Fault Seal Analysis
Fault Seal Analysis
BY
DIDI CHEKWUBE NNAMDI
PAU-UI-0704
DATE: 5-08-2022
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
• INTRODUCTION
• TYPES OF FAULT SEAL ANLYSIS
• HOW TO DETERMINE FAULT SEALS
• SIGNIFICANCE
• CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
• WHAT IS A FAULT SEAL ?
• Mechanical properties of a seal rock
• Function of lithology and regional stresses
• Structural permeability
• Fluid conducting fractures
TYPES OF SEAL ANALYSIS
• Lithological seal analysis
All impemeable rocks
• Fault seal analysis
All impemeable faults
HOW TO DETERMINE FAULT SEAL
• Juxtaposition
Triangular method
• Formation processes of fault
Shear Guage Ratio
Shear Smear Factor
• Reactivation surfaces
Stress Analysis
Slip tendency
FAULT JUXTAPOSITION (TRIANGULAR METHOD)
Juxtaposed blocks
Permeable vs Impermeable
Permeable vs PermeableModel: Juxtaposition
diagrams or “Allan
Impermeable vs Impermeable
Fault length maps” (Allan, 1989)
Micro
Macro
Fault displacement
Long
Short
Fault thickness
High
low Fig.1: Block diagram illustrating across-fault lithological
juxtaposition (after Knipe, 1997).
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL
During the deformation of fault rocks, there can be two competing compaction
mechanisms which are the mechanical compaction and chemical compaction.
Faults developed in impure sandstones (clay content of 15-25%) experienced enhanced chemical
compaction (e.g., grain-contact quartz dissolution), whereas faults in clay rich sandstones (clay
content of >25%) are dominated by mechanical compaction
Cemented faults or fractures are product of cementation processes along fault zones.
Cemented microstructures aids in studying the mechanisms and timing of the cementation
processes
• MECHANISM
As faults/fractures may perform as conduits for fluid flow, the flow behaviour of faults/fractures
is sensitive to quartz precipitation because within the fault zones there are both quartz sources
(from dissolution) and nucleation sites for potential cementation.
The source for cementation can be internal or external.
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL CONT’D
• WHAT FAVOURS CEMENTATION ?
High clay/phyllosilicate contents can lead to the clay/phyllosilicate-coating on the quartz grains,
which decreases the effective quartz grain surface area available for cementation
Cataclasis involves grain fracturing and can reduce the porosity and the permeability as well as
increase the capillary threshold pressure of rocks within fault zones
The concentration of clay/phyllosilicate materials in host rocks can inhibit the probability of
occurrence of cataclasis.
Sandstones with high clay/phyllosilicate content are likely to be resistant to the cataclasis during
faulting deformation, as the clay/phyllosilicate-rich sandstones tend to deform more easily by grain
sliding and rotation rather than by grain fracturing.
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL CONT’D
• DIFFUSIVE MASS TRNSFER BY PRESSURE SOLUTION AND QAURTZ CEMENTATION
Diffusive mass transfer is a process of mass transfer from high-pressure sites to low-pressure
sites, happens when materials are dissolved at the grain contacts and then transported by
diffusion to free pore spaces where the dissolved materials reprecipitate
Diffusive mass transfer is actually a redistribution of soluble materials from their original sites
with high pressure, by means of dissolution, transport and reprecipitation.
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL CONT’D
• DIFFUSIVE MASS TRNSFER BY PRESSURE SOLUTION AND QAURTZ CEMENTATION
The extent of diffusive mass transfer depends on clay/phyllosilicate content and its distribution
at the time of deformation
1. Clean sandstones with clay/phyllosilicate contents of <5%, the fault zones experience enhanced
quartz cementation within fault zones with no enhanced pressure solution.
2. Clean sandstones with moderate clay/phyllosilicate content of 5-15% indicates evidence for
both enhanced pressure solution and quartz cementation.
3. Impure sandstones with high clay/phyllosilicate contents of 15-25%, the fault zones can
experience enhanced pressure solution but no extensive enhanced quartz cementation
EXCEPTION
• Impure sandstones with clay/phyllosilicate content of >25%, the porosity and permeability of the
fault zones may not be significantly affected by either pressure solution or quartz cementation
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL CONT’D
• POROSITY REDUCTION BY DISAGGREGATION AND MIXING
The distribution of both detrital grains and clay/phyllosilicate minerals can be heterogeneous
when initially deposited and then becomes more homogeneous after the disaggregation and
mixing during faulting deformation, thus altering permeability pathways
EXCEPTION
• For clean sandstones, because the grain size and grain sorting of the fault rock do not change
considerably after the reorganization of detrital grains, the fault rock porosity and permeability
are not changed significantly
FORMATION PROCESSES OF FAULT SEAL CONT’D
• Consequently, a fault prone to reactivation may provide a poor baffle to flow despite
having favourable juxtaposition and membrane seals.
• Using the Stress Analysis module in Move Software, the risk of fault seal being
breached by reactivation can be rapidly assessed.
• The resultant values can be combined with pore pressure changes, to quantify the
reactivation potential of a fault.
• In total, six parameters can be applied in Move Software to evaluate the probability of
fault reactivation and seal breach.
• Slip Tendency is often the most commonly applied parameter in fault seal analysis
(Morris et al., 1996; Mildren et al., 2005).
• SEAL
• TRAP
• MIGRATION PATHWAYS
• STRESS ANALYSIS
• RESERVOIR
COMPARTMENTALIZATION Fig.4: Fault seal and reservoir compartmentalization
CONCLUSION