Episodic fluid venting from sedimentary basins fuelled by pressurised mudstones

TL;DR

This study investigates how pressurized mudstones in sedimentary basins contribute to episodic fluid venting, using geological records and Bayesian modeling to identify pressure diffusion as a key mechanism influencing long-term reservoir seal integrity.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative evidence that pressure diffusion from mudstones can significantly recharge reservoir pressures, potentially leading to seal failure on a global scale.

Findings

Bayesian analysis estimates a pressure-recharge rate of ~30 MPa/Myr.

Poroelastic pressure diffusion from mudstones is identified as the primary mechanism.

Pressurized mudstones likely promote seal failure worldwide.

Abstract

Subsurface sandstone reservoirs sealed by overlying, low-permeability layers provide capacity for long-term sequestration of anthropogenic waste. Leakage can occur if reservoir pressures rise sufficiently to fracture the seal. Such pressures can be generated within the reservoir by vigorous injection of waste or, over thousands of years, by natural processes. In either case, the precise role of intercalated mudstones in the long-term evolution of reservoir pressure remains unclear; these layers have variously been viewed as seals, as pressure sinks or as pressure sources. Here, we use the geological record of episodic fluid venting in the Levant Basin to provide striking evidence for the pressure-source hypothesis. We use a Bayesian framework to combine recently published venting data, which record critical subsurface pressures since $\sim$2~Ma, with a stochastic model of pressure evolution to infer a pressure-recharge rate of $\sim$30~MPa/Myr. To explain this large rate, we quantify and compare a range of candidate mechanisms. We find that poroelastic pressure diffusion from mudstones provides the most plausible explanation for these observations, amplifying the $\sim$3~MPa/Myr recharge caused primarily by tectonic compression. Since pressurised mudstones are ubiquitous in sedimentary basins, pressure diffusion from mudstones is likely to promote seal failure globally.