oa Origin of burial diagenetic illite and its effect on porosity and permeability of Unayzah sandstone reservoirs (Permian-Carboniferous) of Saudi Arabia

Burial diagenetic illite and quartz are the primary cements, which affect porosity and permeability in deep Unayzah reservoir sandstones in Saudi Arabia. The ultimate source of illite is the alteration of feldspar, mainly K-feldspar. Feldspar is altered to kaolinite to varying degrees during early burial. During later burial to depths where temperatures exceed about 100oC, remaining feldspar reacts with kaolinite to form illite via the reaction: K-Feldspar + Kaolinite = Illite + Quartz. The amount of illite that forms is limited by the amount of reactant in least supply (kaolinite or feldspar). When either of the two reactants is exhausted, illite can no longer be generated by this reaction. Accordingly, Unayzah sandstones can be classified as Feldspar-Limited or Kaolinite-Limited<br>based on which reactant is consumed first and thus is the limiting factor on the amount of illite formed. Feldsparlimited sandstones typically have less diagenetic illite than Kaolinite-Limited sandstones. Feldspar-Limited and Kaolinite-Limited sandstones have distinct geographic distributions. The distributions may partly be related to provenance (original feldspar content), but early invasion of meteoric water into the basin margin is interpreted to have played an important role as well. This early leaching of feldspar partly controls the distribution of Feldspar-Limited sandstones and thus the subsequent distribution of illite. There is no evidence to support continued illite formation directly from feldspar after kaolinite is consumed, e.g. 3KAlSi3O8 + 2H+ = KAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)2 + 2K+ + 6SiO2.