Illite occurrences related to volcanic-hosted hydrothermal mineralization in the biga peninsula, NW Turkey: Implications for the age and origin of fluids

A different approach to investigate the origin of fluids, temperature conditions, age of hydrothermal activity of mineralization in the Biga Peninsula, (Koru, Tesbihdere and Kumarlar) employed mineralogical (illite Kübler index, b cell dimension, polytype) and geochemical (major, trace/REE, O-H stable isotope and Rb/Sr dating) methods. The Kübler Index (KI) values of illites indicate different temperature conditions, such as low temperature (high-grade diagenesis) for Koru deposit, and high temperature (anchizone) for the Tesbihdere and Kumarlar deposits. The textural, mineralogical and geochemical data from illites show that these have potential for estimating the age of hydrothermal activity and fluid characteristics. Both mineralogical (high grade diagenetic to anchizonal KI, 1 M polytype, low d060 values) and geochemical (similar major and trace element composition to host-rocks, low octahedral Mg + Fe contents, oxygen and hydrogen isotope composition) data are compatible with commonly known hydrothermal illites. Stable isotope data of illites are well matched to similar data from fluid inclusions, which indicate mainly magmatic fluids. The Rb/Sr age (22.4 ± 2.3 Ma: latest Oligocene and lowest Miocene) of the illites coincides with plutonic intrusions that are the main instigators of hydrothermal activities related to the extensional tectonic regime in the Biga Peninsula. The mineralogical and geochemical data of illites have some important advantages with respect to the use of fluid inclusions in determining δD of hydrothermal fluids thereby leading to better understanding ore-forming hydrothermal condition

Well logging in the world of shale gas plays : review of the logging methods

The purpose of this article is to review the possibilities of using well logging in the exploration and completion of the shale gas plays. This presentation is addressed to a broad geological community. The article is divided in two parts, the first is focused on the borehole logging tools and methods, while the second describes the construction of petrophysical models and considers some specific aspects of well logging application in the shale gas plays. For the more inquiring readers a comprehensive list of literature is presented. Well logging is the way to acquire an important geological information from the boreholes, parallel to the core data analysis. Laboratory core analysis gives most reliable and comprehensive description of rock parameters, like mineral and chemical composition, kerogen content and its maturity, porosity, the pore space structure, density, permeability etc. However, this kind of analysis is time consuming and expensive. On the other hand, well logs give less accurate and usually not directly measureable values, which must be interpreted to achieve the requested parameters. These measurements are made continuously in natural rock conditions and the results can be obtained very quickly. Proper calibration methods are necessary to link the logging data and the detailed laboratory core analyses. A wide range of well logging tools is described briefly in the paper, and the electrical, nuclear, NMR, and sonic methods are presented in more detail. Special attention is paid to the great technological progress in well logging during the last two decades. This progress allows to cope with the increasing difficulties in the reservoir evaluation. Complicated geometry of the directional borehole, thin beds, shaly-sand lithologies, low porosities, and the specific the pore space distributions are the main challenges in the shale gas plays

Well logging in the world of shale gas plays : interpretative models and specific applications in the shale gas research

The purpose of this article is to review the possibilities of using well logging in the exploration and completion of the shale gas plays. This presentation is addressed to a broad geological community. The article was divided in two parts: the first one, already published in PG, which was focused on the borehole logging tools and methods, and the current one, which deals with the construction of petrophysical models and considers some specific aspects of well-logging application in the shale gas plays. For more inquiring readers, a comprehensive list of literature is presented. The construction of petrophysical models in the thin-bedded shale-sand Miocene gas formation of the Carpathian Foredeep is presented briefly as a possible predecessor of the methodology applicable in the shale gas plays based on domestic experiences. However, the application of well logging in shale gas formations, both at the evaluation and completion steps, differs in the methodology in comparison to conventional and even to thin-bed formations. This specificity is also discussed, where attention is focused on the quantity and quality of organic matter and its relation to gas. Low porosity and a special kind of pore space in organic shales are considered as well

Molecular modeling of the effect of 40Ar recoil in illite particles on the K-Ar isotope dating of their host rocks

International audienc

Molecular modeling of the effects of 40Ar recoil in illite particles on their K–Ar isotope dating

International audienceThe radioactive decay of 40K to 40Ar is the basis of isotope age determination of micaceous clay minerals formed during diagenesis. The difference in K–Ar ages between fine and coarse grained illite particles has been interpreted using detrital-authigenic components system, its crystallization history or post-crystallization diffusion. Yet another mechanism should also be considered: natural 40Ar recoil. Whether this recoil mechanism can result in a significant enough loss of 40Ar to provide observable decrease of K–Ar age of the finest illite crystallites at diagenetic temperatures – is the primary objective of this study which is based on molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations.All the simulations were performed for the same kinetic energy (initial velocity) of the 40Ar atom, but for varying recoil angles that cover the entire range of their possible values. The results show that 40Ar recoil can lead to various deformations of the illite structure, often accompanied by the displacement of OH groups or breaking of the Si–O bonds. Depending on the recoil angle, there are four possible final positions of the 40Ar atom with respect to the 2:1 layer at the end of the simulation: it can remain in the interlayer space or end up in the closest tetrahedral, octahedral or the opposite tetrahedral sheet. No simulation angles were found for which the 40Ar atom after recoil passes completely through the 2:1 layer. The energy barrier for 40Ar passing through the hexagonal cavity from the tetrahedral sheet into the interlayer was calculated to be 17 kcal/mol. This reaction is strongly exothermic, therefore there is almost no possibility for 40Ar to remain in the tetrahedral sheet of the 2:1 layer over geological time periods. It will either leave the crystal, if close enough to the edge, or return to the interlayer space. On the other hand, if 40Ar ends up in the octahedral sheet after recoil, a substantially higher energy barrier of 55 kcal/mol prevents it from leaving the TOT layer over geological time.Based on the results of MD simulations, the estimates of the potential effect of 40Ar recoil on the K–Ar dating of illite show that some of 40Ar is lost and the loss is substantially dependent on the crystallite dimensions. The 40Ar loss can vary from 10% for the finest crystallites (two 2:1 layers thickness and <0.02 μm in diameter) to close to zero for the thickest and largest (in the ab plane) ones. Because the decrease of the K–Ar estimated age is approximately proportional to the 40Ar loss, the finer crystallites show lower apparent age than the coarser ones, although the age of crystallization is assumed equal for all the crystallites. From the model it is also clear that the lack of K removal from illite fringes (potentially Ar-free) strongly increases the apparent age differences among crystallites of different size