Characteristics of Deformation Bands and Relationship to Primary Deposition: an Outcrop Study from the Wirral, North-West England
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Characteristics of deformation bands and relationship to primary deposition: an outcrop study from the Wirral, north-west England Ed Hough*, Oliver Wakefield, Cath Cripps, Joanna Thompson British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK * [email protected] © NERC All rights reserved Introduction A talk of three halves: Primary sedimentology: Fluvial/Aeolian sandstone- lithology and environments of deposition Secondary processes: geometry, style and properties of deformation bands – the Wirral …but not their formation and timing Consequence: potential impacts on subsurface management © NERC All rights reserved . 2 . Geological context A Preston • Mid-Triassic Sherwood Ae Bolton Sandstone Group Fl • Onshore extent of B Manchester Liverpool southern East Irish Sea Runcorn Basin Ae Chester Fl WALES ENGLAND • Preserved geology- Wrexham Stoke-on- fluvial and aeolian E Trent Ae W n g a l l a e n 10 km Llangollen s d terrestrial dryland Fl BGS Liverpool sheet © NERC All rights reserved . 3 . Sedimentology- Thurstaston and Grange Hill, Wirral • Detailed facies include: Aeolian dune Fluvial Dry crossbed interdune Channel lag © NERC All rights reserved . 4 . A Deformation Bands A Outer braid bands B 1 cm Cataclasite B 1 cm C Thurstaston Hill Planar zones of crushing of framework grains, fusing and grainsize reduction; commoner in ‘clean’ sandstone; result in formation of flow barriers and 1 cm baffles Saughall Massie OBH © NERC All rights reserved . 6 . Impact on flow- paleo-indicator Thurstaston Heath- aeolian dune facies © NERC All rights reserved . 5 . Character of deformation bands • Mapped out and measured- thickness, lateral and vertical extents where possible; host lith and facies • Allocated to one of 4 morphological classes • Permeability measured in the field and from cores- mini-permeameter • A field portable instrument • Probe measures resistance of gas flow by formation • Correction factor translates to permeability estimate © NERC All rights reserved . 9 . Facies control on occurrence; influence of primary deposition Facies type Individual bands All other facies 8% Aeolian 72 crossbed 74 Dry interdune 2 Aeolian crossbed Upperplain beds 1 92% Channel lag 2 4 Fluvial crossbed 1 Fluvial massive 0 Individual bands 80 70 Conjugate set 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Aeolian Dry Upperplain Channel Fluvial Fluvial crossbed interdune beds lag crossbed massive Grange Road © NERC All rights reserved . 7 . Morphology of deformation bands • Individual ‘thread’ • Conjugate set • Braid • Composite C D A 35 - 300 cm Sometimes discontinuous 0.8 - 82.3 cm 3 - 240 cm 0 - 0.9 cm Barrier Synthetic Barrier bands bands bands © NERC All rights reserved . 8 . A Outer braid Permeability vs. classes bands Class Perm min (mD) Perm max (mD) Thread 2.10 25.97 Braid 2.41 49.43 Conjugate 3.47 50.11 Composite 4.73 25.46 Undeformed host 69 5100 (Bloomfield et al., 2006) Permeability60 vs. thickness 50 Thurstaston Hill 40 ) D m ( y t i l i 30 b a e m r e P 20 10 Permeability (mD) Permeability 0 0.1 1 10 100 1000 Cataclasite thickness (mm) Deformation band thickness (mm) © NERC All rights reserved . 10 . Discussion- impacts • Wood Report- maximise production in the depleting North Sea- compartmentalise where reservoir pressures are lower • Aquifer management- enhance production; inform contaminant models • Effect on monitoring and testing in the regions subsurface- NERC Energy Security Innovation and Observation System (ESIOS) • Identification in cores/seismic reflection problematical • Potential lateral and vertical extent informed by understanding facies geometries © NERC All rights reserved . 11 . Conclusions • Supports influence of lithology on development: More common in grain fall and grain flow (dune) facies; less common in interdune and channel/channel lag • 4 distinct classes proposed, based on morphology • Permeabilities up to 2 orders of magnitude lower than undeformed host • Primary sedimentology as a tool for prediction … a factor in extending the life of mature basins? …relevance to groundwater fluid flow models- better aquifer management; a consideration for ESIOS? © NERC All rights reserved . 12 . Characteristics of deformation bands and relationship to primary deposition: an outcrop study from the Wirral, north-west England Thanks for listening Any questions? Ed Hough*, Oliver Wakefield, Cath Cripps, Joanna Thompson British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK [email protected] © NERC All rights reserved.