Composition of the Lower Cretaceous source rock from the Austral Basin (Río Mayer Formation, Patagonia, Argentina): Regional implication for unconventional reservoirs in the Southern Andes

SEBASTIÁN RICHIANO; AUGUSTO N. VARELA; LUCÍA GÓMEZ-PERAL; ABRIL CERECEDA; DANIEL G. POIRÉ

MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 66 p. 764 - 790

0264-8172

The importance of the Río Mayer Formation (Lower Cretaceous, marine outer platform) in the hydrocarbon development of the Austral Basin (Patagonia, Argentina) has been recognized by several authors. This unit isplaying a key-role in the "Inoceramus inferior-Springhill" petroleum system, which constitutesis the most important petroleum systemof the basin. The Río Mayer Formation mainly consists of laminated black shales with interbeddedmarls and sandstone levels. Compositional studies in outcrops of this unit are almost absent and constitute the main focus of this contribution. A total of ten detailed sedimentologicallogs were taking from the field andX-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), conventional petrography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and determination of major elements in clay minerals by EDAX were carried out in order to characterize the composition of the Río Mayer Formation....