Makowitz et al_2006

GEOLOGIC NOTE AUTHORS
A. Makowitz $ Department of Geological
Diagenetic modeling to assess Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin,
Texas 78712; present address: BP America, 501
Westlake Park Blvd., Houston, Texas 77079;
the relative timing of quartz Astrid.Makowitz@BP.com
Astrid Makowitz joined BP upon completion of her
cementation and brittle grain Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin (2004).
Both M.S. (1999) and B.S. (1997) geology degrees

processes during compaction were awarded from the Michigan State University.
Astrid has enjoyed working as a reservoir quality
specialist and is currently in the Onshore North
A. Makowitz, R. H. Lander, and K. L. Milliken American Gas production setting. Her love for ge-
ology remains with studying rocks on a pore to
subpore scale.

R. H. Lander $ Geocosm LLC, 3311 San Mateo
ABSTRACT Drive, Austin, Texas 78738
This study describes porosity reduction by brittle deformation and Robert Lander coinvented Geocosm’s Prism and
the application of Touchstone sandstone diagenesis modeling
TM Touchstone models and Geologica’s Exemplar1
model. Rob obtained a Ph.D. in geology from the
software to assess the relative timing and interactions between
University of Illinois in 1991 and was a senior
grain fracturing and cement formation during burial compaction. research geologist at Exxon Production Research
Two examples from a previous study of compactional fracturing are from 1990 to 1993. He then worked for Rogaland
used: the Oligocene Frio Formation, Gulf of Mexico Basin, and the Research and Geologica in Stavanger, Norway.
Cambrian Mount Simon Formation, Illinois Basin, United States. Rob cofounded Geocosm in 2000 and is a research
fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Grain fracturing during compaction creates intragranular fracture
surfaces that are favorable sites for quartz nucleation compared to K. L. Milliken $ Department of Geological
external grain surfaces that may bear coatings that inhibit the nu- Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin,
cleation and growth of quartz cement. Thus, the progress of brittle Texas 78712
fracture processes during diagenesis affects quartz cementation. In Kitty Milliken has degrees in geology from Van-
turn, modeling of the quartz cementation process can serve to place derbilt University (B.A.) and the University of Texas
at Austin (M.A. degree, Ph.D.). At the University of
fracturing into its proper context in burial history.
Texas at Austin, she currently serves as a research
In the Mount Simon Formation, the extent of brittle deforma- scientist in the electron microbeam facility. Together
tion of quartz grains correlates with reconstructed effective stress at with students, she pursues research projects that
the onset of quartz cementation. For Frio Formation samples, how- apply imaging and analysis to decipher the chem-
ever, the extent of brittle deformation does not correlate well with ical histories of low-temperature systems. She is
reconstructed effective stress obtained using a one-dimensional basin a coauthor of the recently released interactive teach-
ing module Sandstone Petrology: A Tutorial Petro-
model that uses compaction disequilibrium as the dominant mecha-
graphic Image Atlas.
nism for overpressure generation. Judging from the observed degree
of grain fracturing, significant fluid overpressures in the Frio may not
have developed at the shallow depths indicated by our basin models. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The degree of compactional fracturing in sandstones constitutes The authors are grateful to Zyihong He of Zetaware
observable evidence that can be used to decipher the complexities of for generously providing access to the Genesis
pressure history. Software. We thank Anadarko, BHPBillton, BP, Chev-
ronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Kerr-McGee,
Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Petrobras, Saudi Aramco,
´
Shell, Total, and Unocal for supporting Touchstone
research and development by virtue of their mem-
bership in Geocosm’s Consortium for Quantitative
Copyright #2006. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved. Prediction of Sandstone Reservoir Quality. Reviewers
Manuscript received March 5, 2005; provisional acceptance June 14, 2005; revised manuscript received Olav Walderhaug, Howard White, and Nick Wilson
November 15, 2005; final acceptance December 19, 2005. gave constructive suggestions for the improvement
DOI:10.1306/12190505044 of our article.

AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, no. 6 (June 2006), pp. 873 – 885 873

INTRODUCTION Several recent investigations conclude that the sig-
nificance of brittle deformation in mechanical compac-
Here, we undertake to integrate observations of com- tion is greater than previously thought, especially for
pactional grain fracturing with quartz cementation rapidly and deeply buried sandstones (Milliken, 1994;
modeling. Because the brittle fracturing process in com- Chuhan et al., 2002; Makowitz and Milliken, 2003).
paction creates significant new surfaces for quartz ce- Cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging reveals the ubiq-
mentation, it is reasonable to seek linkages between uity of microfractures initiating at quartz grain contacts,
these two processes (Makowitz and Milliken, 2003). where the deviatoric stress (condition in which stress
Modeling adds a vital quantitative perspective to our tensors are not the same in every direction) needed for
understanding of the timing and depth of quartz ce- brittle failure can be achieved locally, at the grain scale,
mentation (Lander and Walderhaug, 1999) and, fur- under conditions that are below the critical conditions
ther, into the relative timing of cementation and grain for crack propagation through the sandstone as a whole
fracturing in the subsurface. Forecasting brittle grain (e.g., Sippel, 1968; Walker and Burley, 1991; Milliken,
deformation influences on reservoir quality can pro- 1994; Dickinson and Milliken, 1995). The fresh micro-
vide important insights for hydrocarbon exploration, fracture creates a clean surface that is favorable for
especially in basins where deep sandstones are prolific. quartz cement nucleation (Reed and Laubach, 1996).
Quantitative data on fracture aperture, morphology,
number of fractures, and volume of cement localized
PREVIOUS WORK within these fractures can be gathered readily using CL
imaging (Laubach and Milliken, 1996; Laubach, 1997;
Compaction and cementation are the two mechanisms Marrett and Laubach, 1997; Laubach et al., 2004). In-
whereby primary porosity is lost in sandstones (e.g., herited fractures are discriminated on the basis of CL
Lundegard, 1992; Ehrenberg, 1995), and an understand- textures and excluded from measurements of post-
ing of the controls on these processes has significant compactional fractures using the criteria of Laubach
implications for predictions of reservoir quality. The (1997).
magnitude of mechanical compaction of sandstones Contrasts in the number of fractured grains per
during burial, a process including grain slippage, ro- sample versus maximum burial depth between the Frio
tation, and deformation, is controlled by the composi- and Mount Simon formations and the differences in
tion, size, and shape of the constituent grains (Pittman fracture morphology were hypothesized in a previous
and Larese, 1991) and the burial history (Lander and study to be dependent on the timing of quartz cemen-
Walderhaug, 1999; Paxton et al., 2002). Brittle pro- tation, which, in turn, is governed by burial rate and
cesses in compaction are a particularly underestimated geothermal gradient differences between the Frio (Gulf
process because intragranular fractures in quartz grains of Mexico Basin) and the Mount Simon (Illinois Basin),
are typically healed by quartz cement and are therefore together with compositional and textural differences
difficult to detect and measure and are commonly (e.g., Frio samples have lower quartz grain content and
missed using conventional transmitted light micros- larger grain size) (Makowitz and Milliken, 2002, 2003).
copy (e.g., Sippel, 1968; Milliken, 1994; Dickinson and These earlier studies also discuss in detail the evidence
Milliken, 1995; Makowitz and Milliken, 2003). for the postburial timing of the intragranular fracturing
Cementation hinders mechanical compaction; thus, and its compactional association, correlations between
information on the timing and physical properties of the degree of fracturing and grain size, and the para-
cement phases is necessary for predicting the extent genetic sequence of cements in these sandstones.
of mechanical compaction (Ehrenberg, 1989; Pittman
and Larese, 1991; Lundegard, 1992; Wilson and Stanton,
1994; Dutton, 1997; Stone and Siever, 1997; Lander GEOLOGIC CONTEXT AND PETROGRAPHY
and Walderhaug, 1999; Paxton et al., 2002). Conversely, OF BRITTLE FEATURES
the intergranular volume (‘‘IGV’’ is defined as the sum
of the intergranular porosity and cements and matrix Frio Formation
that fill intergranular pores) remaining at a particular
stage in the burial history places an upper limit on the The Oligocene Frio Formation sandstone has long served
amount of space that is available for cement emplace- as a natural laboratory for studying burial compaction
ment at a given depth (e.g., Paxton et al., 2002). because more than 3500 m (11,400 ft) of sediment was

874 Geologic Note

Sample Location Figure 1. Sample location map. The
Frio Formation was sampled from core
from various depths in the south Texas
Gulf Coast. Samples from the Mount
Simon Formation were collected from
A core and outcrop localities in the
Illinois Basin.

