Module 1 Origin, composition and classification of

sedimentary rocks
Sedimentology is the study of the processes of formation, transport, and deposition of materials
which accumulates as sediment in continental and marine environments and eventually forms
sedimentary rocks.
Stratigraphy is the study of rocks to determine the order and timing of event in which they occurred.
That is the history of the earth.
These thing are important to a petroleum engineer because:
- It provides an understanding for the physical reasons causing drilling and production
problems, and also solving them
- It's the fundamentals of reservoir distribution and connectivity
- Provides a way of communicating with geoscientists
- To enable a better understanding of geological data
The rock cycle: Weathering transportation deposition sediments lithification (compaction
and cementation) sedimentary rocks metamorphism/metamorphic rocks (or uplift and
exposure) melting/magma crystallization/intrusive igneous or consolidation/extrusive.
1) Most terrigenous sedimentary grains represent cycled material derived from the weathering and
erosion of pre-existing sedimentary rocks. 2) Sedimentary rocks are exposed over ~75% of earths
surface above sea level. 3) Igneous and metamorphic rocks make up 95% of earths crust.
Types of sedimentary rocks:
1) Clastic (carabonate, terrigenous clastics (sandstones, conglomerates))
2) Nonclastic (carbonate, coal, phosphate, evaporites)
Siciliclastics can be deposited in lake/playa/fluvial/Aeolian environments.
Depositional environments: can cause 1) different shapes and stacking patterns; 2) varied reservoir
characteristics (porosity/permeability distributions).
Carbonate sediments and rocks: are formed primarily from limestone and dolomite. The 2 main
processes include Biomineralization of CaCo2 by organisms or direct chemical precipitation.
Biogenic Carbonates can be formed from a wide range of organisms, most of them begin as
unconsolidated sediments. Form In-situ, but can be reworked to form detrital grains.
Chemical carbonates produces non-skeletal grains of various sizes, can be formed from
precipitations. e.g, Evaporites are chemical sediments, they are dissolved salt precipitates
from sea water (brine) due to the concentration during evaporation.
Organic (carbonaceous) sediments and rocks are formed in anaerobic environments such as
lakes. Coal is another example. Oil shales are also depositions of silts and organic debris.
Siliciclastic sediments are formed from by weathering, transport, and re-deposition of bedrock.
Theyre made up of largely silicate minerals. Transportation methods can include wind/water/gravity.
Theyre deposited when energy is insufficient for transportation to take place. They eventually
accumulate to significant thickness in geologic time in sedimentary basins. Terrigenous grains are
debris materials from pre-existing sedimentary rocks due to weathering.
Weathering is the process of mechanically breaking down rocks (e.g, wind/frost) or chemical
processes (precipitation), as well as biological processes (vegetation/algae). They occur because of the
current velocity/density/shear stress/particle size at the depositional environments are different.
Classification of Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks
These rocks are classified according to compotion and grain sizes. Grain size is important because it
influences porosity and permeability. The grain size also tells the depositional energy and source. If
we understand the relationships between physical properties of sedimentary rock and parameters of
fluid flow, we can understand the past depositional mechanisms and environments, hence we can
determine the likely exploration targets, reservoir geometries and properties.
Examples of silicilastic sedimentary rocks:
Conglomerate: Gravel round clasts, fine grained matrix
Breccia: Gravel angular clasts, fine grained matrix
Sandstone: Sand 20-25% of stratigraphic record
Siltstone: Mud (silt)

Module 2 Sedimentary Textures, Composition of
Sedimentary rocks and Provenance
Sediment texture is a description that accounts for the grain size, grain morphology (roundness and
shape), and sediment fabric.
Grain Size: is the basic description of all clastic rocks. Size can be estimated by serveral
techniques such as sieving, microscopy etc. Many particles per sample are needed (100+) for
a good estimate of the average grain size. Sorting is the measure of the standard deviation of
grain size distribution. PHI<0.35 well sorted, >2.0 very poorly sorted, in 0.2-0.3 increments.
