The spatial and geological characteristics of fault- and paleokarst-controlled carbonate-hosted reservoirs in the Tabei Uplift, Tarim Basin, China

Abstract

Seismic interpretation and characterization of Middle Ordovician carbonates of the northern Tarim Basin in China reveal a series of deep-seated, sub-vertical conjugate strike-slip faults, together with sets of apparently layer-bound fractures striking parallel or orthogonal to the faults. Detailed stratigraphic analysis, well logging response interpretations (including formation microscanner images), coupled with core sample and thin section observations highlight vertical and lateral partitioning of fracturing and dissolution processes. Fracturing and dissolution development are most intense in grain-supported host rocks (grainstones, packstones) deposited in relatively shallow water conditions. Reservoir pore spaces vary systematically from north (Tahe) to south (Shunbei), which can be attributed to their proximity to a major regional angular unconformity with overlying Upper Devonian to Carboniferous sequences. Larger-scale dissolved fracture-cavity reservoirs are developed in the northern Tahe area due to the combined effects of faulting, surface karstification, and river system development close to the base Carboniferous erosion surface. Farther south, where the rocks lie farther from the paleoerosion surface, reservoir space is characterized by smaller, more structurally controlled open cavities bounded by fault slip surfaces, breccias, and open fractures. The observed interactions between paleokarstification intensity, tectonic controls, and host rock lithological layering—and their control over the observed reservoir complexity—are likely to occur in carbonate reservoirs worldwide.