Illinois
Illinois
Basin
Basin Aí

B
Bí
Gulf Coast

rapidly deposited via subsidence and growth faulting erally confined to individual grains (intragranular frac-
during the middle to late Oligocene and early Miocene tures) and do not transect two or more grains (trans-
(e.g., Galloway et al., 1982) (Figure 1). Moreover, the granular fracturing).
structural history does not involve significant uplift Quartz cementation is expected to stabilize the
or compression, the unit is at or near maximum buri- grain framework and thereby inhibit compactional grain
al depth, and growth faults impose a wide range of fracturing. Cathodoluminescence textures indicate that
burial depths and temperatures on materials of rela- most fractures precede significant cementation, given
tively uniform initial composition. The predominantly that most do not crosscut overgrowths (Figure 3). The
lithic-rich sands of the Frio Formation of the lower minority of fractures that do crosscut overgrowths
Gulf Coast were supplied by the ancient Rio Grande (see Makowitz and Milliken, 2003, their figure 10E,
draining the volcanic areas of west Texas and northern p. 1015) shows, however, that grain fracturing and
Mexico (Loucks et al., 1984). Frio sandstones are mod- quartz cementation proceed synchronously, at least
erately sorted, fine to coarse grained, and range from to some degree. Shallowly buried quartz grains exhib-
feldspathic litharenites to sublitharenites (Figure 2). iting intragranular grain fractures are generally filled
Although quartz cement is dominant in most samples, with quartz cement but lack cementation on external
for any given set of samples, there will be a few that grain surfaces (Figure 4), indicating faster surface area-
are dominantly calcite cemented. Zeolite cement is normalized growth rates on fracture surfaces com-
abundant at shallow depths (maximum = 10%), asso- pared to outer grain surfaces. The fracture surface is
ciated with volcanic-derived lithics, whereas quartz fresh and clean, allowing quartz cement to nucleate
cement generally increases systematically with depth and grow within the fracture, whereas the external
(Land, 1984; Land et al., 1987), as is widely observed grain surface may contain irregularities and detrital
in many basins worldwide (e.g., Walderhaug, 1996; particles that slow the rate of quartz precipitation.
Giles et al., 2000).
Quartz grains in the Frio Formation have a variety Mount Simon Formation
of fracture morphologies, including wedge-shaped aper-
tures, intense comminution at grain contacts, and grains The Illinois Basin is an intracratonic basin in which up
with exploded fabrics (Makowitz and Milliken, 2002, to 6000 m (19,600 ft) of sediments accumulated dur-
2003) (Figure 3A, B). Apparent fracture apertures in ing the Paleozoic (Figure 1). The Mount Simon sand-
the Frio grains are slightly wider (average 5 mm) than stones (Late Cambrian) are predominantly of quartz
in Mount Simon grains (average measurable aperture arenite composition, medium to coarse grained, and
width $4 mm). Fractures in both formations are gen- well rounded (Figure 2). Quartz is the most abundant

Makowitz et al. 875

Figure 2. Ternary plot
of sandstone composi-
tions according to Folk’s
(1980) classification
scheme. Plot shows the
variation of sandstone
composition between the
Mount Simon and Frio
formations. Average
compositions of the Frio
and Mount Simon for-
mations are feldspathic
and quartz arenite,
respectively.

