The most abundant sedimentary rock around the world—Shale, is the great archive of the global carbon cycle and related paleoclimate and paleoceanography in geological time. Shale serves as sources, reservoirs, and seals of hydrocarbons, and can be rich in metals. It is a challenge to investigate shale in outcrops and cores because they are very fine-grained, commonly weathered, and generally do not display large-scale sedimentary structures. Therefore, geochemical characteristics of shale, including organic and inorganic proxies, are widely used to indicate processes of deposition, diagenesis, and their resource potential. With the advancement of analytical methods, more abundant geochemical characteristics can be obtained in shale, which provides insight into both geological processes and resource exploration.
This Research Topic aims to collect a series of novel research articles to improve the understanding of shale deposition, diagenetic processes of shale, and resources in shale, such as oil shale, shale oil, shale gas, and trace metals. Papers include issues that characterize organic (e.g., biomarkers, and compound-specific isotopes) and inorganic geochemical characteristics (e.g., major and trace elements) of shale, and their geological significance is welcome. Special attention will be paid to multidisciplinary research and how to combine insight from different methods. Novel original and review work to advance the analytical methods of geochemical characteristics of shale is also welcome.
High-quality Original Research, Review, Perspective, and Opinion articles are welcome. Potential topics are relevant but not limited to:
• Accumulation and evolution of organic matter in shale.
• Deposition and diagenesis processes of shale.
• Reservoir space of shale.
• Oil shale formation in sedimentary basins.
• Shale oil and shale gas resource potential in shale.
• Trace metal enrichment in shale.
• Advanced techniques to characterize geochemical characteristics of shale.
The most abundant sedimentary rock around the world—Shale, is the great archive of the global carbon cycle and related paleoclimate and paleoceanography in geological time. Shale serves as sources, reservoirs, and seals of hydrocarbons, and can be rich in metals. It is a challenge to investigate shale in outcrops and cores because they are very fine-grained, commonly weathered, and generally do not display large-scale sedimentary structures. Therefore, geochemical characteristics of shale, including organic and inorganic proxies, are widely used to indicate processes of deposition, diagenesis, and their resource potential. With the advancement of analytical methods, more abundant geochemical characteristics can be obtained in shale, which provides insight into both geological processes and resource exploration.
This Research Topic aims to collect a series of novel research articles to improve the understanding of shale deposition, diagenetic processes of shale, and resources in shale, such as oil shale, shale oil, shale gas, and trace metals. Papers include issues that characterize organic (e.g., biomarkers, and compound-specific isotopes) and inorganic geochemical characteristics (e.g., major and trace elements) of shale, and their geological significance is welcome. Special attention will be paid to multidisciplinary research and how to combine insight from different methods. Novel original and review work to advance the analytical methods of geochemical characteristics of shale is also welcome.
High-quality Original Research, Review, Perspective, and Opinion articles are welcome. Potential topics are relevant but not limited to:
• Accumulation and evolution of organic matter in shale.
• Deposition and diagenesis processes of shale.
• Reservoir space of shale.
• Oil shale formation in sedimentary basins.
• Shale oil and shale gas resource potential in shale.
• Trace metal enrichment in shale.
• Advanced techniques to characterize geochemical characteristics of shale.
