Vol 53, No 2 (2018)

A theoretically substantiated technique has been elaborated for the precise determination of minor contents of smectite layers in the dioctahedral mixed-layer structures with a disordered alternation of K-bearing micaceous and ethylene glycol-saturated smectite layers. It is shown that observed positions of the possible mixed-layer mica–smectite structures in the d(003)_obs–d(007)_obs or 2θ(003)_obs–2θ(007)_obs diagrams are distributed along a set of parallel straight lines. Data points of each straight line correspond to the mixed-layer structures with one and the same content of smectite layers. A complete matching of theoretical model was recorded in the positions of d(003)_obs–d(007)_obs and 2θ(003)_obs–2θ(007)_obs pairs of the basal reflections determined in diffractograms simulated for 160 two-component mixed-layer mica–smectite structures differing in the thickness of alternating layers and their relative content. We studied samples of the dioctahedral K-bearing micas of the glauconite, illite, and aluminoceladonite composition with different thickness of micaceous layers. Positions of the mixed-layer structures of the studied samples on the 2θ(003)_obs–2θ(007)_obs and d(003)_obs–d(007)_obs plots make it possible to visually determine the content of smectite layers in each structure accurate to 0.5%. The content of smectite layers in the studied samples varied from 2 to 15%. We obtained equations relating the thickness of smectite and micaceous layers for a specified content of smectite layers. They make it possible to determine the thickness correlation between specified mica and smectite layers. Analogous equations can be used to calculate the Wsm value in each sample for specified experimental values of d(001)_mc and d(001)_sm and d(003)_obs or d(007)_obs. The W_sm values coincide within an error limit of 0.2% with those based on the visual estimates in plots.

The HC-rich Upper Cretaceous rocks in the West Siberian petroliferous basin comprise genetically heterogeneous sediments, resulting in the specificity of morphology, structure, and properties of natural reservoirs therein. One of the possible techniques for more reliable predictions of reservoir rock characteristics is the utilization of results of sedimentation modeling based on the complex interpretation of borehole and seismic data. The paper presents an example of the realization of such approach for refining the structure of oil-and-gas pools in the Pokur Formation of the Russko-Chasel megaswell.

Precambrian stromatolites were studied with a complex approach including two complementary methods. The biogenic origin of ultramicrostructures examined with SEM was supported by the traditional optical microscopy. The paper addresses columnar-stratiform stromatolites of the Vendian Chencha Formation in the Ura Uplift (Baikal–Patom Highland, Central Siberia) and fossilized remains of coccoidal and filamentous microorganisms therein: cyanobacteria Eoentophysalis, hormogonian cyanobacteria Siphonophycus and, probably, Eomicrocoleus. The unraveled community of stromatolite builders includes the major organisms commonly observed in the Precambrian microbiota. Stromatolites of the Chencha Formation contained not only cyanobacteria, but also remains of eukaryotic microorganisms, including likely testate amoebae and acanthomorphic acritarchs. It is shown that the complex approach rules out incorrect determination of biota and significantly enhances concepts of the origin and formation of stromatolites, as well as the participation of microorganisms in their formation.