cement, although calcite is locally abundant in shal- in the northerly area. Maximum burial depths of sam-
low samples. During the Late Cambrian, the tectonic ples for this study are based on the model results of
setting of the proto-Illinois Basin was governed by Rowan et al. (2002). Their model considers the tem-
thermal subsidence, lasting until the early Mississippi- perature influence of burial (considered the most in-
an (Rowan et al., 2002). A second subsidence episode fluential factor for temperature in past models) and
(middle Mississippian through Early Permian), in re- advective heat transport from a short period of mag-
sponse to the Alleghanian –Hercynian orogeny (Klein matism and is consistent with both vitrinite reflectance
and Hsui, 1987), caused pronounced downwarping in and fluid-inclusion data.
the more southerly parts of the basin, leading to thicker Fracture morphologies in the Mount Simon For-
sediment accumulation (Sargent, 1991). mation are homogenous and occur as thin straight
Other tectonic events that effected Mount Simon traces transecting across the quartz grains. A few wedge-
deposition included periodic uplift on bounding arches shaped fractures are also present in some samples
(e.g., Wisconsin, Kankawee, and Pascola arches) that (Figure 3).
separate the Michigan basin from the Illinois Basin.
Coal rank and two-dimensional burial-history models
calibrated to coal vitrinite reflectance and biomarkers
suggest that maximum burial was attained during the MODELING APPROACH
Permian, approximately 1000–1500 m (3300–4900 ft)
deeper than present (Rowan et al., 1996; Damberger Basin Modeling
et al., 1999). During the Quaternary, glacial outwash
was deposited over most of the Illinois Basin. Amounts Basin modeling was conducted using Genesis1 (devel-
of uplift and erosion in the Illinois Basin vary, with up oped by Zetaware) to reconstruct the thermal and ef-
to 2000 m (6600 ft) in the south and approximately fective stress histories of the analyzed samples. Data
300 m (1000 ft) in the north (Hoholick, 1980). Other for the one-dimensional (1-D) basin models were re-
estimates of burial depth provided by Wilson and Sib- trieved from well logs, including mud weights, bottom-
ley (1978) indicate nearly 900 m (2900 ft) of erosion hole temperatures, circulation times, stratigraphy, and

876 Geologic Note

Figure 3. Fracture
styles and morphologies
characteristic of the Frio
(A and B) and Mount
Simon quartz grains
(C and D). Fractures in
the Frio Formation (A and
B) are commonly wedge
shaped, exhibit spalling,
and commonly have
small-scale cataclasis as-
sociated with grain-grain
contacts. In the Mount Si-
mon Formation, fractures
generally transect the
quartz grains as straight
traces with fracture
apertures more uniform
and generally thinner
than in the Frio.

gross lithology for the Frio Formation. Although vi- derhaug, 1999; de Souza and McBride, 2000; Walder-
trinite reflectance data are scarce, when available, they haug, 2000; Bloch et al., 2002; Bonnell and Lander,
were used to constrain thermal histories. Where in- 2003; Taylor et al., 2004) or for constraining thermal
put data were not available for some of the wells, histories (Awwiller and Summa, 1997, 1998; Lander
we estimated the values by interpolation with nearby et al., 1997a, b; Perez et al., 1999). Such models, how-
wells. ever, also have the potential to provide improved tem-
Although most of the modeled temperatures match poral constraints on the diagenetic evolution of sand-
within ± 5jC of measured temperatures, a substantial stones (Bonnell et al., 1999; Helset et al., 2002). In
number of measurements fall out of this range. In most this study, we use Touchstone version 6.0 to constrain
cases, measured temperatures are lower than modeled the history of quartz cementation, so that we can bet-
temperatures. Most likely, the true temperatures are ter delineate the precise timing and conditions of brit-
higher than the measured values because of the effects tle grain deformation relative to cement emplacement.
of drilling. Bottom-hole temperature data retrieved Model inputs include (1) textural and compositional
from well logs match other such data from south Texas characteristics of each analyzed sample; (2) thermal
(e.g., McKenna and Sharp, 1998). and effective stress histories derived from basin mod-
Mount Simon Formation burial history data are eling; and (3) and various model parameters discussed
from the model of Rowan et al. (2002) for the burial below. We used the same model parameters for all
history of the intracratonic Illinois Basin (Figure 5). simulations with two important exceptions where pa-
rameters were optimized to match measurements: the
Simulation of Quartz Cementation History activation energy for quartz precipitation (E a) and the
stable packing arrangement (IGVf).
Sandstone diagenesis and reservoir quality models Following Walderhaug (1994, 1996), we assume that
such as Exemplar (Lander and Walderhaug, 1999) or
TM
the rate-limiting control on quartz cementation is the
Touchstone typically are used for reservoir quality
TM
rate of crystal growth and not the rate of silica supply. The
prediction (e.g., Bonnell et al., 1999; Lander and Wal- surface area-normalized rate of quartz precipitation, k,

Makowitz et al. 877

function of time and temperature using thermal re-
constructions from basin models. We adjust the E a
value for each sample simulation to achieve a match
between the calculated and measured quartz cement
abundances for each individual sample ( Table 1). The
adjusted E a values for a given stratigraphic unit gen-
erally fall within a narrow range.
An additional important control on quartz cemen-
tation is the nucleation surface area and how it changes
with diagenetic alteration. We follow an approach sim-
ilar to that of Lander and Walderhaug (1999), but as-
sume that cements concentrically line spherical pores
(Merino et al., 1983; Lichtner, 1988; Canals and Meunier,
1995). The timing of nonquartz cement precipitation
is defined by paragenetic rules and burial history re-
constructions as shown in Table 2.
Compaction reduces intergranular porosity and
therefore may reduce surface area for quartz cement
nucleation. The compaction state of the sample is de-
termined using the function of Lander and Walderhaug
(1999):

