Clay Mineral Cements in Sandstones

Book excerpt: Clay minerals are one of the most important groups of minerals thatdestroy permeability in sandstones. However, they also react withdrilling and completion fluids and induce fines migration duringhydrocarbon production. They are a very complex family of mineralsthat are routinely intergrown with each other, contain a wide rangeof solid solutions and form by a variety of processes under a widerange temperatures and rock and fluid compositions. In this volume, clay minerals in sandstones are reviewed interms of their mineralogy and general occurrence, their stable andradiogenic isotope geochemistry, XRD quantification, their effectson the petrophysical properties of sandstones and theirrelationships to sequence stratigraphy and palaeoclimate. Thecontrols on various clay minerals are addressed and a variety ofgeochemical issues, including the importance of mass flux, links tocarbonate mineral diagenesis and linked clay mineral diagenesis ininterbedded mudstone-sandstone are explored. A number of casestudies are included for kaolin, illite and chlorite cements, andthe occurrence of smectite in sandstone is reviewed. Experimentalrate data for clay cements in sandstones are reviewed and there aretwo model-based case studies that address the rates of growth ofkaolinite and illite. The readership of this volume will include sedimentologists andpetrographers who deal with the occurrence, spatial and temporaldistribution patterns and importance of clay mineral cements insandstones, geochemists involved in unraveling the factors thatcontrol clay mineral cement formation in sandstones and petroleumgeoscientists involved in predicting clay mineral distribution insandstones. The book will also be of interest to geologistsinvolved in palaeoclimate studies basin analysis. Latest geochemical data on clays in sandstones Provides important information for geologists involved inbasin analysis, sandstone petrology and petroleum geology If you are a member of the International Association ofSedimentologists (IAS), for purchasing details, please see:http://www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=SP34