<p> Eight new scapolite analyses are presented. Determinations of refractive index, specific gravity, and lattice parameters are examined in conjunction with data available in five recent analyses. Particular reference is made to the regular variation of per cent Cl₂, CO₂ and SO₃ as a function of mole per cent meionite and the relation of these components to scapolite stability. End member formulae describing the composition of scapolite are developed. </p> <p> These scapolite samples are used in conjunction with synthetic plagioclase standards to obtain forty three electron microprobe analyses of scapolite-plagioclase pairs and twenty seven separate analyses of scapolite. The former analyses indicate that scapolite from amphibolite and granulite facies is generally more calcium-rich than the coexisting plagioclase. </p> <p> A petrographic study indicates that scapolite associated with the above grade of metamorphism is indicative of a volatile rich environment typified by the amphibolite facies by the assemblage sphene-pyroxene-scapolite. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> Four measured sections of the Whirlpool Sandstone were prepared from outcrops in the Niagara Gorge and Hamilton areas. Sedimentary structures and constituents present in the lower two-thirds of the unit are consistent with the sandy braided fluvial depositional model. proposed by Salas [1983]. The upper one-third of the unit has been deposited in a near shore, shallow marine environment. All samples have been classified as Quartzarenites, or Sublitharenites after Folk [1974] and the source of the Whirlpool lies to the southeast in primarily pre-existing sediments, with some input from low grade metamorphic and hydrothermally veined terrains. </p> <p> Cathodoluminescent microscopy has proven to be a safe, relatively inexpensive, easy to use method, that offers a great deal of new information. The technique's only drawback is the gradual destruction of thin sections by the electron beam. The CL study demonstrated that pressure solution was not the source of the massive, pore occluding, mesodiagenetic quartz cement. Since very low diagenetic temperatures have been calculated for the Whirlpool in the study area [360C]; the local generation of silica would be impossible. Instead, it has been suggested that silica was carried in by saturated pore fluids that had migrated up-dip from source areas deep within the depositional basin to the southeast. Similarly, pyrite was precipitated as H2S bearing fluids migrated through the unit. These reducing fluids also produced the reduced zone at the top of the Queenston Formation. The H2S was produced during the maturation of hydrocarbons. Calcite cement is more abundant in the upper marine units of the Whirlpool. This suggests that the source of the calcite was local detrital carbonate in the upper marine units. Quartz cementation ceased when the porosity had been reduced sufficiently to inhibit the passage of the migrating pore fluids. Thus, the calcite cement precipitated from static pore fluids. The local detrital carbonate was dissolved by the acidic fluids that carried in the silica. This Ca+2 rich fluid was prevented from mixing with the bulk porewater and calcite precipitation occurred due to an increase in C02 by the decay of organic detritus in the upper marine units. The major proportion of secondary porosity was formed during mesodiagenesis by the dissolution of calcite. The pore fluids became undersaturated with respect to calcite when local intershale water was released into the porewater. The formation of dolomite cement was in response to a decrease in the amount of available iron relative to magnesium due to the precipitation of ferroan calcite. The zonation of the dolomite reflects rapid changes in porewater composition. Four morphologies of illite have been identified: two represent direct precipitation from alkaline, K+ rich solution; one may be detrital in origin, or it could represent illite that has been mechanically infiltrated down into the sand after deposition; and the fourth is a mixed layer assemblage that has been formed by the replacement of earlier clays by illite. The oil and gas found in the Whirlpool Sandstone in the Lake Erie area have probably migrated up-dip from source areas deep within the depositional basin to the southeast. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

