Genesis of the high gamma sandstone of the Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin, China

Recently, more attention has been paid on the high gamma sandstone reservoirs of the Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin, China. These high gamma sandstones have logging characteristics different from conventional sandstones, which influences the identification of sandstone reservoirs. Zhang et al （2010） proposed that the high gamma sandstones of the Yanchang Formation might be the result of re-deposition of homochronous sedimentary tufts or previous tufts as a part of the sandstone. However, we present a different viewpoint： 1） few tufts or tuff debris have been found in the high gamma sandstones of the Yanchang Formation; 2） high gamma （or high Th content） sandstones of Yanchang Formation are not related to either clay minerals or feldspar; 3） the heavy minerals in the sandstone reservoirs of the Yanchang Formation are dominated by zircon, which is characterized by abnormally high Th and U contents, up to 2,163 ppm and 1,362 ppm, respectively. This is sufficient to explain the high gamma anomaly. The conclusion is that the high gamma value of the Yanchang Formation sandstones might be caused by zircon with high Th and U contents in sandstones rather than from the tuff components.