Song, D., Tuo, J., Wu, C., Zhang, M., Su, L., 2020. Comparison of pore evolution for a Mesoproterozoic marine shale and a Triassic terrestrial mudstone during artificial maturation experiments. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 75, 103153.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187551002030007X Semi-closed pyrolysis experiments were performed on a Mesoproterozoic Hongshuizhuang marine shale sample and a Triassic Chang 7 terrestrial mudstone sample, in order to understand the mechanisms of pore evolution in shales with similar organic geochemical characteristics in different depositional environments. The pore characteristics of the solid samples from the thermal maturation experiments were investigated by low- pressure gas (N2 and CO2) sorption isotherms tests and Field Emission - Scattering Electron Microscopy (FE- SEM) imaging. Results indicate the marine shale samples develop more micropores than that of the terrestrial mudstone samples during the artificial maturation. Secondary organic pores are observed in the unheated samples (~0.76% EqRo) for the marine shale, which is earlier than that of in the terrestrial mudstone (observed in the sample at 250 °C, ~0.8% Ro). Significant development of organic pores at 350 °C for both the two shales. And the transformation of smaller pores into larger pores takes place at 450 °C for the marine shale, as well as for the terrestrial mudstone. In highly overmatured shales, the overpressure formed by organic matter cracking to gas can make surrounding interparticle space to vanish. The high content of rigid minerals in the marine shale is more conducive to the preservation of organic pores than the terrestrial mudstone with rich in ductile clay minerals. Therefore, pore increases continuously for the marine shale but decreases for the terrestrial mudstone after 500 °C. Micropores would be generated if a high lithostatic pressure exists under experimental conditions, which may be largely responsible for the disagreement of pore evolution of similar shales in other publications. Finally, a conceptual model of pore evolution for type-II marine and terrestrial shales is proposed. The study reveals that the pore evolution of shales with different sedimentary environments is divergent, and this need to be separately considered in the future work.

Song, L., Carr, T.R., 2020. The pore structural evolution of the Marcellus and Mahantango shales, Appalachian Basin. Marine and Petroleum Geology 114, 104226.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026481722030009X The generation and primary migration of hydrocarbons in organic-rich shale leaves void space in organic matter, which is the porosity associated with organic matter commonly observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM). In this study, Middle Devonian black shale core samples were collected from three wells penetrating the organic-rich Marcellus Shale and the organic-lean Mahantango Formation in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Pyrolysis, ion milled SEM and low-pressure nitrogen adsorption analysis were conducted to investigate the organic richness and the properties of the pore system. Vitrinite reflectance (Ro) values in the range of 1.36% - 2.89% represent a maturity spectrum covering the wet-gas to post-mature zones. In general, the pore system is composed of organic matter-hosted pores and mineral-hosted pores. However, the dominant pore types and pore sizes vary stratigraphically across lithology and abundance of organic matter. All the organic matter observed in this study shows an amorphous occurrence. Pore space between mineral grains (both silt-size and clay-size) can be filled by organic matter, which contains secondary porosity generated by thermal cracking of kerogen. Mineral-hosted pores are concentrated in organic-lean samples in which secondary organic matter could not fill most of the primary pore space. The destruction of primary mineral-hosted pores and the generation of secondary organic matter-hosted pores were observed. TOC values show positive correlations with the porosity, specific surface area, and the abundance of micropores. Increasing thermal maturity correlates with a significant decrease of pore volume and surface area, primarily through diminishing or vanishing of micropores. The richness and thermal maturity of organic matter in organic-rich Devonian shale can be effective parameters for evaluation of reservoir quality and upscaling the appraisal.

Sorensen, M.J., Miller, K.E., Jorgenson, J.W., Kennedy, R.T., 2020. Ultrahigh-Performance capillary liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry at 35 kpsi for separation of lipids. Journal of Chromatography A 1611, 460575.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967319309690