Depositional environment of oil shale within the second member of Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Santanghu Basin, Northwest China

The non-marine Santanghu Basin in northwest China hosts one of the richest and thickest Permian lacustrine source rock intervals in the world. Conventional oil in Jurassic sandstone reservoirs and tight oil in the tuffaceous Permian Tiaohu Formation were sourced from mudrocks in the underlying second member of Lucaogou Formation, which also have tight oil potential proved by recent commercial discoveries. Based on inorganic and organic geochemistry, organic petrography, and stable isotope geochemistry, the depositional environment and the tight oil potential of the second member of Permian Lucaogou Formation were investigated. The data imply a gradual evolution of the depositional environment from a stratified, saline to a freshwater lake. The succession can be subdivided into a lower, middle, and an upper unit, each characterized by decreasing water salinity. High bioproductivity has been caused by the bloom of algae and photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Water column stratification accelerated the activity of methanothrophs, as indicated by low δ13C values of hopanes. Biomarker composition provides evidence for decreasing contributions of cyanobacteria to the biomass and increasing abundance of Prasinophytae compared to other algae with decreasing salinity. Enhanced terrigenous organic matter input appeared during periods of high freshwater inflow. Low total organic carbon (TOC) contents in the lower unit are most likely caused by rapid sedimentation rate. High bioproductivity and excellent preservation conditions resulted in high TOC contents in the middle unit. Terrigenous organic matter input increased together with fresh water inflow in the upper unit, resulting in high TOC values during periods of possibly low sedimentation rates in a deep water column. The samples of the second member exhibit a good to very good potential to generate conventional oil. High TOC and extractable organic matter yields, together with the thickness of the fine-grained sediments, show that the middle and upper units of the second member of Lucaogou Formation hold significant tight oil potential. Mineralogical composition of this dolomite-rich shale with respect to abundance of brittle minerals (including quartz and carbonates) and rare clay testifies a good tight oil potential.