Open AccessRelationship of shale dewatering and smectite dehydration to undercompaction occurrence
Author(s) -
John T. Leftwich
Publication year - 1996
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/770670
Subject(s) - illite , oil shale , clay minerals , geology , dewatering , sedimentary rock , geochemistry , sedimentary basin , dehydration , shale gas , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , paleontology , chemistry , biochemistry
The cause(s) of abnormal fluid pressures in sedimentary basins are not clearly understood. One step in determining the mechanism(s) of abnormal pressure generation in sedimentary basins is to develop an understanding of the relationship among undercompacted shale, abnormal pressure, and temperature. Our research focused on understanding undercompaction and how it related to smectite-illite conversion. A series of carefully designed experiments were used to help clarify and evaluate the relationship of smectite-illite transformation to undercompaction