IGV ¼ IGVf þ ðIGVo À IGVf ÞÀbse

where IGVf is a stable packing arrangement that rep-
resents the minimum likely intergranular volume (%);
IGVo is the intergranular volume upon deposition (%),
and b is the exponential rate of compaction (MPa À 1)
with effective stress se (MPa). The compaction state
Figure 4. Frio sample 3223 (A) scanning electron microscopy- of the sample is determined through geologic time as
cathodoluminescence image of grain exhibiting fractures filled the effective stress (from basin modeling) changes, al-
with quartz cement. (B) Secondary electron image (SEI) show- though the compaction process is assumed to be ir-
ing continuous smooth surface of grain, indicating that frac- reversible should effective stress decline (Lander and
tures are filled with quartz. Two possible reason for this pref- Walderhaug, 1999). IGVo is determined using a pro-
erential fracture annealing: (1) clays and byproducts from prietary algorithm in Touchstone that is based on the
dissolved grains (partially dissolved feldspar in upper left and unpublished experimental work of R. E. Larese and L.
corner) adhered to the detrital grain surface and prohibited M. Bonnell, and a constant value of 0.6 MPa À 1 is used
quartz precipitation around the grain and (2) low temperatures for b as suggested by Lander and Walderhaug (1999).
at this depth ($50jC) make it difficult for quartz cement to The IGVf value for each sample (Table 1) provides an
precipitate.
optimal match between the present-day calculated and
measured IGV values. These values vary considerably
is modeled using an Arrhenius kinetic formulation among samples because of differences in the extent of
(Walderhaug, 1996): grain deformation and chemical compaction.
ÀEa
k ¼ Ao e RT
MODELING RESULTS
where E a is the activation energy for quartz precipi-
tation (kJ/mol); R is the universal gas law constant To evaluate the potential influence of quartz cemen-
(8.31 J/mol K); T is temperature (K); and A o is the tation on fracture characteristics, we used Touch-
pre-exponential constant (here taken to be 9 Â 10 À 12 stone simulations to reconstruct the burial conditions
mol/cm2 s). The kinetic equation is integrated as a at which small amounts of quartz cement (0.5, 1, and

878 Geologic Note

Figure 5. Thermal history for Frio and Mount Simon formations generated from 1-D Genesis basin models. Frio wells are depicted
by name and are located in the following south Texas counties: (1) Jack Brown in Live Oak Co.; (2) Slick State in Starr Co.; (3) Baffin
State in Kleberg Co.; (4) Hornsby in Brooks Co.; (5) Seeligson and McHaney in Jackson Co.; (6) Gerdts and McCullough in Willacy Co.;
(7) Copano State in Aransas Co.; and (8) Pleasant Bayou in Brazoria Co.

2%) formed in the analyzed samples ( Table 1). Our of quartz precipitation. Differences in the surface area
results show wide ranges in conditions. For example, for quartz nucleation are an additional cause of varia-
the reconstructed burial depth at which 2% quartz tion in quartz cement abundances. Mount Simon For-
cement formed ranges from approximately 1700 to mation sandstones generally would be expected to have
2600 m (5500 to 8500 ft) in Mount Simon samples somewhat more quartz cement than Frio Formation
compared to about 2650 – 4400 m (8690 – 14,435 ft) samples of comparable grain size and thermal exposure
in Frio Formation samples (Figure 6A). These differ- because of greater nucleation surface associated with
ences mainly reflect variations in the thermal histories greater quartz grain abundance and lower grain coating
among the analyzed samples. Thermal history is im- coverage.
portant because modeled quartz precipitation rates The percentage of fractured quartz grains corre-
increase nearly exponentially with temperature, where- lates strongly with the reconstructed burial depth at
as at a given temperature, the amount of quartz cement the time small amounts of quartz cementation formed
increases nearly linearly with time. Sandstones with rap- for samples from both data sets (Figure 6). This cor-
id burial rates, therefore, tend to be more deeply buried relation appears to be somewhat stronger for the depth
by the time a small amount of quartz cement forms at which 2% quartz formed than it is for 1 or 0.5%
because they have lower residence times at shallow (Figure 6A, B). Burial depth is a driving force for com-
depths, where temperatures are cooler. Such samples paction, however, only in as much as it relates to effec-
also tend to experience significant quartz cementa- tive stress (and temperature when it involves chem-
tion at earlier times given that they have earlier ex- ical processes). In the Frio Formation our 1-D basin
posure to higher temperatures that lead to faster rates models indicate that those samples with the greatest

