seminar on
Applications of
Microfossils in Petroleum
Exploration
Prepared by
Manash jyoti saikia
Kaustuv moni saikia
*contents
1. Introduction
2. Application of Microfossils
3. Origin of Petroleum
4. Different types of Microfossils and their
application in Hydrocarbon Exploration
5. Determination of ancient shore line.
6. Application of Ostracoda, Radiolaria,
Botryococcus algae
7. SEM Images
* INTRODUCTION
• Any dead organism that is vulnerable
FOSSIL to the natural processes of
sedimentation and erosion
• Naturally occurring, toxic,
flammable liquid,
consisting of a complex
mixture of hydrocarbons of
PETROLEUM various molecular weight
and other organic
compounds found in earth
surface
APPLICATION OF MICROFOSSILS
Dating and correlation
Palaeobathymetry
Palaeoenvironment
Palaeotemperature
Palaeoecology
Palaeobiogeography
Biostratigraphy
Organic evolution
Petroleum and coal exploration
Sedimentation etc.
*ORIGIN OF
PETROLEUM
*Occurs mainly under sea.
*Place of origin is the sea
shore region,
particularly where the land meets the
sea.
*For example-
Delta region
Shore and beach flat region
Tidal lagoon and estuary region
oPlanktons are the main constituent
which lead to formation of petroleum
* Different types of microfossils
involved in Petroleum exploration
There are many types of microfossils
used in purpose of Petroleum
exploration, but most useful ones are:
1. Foraminifera
2. Calcareous nanno fossils
3. Palynomorphs
4.Radiolaria
*FORAMINIFERA
Phylum Protozoa,
Class Sarcodina
Order Foraminifera
FORAMINIFERA
CONTINUED
PLANKTONIC BENTHIC
That lives in the water column That lives on or within the
where they float at various levels, seafloor sediment.
Most by far are marine, but some few are freshwater or have
adapted to brackish conditions
Foraminifera have a geological range from the earliest Cambrian to
the present day. The earliest forms which appear in the fossil record
have organic test walls or simple agglutinated tubes.
Foraminifera reproduce both sexually and asexually or show
alteration of generation.
? how it helps in
Hydrocarbon exploration
Benthic foraminifera are bottom dwellers or pelagic in their
adaptation.
They are restricted to certain environment & hence help in
Palaeoenvironment analysis.
Foraminiferal species because of their short stratigraphic range are
very useful for establishing exact ages and markings as boundaries.
The fossils of Foraminifera from the core sample of a drilling well
help in correlation of the Geologic Horizon containing petroleum.
CALCAREOUS NANNO
FOSSILS
These are extremely small organisms
produced by planktonic unicellular algae.
1st appeared in the Mesozoic era
The calcareous plates accumulate on the ocean
floor become buried beneath later layers & are
preserved as Nanno fossil
Like the planktonic foraminifera, the planktonic
mode of life and the tremondus abundance
makes them very useful tools for Bio-
stratigraphy
PALYNOMORPHS
These are Organic wall fossils and include fossils of
(1)Pollen
(2)Spores
(3)Dinoflagellates
(the red algae which make up the red tides in
modern ocean)
Pollens and spores are surprisingly resistant to decay & are
common as fossils
They are transported a very large distance by wind & water before
deposition and usually very little about depositional envrionment
the organo-chemicals consisting the palynomorphs get darker
with increased heat. Because of this colour change, they can be used
to assess the temperature to which a rock sequence was heated
during burrial. This is useful in predicting whether petroleum have
formed in the area under study because this is heat from burial in
the earth that next hydrocarbon from original organic matter.
Hydrocarbons are mostly found in ancient Shelf areas and the
palynomorphs helps in determining the ancient shore-line and
proximity as well as direction of the shore line
? What
BIOSTRATIGRAPHY
is
The differentiation of rock units based upon
the fossils they contain.
It plays a critical role in the building of
geologic models for hydrocarbon exploration and in
drilling operations.
Detailed study of microfossils from core
samples and mud flows help in hydrocarbon
exploration by identification geological ages
because of their short stratigraphic ranges and
* Microfossils are very useful in assessing the palaeoenvironment.
Eg: Benthic foraminifera tend to be restricted to particular
environments and as such provide information to the
palaeontologist about what the environment was like,where the
rock containing the fossils formed.
Eg: Certain species of foraminifera prefer the turbid water near the
mouth of the river while others live only in areas of very clear
water.
* These preferences are recognised by two methods---
* (i) Studies of the distribution of modern foraminifera
* (ii) Analysis of the sediments containing ancient microfossils.
*PALAEOENVIRONMENT
ANALYSIS
*In the first case,if the modern species has a fossil
record,one can reasonably assume that the fossil ancestors
had similar mode of life as the living organisms.
*In the latter case,the studies of the rock containing the
fossils give clues to the environment of deposition. If a
given species is always found in sandstone deposited in
river deltas,it is not too much of a guess to suggest that
these species preferred to live in or near ancient river deltas.
