Continental Carbonate Project 2017-2019: Lacustrine Coquina & Spherulite Study

This phase of research addressed two topics relevant to the understanding of Pre-Salt reservoirs in the South Atlantic, where hydrocarbons are hosted in different types of carbonates. The first part of the study investigated the mechanisms and conditions of formation of calcite spherulites, studying outcrop analogues in Early Carboniferous strata in Scotland, UK, and performing growth experiments in the laboratory. The second part of the project assessed the sedimentology, taphonomy and diagenesis of Early Jurassic lacustrine bivalve shell concentrations in Sichuan, southern China, to establish the processes involved in their accumulation, and to understand the palaeoecology of Lake Sichuan.

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Reports Issued in This Project

• Palaeoecology, taphonomy and diagenesis of Early Jurassic shell accumulations in Lake Sichuan, China, and their implications for Pre-Salt reservoirs in the South Atlantic CASP.CCPS2017-19.4
• Early Jurassic coquinas from Lake Sichuan, China – a depositional analogue for Cretaceous Pre-Salt reservoirs in the South Atlantic? CASP.CCPS2017-19.3
• Origin and formation mechanism of calcite spherulites in laboratory experiments CASP.CCPS2017-19.2
• Origins of calcite spherulites: An example from Early Carboniferous alkaline lacustrine East Kirkton Limestone, Scotland CASP.CCPS2017-19.1