Grain morphology: Is the shape, sphericity, and roundness of rocks. Roundness reflects the
degree of (prolonged) transport. Sand grains are best rounded by wind and surf action on
beaches. River transportation is less effective. Pebbles are almost always rounded in rivers.
Prolonged transportation means more roundness.
Grain Fabric: is describing the grain orientation and packing. Both controls the primary
physical properties (bulk density, porosity and permeability) of sedimentary rocks. The tilt of
the rocks if the direction of flow. The orientation is random is quiet water.
Packing density depends on the grain size, shape and degree of compaction. Cubic packing
has the most porosity while rhombohedral packing has the least.
Textural Maturity: Immature means poorly sorted and angular, lack of transport. Mature means
good sorting and sub-rounded. The more mature the rock, the higher its porosity and permeability.
Textural maturity (ie, sorting, size, morphology, fabric) are important because they are responsible for
estimating porosity and permeability. They allow interpretations of the their depositional
environments, and they also determines the size/shape of reservoir seals.
Detrital Grains are the major components of sanstones. They form the framework of the sediments.
They can be either cement or matrix or pores. Framework grains and matrix are allogenic (transported
to the site of deposition). Cements are authigenic (precipitated at the site of deposition, after
deposition of framework grains.


Mineral abundance is dependent on the availability, mechanical stability, and chemical stability of
the rock. Most common minerals in clastic sedimentary rocks are quarts and feldspar.
Mechanical stability determines the ability of the grains to survive transport. It depends on
the presence of cleavages planes and mineral hardness. Quarts is hard with no cleavages, and
so can survive high energy transport. Feldspar have strong cleavages and are more easily
broken during transport. Such unstable grains are called labile grains.
Chemical stability is the ability of grains to survive chemical changes. Quarts is more stable.
In general, QuartzchertMuscoviteFeldspar
Compositional maturity is the relative proportions of physically and chemically stable grains. More
mature means more porosity, and less porosity change. In general: Quarts lithics/feldspar.
Thin section is a view of the rock sample, cur into thin enough slices for light to pass through in a
microscope and have polished surface for electron microscope studies.
PPL: able to see porosity better than XPL.
XPL: Mineral reorient the planes in which light is vibrating; some light passes through the
upper polarizer.
To understand a thin section image: crossed grains are feldspars, cements are pore filling
and grain coating, matrix are pore filling and have small grains. Theres also deformation,
secondary porosity (formed around grains), and replacements (crystallization).
In summary of Maturity, alluvial fans immature, desert sand mature, lacustrine sediment
mature to immature, deltas mature, marine shorelines - supermature.
Provenance means where something is originated. It is the analysis of the composition of clastic
sediment based on: 1) source composition, 2) weathering history, 3) hydrodynamic sorting; 4)
diagenesis. We can work backwards, ie, use the mineral composition of sediments to provide
information about the source rock, tectonic setting, climate, slope of source area, depositional
environment, and burial history.
i) Tectonic settings: source rock of a sediment and tectonic setting are closely linked. The
tectonic setting determines the relative abundance of different types of rock available for
weathering and the production of clastic sediment. E.g., sandstone with abundant volcanic
and low grade metamorphic rock fragments island arc setting
ii) Climate exerts a strong control on the type of weathering that takes place in the source
area of a sediment. This influences composition. Cold/arid climate produces abundant
detrital grains due to physical wreathing. Warm/humid climate produces chemical
weathering, and removes the unstable minerals. Producing a more mature sediment than
cold climate.
iii) Transport distance indicates sediments that have been transported over long distances.
The longer the transport, the more mature it is texturally and compositionally.
Provenance is important for petroleum exploration/development because it shows the burial and
exhumation history, enable better geological models, indicates the palaeoclimate information
(influencing the depositional environments, and therefore sediment geometries and characteristics),
tells us about reservoir quality, and what the source rocks are.


