. ..
Hydrodynamics of Geopressuredin the
Northern Gulf of Mexico Basin
Paul H. Jones, U.S. Geological Survey
Introduction
The term “geopressure” was first used by Charles
Stewart of the Shell 011 Co,” to describe abnormally
high subsurface fluid pressure, defined by Dickinson*
as “any pressure which exceeds the hydrostatic pres-
sure of a column of water [extending from the stratum
tapped by the well to the land surface] containing
80,000 mg/1 total solids.” A pressure of approxi-
mately 0.465 psi is exerted by each foot of such a
water column.
Geopressuredmay be expressed in terms of the geo-
static ratio, which is the ratio of the observed fluid
pressure in an aquifer to the pressure due to the weight
of overlying deposits, computed for the depth at which
the aquifer occurs. The geostatic load at any given
depth, based upon observed bulk densities of sedi-
ments, is generally very close to the following ratio:
load (lb/sq in.) depth (ft) equals 1,0, to depths of
more than 20,000 ft.s3 This is because the average
density of all rocks in the stratigraphic column
changes but slowly with depth. Any observed sub-
surface fluid pressure for which the geostatic ratio is
between 0,465 and 1.0 psi is, by this definition, a
geopressured.
Geologic Occurrence
The structural and stratigraphic environments of geo-
pressuredin the northern Gulf basin are well known,
Three types of reservoir seals necessary to preserve
geopressured are illustrated by Dickir”on,S and de-
scribed as “(a) small reservoir sealed by pinchout,
The behavior of water in geopressured systems of the northern Gulf of Mexico basin is
non-Newtonian; hydrodynamic forces are gravity related, but the dominating forces —
such as osmosis, diagenesis, and terrestrial heat flow — are molecular.
JULY, 1969
(b) large reservoir sealed updip by faulting down
against thick shale series, and sealed downdip by
regional facies change, and (c) relative position of
fault seals in upthrown and downthrown blocks,” The
depth distribution, range of observed pressures, and
hydrodynamic features of geopressured reservoirs
then known in the Gulf Coast are reviewed in detail;
and the belt they underlie, “35 to 75 miles wide along
the coast from the Rio Grande in the southwest to the
Mississippi Delta in the east, a distance of approxi-
mately 800 miles”, is said to coincide approximately
with the area of Pleistocene and Holocene formations.
As of 1968 it was known that this belt extends far out
beneath the Gulf Continental Shelf, and that geo-
pressuredoccurs at some depth beneath the main del-
taic sand series in Miocene and Pliocene (Neogene)
sediments everywhere Gulfward from the innermost
zone of growth faults. (See Table 1,)
The role of growth faults in the structural deforma-
tion of geopressured sediments is defined by 0camb20
and Thorsen.95 Shelton3~ explains growth faults as
“contemporaneous faults” that occurred when “salt
and some thick shale units [had] been deformed by
uniform flow which, in turn, apparently caused failure
by faulting in the overlying paralic sediments.” Dickey
et al.’ suggest that the areal continuity and depth of
occurrence of geopressuredare due to reversal of dip
and Iandward thickening of stratigraphic units asso-
ciated with growth faults, Rochon~2 and Meyerhoff
et UL26consider rapid deposition of sediments in the
803
Basin to be a key factor in the development of geo-
pressured reservoirs. Kerr and Barrington,’s Myers
and Van Siclen,28 and Boatman? explore relations
among depth of occurrence, bulk density, and min-
eralogy of undercompacted, geopressured fine-grained
sediments. Problems of drilling through geopressured
zones have resulted in the development of geophysical
techniques, mainly borehole methods, for identifica-
tion and estimation of abnormally high interstitial
fluid pressures.”
Hydrologic Environment
Much attention has been given to the structural and
stratigraphic features of geopressured reservoirs, but
— except for sediment density and fluid pressure —
relatively little has been written about their geochemi-
cal and geophysical features. Perhaps the most im-
portant of these, in terms of their hydrologic signifi-
cance, are ( 1) the range and depth distribution of
formation-water salinity, (2) the geotemperature re-
gime, and (3) the clay-mineral abundance ratio of
the sediments,
The salinity of water in aquifers above and within
geopressured systems ranges from less than 1,000
mg/ I to 300,000 mg/ 1, Ormom whereas that of the
Gulf of Mexico — from which these waters were in
large Pi\rt derived — is, and probably has been for
millions of years, about 35,000 mg/ 1. (See Table 2.)
The depth distribution of salinity is extremely vari-
able abc ve depths ranging locally from 8,000 to
12,000 ft, but below this depth range there is a gen-
eral progressive freshening. Within geopressured res-
ervoirs there is a decrease in the salinity of aquifer
water with depth below the pressure seal. This may
be abrupt where the vertical gradient of geopressuring
is abrupt; or it may be gradual where the pressure
increases stepwise through a series of interbedded
sands and clays. At depths of hundreds or thousands
of feet below the pressure seal, water salinity is largely
a function of the sediment-facies distribution, the
clay-mineral abundance ratio in the associated fine-
graincd sediments, and the geotemperature regime.
As to the geotemperature regime, conventional geo-
thermal-gradient maps do not provide an adequate
description. Abrupt changes in temperature over short
depth ranges are hydrologically critical to the geo-
pressured regime, and conventional maps of geother-
mal conditions tend to obscure, rather than identify,
such changes. No relation between the average geo-
thermal ~adient and the geostatic ratio is evident for
175 south Louisiana geopressured reservoirs above a
depth of 11,000 ft, for which I analyzed data. Yet the
occurrence of geopressuredis commonly associated
with a sharp increase in the geothermal gradient in the
sealing clay member of the reservoir.lfiAnd a relation
between reservoir temperature and geostatic ratio is
indicated by median ratios of 62 randomly selected
geopressured reservoirs in south Louisiana, at depths
ranging from 5,400 to 17,500 ft. The median geo-
static ratios are: about 0.60 at 220°F; about 0.65 at
240°F; about 0.73 at 260°F; and about 0.88 at
280°F.
That the geotemperature regime is related to the
occurrence of geopressuredis not surprising, because
the movement of water is the most important factor in
terrestrial heat flow in sedimentary basins,’ Checking
the upward flow of water greatly reduces the rate of
upward flow of heat, and geopressured reservoirs be-
come overheated. Convective distribution of heat’”
occurs in the reservoirs but not in the sealing clay
beds that overlie them; thus the geothermal gradient
is steepest in that part of clay beds immediately above