If a company is drilling for oil in deltaic resorvoirs then
such information can be very useful by helping to locate
ancient deltas.
Eg: The delta for the Mississippi river during late Pliocene
was not SE of New Orleans as it is today but rather far to the
west.
* Petroleum geologists are always on
the lookout for evidence of new shore
lines as these are the sites for most of
the world’s oil deposits.They compare
recently extracted , acid insoluble
fossils with specimens associated with
shallow marine and brackish water
sediments where the hunt for oil has
been successful. Then thereby
correlation, one can designate those
areas that appear to be most
favourable for concentrated oil
exploration.
*FORAMINIFERAL
COLOURATION
A tool for assessing the thermal
alteration of organic INDEX
matter buried in sedimentary
rock.
FCI
It uses temperature controlled color changes in
the organic cement of agglutinated foraminifera to
estimate color alteration. This method is empirical
and based on determination of color by visual
comparison of fossil specimens to the rock color chart
under a microscope. Significant color changes occur
through a temperature range of ~60⁰c to ~110⁰c. FCI
is an indicator of temperature required to initiate
COLOUR CHART OF
FORAMINIFERA
* COLOUR SCALE OF
PALYNOMORPHS
OBSERVED COLOUR SIGNIFICANCE
1. Colourless, pale yellow, Chemical change negligible, organic matter
yellowish orange immature, having no source potential for
hydrocarbon
2. Yellow Some chemical change, but organic matter still
immature
3. Light brownish yellow, Some chemical change, marginally mature but not
yellowish orange likely to have potential as a source
4. Light medium brown Mature, active volatization oil generation
5. Dark brown Mature, production of wet gas and condesate
transition to dry gas phase
6. Very dark brown black Overmature, source potential for dry gas
7. Black (opaque) Trace of dry gas only
*Thermal alteration index is based on
palynofossil colours. TAI scale range is
1.00 to5.00. Number assigned to a
particular fossil is called its thermal
alteration index. The thermal
maturation is reached then when TAI
range reaches a certain limit. The
mature main phase of petroleum
*
Thermal maturation and
generation is at a TAI range between 2.5
thermal alteration index
to 3.25
* Determination of ancient
shore lines
Determination of ancient shore lines
is very important because most of the oil
deposits are located along ancient shore
lines. It is possible
to determine the distance and direction of
ancient shore lines with the help of
microfossils.
The proximity of ancient shore lines is
generally indicated where the
concentration of spores and pollen is
about 7500 per gram of sediments.Ancient
* DEPTH
*Charts are beingprepared in which the
assemblage of microfossils and the depth at
VERSUS
which they are found is mentioned. For
MICROF
example, a few of the foraminiferal
OSSILassemblage
are
and their corresponding depth
ASSEMgiven below-
BLAGE
1.Rotalia beccari -30 cm to 3.5 meters
CHART
2.Nonoin scapha -3.5 meters to40 meters
3.Triloculina trigulena- 40 meters to 300
meters
4. Globulina pacifica -300 meters to 2175
meters etc.
The data obtained are thoroughly analysed
and precise location of hydrocarbons are
marked by correlating them with already
Fossil record of planktonic marine ostracod is so patchy.
Biostratigraphic uses of benthic forms is limited to special
environments only.
These are particularly useful in interpreting paleoecology
of sediments and their environment of deposition.
For example, it is generally observed that white, pale
yellow,light brown colored specimens are more numerous
in sandy to sandy clay sediments enriched in heavy
minerals.
From these, inference can be made that these might have
deposited in oxygenated environment.
* APPLICATIONS OF
OSTRACODA
By examining layers of radiolarians,geologist working
in the field of oil exploration are able to link areas of
exploration to specific epochs and oceanic conditions .
By studying the concentration of radiolarian
populations at various oceanic temperature,climatologists
are able to extrapolate the state of the earth’s climate at
the time various radiolarian deposits were formed.
In radiolaria there is an intermediate layer called the
Calymma. Oil droplets are entrapped within this zone.
* APPLICATIONS OF RADIOLARIA
* APPLICATION OF BOTRYOCOCCUS
ALGAE
*Botryococcus algae is a fresh water algae
known to produce high levels of oil.
*The oil produced by Botryococcus brauni is of
high purity chemically ressembles fossil fuel.
*It can produce hydrocarbons which represent
86% of its dry weight.
*By distilling this algae scientists have been able
to obtain 67% petrol and 15% aviation fuel.
SEM IMAGE OF FORAMINIFERA
GOLDEN FORAM INIFERA
FORAMINIFERA
*[
Semicytheria sp.(Itori borehole,eastern Dahomey basin,Nigeria)
ostracoda
Kinkelinella intermedia, (Trunch borehole,Norfolk,UK)
OSTRACODA
Fig: SEM IMAGES OF SPORES
SPORES
Fig: Emilania
huxley
Fig:
Pollen
Fig: Sem image of a radiolari
shell
Fig:
Radiolaria
Fig:
Radiolaria
*dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellates
Botryococcus brauni