Makowitz et al. 879

880
Geologic Note

Table 1. Model Input and Output Parameters Including Modeling Results at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% Quartz Cement

2% Quartz 1% Quartz 0.5% Quartz

Effective Effective Effective
Effective Stress Effective Stress Effective Stress
Ea Time Temperature Depth Stress Hydrostatic Time Temperature Depth Stress Hydrostatic Time Temperature Depth Stress Hydrostatic
Sample Well Well Unit (kJ/mol) IGVo IGVf (Ma) (jC) (m) (MPa) (MPa) (Ma) (jC) (m) (MPa) (MPa) (Ma) (jC) (m) (MPa) (MPa)

1164 Northern Illinois Mt. Simon 62.8 33.8 22.1 263 103.6 1963 24.5 24.5 338 57.9 1196.9 15.0 15.0 408 55.3 1075.7 13.5 13.5
3134.5 Northern Illinois Mt. Simon 63.8 34.2 15.9 378 79.6 1818 22.7 22.7 432 77.1 1662.1 20.8 20.8 460.33 76.7 1612.3 20.2 20.2
3793 Central Illinois Mt. Simon 61.4 33.1 15.4 337 70.3 1749 21.9 21.9 380 64.8 1583.2 19.8 19.8 414 56.7 1345.3 16.8 16.8
3581.5 Central Illinois Mt. Simon 61.2 32.4 21.3 333 69.8 1735 21.1 21.1 378 67.6 1665.0 20.8 20.8 412 59.7 1437.5 18.0 18.0
4477 Central Illinois Mt. Simon 61.8 34.3 10.8 354 78.8 1994 24.9 24.9 398 70.6 1755.5 22.0 22.0 430.5 61.9 1442.6 18.0 18.0
6154 Southern Illinois Mt. Simon 62.0 34.9 13.3 315 104.6 2113 26.4 26.4 340 90.2 1751.0 21.9 21.9 364 78.4 1432.4 17.9 17.9
3223 Jack Brown Frio * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4908 Slick State Frio * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
6105 Seeligson Frio * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
8910 Baffin State Frio * 38.1 29.2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
9001 Hornsby Frio 58.0 38.2 11.1 5 91.7 2650 30.2 33.1 13.88 84.7 2351.4 26.7 29.4 19.24 80.9 2191.3 24.7 27.4
9547 Gerdts Frio 57.2 38.4 25.5 6 108.5 2795 15.1 34.9 15.05 100.6 2493.2 12.6 31.2 19.85 98.3 2370.0 10.6 29.6

Table 2. Depth Constraints for the Paragenetic Sequence
37.0
34.1

32.0
32.6
51.2
52.0
Used in Modeling for Both the Frio and Mount Simon
*
Formations
9.9
8.3
7.9
8.1
34.6
31.2
*
Start (m) End (m)
2962.7
2729.3

2557.5
2611.1
4098.1
4156.5
Grain coating 0 100
*

Calcite 100 1000
Chlorite 200 1000
96.7
100.2

105.2
107.1
156.5
159.5

Kaolinite 1000 2000
*

Pyrite 0 100
K-feldspar 1000 3000
15.37

20.82

24.45
23.7
24.6

Dolomite 2000 4000
0

*

Iron oxides 100 1000
36.5

33.4
32.7
54.6
54.6
*

*

reconstructed burial depths at the time of significant
9.4
8.5
8.6
33.6

11.9

quartz cementation also have the lowest reconstructed
*

*

effective stresses because they experienced faster rates
2917.6

2668.4
2615.7
4366.5
4370.7

of burial and, therefore, greater extents of fluid over-
*

*

pressure development because of compaction disequi-
librium (caused by the inability to expel pore fluids
100.5

