The Origin and Properties of Upper Cretaceous Flints

Mohammed Musa Aliyu
University of Leeds, Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI), School of Earth and Environment
Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
[email protected]

The project investigates the genesis and properties of Upper Cretaceous flints as they affect drilling and tunnelling in the Upper Cretaceous chalk of Europe. This is with a view to characterise the drillability of the rock, and or to improve both laboratory and field scale tests specifically suitable for describing the rock. So far, flints samples from the North landing, UK have been collected and tested in the laboratory using Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Shore hardness test, Vickers hardness number of rock (VHNR), Cerchar abrasivity, and equivalent quartz content. Additionally, UCS, Point load, and Tensile strength tests were also conducted. Preliminary results from these tests indicate obvious variability in properties of flints with quartz contents. Although, these findings are inconclusive, since only the north landing flints were tested. As such, there is the need for further work, which would focus more on the laboratory tests of flints from the Anglo-Paris, and Anglo-Dutch basins. These would involve full field scale laboratory drilling tests, SEM, and XRD analyses as well as the use of current isotope geochemical methods to understand the diagenesis of the rock at different depositional environments surrounding the North Sea. Thus, the outcome of this study would help to improve oil exploration in the North Sea region, and will provide current data for petroleum and engineering geology in decision making on engineering projects in chalk bearing flints.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90183©2013 AAPG Foundation 2013 Grants-in-Aid Projects