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https://doi.org/10.62836/iaet.v5i1.0003
Zhang, L., Li, H., Huang, L., Lin, C., Huang, Q., & Zhao, Z. (2026). Depositional Architecture of the Middle and Late Ordovician Reef–shoal Complexes and the Distribution Characteristics of the Reservoirs in the Tazhong Area, Tarim Basin. Innovations in Applied Engineering and Technology, 5(1), 0003. https://doi.org/10.62836/iaet.v5i1.0003
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2026

Depositional Architecture of the Middle and Late Ordovician Reef–shoal Complexes and the Distribution Characteristics of the Reservoirs in the Tazhong Area, Tarim Basin

Reef-shoal complexes were extensively developed during the Middle and Late Ordovician in the Tarim Basin. Based on core observations from 18 drilling wells, petrographic analysis of more than 500 large thin sections, and correlation of outcrop sections, this study investigates the reefal deposits of the Middle–Upper Ordovician. The results indicate that the formation of these reefs is primarily associated with reef-building organisms, including receptaculites-sponges, corals, stromatoporoids, and calcimicrobes. Reef-shoal complexes consist mainly of framework reefs, lime-mud mounds and grainstone shoal or banks, with “small” reef and “big” shoal, as well as shallowing upward sequences. Laterally, these complexes are discontinuously distributed in sheets along the carbonate platform margin of the No. I fault zone in the northern margin of the Tazhong area; vertically, they exhibit multi-storey superimposed stacking, demonstrating a distinctive depositional architecture and forming the most important reservoir facies belt in the region. Furthermore, this study reveals that meter-scale sea-level cycles resulting in episodic meteoric freshwater dissolution, epikarstification during the late depositional stage of the Lianglitage Formation in the Tazhong area, as well as faulting and fracturing, collectively played a critical role in controlling the formation of favorable porous-vuggy and fractured layered reservoirs within the reef-shoal bodies. These insights have provided crucial guidance for the discovery of the largest Ordovician reef-shoal condensate gas field in China within the Tarim Basin.

reef-building organisms reef-shoal complexes reservoir belt condensate gas field Tarim Basin

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Supporting Agencies

  1. Funding: This research was funded by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42230816), National Science and Technology Major Project on New Oil and Gas Exploration and Development (Grant No.2025ZD1400505) and Research Project of Tarim Oilfield (Grant No. 041024110221).