106.7
107.9
170.6
172.5
*

*

in low-permeability shales and clay-rich sediments;
hence, most of the overlying sediment’s weight is
16.01
21.78

23.44

supported by the pore fluid instead of the grains)
5.3

23.7
*

*

(Figure 7). Thus, the Frio Formation samples with
the greatest degree of quartz grain fracturing also had
the lowest reconstructed effective stresses at the time
37.0
33.7
54.5
54.5
*
*
*

of significant quartz cementation. Such a result is in-
consistent with experimental and theoretical results,
*Samples with less than 2% quartz cement that we were not able to model or are insignificant.
14.6
11.1

which indicate that grain fracturing is promoted by
9.0
9.1
*
*
*

greater effective stresses (Chuhan et al., 2002; Chester
2956
2693
4357
4363

et al., 2004; Karner et al., 2005). The extent of grain
*
*
*

fracturing correlates much more strongly with effec-
tive stress if fluid pressures were near hydrostatic lev-
113.7
108.3
177.2
177.6
*
*
*

els at the time that small amounts of quartz cement
formed (hydrostatic case in Figure 7). These results
7
18
23
22

suggest that fluid overpressures in the Frio Formation
*
*
*

may have developed at significantly greater depths (and
7.2
25.3
14.1
26.6
11.3
17.5

16.7

later times) than would be expected in basin models
38.0
38.8
36.7
37.2
43.1
32.5
35.1

that rely mainly on compaction disequilibrium. Alter-
native mechanisms for fluid overpressure development
61.0
62.5

58.7
58.2
63.4
63.3
*

that could lead to a shift into overpressured conditions
late in the burial history include hydrocarbon reac-
tions (Luo and Vasseur, 1996; Osborne and Swarbrick,
Frio
Frio
Frio
Frio
Frio
Frio
Frio

1997; Hansom and Lee, 2005) and diagenetic reac-
Pleasant Bayou
Pleasant Bayou

tions (Waples and Kamata, 1993; Bjørkum and Nadeau,
McCullough

1996, 1998; Lander 1998; Matthews et al., 2001; Helset
McHaney
McHaney
McHaney

et al., 2002).
Gerdts

As discussed previously, fractures in the Mount
Simon Formation samples show thin-straight fracture
10169
13833
15620
15640
9710
9720
9744

traces, whereas in Frio Formation samples, fractures

Makowitz et al. 881

Figure 6. Depths at which quartz cement content reached 0.5% (A) and 2% (B) versus percentage of fractured quartz grains. A
positive correlation exists between the onset of quartz cementation and degree of grain fracturing for both the Mount Simon and Frio
formations, and this correlation is best for the 2% level of quartz cement emplacement.

have larger wedgelike forms. The difference in the Mount Simon Formation samples had more restricted
effective stress at the onset of significant quartz ce- dilation because of their greater abundance of rigid
mentation may be one factor causing this change in quartz grains or their lower IGV values (average of
fracture geometry. It is also possible that fractures in 18.6 versus 24.8% for the Frio).

Figure 7. Effective stress at low amount of quartz cement, (A) at 0.5% quartz cement and (B) at 2.0% quartz cement, versus
percentage of fractured grains shows a positive correlation in both formations, considering a hydrostatic stress regime at this time in
the burial history. However, if deeper Frio sands are influenced by compaction disequlibrium, which causes overpressure, thus,
reducing the effective stress, this trend would not hold true.

882 Geologic Note

CONCLUSIONS Chuhan, F. A., A. Kjeldstad, K. Bjørlykke, and K. Høeg, 2002, Po-
rosity loss in sand by grain crushing — Experimental evidence
and relevance to reservoir quality: Marine and Petroleum Geol-
Data presented in this article demonstrate that the ogy, v. 19, p. 39 – 53.
effective stress at the time of quartz cement Damberger, H. H., I. Demir, and J. Pine, 1999, Age relationships
between coalification, deformation, and geothermal events in
initiation is an important constraint for predicting
the Illinois Basin (abs.): Geological Society of America Annual
the degree of grain fracturing in quartz-rich sands. Meeting Program, p. 403.
The deeper Frio data support the notion that ef- de Souza, R. S., and E. F. McBride, 2000, Diagenetic modeling and
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that overpressure began at greater depths (later Sandstone, Namibia: Journal of Geology, v. 103, p. 339 –
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196.
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