REFERENCES LIST

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/H-C-and-O-C-ratios-of-kerogen-types-I-IV-Type-I-is-
floccules-collalginite-or_fig7_237340239
http://www.docs.dcnr.pa.gov/topogeo/econresource/oilandgas/marcellus/sourcerock_index/sou
rcerock_quantity/sourcerock_rockeval/index.htm

Mineralogy and petrography of Ordovician and Silurian shales

https://infolupki.pgi.gov.pl/en/gas/mineralogy-shale-rocks
Source and reservoir rocks of unconventional gas accumulations, commonly called “shales”,
are mostly mudstones and claystones.

Mudstone is a clastic sedimentary rock built of cemented mud. Claystone is a sedimentary rock in the
form of consolidated clay.

The main components of mudstones and claystones are:

 quartz (silica),
 clay minerals,
 carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite),
 feldspars,
 mica,
 pyrite,
 phosphates,
 other, in negligible quantities.

In terms of origin, most shale rock's constituent minerals are either:

 allogenic – clasts of rocks and minerals are brought into sedimentary basins, in which the
shales are formed, from external sources (predominantly as detritic terrigenous material
derived from rock weathering on land). Common allogenic constituents are: quartz, feldspars,
mica, heavy minerals,

or

 autigenic – formed by sediment precipitation from water or changes occurring in deposited

sediments or rocks (diagenesis – e.g. cementation, recrystallisation). Carbonates are the most
common autigenic minerals.

Moreover, shale rocks may contain calcareous, silicious or phosphatic remains of animal skeletons.

How the mineral composition and petrography of shales are investigated?

The mineral and petrographic composition of shale rocks is investigated by means of petrographic
analysis.

Petrographic analysis is used to determine the following characteristics of the tested rocks:

 mineral composition,
 origin of particular constituents,
 texture (layout and distribution of grains, the degree in which they fill the rock spaces),
 structure (grain size and shape),
 pore space characteristics (size, type and interconnections of empty voids and micr-fractures).

Shale rocks are frequently very heterogenous at a small scale.

Standard examinations of shale rocks include the determination of the mineral composition using:

 XRD (X-ray diffraction),

 petrographic thin section studies (using both transmitted light and cathodoluminescence – CL),
and
 SEM (scanning electron microscope) analyses.
XRD analyses of mineral composition are intended to establish the presence of specific minerals
(qualitative analysis) or their percentage share (quantitative analysis). In some of the samples detailed
quantitative XRD studies of clay minerals are made.

It is important to know the mineral composition because it affects mechanical properties of the rock and,
consequently, its susceptibility to fracturing.

XRD studies are supplemented by geochemical analyses, including the determination of the percentage
share of:

 main elements: (such as silica - Si, aluminum - Al, iron - Fe, calcium – Ca),
 trace elements (e.g. molybdenum - Mo, nickel - Ni, lead - Pb, vanadium – V), and
 rare earth metals (lanthanides)

Since shale rocks are composed of very fine grained mineral fractions, traditional petrographic thin
section studies have inherent limitations due to achievable levels of magnification.

Scanning electron microscope (SEM), the most useful complementary tool, offers very high levels of
magnification. The SEM allows for:

 imaging the distribution of individual minerals in the rock (backscattered electrons [BSE] images
of polished thin sections),
 the determination of the chemical and (consequently) mineral compositions in a micro-area
(analysis of selected grains or crystals), and
 mapping the distribution of particular elements using X-ray detectors or electron microprobe.

FIB (focused ion beam) SEM, a further development of traditional SEM, offers very high magnifications
(at nanometric resolution) that enable examinations of micro-textures and micro-structures, including
detailed imaging of micro- and nano-porosity, a vital factor for natural gas retention in shale rocks.
Improved Simulation of
Contamination in Fractured Rock

USGS scientist preparing equipment for a tracer test monitored with geophysical equipment,
Charleston, S.C.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and their university colleagues have
developed a new study approach, which incorporates data from electrical
geophysical tests and tracer experiments, to more accurately simulate the
transport of contaminants in fractured-rock aquifers. The approach is designed
to identify how dissolved contaminants slowly move out of immobile parts of a
highly heterogeneous aquifer (the rock matrix) and into the aquifer's more
mobile pathways (fractures and other connected openings). This slow movement
results in slow contaminant removal by treatment systems such as pump-and-
treat remediation. Some treatment systems have to run for many years, even
decades, before all of the contaminants are removed from the subsurface. These
conditions typically occur at contamination sites located in fractured-rock
aquifers.

In fractured rock, contaminant levels and persistence is affected by the slow

movement of contaminants out of the less permeable matrix into more
permeable fractures (see diagram). The rock matrix can hold a substantial
amount of contaminants, which can act as a long-term source of contamination.
Conventional site characterization methods, such as collecting water samples
and rock cores for chemical analysis, provide limited knowledge of this
contaminant source because pumped samples draw water preferentially from
fractures, and expensive rock cores only sample a small portion of the rock. In
the new study approach, electrical geophysical methods were used to measure
conductive tracers in both fractures and the rock matrix and thus provide
information about total concentration and movement of contaminants that
conventional methods can't.
 Fractured-rock aquifers consist of (1) a mobile domain of connected, permeable pathways,
and (2) an immobile domain of low-permeability rock matrix and unconnected or
impermeable fractures. Dissolved contaminants are easily transported through the mobile
domain; however, negligible transport occurs through the immobile domain. Solutes very
slowly move back and forth between the mobile and immobile domains via rate-limited mass
transfer.

This improved data-collection and modeling approach will allow for better
simulation of the slow movement of contaminants in the rock matrix.
Environmental professionals can use these improved models to design more
cost-effective and efficient solutions to problems ranging from pump-and-treat
groundwater remediation systems to the implementation of aquifer-storage
recovery systems.

References

Culkin, S.L., Singha, K., and Day-Lewis, F.D., 2008, Implications of rate-limited mass
transfer for aquifer storage recovery efficiency: Groundwater, v. 46, no. 4, pp.
591-605, doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00435.x.

Day-Lewis, F.D., and Singha, K., 2008, Geoelectrical inference of mass transfer
parameters using temporal moments: Water Resources Research, v. 44,
W05201, doi:10.1029/2007WR006750.

Singha, K., F. D. Day-Lewis, and Lane, J.W., 2007, Geoelectrical evidence of

bicontinuum transport in groundwater: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 34, no.
12, L12401, doi:10.1029/2007GL030019.

Singha, K., Pidlisecky, A., Day-Lewis, F.D., and Gooseff, M.N., 2008, Electrical
characterization of non-Fickian transport in groundwater and hyporheic systems:
Water Resources Research, v. 44, W00D07, doi:10.1029/2008WR007048.

More Information

o Monitoring Rate-Limited Mass Transfer Using Geophysics, USGS Branch of

Geophysics
 Related Science Features

o Improving Bioaugmentation Strategies for Remediating Contaminated

Fractured Rocks
o Natural Attenuation Accelerates Pump-and-Treat Cleanup of TCE in Fractured
Rock
o Measuring Aquifer Properties at Contaminated Sites without Interrupting
Remediation
o Visualizing Contamination Pathways in the Subsurface
o USGS Develops Geophysical Methods to Improve Remediation Monitoring and
Site Characterization
o USGS Patents the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool
(BAT3)