Many low matrix-porosity hydrocarbon reservoirs are productive because permeability is controlled by natural fractures. The understanding of basic fracture properties is critical in reducing geological risk and therefore reducing well costs and increasing well recovery. Unfortunately, neither geophysics nor borehole methods are, so far, accurate in the acquisition of key fracture attributes, such as density, porosity, spacing and conductivity. This study proposes a new protocol to predict key fracture characteristics of subsurface carbonate rocks and describes how using a relatively low-cost but rock-based method it is possible to obtain accurate geological information from rock samples to predict fracture attributes in nearby but unsampled areas. This methodology is based on the integration of observations of diagenetic fabrics and fracture analyses of carbonate rocks, using outcrops from the Lower Cretaceous Cupido Formation in the Monterrey Salient of the Sierra Madre Oriental, northeastern Mexico. Field observations and petrographic studies of crosscutting relations and fracture-fill mineralogy and texture distinguish six principal coupled fracturing-cementation events. Two fracture events named F1 and F2 are characterized by synkinematic calcite cement that predates D2 regional dolomitization. A third fracture event (F3) is characterized by synkinematic dolomite fill, contemporaneous with D2 dolomitization of host strata. The fourth event (F4) is characterized by synkinematic D3 baroque dolomite; this event postdates D2. The fifth fracture event (F5) is characterized by C3 synkinematic calcite, and postdates D3 dolomite. Finally, flexural slip faulting (F6) is characterized by C3t calcite, and postdates D3 dolomite. Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes were used to validate the paragenetic sequences proposed for the Cupido Formation rocks. The dolomite isotopic signatures are consistent with increasing precipitation temperatures for the various fracture cements, as is expected if fractures grew during progressive burial conditions. Three main groups of calcite cement can be differentiated isotopically. Late calcite cement may have precipitated from cool waters under shallow burial conditions, possibly during exhumation of the SMO. The development of the Structural Diagenetic Petrographic Study protocol, and its integration with geological, geophysical and engineering data, can be applied to oil fields in fractured carbonates such as those located in Mexico, to validate its applicability. / text

La compréhension d'un système pétrolier nécessite la caractérisation pétrographique de tous les éléments et les processus le composant. Dans ce travail, plusieurs exemples de roches mères, roches réservoirs et roches couvertures provenant de bassins pétroliers différents, ont été étudiés afin de décrire les méthodes pétrographique classiques et mettre en place des nouvelles. Ces dernières telles que : la création d'une cinétique de transformation d'un kérogène composé de deux types de matière organiques (programmation), analyse macérale et l'étude des microfractures par analyse d'images, la diffraction à rayon X ainsi que la tomographie ont permis la caractérisation de la roche mère. Quant aux roches réservoirs, les méthodes d'analyse d'image des propriétés pétrophysiques, la microscopie MSCL ainsi que les paramètres de mouillabilité permettent la description de la qualité de ces réservoirs et leurs préservations au cours du temps à cause des phénomènes de recristallisation, dissolution, circulation de fluide et de réaction TSR/BSR. Les roches couvertures étudiées dans ce travail sont celles des argilites callovo-oxfordienne, utilisant la diffraction à rayon X ainsi que l'analyse d'image et la tomographie. Ces méthodes ont facilité la compréhension de leurs comportements au cours du temps, leurs capacités de sorption/désorption et leurs fiabilités de stockage de déchets nucléaire. Enfin, la modélisation pétrolière avec Petromod permet de déterminer les fonctionnements des systèmes pétroliers. La modélisation par percolation est plus proche de la réalité des bassins pétroliers que celle de Darcy/Hybride / Understanding oil systems requires petrographic characterization of all elements and process that compose it. In this work, several examples of source rocks, reservoir rocks and seal from different petroleum basins have been studied in order to describe conventional petrographic methods and develop new ones. The new ones as: a program of transformation kinetic of kerogene composed of two types of organic matter, maceral analysis and microfractures study using images analysis, the diffraction X-ray and tomography allowed source rock description. As for, reservoir rocks, methods of petrophysical characterization by images analysis, MSCL Microscopy and wettability parameters permit reservoir quality description and their preservation over time due to recrystalization and dissolution phenomena, fluid flow and TSR/BSR reaction. The cap rocks studied in this thesis are those of Callovo-Ordovician argillites, using X-Ray diffraction as well as images analysis and tomography. Those methods facilitated the understanding of argillites behavior over time, their sorption/desorption ability and their reliability of nuclear waste storage. Finally, Modeling using Petromod helps to determine petroleum systems functioning. Modeling by percolation method gives results closer to oil basins reality, than by Darcy/Hybrid method