TABLE l-GEOPRESSURED
..- ———
— — AQUIFERS IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA AND ADJACENT AREAS OF THE CONTINENTAL
SHELF (PARTIAL EXTRACT
O; DATA IN EXHIBIT “H”, SOUTHERN LOUISIANA RATE CASE AR61”2, GAS SUPPLY
SECTION, U.S. FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION

Depth Tcmperaturt? Pressure Geostatic Depth Temperature Pressure Geostatic

Ficl.1 Name (degrees F.) (Psi) Ratio (feet) Field Name (degrees F.) (psi) Ratio
~

1355-1430 Bay Marchand 91 680 0.502 12693-12757 Vermilion 235 8,276 0.652
2674- 7 Southeast Pass 106 1,390 .520 12900-12935 Bast i an Bay 224 S,859 .687
5405-5433 Ship Shoal l.io 3,132 .579 12962-12949 Bayou Chevrui 1 246 11,067 .855
6268-6311 Wes c Cameron 163 3,205 .511 13200-13228 Lake Chicot 232 11,522 .873
7080-7090 DO. 173 3,712 .524 13265-13275 West Cameron 280 11,664 .879
7483 -?507 Do. 179 3.993 .533 13617-13640 Thibodaux 237 10,418 ,765
7996-8013 Do. 187 4;370 ,546 13700-13735 Thornwell 272 12,282 .896
8400-8413 Vermilion Bay 208 4,580 .545 13708-13761 IJes t Del ta 239 10,782 .787
8700-8831 Do. 211 4,6B0 .538 13753- ? CSillou Island 270 7,113 .517
9012-9047 Eugene Island 182 4,715 ,523 13937-13950 Rousseau 241 10,635 ,763
9033-9061 South Felto 219 4,938 .547 14145-14178 Ship Shoal 261 7,109 .503
9401-9422 Church Point 201 6,417 .683 14150-14225 Houma 253 10,790 .763
9464-9533 South Pelto 225 5,416 .572 14300-14341 Laka Sand 263 10,975 ,767
9824-9877 East Cameron 213 6,025 .613 14344-14376 Garden City 259 12,096 .843
9879-9906 DO. 213 6,001 .607 14594-14606 DO. 263 12,295 .842
iOO05-10067 Iowa 246 7;169 .717 14602-14628 Constance Bayou 278 7,340 .503
10025-10039 Jefferson Island 194 5,379 .537 “14600-14650 Lapeyrouee 264 9,075 .622
10410-10418 High Island 209 7,802 .749 14700-14731 DO, 266 10,020 .682
10500-10517 English Bayou 233 8,154 .777 14900-14940 Lake Washington 266 10,180 .683
105B5-1063O West Cameron 223 6.325 .598 15050-15084 Garden City 260 14,210 .944
10790-10816 Baceland 20B 6;792 .629 15150-15160 Deep Lake 332 9,390 .620
10800-10906 Mud Lake 231 5,724 .530 15249-15289 Lake Pagie 268 10,819 .709
10950-10974 Churchpoint 243 7,686 ,702 15318-15375 Thornwe 11 315 11,376 ,743
11200-113B9 Mud Lake 246 6,272 ,560 15336-15407 Lake Arthur 329 13,933 .909
11330-11356 Rayne 217 6,900 .609 15580-15595 Lelaux 277 13,570 .871
11650-11679 Chalkley 233 9,345 .802 15600-15800 Deep Lake 366 9,885 .634
11933-11943 Erath 231 6,602 .553 15 B71-15880 Lake Sand 296 12,505 .788
11950-11995 Eayou Penchant 230 9,031 ,756 16000-16018 Lacassine 275 14,625 .914
12200-12246 Lake Arthur 262 10,100 , B28 16450-16495 Hollywood 280 14,540 . S84
12295-12328 Thornwell 303 11,800 .960 16570-16585 Weeks Island 266 9,495 .573
12450-12493 Belle Isle 231 6,690 ,537 17300-17340 Belle Isle 316 11,420 .660
12550-12562 Grand Irde 263 8,745 .697 17395-17429 Lake Sand 318 13,477 .775