Module 3 Reservoir Quality
Porosity, Permeability, and Diagenesis
Summary: The major diagenetic processes that affect porosity and permeability are cementation,
compaction, and dissolution. Compaction and dissolution area affected by grain compositional
maturity. Most hydrocarbon reservoirs in sandstones occur in rocks that are only partially cemented.
Porosity is the pore space of reservoir rock not occupied by its solid components. Pore space may
either be isolated or connected. Alternatively, it can be defined as the proportion of the non-solid
volume to the total volume of rock.
Permeability is a measure of the connectivity of pores (the ability to transmit fluids). As grain size
increases, the pore throat sizes are also increased, hence more permeability.
Porosity and permeability are influenced by grain orientation, shape, packing, compaction
(mechanical/chemical), cementation, and dissolution. Reservoir quality is controlled by pore type, not
by total porosity. With better sorting, porosity and permeability also becomes higher.
Diagenesis is the changes that occur in the character and compaction of sediments, beginning from
the moment of deposition until metamorphism. It requires pressure and temperature (lower than
metamorphism) as well as chemical processes.
Sandstone diagenesis: Sandstone makes 60% of worlds major fields. Its diagenesis impacts
on the porosity and permeability, amount of reserves, production, exploration, drilling and production
and formation damage.
Processes of diagenesis: Physical Compaction, pressure solution; Chemical cementation,
dissolution, replacement.
Compaction most sediments deposited under normal surface conditions have primary porosities
between 30% to 70%.
Grain rearrangement Compaction causes a great reduction of porosity and the tendency
towards rhombohedral packing.
Brittle deformation is the further compaction that occurs through local fracturing and
bending of weak grains.
Deformation and pressure solution is the dissolution of grain contacts, resulting in suture
grains.
Therefore, with increased burial depth, the porosity becomes lower due to sutured grains
etc. The pore fluid pressure prevents compaction. The overpressure tends to reduce the
mechanical compaction effects and therefore reduces porosity loss. Early cementation and
cement overgrowth also prevents compaction.
Cementation have various types. Silicate cements can include quartz, clays (illite, kaolinite), and
carbonates.
Quartz cement is the most important cement in sandstone. Occurs most commonly as
overgrows around detrital quarts grains. The formation of quartz cement only forms at
temperature above 80C (temperature and depth dependent). They also reduces permeability
by constricting pore throats. However, small amounts may be beneficial to retain porosity
from compaction.
Clay cement is mostly composed of clastic sediments. They have very small grains and
complex morphology. Different diagenetic clays have different effects on porosity and
permeability. They WILL reduce permeability. The most common types are PORE FILLING
(KAOLINITE), PORE BRIDGING (ILLITE), and PORE LINING (grain coating)
(CHLORITE).
Filling reduces both porosity and permeability, also reduces k/phi ratio. Bridging has the least
effect on permeability and preserves porosity. Lining reduces k permeability.
Carbonate cement is common in clastic sediments in the form of calcite and siderite,
especially in early diagenesis. Precipitation may occur at any stage of the diagenetic
development. The cement that settled early can envelop grains and hence the porous network.
They lead to decrease in porosity and permeability. Extensive carbonate cement can lead to
flow barriers and therefore drastically altering the reservoir connectivity.
Recrystallization and Replacement occurs when a newly formed mineral replaces a pre-existing
mineral in place. For example, feldspar calcite.
Dissolution and Secondary porosity (2
nd
porosity formed by dissolution of detrital grains and
cements, replacements or fracturing).Secondary porosity may be recognized by finding partially
dissolved grains, undissolved clay rims around former grains, oversized pores. As we move further
down the ground, primary porosity may be destroyed, but secondary porosity will form. Eventually at
some depth, secondary porosity will also be destroyed.
Stages of Diagenesis: Early diagenesis (EOGENESIS) 1000-1 million years, at depth of 1-100m.
