Rock-fluid interactions in deep overpressured basinal settings of the Central Graben, North Sea: Organic and inorganic considerations

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Reinhard Gaupp
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2002 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5395795

Deep burial diagenesis of siliciclastic sequences is the result of complex and dynamic processes occurring under high pressure and temperature conditions in subsiding sedimentary basins. It seems obvious that our understanding of the processes occurring in these settings can only be improved if the mineral-waterhydrocarbon interactions are analyzed in an integrated fashion. This approach has as yet not been attempted on a regional scale. We propose to study these phenomena in a basin evolutionary framework using samples from the Central Graben, North Sea, provided by the petroleum industry. The integration of detailed diagenetic analysis of the reservoir rocks, coupled with 3D basin modeling, diagenetic modeling, and compositional kinetic and phase modeling will allow the identification of the main physical-chemical processes involved and the quantification of their effects. The influence of early diagenetic CO2 generation from organic matter and its influence on pore water pH and solute transport capacity will be taken into account using various published kinetic models. The different diagenetic assumptions discussed in the literature (open vs. closed fluid systems) as well as the proposed organic-inorganic interactions will be addressed.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1135: Dynamics of Sedimentary Systems under Varying Stress Regimes: The Example of the Central European Basin System
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Brian Horsfield; Dr. Robert Ondrak; Dr. Rolando di Primio