804
geopressured aquifers. I have collected data indicat- but data sufficiently complete to enable such analysis
ing gradients of 6°F/ 100 ft in such settings. are not generally available.
Miocene and Pliocene clays above a depth of 8,000
ft in the northern Gulf of Mexico basin are largely Hydrodynamic Mechanisms
montmorillonitc, The clay-mineral abundance ratio is Fluid pressures within sediments are, according to
known to be markedly dependent upon environmental Dickinson,S “dominated by two factors, the compres-
temperature.4 Kerr and Barrington,ls in one of the sion due to compaction on the one hand, and the
few published articles on the mineral composition of resistance to expulsion on the other. . . ,“ In the north-
clayey sediments in and above geopressured reser- ern Gulf of Mexico basin, the elements of compres-
voirs, note that the montmorillonite content of clay sion and compaction are self-evident, A condition of
decreases with increasing depth, a sharp decrease near-equilibrium between the weight of overburden
occurring in the zone of geopressunng. Diagenesis of and the load-bearing strength of the sediments would
montmorillonite yields free pore water in an amount prevail with deepening burial if the expulsion of fluids
equal to approximately half the volume of the mont- were unimpeded,*’3s The load-bearing strength of
morillonite altered.3y Thus, heating of fine-grained clay becomes a factor in compaction only after porosi-
sediments that promotes diagenesis of montmorillon- ty has been reduced below about 45 percent.’3 With
ite increases their fluid content in this setting. free drainage, this porosity would be reached at depths
Nonionized dissolved solids and gases, among them of less than 700 ft in the Gulf Coast.s
silica, bicarbonate complexes, and carbon dioxide, Resistance to expulsion of water from clay beds is
are free to move upward with water that escapes a function of the clay-bed to sand-bed thickness
through clay beds that form the “seal” of geopressured ratio” and of the distance through clay to the nearest
reservoirs. Carbonate and silica precipitates in the sand bed, It is also a function of the decreasing porosi-
upper parts of these clay beds may be the result of ty of the clay bed as compaction progresses, because
chemical reaction with exchange cations of clay min- the permeability of the clay decreases even faster than
erals in the zone of steep pressure and temperature the porosity.
gradients. Dickey er al. state that the hydraulic permeability
These generalizations regarding formation-water of clay beds appears to be negligible in environments
salinity, the geotemperature regime, and the clay- of geopressured.They conclude that “pore water has
mineral abundance ratio and cementation of clay been able to move across the bedding planes of shales
beds are supported by tens of thousands of chemical hardly at all, in spite of a pressure gradient exceeding
analyses of water from oil test and production wells, 10 psi/ft during scores of millions of years. Obviously
perhaps 1,000,000 bottom-hole temperature meas- shales have small but appreciable permeability to
urements made in 300,000 drill holes, and roughly water; otherwise how could compaction occur? But
1,000 clay-mineral analyses, Specific information on after a certain stage of compaction has been reached,
these and. other parameters related to geopressuring the flow of water must be almost exclusively parallel
conditions must be analyzed for individual reservoirs, to bedding planes. . . , Shale permeability is difficult

TABLE 2-GEOSTATIC RATIO AND COMPOSITION OF FORMATION WATER IN GEOPRESSURED AQUIFERS OF

TEXAS AND LOUISIANA, NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO BASIN (RECORDS PROVIDED
BY SHELL OIL CO,, HOUSTON, TEX.).
Original Dissolved Bicar- Halides as
Depth Pressure Germt?tic Solide Sodium Potassium Calcium Magnesium bonet e Sulfate Chloride
(feet) (psi) Ratio* (mg/1) (tngll) (mg/1) (mgll) (mg/1) (mgll) (mgll) (mg/1)

