Biostratigraphy, Depositional and Diagenetic Processes in Carbonate Rocks from Southern Lebanon: Impact on Porosity and Permeability
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This study was funded by the URB of the American University of Beirut (Award # 103603; Project # 24687). We acknowledge Mathias Harzhauser and Raquel Robles for their help in the identification of the microfossil assemblage. We are also very thankful to Rania Shatila (CRSL of the American University of Beirut) for her help and technical support during the SEM and thin-section photography sessions. The authors thank Jihad Othman, Reenal Faysal, Nabih Kazzi, Samar Ghadban and Aya Zafran for their help in the field and laboratory work.

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    Abstract:

    Carbonate rocks contain prolific hydrocarbon reserves all over the world, particularly in the Middle East. For exploration and production strategies, it is essential to understand carbonate reservoirs in terms of their internal characteristics, depositional environment, relative age, diagenetic processes and impact on petrophysical properties. This study has been performed on exposed Cretaceous, Paleocene and Miocene marine carbonate sedimentary sequences in two localities (Maghdoucheh and Qennarit) near the city of Sidon (Southern Lebanon). It represents the first comprehensive study that takes into consideration the carbonate reservoir facies, diagenetic history and reservoir quality in the area. Rocks at Maghdoucheh are mainly dominated by limestone beds showing sedimentary structures and erosive bases alternating with microfossil-rich silty marls, related to a shallowing upward sequence in a restricted marine platform environment. Shells of benthic foraminifera and mollusks dominate the fossil assemblage extracted from the studied rocks. The microfossil and nannofossil assemblage detected in the Maghdoucheh sections indicates a middle Miocene age. Rocks at Qennarit are composed of mudstone/wackestone limestone beds rich in planktonic foraminifera and nannofossils related to open marine conditions. Based on the nannofossil content, rocks from Qennarit 1 and 2 are Paleocene and Cretaceous in age, respectively. Four main types of microfacies have been identified, i.e. (1) microbioclastic peloidal calcisiltite, (2) pelagic lime mudstone and wackestone with planktonic microfossils, (3) grainstone/packstone with abundant foraminifera and (4) fenestral bindstones, mudstones and packstones with porostromate microstructures. The porosity-permeability (poro-perm) analysis of representative samples reveals moderate to good porosity but very low permeability. This is mainly due to the presence of large moldic pores that are isolated in nature. The diagenetic features are dominated by micritization and dissolution (both fabric selective and non-fabric selective). Among all diagenetic features, dissolution in both localities contributes to porosity enhancement, while micritization, cementation, compaction and the filled fractures have negative impacts on permeability; hence the overall reservoir quality.

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Hammad Tariq JANJUHAH, Josep SANJUAN, Mohammad ALQUDAH, Mohamed K. SALAH.2021. Biostratigraphy, Depositional and Diagenetic Processes in Carbonate Rocks from Southern Lebanon: Impact on Porosity and Permeability[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica(),95(5):1668-1683

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History
  • Received:October 28,2019
  • Revised:March 17,2020
  • Adopted:
  • Online: October 27,2021
  • Published: