Basalt Alteration and Implications – From Mars to the UK Continental Shelf Christian Sætre Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Department of Geosciences University of Oslo Norway A thesis submitted for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) March 2019 © Christian Sætre, 2019 Series of dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo No. 2123 ISSN 1501-7710 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. Cover: Hanne Baadsgaard Utigard. Print production: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo. Preface This thesis entitled “Basalt Alteration and Implications – From Mars to the UK Continental Shelf” has been submitted to the Department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo in accordance with the dissertation requirements for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) in Geosciences. Paper I was a result of a bilateral collaboration project “Earth-Mars Analogues: Origination and Distribution of Clay Minerals in Impact Crater Environments” between Department of Geosciences and The Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) at UiO, and Université Paris-Sud. Paper I was funded by the Research Council of Norway (NFR), European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and AURORA PHC. Papers II and III were supported by the Department of Geosciences and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (KD). The main objectives of this thesis were to study basalt alteration and formation of secondary phases and their implications on Mars (Paper I), and potential consequences for petroleum reservoirs influenced by the presence of mafic lithologies (Papers II and III). This new knowledge was to be acquired using several analytical tools: XRD, XRF, NIR, SEM-EDS, performing hydrothermal batch experiments, geochemical modelling and petrographic studies of core samples. The thesis consists of an introduction providing background information on basalt alteration and implications on Earth and Mars, a general scientific background section, and three research papers. The three papers in the last sections constitute the main part of this thesis. Christian Sætre Oslo, March 2019 I Acknowledgments Completing this PhD could not have been done without the support and guidance of supervisors, colleagues, friends and family. Above all, I would like to thank Henning and Helge. You always had faith in me, sharing your knowledge and guiding me along the path to become a scientist. I am grateful too for your heartfelt warmth and support when life was tough. Thank you, Stephanie, for trips abroad, nice food and wine, and not least for all your help on the first part of this PhD. Lucie, Francois and Cedric, thank you for interesting meetings, knowledge sharing and co- operation on the first paper. I also send great thanks to the Rosebank staff at Chevron and Equinor, especially Cliona Dennehy, for good discussions and data sharing and Dag Helland- Hansen for initial talks about the Rosebank field. This project was made possible by funding from several sources: the University of Oslo, the Research Council of Norway, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, AURORA PHC and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. I thank Per Aagaard, Jens Jahren, Dag Arild Karlsen, Tom H. Andersen, Johan Petter Nystuen, Ray Ferrell, Clara Sena, Beyene Girma Haile, Lina Hedvig Line and Mohammad Nooraiepour for many discussions over the last years. I express special thanks to the technical staff, Maarten, Berit, Siri, Muriel, Thanusha, Mufak and Kristian, for your assistance and work on improving the laboratory facilities. To my office mates Lars, Katrine and Ørjan, it has been a pleasure sharing an office with you, and thank you for turning our room into a botanical garden. To my fantastic wife Eirin and mother of our daughter Solveig, without your support and everlasting belief in me this would never have been possible. Thank you for hanging in there despite the long distance between us, being a single mum and pregnant. And soon we will have a new family member, I cannot wait. To Dad, who wanted me to get a PhD even more than I ever did! It saddens my heart that you passed away just months before I completed my thesis. Despite your health you never complained, you only wanted me to finish. To Mamma and Peder, thank you for always being there! II List of papers Paper I C. Sætrea,b, H. Hellevanga,c, L. Riud, H. Dypvika,b, C. Pilorgetd, F. Pouletd, S.C. Wernera,b (2019). Experimental hydrothermal alteration of basaltic glass with relevance to Mars. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 54, 357–378. a Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1047 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway b Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1028 Blindern, N- 0315 Oslo, Norway c The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Pb. 156, N-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway d Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Bâtiment 121, CNRS/Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France Paper II C. Sætrea, H. Hellevanga,b, C. Dennehyc, H. Dypvika, S. Clarkd (2018). A diagenetic study of intrabasaltic siliciclastics sandstones from the Rosebank field. Marine and Petroleum Geology 98, 335–355. a University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences, P.O. box 1047 Blindern, N-0316, Oslo, Norway b The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), P.O. box 156, N-9171, Longyearbyen, Norway c Chevron North Sea Limited, Chevron House, Hill of Rubislaw, Aberdeen, AB15 6XL, UK d University of the Highlands and Islands, An Lòchran, 10 Inverness Campus, Scotland, UK Paper III C. Sætrea, H. Hellevanga,b, C. Dennehyc , H. Dypvika (to be submitted). Geochemical modelling of an intra-basalt sandstone reservoir: Rosebank case study. To be submitted. a University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences, P.O. box 1047 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway b The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), P.O. box 156, N-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway c Equinor UK Ltd., Equinor House, Prime Four Business Park, Kingswells, Aberdeen, AB51 8GQ III List of conference proceedings Sætre, C., Dypvik, H., Hellevang, H., Werner, S.C., 2016. Earth Mars Analogues – Linking experimental and Martian clays. Abstracts of the 32nd Nordic Geological Winter Meeting, 13th – 15th, January, Helsinki, Finland, p. 98. Sætre, C., Riu, L., Dypvik, H., Pilorget, C., Poulet, F., Werner, S.C., 2016. Experimental studies on liquid and vapor phase alteration of basaltic glass — a martian perspective. 79th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 7th – 12th August, Berlin, Germany, LPI Contribution No. 1921. Sætre, C., Dypvik, H., Hellevang, H., 2016. Basaltic glass alteration and its reservoir importance (poster presentation). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, 25th – 28th September, Denver, Colorado, USA. Sætre, C., Dypvik, H., Hellevang, H., 2017. Volcanic glass alteration and its reservoir importance. Abstracts and Proceedings of the Geological Society of Norway. NGF Winter Meeting, 9th – 11th January, Oslo, Norway, pp. 81–82. IV Table of contents Preface ......................................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... II List of papers ........................................................................................................................... III List of conference proceedings ............................................................................................... IV 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Motivation and objectives of study ................................................................................. 1 1.2. Approach ......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Scientific background ............................................................................................................ 4 2.1. Basalt alteration, authigenic phases and dissolution rates .............................................. 4 2.1.1. Authigenic phases .................................................................................................... 4 2.1.2. Alteration rates ......................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Martian alteration ............................................................................................................. 8 2.3. Volcanic and siliciclastic reservoirs ............................................................................. 11 2.3.1. Volcanic .................................................................................................................. 12 2.3.2. Siliciclastic .............................................................................................................. 13 2.4. Geochemical modelling ................................................................................................. 16 3. Summary of papers .............................................................................................................. 20 3.1. Paper I ............................................................................................................................ 20 3.2. Paper II .........................................................................................................................