12,992 11,960 0.92 92,000 38,000 520 4,300 580 700 260 52,300
10,400 10,400 0.87 98,000 38,000 200 1,200 200 1,100 26 56,700
12,500 10,500 0,85 99,000 36,000 200 1,100 200 1,200 27 56,600
11,106 9,030 0.81 111,000 40,000 320 2,700 360 500 --- ---
10.082 8,000 0,79 55,000 19,000 130 1,100 200 3,100 82 30,200
10,875 8,110 0.74 41,000 15,000 100 3ko 60 2,900 700 21,600
10,401 7,700 0.74 146,000 46,000 320 6,700 600 --- 100 76,000
10,870 7,900 0.73 136,000 43,000 500 5,400 700 400 53 73,000
12,552 8,690 0.69 175,000 63,000 .540 6,100 700 300 --- 98,000
16,064 9.600 0.60 93,000 30,000 .480 4,200 300 200 10 53,500
9,051 5.000 0.55 14,000 4,800 30 290 60 600 60 7,700
11,000 5,950 0.53 66,000 24,000 100 1,300 300 1,400 25 38,200
12,200 6,500 0.54 97,000 36,000 220 1,300 300 1,000 --- 55,500
11,200 5,830 0.52 72,000 26,000 210 1,100 200 100 12 40,900
10,500 5,440 0.52 100,000 35,000 210 1,600 400 800 --- 57,000
13,000 6,600 0.51 45,000 16,000 100 560 100 600 --- 26,000
Gulf of Mexico water ‘* 35,800 10,970 429 423 1,324 147 2,750 19,770

psi = pounds per square inch

mg E milligram
1 = liter

* The geoat at ic ratio is the ratio of the fluid preesure in an aquifer to the overburden load.
.>+ D~ e, K. E.: ltSom.e Chem.ic~ Chsmct.eristica of SW. Mater!i, Report 182, Ccrncgie Inst. , kkiehin~on Y D. C.
(1914) vol. 5*