The type of pore water is highly affected by environment of deposition (marine/continental, hot/cold/
wet/dry)
Late diagenesis can last up to tens of millions of years, as deep as 10,000m and 100-200C. Pore
waters are saline, neutral and alkaline. Mesogenesis is increased burial and pressure, away from
effects of surface related processes. Telegenesis is processes related to uplift. Diagenesis can be
affected by fresh water with low salinity and pH.
Other factors affecting diagenesis include: depositional environment, climate, sediment composition
and texture, pore water composition (influx of oil will terminate diagenesis), depth and b burial
history, timing of uplift.

Module 4 Sediment Transport and Deposition,
Sedimentary Structures and Facies.
Understanding sediment transport processes is important since different modes of transport and
energy conditions can indicate different deposit characteristics and sedimentary structures. It enables
us to interpret the depositional environment in terms of processes, water depth, and flow velocity.
Also allows for deduction of the palaeo-current pattern and palaeo-geography. As well as for
determine the way-up of a rock succession in an area of complex folding.
Sicilicalstic grains are transported by water, air, ice and dense sediment mixtures.

Fluid flow is governed by the density and viscosity of the fluid. Density = mass/unit volume,
influences the fluid movment under the influence of gravity. Viscosity = ability of fluids to flow,
represent shear stress required to produce the same deformation. Flows are categorized into 2 type
laminar vs turbulent.
Laminar flow occurs in debris flows, moving ice, and lava flows, they produce a scattered bedrock,
since theres insufficient energy for flow to occur. Turbulent occurs when the velocity is above a
certain threshold.
Particle transport by fluids occurs due to the erosion and entrainment of sediments from the bed.
Subsequent and sustained downcurrent movement of fluid carries the sediments along. Modes of
transport includes traction (rolling sliding), suspension, and saltation (bounces). The first and third are
bedload transport.
If energy flow decreases over time, then the bottom layers will be composed of larger grains due
to the active energy present in the early phases. As energy fades away, the particle size its
capable of transporting also decreases.
Deposition: as soon as grains are entrained, they begin to fall back towards the bed. The distance they
travel downstream depends on the drag force exerted by the current and the particle settling velocity.
On the Hjulstroms Curve, the boundary between the erosion and sand regions represents
consolidated mud, while the entire clay/silt/sand region represents unconsolidated mud.
Flow and particle movement in the turbulent regime produces ripple and dunes. This is because of
flow expansion leading to increase in pressure, leading to reduced transport rate at which deposition
occurs. As the streamlines converge, the transport rate increases, hence forming ripple and dunes.
Other form of transport include mass flows of sediment and water, in particular debris flows and
turbidity currents.
Debris flows: are slurry like, silt- to boulder sized grains are set in a fined-grained cohesive matrix.
The suspended grains supported by the strength and buoyancy of the matrix. They can occur on gentle
sub-aerial and sub-aqueous slopes. They are initiated by heavy rain, sub-marine slope failure, or
slump + rivers. Theyre common, destructive and dangerous.
Turbidity Flows: are movements on a slope that occurs due to changed density between local fluid
and the surrounding fluid. Density differences due to temperature and salinity are common in nature.
In turbidity flows, the increased density of the flow relative to surrounding fluid is due to suspended
particles. Hypo-pycnal turbidity flow is associated with a lower river water density entering into a
higher one. Hyper-pycnal flow is the opposite (high to low).
Turbidity current depositions can involve traction, saltation and suspension, ultimately
forming sedimentary structures.
In summary, sedimentary structures are the result of different bedforms, which result from transport
and deposition processes under turbulent flow conditions. They can form in a wide range of
depositional environments.
UNI_DIRECTIONAL FLOW is flow in one direction, such as required by planar cross stratification.
The ripple patterns can be either straight of sinuous. @D bedforms are produced by reversing flow,
recognized by all beds having the same strike and identical cross-crest profiles. 3D bedforms are
caused by planform curvatures or super-positioning of topographical features (superimposed). Note
that cross stratification are not planar cross stratification.