Abnormal organic-matter maturation in the Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea: Implications for hydrocarbon expulsion and fluid migration from overpressured systems

Three superimposed pressure systems are present in the Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea. A number of commercial, thermogenic gas accumulations have been found in an area in which shale diapirs occur. Because the reservoir intervals are shallow and very young, they must have filled with gas rapidly. The thick (up to 17 km) Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary succession is dominated by shales, and is not disrupted by major faulting in the study area, a factor which seems to have had an important effect on both hydrocarbon generation and fluid migration. Organic-matter maturation in the deepest, most overpressured compartment has been significantly retarded as a result of the combined effects of excess pressure, the presence of large volumes of water, and the retention of generated hydrocarbons. This retardation is indicated by both kerogen-related parameters (vitrinite reflectance and Rock-Eval T(max)); and also by parameters based on the analysis of soluble organic matter (such as the C15+ hydrocarbon content, and the concentration of isoprenoid hydrocarbons relative to adjacent normal alkanes). In contrast to this, organic-matter maturation in shallow, normally-pressured strata in the diapiric area has been enhanced by hydrothermal fluid flow, which is clearly not topography-driven in origin. As a result, the hydrocarbon generation 'window' in the basin is considerably wider than could be expected from traditional geochemical modelling. These two unusual and contrasting anomalies in organic-matter maturation, together with other lines of evidence, suggest that there was a closed fluid system in the overpressured compartment until shale diapirs developed. The diapirs developed as a result of the intense overpressuring, and their growth was triggered by regional extensional stresses. They served as conduits through which fluids (both water and hydrocarbons) retained in the closed system could rapidly migrate. Fluid migration led to the modification of the thermal regime and the enhancement of organic maturation, as well as the accumulation of commercial volumes of gas in a relatively short time interval.Three superimposed pressure systems are present in the Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea. To date, a number of commercial, thermogenic gas accumulations have been found in an area in which shale diapirs occur. In fact, two unusual and contrasting anomalies in organic-matter maturation have been documented. These two anomalies, together with other lines of evidence, suggest that there was a closed fluid system in the overpressured compartment until shale diapirs developed. The diapirs developed as a result of intense overpowering, and their growth was triggered by regional extensional stresses. They served as conduits through which fluids retained in the closed system could rapidly migrate. Fluid migration led to the modification of the thermal regime and the enhancement of organic maturation, as well as the accumulation of commercial volumes of gas in a relatively short time interval.