Weathering and erosion transport minerals and organics toward the sea or lake bottoms over geologic time. The finest solids are deposited in lower, less turbulent areas, such as lake bottoms and continental shelves. They sometimes stack up to thicknesses of kilometers, and begin compacting. These sediment sections are called shales, and as initially deposited in water, shales can have porosities up to 50-80{\%} water, As they are buried, many alteration products from oil to slate are produced due to overburden and temperature increasess, making them important to study. A preceeding paper \cite{1} showed that pressure solution is the primary mechanism for porosity reduction, with possible mechanical compaction at shallow depths. Without naming the mineral(s) involved, it postulated that the greater the product of the water and pore interfaces, the faster the reaction would proceed. This term is $ \varphi^{4m/3}(1-\varphi)^{4n/3}$ , where $\varphi$ is porosity and m and n are numbers close to unity. The large exponents, {\em 4/3}, recognize that the reaction occurs at the molecular scale at which the surfaces are rough. A second term, $\exp^{(-E/RT)}$ , indicates that the reaction is impeded by a quantum energy barrier, E, with diminished impeding power as increased available thermal energy, represented by the absolute temperature, T, becomes available at greater depths in the Earth. These two factors combine to allow porosity $\varphi$ to reduce with time, or equivalently for the fraction of solids, $(1-\varphi)$, to increase with time,$\left. \frac{\partial(ln(1-\varphi) ) }{\partial t } \right |_{\sigma} = (\varphi )^{4m/3}( 1-\varphi )^{4n/3}Ae^{-E/(RT)}$. { \em Here it is shown that this equation can cover quantitatively any actual deposition rates which may have been experienced by the six sections studied, the actual deposition rates being unknown for these cases. Hence a time-depth depositional history for any new shale section, known in detail, would allow determination of the parameters m, n, E and a lumped proportionality constant A. This was accomplished by showing that, for a wide range of depositional rates, r, the range of E for any of the studied sections is small compared to laboratory measurements of quartz solution\cite{2}, 24+-15kJ/mol. Results were obtained over this range of r's using the previously determined m and n, and porosity and temperature profiles. The presently existing porosity profiles necessarily incorporate any overpressure or underpressure conditions that may have existed in the past or currently, as the net difference between overburden and pore pressure is a primary driving force for pressure solution. $SiO_2$ usually comprises 20-50{\%} of shales. In conclusion, pressure solution of quartz can account for vertical compaction of shales quantitatively in the studied examples. Separately, a quasi-eqivalent method for discussing reduced porosities in Macron 2 versus Macron 1 as increased vertical stress, rather than additional horizontal stress, is illustrated. Experiments are suggested to clarify the pressure solution mechanism. The role of horizontal forces is discussed.

The Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian Age) Smackover Formation is a significant source for hydrocarbon production in southwest Alabama. Brooklyn Field is in southeast Conecuh County, Alabama and has been a major producer of oil and natural gas for the state. The Smackover is a carbonate formation that is divided into seven distinct lithofacies. In southwest Alabama, the Smackover Formation is heavily influenced by paleotopography from the underlying Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachian system. The goal of this study is to determine elemental ratios in rock core within the Smackover Formation using a X-ray fluorescence (XRF) handheld scanner, to correlate between lithofacies in the Smackover Formation and elementally characterize the upper oolitic grainstone reservoir and the lower thrombolite boundstone. Eight wells were used for the study within Brooklyn Field and Little Cedar Creek fields. Cores from the eight wells were scanned on six-inch intervals. Chemical logs were produced to show elemental weights in relation to depth and lithofacies. Well data collected for chemical signatures within producing zones were correlated to reservoir lithofacies and porosity. Aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron were the most significant (>95% confidence level) predictors of porosity and is related to the depositional environment and subsequent diageneses of the strata. XRF data suggests relative enrichments in iron, titanium, and potassium may be related to deposition in relatively restricted marine waters.

Paleopeat-forming environments have an important effect on the dispersion and enrichment of trace elements in coal. The C3 coal seam of the Xuanwei Formation in eastern Yunnan was used as a case study to reconstruct the paleopeat-forming environment based on the coal facies parameters and geochemical characteristics, and its influence on trace element (including rare earth elements and yttrium, REY) enrichment was investigated. The C3 coal was classified as medium rank coking coal with an ultra-low moisture content, medium-high-ash yield, and low-medium volatile content. Compared to the average values for Chinese coals, Cu and V were enriched and Co was slightly enriched in the C3 coal. Compared with the average values for world coals, Cu and V were enriched, while several other trace elements were slightly enriched, including Co, Hf, Nb, Sc, Ta, Zn, and Zr in the C3 coal. The C3 coal was deposited in a low peat mainly limno-telmatic swamp, with deep water, weak hydrodynamic conditions, brackish to salty water, and reducing conditions. Trace elements, including Cu, V, Hf, Nb, Sc, Ta, Zr, and REY, are typically enriched in a limno-telmatic environment with fresh water, and reducing and weak hydrodynamic conditions. Additionally, REY and V are also significantly enriched in brackish water limno-telmatic conditions with the same depositional environment.

The early-mid Paleocene Farewell Formation is stratigraphically distributed across the southern Taranaki Basin (STB) which is also encountered within the Maui Gas Field. Using available 3D seismic and well log data, a challenging task to delineate the spatial distribution and geobody patterns of the potential reservoir sands of the formation was performed. Object based modeling coupled with sequential indicator simulation were used to analyze the spatial distribution of facies configuration and a conceptual model was developed based on the outputs from the structurally- modeled grids. The facies modeling followed a hierarchical object-based mechanism which was set to perform with constraints like channel geometry and heterogeneity within the formation. The resultant 3D geobody model showed that the distributary channels, mainly braided geobodies flowed from northeast cutting through several regional normal-fault systems to the southwest. Overbank facies was adhered to the fringe of the channels whereas the floodplain facies was at the periphery of the model. Meandering channel-sand facies were mostly observed at the center of the model flowing in a more random manner, occupying major flow directions of northwest to southwest and southeast to northwest within the model.