Dissolution of apatite in North Sea Jurassic sandstones: implications for the generation of secondary porosity

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Abstract
Heavy-mineral studies on Jurassic sandstones from the central and northern North Sea areas and from the Lossiemouth Borehole (onshore NE Scotland) show that the dissolution of apatite is a function of depositional environment rather than burial depth. In the shallow marine Upper Jurassic sands of the Claymore, Clyde and Tartan Fields, and in the deeper-water Magnus sands, apatite is ubiquitous, even where burial depths exceed 3800 m. Conversely, the fluvio-deltaic sands of the Beatrice, Heather, Ninian and Murchison Fields, and of the Lossiemouth Borehole, have suffered apatite dissolution, although burial depths range from very shallow (Lossiemouth Borehole) to about 3300 m. This clearly indicates that apatite dissolution has taken place through penetration of low-pH meteoric groundwaters at a very early stage in diagenesis, and that high-temperature fluids circulating in deep burial have had little or no effect. This is in accord with patterns of mineral dissolution observed in other sedimentary basins and in the North Sea Palaeocene. Although dissolution of heavy minerals is unlikely to generate significant secondary porosity, the process is nevertheless caused by the same pore-fluids that dissolve major framework constituents. Patterns of heavy-mineral dissolution therefore provide clues to the nature of these pore-fluids. Here, the relative stability of apatite is particularly significant. The order of stability apatite > garnet > kyanite, which characterizes deep burial of North Sea sandstones, has previously been simulated experimentally using fluids of pH 8 at room temperature. This suggests that high-temperature acidic pore-fluids may not have played a significant role in the development of secondary porosity in North Sea sandstones.