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Petrography and authigenic chlorite in the Siegenian reservoir rocks, Berkine Basin, eastern Algerian Sahara

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Abstract

In Berkine Basin, the Siegenian stage is constituted by clayey sandstones and it contains several reservoir levels especially in the perimeter of Zemlet El Arbi, where the sandstone levels can reach 30 m of thickness. The Siegenian reservoir shows a tidal deposit environment, it is located at depths greater than 3200 m, its average thickness is 200 m in the south and it decreases to 30 m because it is strongly affected by Hercynian orogeny mainly in the northwest of the studied area. Petrographic and X-ray diffraction studies indicate the presence of authigenic chlorite, which is the most important cement in Siegenian sandstones. Chlorite appears in different forms: grain coating, pore lining, pore filling and rarely in the form of oolite. It often has a great impact on petrophysical reservoir qualities by inhibiting authigenic quartz overgrowth in porous space and preserving porosity. Other diagenetic phenomena observed are mechanical compaction, alteration and dissolution of feldspars and biotite, precipitation of clay minerals (smectite, berthierine, chlorite, kaolinite and illite) and precipitation of secondary silica, carbonates, pyrite and haematite.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the petroleum company Sonatrach for granting access to the wells’ data and the thin-section samples. They also thank the anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de géologie du Sahara, Université Kasdi Merbah, 30 000, Ouargla, Algeria

    Sid Ahmed Ali Khoudja & Messaoud Hacini

  2. Laboratoire de géologie et d’environnement, Université Constantine 1, Route Ain El Bey Zouaghi slimane, 25 000, Constantine, Algeria

    Smaine Chellat

  3. Division Exploration Sonatrach, Avenue du 1er novembre, 35000, Boumerdes, Algeria

    Abdelkader Semiani

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  1. Sid Ahmed Ali Khoudja
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  2. Smaine Chellat
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Correspondence to Sid Ahmed Ali Khoudja.

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Ali Khoudja, S., Chellat, S., Hacini, M. et al. Petrography and authigenic chlorite in the Siegenian reservoir rocks, Berkine Basin, eastern Algerian Sahara. Arab J Geosci 13, 767 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05759-z

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