of seawater-saltwater, and the climate ranges from warm and humid to arid and hot, with relatively stable environmental changes. The Eg2 member of the Gongjue Formation is dominated by an oxidizing environment of seawater-saltwater, and the climate ranges from warm and humid to arid and hot, with more frequent environmental evolution. Our model aids in better understanding of the Paleocene climate evolution of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.
The relationship between the Late Ordovician–Early Silurian sedimentary system, weathering, paleoclimate, and primary productivity in the Yangzi region is not well understood. In this study, by analyzing the sedimentation cycle and major trace elements of the Youc well 2 in the southeast Sichuan Basin, the coupling relationships of weathering indicators, terrigenous debris input indicators, paleoclimate, redox condition indicators, U-Mo covariance model, Mo/TOC relationship, and paleoproductivity indicators are investigated. The results show that single-well logs delineate four third-order sedimentary sequences (SS1, SS2, SS3, and SS4), two sedimentary subfacies, and four sedimentary microfacies in the Wufeng Formation–Longmaxi Formation. The weathering degree is stronger at the bottom where the climate shifts from warm–wet to cold–dry, and the seawater is in an oxidic–anoxic–oxidic–anoxic environment. While the primary productivity and material source input decreases gradually in the middle and upper part, the climate becomes dry and cold, and the seawater is in an anoxic–oxidic environment. Thus, a rock enrichment model for the organic matter shale of the Wufeng Formation–Longmaxi Formation in southeast Sichuan has been established. This provides more information on the control factors concerning organic matter enrichment and their interactions.
The world energy mix has been confronted with significant challenges since the international circumstances became increasingly complicated.Oil shale is a typical alternative resource to traditional oil, therefore, it is of great significance to re-evaluate its exploitation and utilization status and research trend under the new background.Through the bibliometric analysis of 944 articles on oil shale published between 2012 and 2022 collected from the Web of Science (WoS) database, this research has carried out a review on the global publication and research trend in oil shale relevant studies.It then investigated and compared the research characteristics in three major countries that carry out oil shale related research, to identify the opportunities of oil shale development in different nations under the restriction of diversified factors.The results show that during the last ten years, research on oil shale has experienced a continuous growth in publication quantity and greatly contributed to the oil shale development with the production of highest cited studies.As for the regional characteristics, Estonia focuses on the comprehensive utilization of oil shale and stands out in its engagement in the environment protection, while China and the United States are still accumulating the applied technological research and fundamental science knowledge and conservatively develop the utilization of oil shale.Although different regions have developed different
The Late Ordovician–Early Silurian period was a significant transitional phase in geological history and has garnered global interest. This study focuses on the black shale series of the Wufeng Formation–Longmaxi Formation of the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian period in the Sichuan Basin. Based on the logging curves and lithological characteristics of the Yucan-1 Well, 46 black shale samples were collected from the target layer section for clay mineral XRD (46 samples) analysis and whole-rock XRF (14 samples) analysis. The results indicate that three third-order sequences (SQ1, SQ2, and SQ3) are present in the Wufeng Formation–Longmaxi Formation of the Yucan-1 Well, and two subfacies and three microfacies were identified. In conjunction with the characteristics as well as the characteristic parameters of whole-rock oxide and clay mineral content ((I/C), (S + I/S)/(I + C), CIA, CIA-error, CIW, PIA, MAP, and LST), the Wufeng Formation–Longmaxi Formation of the Yucan-1 Well is divided into three intervals. Interval I is the Wufeng Formation. During this interval, weathering intensity, surface temperature, and precipitation gradually decreased, while the climate shifted from warm and humid to cold and dry. This corresponds to two pulse-type biological extinction events and represents an interval of increasing organic carbon burial. Interval II encompasses the bottom-middle part of the Longmaxi Formation. Weathering intensity, surface temperature, and precipitation were characterized by smooth, low values. Subsequently, the climate was predominantly cold and dry. This was the primary interval of organic carbon enrichment. Interval III extends from the upper part to the top of the Longmaxi Formation. Weathering intensity, surface temperature, and precipitation gradually increased. The climate transitioned from cold and dry to warm and humid. Organic carbon burial gradually decreased, while sea levels dropped. This indicates that climate cooling was the primary controlling factor for this biological extinction event. In combination with previous divisions of graptolite zones in the Yucan-1 Well, it is postulated that this biological extinction event may primarily have been pulse extinction. The continuous cooling of the climate in the later period led to the continuous extinction of organisms that survived the disaster. Until approximately 438.76 Ma at the top of the Longmaxi Formation, the climate environment recovered to pre-extinction conditions, with a transition to a warm and humid climate again.
As one of the important minerals in marine shale reservoirs, the development characteristics of pyrite can provide guidance for the exploration of deep shale gas resources and the study of high-quality reservoir development mechanisms. In this study, samples of the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formation in the southeast Chongqing area were selected, and the development characteristics of framboidal pyrite were revealed through a combination of qualitative and quantitative method. High-quality reservoirs of the upper Wufeng Formation and the bottom of the Longmaxi Formation are developed with smaller sizes, weaker variation and a narrower size distribution of pyrite framboids compared with other units of the strata, suggesting relatively stable euxinic conditions during deposition. The development characteristics of framboidal pyrite and some of the key reservoir evaluation parameters such as organic matter content and brittle mineral content, etc., are controlled by similar factors. Therefore, pyrite morphological evidence can be used as a potential indicator of high-quality shale reservoirs.