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SHALE BASICS

In petrophysical analysis, shale volume is one of the key answers used later to
correct porosity and water saturation for the effects of clay bound water, (CBW)
.
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix
of clay minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, es
pecially quartz, dolomite, and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals vari
es. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminations, parallel to the bed
ding. Mudstones are similar in composition but do not usually show layering with
in the
zone.








Above: Core photo of black shale with minor silt and laminations
and partings between layers
Geologists define clay as any mineral in a rock with a grain size less than 4 mi
crons, even though the mineral may not be a clay mineral. Silt is defined as a r
ock with particle size between 4 and 62 microns. Silt sized particles are usuall
y non-clay minerals and clay sized particles are usually clay minerals, although
non-clay minerals may also fall into this category.
From a petrophysical analysis point of view, clay-rich shales have traditionally
been called shales and non-clay shales have been called silts. Petrophysical analy
sis deals with minerals, not particle size, so it is confusing to us when a zone
is called a shale when the logs show little clay is present.

An example is the Montney shale in northeast British Columbia. Ir is roughly 45%
quartz, 45% dolomite, 10% other minerals (few of them are clay). The zone is ra
dioactive due to uranium (not due to clay), so it looks a lot like shale on quic
k look log analysis; density neutron separation and PE values are also close to
shale values. This kind of reservoir needs to be treated as a tight sand.

<== Resistivity scanner image of a shale with open (dark colour)
and healed fractures (white)

Other so-called "shales", such as the Monterey Shale, the Niobrara, and Milk Riv
er, are laminated shaly sands. These sands need to be analyzed with a Laminated
Shaly Sand Model, not a Shaly Sand Model. The sand laminations have good porosi
ty and permeability. The shale laminations contain very little.

Others are radioactive silts with clay and kerogen, such as the Haynesville Shal
e, which is 50% clay and 50% quartz and calcite. This shale has low effective po
rosity and very poor permeability. Total organic content is moderately high and
there is adsorbed gas, so it gets treated as a true gas shale.

XRD analysis of a silty shale. Notice clay-quartz ratio averages about 50:50.

Using the wrong log analysis model, or the wrong assumption as to the character
of the zone, will produce silly results, so be sure to understand what type of
"gas shale" you are dealing with.
Natural fractures in gas shales are an important component in assessing producti
vity. Fracture analysis using formation resistivity images and acoustic teleview
er images is covered elsewhere in this Handbook.
Below is a series of core photos of a gas shale showing the laminated nature of
shale. Gas is adsorbed in the microporosity on the clay surfaces. The natural fr
actures along the shale partings help move gas to the well bore when well bore p
ressure is below formation pressure.
Core photo of gas shale - about 50% clay, 50% quartz plus calcite, 10 - 15% tota
l porosity, 3 - 6% effective porosity, < 0.001 mD permeability.
CLAY BASICS
The following is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_minerals and other sour
ces (edited). These descriptions are best suited to discussions of the dispersed
clay in shaly sands, but may also be useful in describing real shales.
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminum silicates, with variable amounts of iron, mag
nesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations. Clays have structures
similar to mica and form flat hexagonal sheets. Clay minerals are common weathe
ring products of feldspar and low temperature hydrothermal alteration of granite
. Clay minerals are very common in fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shale,
mudstone and siltstone and in fine grained metamorphic slate.
Clay minerals include the following groups:
Kaolin group which includes the minerals kaolinite, dickite, halloysite and
nacrite
Some sources include the serpentine group due to structural similarities
.
Smectite group which includes dioctahedral smectites such as montmorillonite
and nontronite, and trioctahedral smectites for example saponite.
Illite group which includes the clay-micas. Illite is the only common minera
l.
Chlorite group includes a wide variety of similar minerals with considerable
chemical variation.
Clay minerals are characterized by two-dimensional sheets of corner sharing SiO4
and AlO4 tetrahedra. These tetrahedral sheets have the chemical composition (Al
,Si)3O4, and each tetrahedron shares 3 of its vertex oxygen atoms with other tet
rahedra, forming a hexagonal array in two-dimensions. The fourth vertex is not s
hared with another tetrahedron and all of the tetrahedra point in the same direc
tion, that is, all of the unshared vertices are on the same side of the sheet).

