This project and its resultant report presents a multiscale geological assessment of the lower Lias Group in the Cleveland Basin (NE England) to evaluate how sedimentological and petrophysical heterogeneity influences mudstone seal performance. The succession provides an analogue for fine-grained sealing units associated with geological carbon storage targets across the wider North Sea region.

The research integrates detailed field logging of approximately 180 m of coastal exposure with systematic sampling for petrography, SEM, XRD, handheld gamma–XRF, porosity–permeability and MICP analysis. These datasets are synthesised within a process-based sedimentological framework capturing microfacies variability–vertical stacking, and are translated into parameters relevant to containment assessment and model conditioning.

By linking sedimentological architecture with petrophysical behaviour, the study highlights the importance of geological heterogeneity at multiple scales, showing that sealing behaviour is influenced by variations in lithology, sedimentary structures and depositional facies. These variations may lead to differences in sealing capacity between stratigraphic intervals.

Completed: January 2026

Report details: Investigating the impact of heterogeneity in mudrock seals, via the multiscale-multiproxy characterisation of the lowermost Lias Group, Cleveland Basin, UKA palynozonation of the Bunter Sandstone CO₂ storage complex: onshore well study

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