JULY, 1969 80S


to measure, and no reliable values have been pub-
lished. ., . Perhaps the best explanation for the lack
of movement is that the water exhibits non-Newtonian
behavior in the freer interstices of porous media.”
C)lsen,sOin an authoritative analysis of experimental
data on deviations from Darcy’s law in saturated clays,
concludes that such deviations actually exist.
The behavior of water in geopressured systems of
the northern Gulf of Mexico basin is indeed non-
Newtonian; hydrodynamic forces are gravity related,
but the dominant forces are molecular. Although not
well understood, these molecular forces are well
known with respect to the physical. and chemical con-
ditions under which they occur, and to their quanti-
tative measurement, Those considered here, together
with their hydrodynamic effects, are diffusive forces
chemically and thermally induced
Osmosis
Osmosis is defined as “the spontaneous flow of water
into a solution, or from a more dilute to a more con-
centrated solution, when separated from each other
by a suitable membrane’’.” According to Glasstone,
the osmotic-pressure differential at constant tempew-
ture is almost directly proportional to the concentra-
tion differential; and for a given concentration differ-
ential, it increases with the absolute temperature.
These relations are expressed by the following
equationso*3
For two solutions at the same temperature,
AII= vRT (+,m, – +2M,) ;
for two solutions at different temperatures,
Au= VR ( T1@nl — T2+2m2),
where
= number of solute ions per mole,
; = gas constant,
T = absolute temperature,
# = osmotic coefficient, and
m= solute mokdityo
The osmotic coefficient of NaC1 changes very little
in the range 25° to 105°C, whereas that of NazSOA
increases appreciably with increasing temperature,
and that of MgSOAdecreases with increasing tempera-
ture. The predominance of NaCl in Miocene and Plio-
cene aquifer waters indicates that temperature would
have little effect upon osmotic pressure.
The effectiveness of clay as a semipermeable mem-
brane has been demonstrated by several investiga-
tors*9’2413eand McKelvey23reports that: “We have
measured the hydraulic permeabilities of compacted
Wyoming bentonite plugs having a porosity range of
’20% to 45 %, Over this range, the permeability vanes
from 10-7md to 2 X 10-6md with a regular decrease
in perrneabfity with decreasing porosity. In a limited
number of cases, we have also measured osmotic pres-
sures generated across these plugs by salt solutions of
various concentrations. In general, the generated
osmotic pressures are within 95% of the calculated
theoretical pressures; i.e., a one normal sodium chlo-
ride solution versus fresh water yields an osmotic
806
.
pressure of 690 psi. Since experimental errors tend
to reduce the measured values, it is probably safe to
assume that, under our laboratory conditions, the clay
acts like a perfect semi-permeable membrane, Water
flow under an osmotic gradient appears to be iden-
tical to water flow under an equivalent pressure
gradient.”
White3’ states that “the evidence is now convincing
that fine-grained sediments behave as semipermeable
membranes, permitting selective escape of wat~erand
concentrating dissolved components in remaining
pore fluids”. This property of semipermeable mem-
branes is, of course, responsible also for development
of osmotic pressure; clay beds separating aquifers in
which the waters have differential salinity are osmotic
media through which gradients in hydraulic head
develop, in the direction of the more saline aquifer.
Osmotic pressures generated across clay “barriers”
in natural environments depend upon the osmotic
efficiency of the clay beds as well as upon the water-
salinity contrast,4* The theoretical range of osmotic
pressure is limited by the possible range of water-
salinity contrast. Under ideal conditions, the theoreti-
cal pressure increases with both the salinity contrast
and the reference-water salinity; but in natural en-
vironments, osmotic efficiency decreases as the refer-
ence salinity (that of the less saline water) increases.
(This was suggested in an oral communication by
F. A. Berry of the U, of California.) The pressure
difference across a single clay bed could, under nat-
ural conditions, exceed 3,500 psi.l; In known geo-
pressured reservoirs, stepwise increments of osmotic
pressure with depth through a series of bedded sands
and clays could, as by a multistage pump, produce
any of the reservoir pressures observed to date in the
northern Gulf of Mexico basin. Conceivably, osmotic-
ally derived fluid pressure could equal or exceed that
due to the weight of the overburden, causing reservoir
rupture and diapirism, especially where heating had
reduced the load-bearing strength of clay beds by
increasing their free pore water content, as a result of
diagenesis or dehydration of montmonllonite.a
Diagenesfs
Diagenesis is defined in the Glossary oj Geology and
Related Sciences (AGI), as “the chemical and physi-
cal changes that sediments undergo during and after
accumulation, but before consolidation takes place”.
The chemical changes in formation water that result
from hyperfiltration, ion exchange, or displacement
reactions as the water moves through sediments may
be considered diagenetic.’ As indicated previously,
such changes have a direct bearing upon osmotic
conditions.
The release of water from clayey sediments with
deepening burial is in part a diagenetic process. The
stages of release are described by Burst’ in the follow-
ing terms: “Water, the principal fluid component of
the sedimentary section, is thought to migrate in three
separate stages. Initially, pore water and excessive
(more than two) clay-water interlayers are removed
by the action of overburden pressure. This initial
water flow (which is essentially completed after the
first few thousand ft of burial) reduces the water
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
. .
content of the sediment to about 30 percent, most of
which is in the semi-solid interlayer form. A second
stage of dehydration is thought to occur when the
heat absorbed by the buried sediment becomes suffi-
