Evidence for episodic expulsion of hot fluids along faults near diapiric structures of the Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea

Diapiric structures are well developed and occur in most of the central part of the Yinggehai Basin, on the western side of the South China margin. A strong thermal anomaly due to hot fluid flows occurs in the diapiric zone, as evidenced from vitrinite reflectance (R-0), clay mineral transformation, and fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures. This anomaly results from hydrothermal fluid flow along vertical faults from overpressured compartments into the overlying Late Miocene and Quaternary sand-rich layers. The magnitude of thermal anomaly is related not only to the distance to which the vertical fault is hydraulically open, but the permeability of rocks interconnected with the faults. Intense heat transfer for convection of fluids occurs in the sand-rich intervals adjacent to vertical faults. Abnormal organic-matter maturation, together with rapid transformation of clay minerals, which occurs at certain intervals within the present-day normally pressured system and normal conductive temperatures in a diapir, can be used to identify palaeo high pressure zones. Abnormal high temperatures measured from a dr-ill-stem test in a diapir can be inferred to be the results of recent expulsion of hydrothermal fluid flow. The results of this study suggest that thermal fluid expulsion along faults plays an important role in the modification of thermal regimes, the enhancement of organic-matter maturation, and rapid transformation of clay minerals, as well as the accumulation of hydrocarbons in diapiric structures of the Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.