Tetrahedron and Octahedron molecular structures
In clays, the tetrahedral sheets are always bonded to octahedral sheets formed
from small cations, such as aluminum or magnesium, coordinated by six oxygen at
oms. The unshared vertex from the tetrahedral sheet also form part of one side o
f the octahedral sheet, but an additional oxygen atom is located above the gap i
n the tetrahedral sheet at the center of the six tetrahedra. This oxygen atom is
bonded to a hydrogen atom forming an OH group in the clay structure. Clays can
be categorized depending on the way that tetrahedral and octahedral sheets are p
ackaged into layers. If there is only one tetrahedral and one octahedral group i
n each layer the clay is known as a 1:1 clay. The alternative, known as a 2:1 cl
ay, has two tetrahedral sheets with the unshared vertex of each sheet pointing t
owards each other and forming each side of the octahedral sheet.

1:1 Clay (Kaolinite) and 2:1 Clay (Mica)
Depending on the composition of the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets, the layer
will have no charge, or will have a net negative charge. If the layers are char
ged, this charge is balanced by interlayer cations such as Na+ or K+.
In each case the interlayer can also contain water; this is part or all of the s
o-called "clay-bound water" found in shales. The empirical chemical formula for
the four main clay groups are shown below,
Montmorillonite (Smectite): Al2 Si4 O10 (OH)2 n H2O
Illite K2 Al4 (Si6 Al2) O20 (OH)
Kaolinite Al4 Si4 O10 (OH)8
Chlorite (Mg, Fe)5 (Al, Fe111)2 Si3 O10 (OH)8
The crystal structure of a clay is formed from a stack of layers interspaced wit
h the interlayers, as shown in the illustration at the right.
Unit layer arrangement for the four common clay minerals: montmorillonite, illit
e, chlorite, and kaolinite. The water in the interlayer of mont-morillomite make
s this a "serlling clay". ==>
When montmorillonite (smectite) clay imbibes fresh water, it swells to several t
imes its original (dry) volume and retains a good deal of water between layers i
n its mineral structure. This change in volume can cause montmorillonite clays t
o dislodge and migrate within the pore system, thus resulting in plugged pore th
roats.
Illite clays commonly appear as fibrous masses of fine crystals. Illite is often
associated with migration of fines, along with a reduction in permeability. Hig
h values of microporosity and immobile bound water saturation are
Chlorite commonly occurs as a pore lining around individual sand grains or in cl
usters. Chlorite often contains significant amounts of iron and magnesium within
its structure.
Kaolinite commonly occurs in the pore system as discrete particles in the form o
f large flaky booklets which do not attach securely to sand grain surfaces When
kaolinite become dislodged, they are usually too large to fit through pore thro
at openings and so are often responsible for clogging pore throats.
When clays are found to contain a combination of clay minerals, they are called
mixed-layer clays.

CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is the capacity of a material, such as clay or so
il, for ion exchange of positively charged ions between the clay and the surroun
ding water. A positively-charged ion, which has fewer electrons than protons, is
known as a cation. The quantity of positively charged ions (cations) that a cla
y mineral can accommodate on its negatively charged surface is expressed in mill
i-equivalent per 100 g, or meq per 100 g. Clays are aluminosilicates in which so
me of the aluminium and silicon ions have been replaced by elements with differe
nt valence, or charge. For example, aluminium may be replaced by iron or magnesi
um, leading to a net negative charge. This charge attracts cations when the clay
is immersed in an electrolyte such as salty water and causes an electrical doub
le layer. The cation-exchange capacity is often expressed in terms of its contri
bution per unit pore volume, Qv.
SHALE DISTRIBUTION
Shale can be distributed in several different ways, as shown below.
How Shale is Distributed in a Shaly Sand
Shale corrections are applied to porosity logs to determine effective porosity,
as shown in the illustration above. Since shale contains some water, this water
must be subtracted from the total porosity as measured by conventional logging t
ools. The mathematical method for finding shale volume is the same for all the s
hale distribution types, but the method for applying the shale correction to the
porosity varies.
Laminated shale is a special case in petrophysical analysis. Standard models for
porosity and saturation do not work - click HERE.
Dispersed shale is usually composed of from clay minerals that form in place aft
er deposition due to chemical reactions between the rock minerals and the chemic
als in the formation water.
Structural shale is usually deposited as particles, grains, or clasts during the
initial depositional phase. For example, the flooding of a river valley can car
ry mud or shale from surrounding areas.
Shale beds range from 100% clay to less than 50%, the balance being other minera
ls laid down at the same time as the mud. These latter are called limy shales, d
olomitic shales, or silty shales.
The two most common shale indicating logs are the gamma ray (GR) and spontaneous
potential (SP) logs. The units of measurement for GR are API units or counts pe
r second, and for SP are millivolts.
The resistivity, neutron, and sonic are sometimes used individually, and the sep
aration between density porosity and neutron porosity is also widely used. More
rarely, the electromagnetic propagation attenuation curve is available and is an
excellent shale indicator, especially in thin bedded (laminated) sand-shale seq
uences.

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