HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY OF DEEP FORMATION BRINES IN THE CENTRAL SICHUAN BASIN, CHINA

Subsurface brines are abundant in the Sichuan Basin, China. Five brine-bearing aquifers have been identified within rocks of Triassic age in the central part of the basin. These are of two types: brine-bearing clastic and brine-bearing carbonate aquifers. Brines in this region have high total dissolved solids and chemical species that are different from those of evaporatively concentrated seawater. Deep formation brines in clastic aquifers, in which evaporites do not exist, are characterized by high concentrations of Ca, Sr, Ba, Br and I, low concentrations of Mg and K, and lack of SO4, and are dominated by the Na-Ca-Cl type. Brines in carbonate aquifers, which have interbeds of evaporites, are characterized by high total dissolved solids, low concentrations of Ca, Mg and SO4, and lack of Ba, and are of the Na-Cl type. The brines in clastic aquifers originate from connate continental sedimentary waters mixed with marine waters; membrane filtration through shales has played an important part in modifying the chemical compositions and increasing the salinity of the brines. Those in carbonate aquifers are bittern marine sedimentary waters, with chemical compositions mainly controlled by precipitation of evaporites.