ciently great to mobilize the next-to-last water inter-
layer in an M(H,O)X + AH, = I + xH,O fashion.
The final stage of sediment dehydration which ex-
tracts the last remaining water monolayer from clay
lattices is apparently slow, even by geologic standards,
requiring tens or possibly hundreds of millions of
years, depending upon the geothermal and burial
history of the sample.”
According to Burst, the second-stage dehydration
involves an amount of water equal to approximately
10 to 15 percent of the compacted bulk volume of the
fine-grained sediments and represents “a significant
fluid displacement. . . . It appears to occur in a rela-
tively restricted, depth-dependent temperature zone
in which the average dehydration temperature of the
points measured is 221 ‘F.”
In the presence of potassium, dehydrated mont-
morillonite releases the last layer of intracrystalline
water and becomes illite in a true mineral alteration.
Because sediments and formation waters in the Mio-
cene and Pliocene sequence of the northern Gulf
basin are deficient in potassium, conversion of mont-
morillonite *9 illite is long delayed, and the mont-
morillonite content of clay is seldom less than 20
percent, even at depths of 15,000 ft or more.
Powers” cites evidence confirming the diagenetic
processes described above, although he is less detinite
about the role of temperature in the diagenetic pro-
cess, and less specific with regard to the mechanism
of clay-mineral dehydration. But he shows clearly
that the volume of free pore water produced by altera-
tion of montmorillonite to illite would be roughly
equivalent to half the volume of montmorillonite so
altered. As montmorillonite commonly constituted 60
percent of the volume of clay at depths of 3,0u0 to
6,000 ft, reduction of its abundance to 20 percent at
a depth of 15,000 ft would imply a 10SSof watsr equal
to approximately half the volume of that occupied by
the clay at depths of 3,000 to 6,000 ft. Porosity
and permeability increases and loss of load-bearing
strength accompanying clay-mineral diagenesis would
yield large volumes of pore water, free to move into
adjacent geopressured reservoirs as their waters were
depleted by loss into overlying hydrostatic aquifers.
This recharging mechanism is keyed to the geo-
temperature regime. Water released to geopressured
reservoirs is fresh, and therefore less dense and less
viscous than saline waters of associated aquifer sys-
tems in the same geothermal environment.
Terrestrial Heat Flow
According to Lee and Uyeda,22 the average rate of
heat flow through the earth’s crust over continents
differs little from that over the oceans. Crain,’ on the
other hand, argues that changes in the thermal en-
vironment of the land surface may result in marked
changes in the geothermal flux. After a glacial stage,
for example, a rise in surface temperature would
reduce the geothermal gradient and thus the heat flow
from continents. Adjusting continental heat flow for
JULY, 1969
this effect shows that assumed equality of continental
and oceanic heat flow may not exist.
The steepness of the geothermal gradient vanes
inversely with the thickness of unconsolidated sedi-
ments in structural basins. Perhaps the most obvious
feature of the geothermal-gradient map of the north-
ern Gulf of Mexico basin is its excellent conformity
with the structural map. Elongate areas, beneath
which the geothermal gradient is least, overlie the
axis of the Gulf Coast geosyncline.
If the geothermal flux is uniform over broad areas,
the thermal conductivity of rock must vary inversely
with the geothermal gradient. Sediments that overlie
the deepest parts of the Gulf Coast geosyncline would
appear, then, to possess the highest thermal con-
ductivity. If they do not, they must form a thermal
sink and are now storing heat energy received from
below; their temperature must inevitably rise. Certain
diagenetic processes are endothermic; one such is the
dehydration of montmorillonite, which requires the
addition of heat and thus reduces the heat flux to
overlying deposits. However, no estimates of the rate
and magnitude of this mechanism in the Gulf basin
have been made. The very large water content of
rapidly deposited and deeply buried sediments in the
basin may well be the most important factor in the
thermal-flux distribution. As stated by Bogomolov,s
“Water carries out the major role in the redistribution
and subtraction of heat [in the geothermal field]; the
thermophysical properties of rocks are mahdy deter-
mined by the liquid phase. . . . At present there is no
concensus about the aggregate state of water in the
crust of the earth and there are no sufficienttheoretical
indications to obtain a rational equation for water,
with the help of which the dependencies between its
caloristic values and pressure and temperature could
be outlined.” For most of the earth’s crust Bogomo-
Iov’s statement is true, but for the upper 15,000 ft of
the crust in an area of about 75,000 sq miles in the
northern Gulf of Mexico basin many data are avail-
able on the content, salinity, and thermophysical state
of water in a geological province that has been defined
in great detail. Neither the hydrodynamics of geopres-
surednor the hydrology of this thick sedimentary se-
quence can be analyzed in quantitative terms without
mastery of the mechanics of heat flow through it.
The three modes of heat transport through sat-
urated sediments are ( 1) conduction through mineral
grains and interstitial fluids, (2) convective flow of
interstitial fluids, and (3) radiation. Conductive and
convective heat flow are important in the low-tem-
perature range common above depths of 10,000 ft in
the northern Gulf basin, The role of ray transporta-
tion increases with increase in temperature. Factors
that have a direct bearing on the heat flux include the
following:
1. The composition and thermal conductivity of
the mineral grains that form the rock skeleton, and
of the fluids that ocoupy the interstices.
2. The specific heat of solid and fluid elements.
3. The porosity, and the hydraulic geometry of the
pores.
4. The density, viscosity, and thermal expansion of
the fluid elements.
807

