Controls on organic matter enrichment in source rocks of the Shahejie Formation in the southwestern Bozhong Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, China

With the discovery of the Bozhong 19–6 large gas field in the Bohai Bay Basin, the study of lacustrine source rocks in the southwestern Bozhong Sag has garnered new interest. In this paper, 107 source rock samples of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation (Es) from the southwestern Bozhong Sag were analyzed with organic and inorganic methods and compared with other sags in the Bohai Bay Basin to reveal the depositional environment and controlling factors of organic matter enrichment during the deposition of the Es. The formation of source rocks (average total organic content = 2.76%) was subject to a combination of high organic productivity and enhanced organic preservation. Also, this was reflected by the existence of nutrient elements of P and Ba as well as other high productivity-related elements such as Cu, Zn, and Ni. The moderate Mo enrichment factor, Pr/Ph and low to moderate (C/P)org ratios were an essential part of this organic preservation. Moreover, the evidence we observed for the existence of hydrothermal activities consisted of high contents of quartz and pyrite, large positive Eu anomalies, and enrichment of elements related to hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal influence may lead to similarities and fluctuations in water salinity, organic productivity and preservation in the third (Es3) and first (Es1) members of the Es. Hydrothermal fluids may play an essential role in promoting the development of high organic productivity, stable reducing environment, and brackish water (as shown by the range of B/Ga and TS/TOC) in the lakes during the source rock deposition. This paper may provide implications for gas accumulation mechanisms and a complete set of organic and inorganic experimental data for source rock analysis in other lacustrine rift basins. •The source rocks from the Shahejie Formation (Es) were formed in brackish lakes.•The organic productivity is the main controlling factor of the source rock formation mechanisms.•The existence of hydrothermal fluids may affect environmental changes.