Source rocks consist of diverse lithofacies whose composition can vary according to the depositional environment and the provenance of the sediment composing the rock matrix. In general, the rock fabric is made up of very fine grained, laminated and non‐laminated intervals composed of authigenic, detrital and biogenic minerals, together with organic matter consisting of kerogen, bitumen and pyrobitumen. During burial, exposure to elevated temperatures and pressures transforms the kerogen in a source rock into hydrocarbons. This transformation is tracked according to different stages of maturity, and results in increases in both the porosity and aromaticity of the kerogen within the rock and the formation of pyrobitumen. Little is understood about how these changes affect the mechanical properties of the organic matter contained in the rock, or to what degree this also influences bulk rock mechanical moduli. Understanding this relationship is essential to determine the production potential of a “source rock reservoir”, i.e. an unconventional self‐sourced reservoir from which oil and gas can be recovered through hydraulic fracturing of the rock matrix. Direct measurement of the mechanical properties of organic matter in relation to its thermogenic transformation, however, is a challenge due to the small size of the materials composing the rock fabric, especially with source rocks that are finely laminated. To explore this relationship, the results of a non‐destructive, dual‐mode examination of source rock maturity and kerogen mechanical properties is presented using Raman spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), respectively. The analysed samples (n = 5) are a Silurian source rock from the Middle East. The results demonstrate the ability to measure both mechanical moduli and thermal maturity of organic components in intact source rock samples which range in maturity from the catagenesis through the metagenesis stages i.e %R_o from 0.6 to 1.6. These techniques provide an opportunity to examine kerogen, bitumen and pyrobitumen properties at the micro‐ and nano‐scale using intact rock samples without disruption of the rock fabric, which readily occurs with conventional bulk core analysis techniques.

中文翻译：

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烃源岩热成熟度和力学性能的非破坏性研究

烃源岩由各种岩相组成，其组成会根据沉积环境和构成岩石基质的沉积物来源而变化。通常，岩石织物由极细的，层状的和非层状的层段组成，这些层段由自生，碎屑和生物成因的矿物，以及由干酪根，沥青和焦土组成的有机物组成。在埋葬期间，暴露于高温和高压下会使烃源岩中的干酪根转化为碳氢化合物。根据成熟度的不同阶段跟踪此转换，并导致岩石内干酪根的孔隙度和芳香度增加以及焦岩土的形成。对于这些变化如何影响岩石中所含有机物的机械性能了解甚少，或在什么程度上也会影响块岩的机械模量。了解这种关系对于确定“源岩储层”的生产潜力至关重要，即非常规自备储层，可以通过对岩石基质进行水力压裂从中采收油气。然而，由于构成岩石织物的材料的体积小，尤其是经过精细层压的烃源岩，直接测量有机物与其热转化有关的机械性能是一个挑战。为了探讨这种关系，分别使用拉曼光谱法和原子力显微镜（AFM）给出了源岩成熟度和干酪根力学性能的非破坏性双模检验结果。分析的样本（n = 5）是来自中东的志留系烃源岩。结果表明，能够测量完整烃源岩样品中有机成分的机械模量和热成熟度，其范围从催化作用到成矿作用，即％R_o从0.6到1.6。这些技术提供了一个机会，可以使用完整的岩石样品在微观和纳米尺度上检查干酪根，沥青和焦土沥青的特性，而不会破坏岩石结构，而传统的块状岩心分析技术很容易发生这种情况。