5. The thermal expansion of the solid elements.
6. The absolute temperature.
The thermal conductivity of the mineral grains of
sediments is generally four to five times greater than
that of water. For this reason, the thermal conductivity
of clay varies inversely with its water content,zo That
of sand increases with its porosity,4z owing to “the
occurrence of convective heat transport in the wider
pores”. Lapwoo&’ was the first to consider the possi-
bility of free convective flowin water-saturated porous
rock, His studies revealed that, in a horizontal layer
uniformly heated from below, convective flow does
not occur until the temperature difference across the
layer exceeds some minimum value.
Elder,’ in his analysis of the free convection of a
fluid in a porous medium, states that “the motions
to be considered arise from the buoyancy forces pro-
duced by imbalance density variations in a field of
nonuniform temperature”. Elder’s calculations as-
sume that density variations of the fluid are impor-
tant only insofar as they generate buoyancy forces,
and he states that a crude estimate of the thermal
conductivity (Km) of the fluid-saturated medium is
given, under conditions of nonisothermal flow, by
Km= (l–e) K.-t CKJ
where
e = porosity (void volume per unit volume
of the medium),
K. == thermal conductivity of the solid, and
K~ = thermal conductivity of the fluid.
And the effective thermal diffusivity is given by
km = Km/pc,
where
P = density of the fluid and
c = specific heat of the fluid.
Measurement of the heat flow that occurs by free
convection in a horizontal slab of homogeneous sat-
urated porous material requires information on its
thickness, permeability, and thermal conductivity; on
the density of the fluid and the density change with
temperature; and on the specific heat and kinematic
viscosity of the fluid, Satisfactory computations based
upon these parameters for known conditions of tem-
perature were made for the Taupo area of New Zea-
land by Elder, who asserts that the large heat-flow
rates observed in thermal areas are not possible with-
out mass transfer by thermal convection.
McNitt,2s with reference to the Wairakei area of
New Zealand, states that “There is a rapid increase in
temperature with depth down to the base of the con-
fining mudstone. At this point, temperatures are close
to, or above, the boiling point corresponding to the
theoretical hydrostatic pressure for this depth below
the water table. . . . The temperature gradient through
the aquifer is much reduced. . . ,“
In geopressured reservoirs of the northern Gulf of
Mexico basin the formation water is commonly at
temperatures greater than 250*F at depths ranging
from 10,000 to 14,000 ft.” The geothermal gradients
808
.
are large in the clay beds overlying the reservoirs, and
very much reduced in the aquifers. There can be no
doubt that, by checking the upward flow of water from
the “waterlogged” sediments beneath them, sealing
clay beds of geopressurized reservoirs have caused
reduction of the geothermal flux above and overheat-
ing of the sediments below. In this geotemperature
regime, dehydration of montmorillonite occurs at
relatively shallow depths, Liberation of intracrystal-
Iine water in clay beds of geopressured zones increases
the pressure of fluids in them and reduces their ther-
mal conductivity by increasing their porosity.
Production from Geopressured Reservoirs
In theory, geopressured reservoirs are closed com-
partments having fixed or constant volume. Produc-
tion of substantial quantities of fluid from such reser-
voirs would be accompanied by great 10SSof pressure.
Sources of the fluid produced, to paraphrase Harville
and Hawkins,’4 are one or a combination of the fol-
lowing: (1) expansion of water in the aquifer, (2)
expansion of known or unknown accumulations of
oil and/or gas in the aquifer, or (3) compaction of
the aquifer rock. Wallace” suggests that an additional
condition sometimes suspected is the release of liquids
from low-permeability zones due to the reduction of
reservoir pressures. A number of the case histories
presented by Wallace can be explained in conven-
tional terms, but this is hardly true for the reservoir
at a depth of 11,788 to 11,811 ft on the north flank
of the Egan field, Acadia Parish, La. With an initial
bottom-hole pressure of about 9,960 psi (geostatic
ratio 0,84), the reservoir produced 6 Bcf of gas,
170,000 bbl of condensate, and 1 million bbl of salt
water over a period of about 6% years. The final
bottom-hole pressure was about 8,930 psi (geostatic
ratio, 0.75 ) only about 1,030 psi less than the original
reservoir pressure.
The decline of pressure with production from geo-
pressured reservoirs is now seldom predictable, and
may be of little use in analysis of reservoir mechanics,
or estimation of reserves, This is true because the
hydrodynamics of geopressuredis complicated by fac-
tors not considered in current reservtir analysis.
Much study remains to be done before the critical
parameters can be identified, measured, and analyzed
sufficientlywell to support engineering interpretations.
Summary
Dickinson’s classic description of the geological as-
pects of abnormal reservoir pressures was published
in 1953. Since then a great deal has been learned
about geopressured reservoirs, especially about their
production-engineering characteristics; and sophisti-
cated methods of early detection and pressure estima-
tion have been developed and widely used. But the
fluid mechanics of geopressuredhas not been fully
explained.
Dickinson’ stated that fluid pressures within sedi-
ments are “dominated by two factors, the compres-
sion due to compaction on the one hand, and the
resistance to expulsion on the other , . .“. In any
efforts to identify and evaluate the phenomena of
compression and compaction, and of the resistance
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TiX’HNOLOGY
. ..9
to fluid expulsion associated with geopressured in
Miocene and Pliocene deposits of the northern Gulf
of Mexico basin, the following factors must be
recognized.
1, Deltaic sediments and their prodelta and nentic
equivalents were rapidly deposited and deeply buried.
