Quartz cementation in Late Cretaceous mudstones, northern North Sea: Changes in rock properties due to dissolution of smectite and precipitation of micro-quartz crystals

Late Cretaceous mudstones from two wells located in the northern North Sea and the Norwegian Sea have been examined with respect to quartz cement. Two different types of quartz cement (Type 1 and Type 2) have been identified using SEM/EDS/CL-analysis of drill-bit cuttings at depths 2370–2670 m (80–85 °C). Type 1 appears as relatively large aggregates (30–100 μm) of depth/temperature related crypto- or microcrystalline to macrocrystalline irregular quartz cement formed by local re-crystallization of biogenic silica. The CL-responses of Type 1 quartz cement give a clear indication of an authigenic origin. Type 2 quartz cement represents relatively high amounts of extremely fine-grained micro-sized (1–3 μm) crystals embedded as discrete, short chains or small clusters/nests within the illitized clay matrix. The CL-responses of micro-quartz crystals indicate an authigenic origin. The micro-quartz is most probably sourced from silica released during the smectite to illite dissolution–precipitation reaction. The petrographic evidence indicates that most of the silica released by the smectite to illite reaction has not been exported out of the mudstones. The silica released produce a subtle inter-connected micro-quartz network interlocked with aggregates of micro-quartz and authigenic clay crystals. This micro-quartz cementation process causes a significant and sharp change in the mudstone stiffness at the onset of the chemical compaction regime. This is indicated by an abrupt increase in well log velocity (Vp) and change in seismic facies close to 2500 m (80/85 °C).