2, The montmorillonite content of these deposits
ranged frnm about 50 to 80 percent or more.
3. Contemporaneous faults compartmentalized
sand-bed aquifers prior to escape of their interstitial
saline water.
4. Fluid pressure in compartmentalized reservoirs
increased with deepening burial.
5. Salinity of aquifer water increased where hyper-
filtration by semipermeable clay beds concentrated
dissolved solids in zones of water loss.
6, Heating of the deposits accompanied deepening
burial.
7. Thermal dehydration of montmorillonite in a
depth-related temperature zone with an average tem-
perature of 221 “F released some intracrystalline
water as free pore water,
8. Diagenesis of dehydrated montmorilionite (al-
teration to illite or chlorite) released remaining intra-
crystalline water.
9. Dehydration and diagenesis of montmorillonite
produced interstitial fresh water, markedly increasing
effective porosity and permeability to fresh water,
while markedly reducing the bulk density, load-bear-
ing strength, and thermal conductivity of clay beds.
10.. Water flow upward from geopressured zones
through clay beds in which dehydration and diagene-
sis of montmorillonite had occurred was accompanied
by interstitial precipitation of cementing solids in the
upper part of the clay bed, while the lower pa:; of the
same bed remained undercompacted and ‘SU cl to
the drill.
Conclusions
Rapid deposition of deltaic, inner neritic, and middle
neritic sand and clay in the Gulf marginal belt of
subsidence was accompanied by growth faulting, as
postulated by Dickinson. Undercompacted clay beds
subjected to increasing overburden load lost water to
interbedded sands, in which the water moved in the
direction of pressure release — upwards, either updip
or by devious paths to shallower depth. Closure of
avenues of exit by faulting caused a rapid rise of fluid
pressure in the compartmentalized deposits. As geo-
pressuredincreased, aquifer water escaped through the
overlying clay beds, Initially the rate of throughflow
was proportional to the differential pressure; but, as
flow continued, the rate decreased progressively as
opposing osmotic forces developed. Plastic clay beds
acted as semipermeable membranes (ion sieves); they
passed water, but not its ionized dissolved solids.
Increases in the salinity of the geopressured reservoir
water in the zone of escape was accompanied by dilu-
tion of brine in the overlying hydrostatic aquifer
system. Osmotic forces opposing the escape of water
from the geopressured reservoir increased progres-
sively until osmotic pressure inward equaled geo-
pressuredoutward, and flow ceased. Later, changes in
the depth of burial (overburden load), the salinity of
JULY, 1969
water in the aquifers separated by the sealing clay
bed, the temperature, or the locus of fluid escape
destroyed the equilibrium that had been established.
This resulted in a temporary resumption of flow,either
outward or inward, until pressures were again
balanced.
According to this hypothesis, water ceased to move
upward in the compartmentalized depositional mass
whenever osmotic and geopressuredequilibrium was
reached. One consequence of this was profound alter-
ation of the geothermal regime, Water, by virtue of
its high specific heat and mobility under thermal
gradients, is the most important factor in terrestrial
heat flow in sedimentary basins. Where the upward
flow of water was checked, the rate of upward heat
flow was greatly reduced, and geopressured reservoirs
became overheated. As reservoir temperature rose,
the vapor pressure increased and the water became
less viscous and less dense, osmotic forces were
strengthened, and reservoir pressure increased. At
temperatures and pressures in the range observed in
geopressurized reservoirs in the Gulf Coast at depths
between about 10,000 and 12,000 ft (200° to
250”F), the clay mineral montmonllonite was dehy-
drated, and in the presence of potassium was altered
to illite, releasing intracrystalline water as free pore
water. The volume of free pore water released by
dehydration and diagenesis ranged up to half the
volume of montrnorillonite altered, and the water
produced was fresh, As clay pore water thus produced
was forced by the weight of the overburden to enter
adjacent aquifers of the geopressured zone, their fluid
pressure rose and the salinity of their water decreased;
a new episode of water loss from the system then
began.
These genetic processes occurred in a setting pro-
gressively changed by structural deformation, Brines
concentrated by clay “membranes” in geopressured
aquifers may subsequently have been released into
hydrostatic aquifers, as displacement along faults
brought them into hydraulic interconnection. Such
fluid releases resulted in sharp reductions of fluid
pressures, and have been accompanied by large-scale
expulsion of water from bounding clay beds. Down-
dip freshening of aquifer waters, widely observed in
the Gulf basin, can be attributed to this process.
Water escaping through clay beds overlying geo-
pressured aquifers is accompanied only by nonionized
dissolved solids and dissolved gases. Among these are
silica, bicarbonate complexes, and carbon dioxide.
Carbonate and silica precipitates in the upper parts
of clay beds sealing geopressured zones are believed
to result from pressure release, and from chemical
reactions in which exchange cations of the clay min-
erals combine with dissolved solids in the escaping
water. These account for the induration and relatively
high bulk density observed in the upper part of clay
beds that seal geopressured zones. The diagenesis of
montmorillonite produces free pore water and reduces
the bulk density, accounting for the conditions ob-
served in the lower part of sealing clay beds. Such
“inflated” clay has very low thermal conductivity and
an unusually high geothemlal gradient.
Molecular forces generating osmotic pressure have
809

reduced the effectivepermeability of clay beds to zero,
and have preserved geopressuredfor millions of years.
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JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TRCHNOLO(3Y