Page 339 - Geology and Geochemistry of Oil and Gas

300 APPENDIX C

Brecciation Disruption of strata, and development of fitted clasts
separated by fractures or of chaotic clasts with or
without matrix, formed as a result of tectonism,
carbonate dissolution and collapse, or evaporite
dissolution and collapse.
Bridge plug A mechanical device used to ‘‘seal-off ’’ the wellbore
below the point where it is set.
BS Basic sediment
BS&W Basic sediment and water (often found at the bottom
of tanks).
Buildup General term for reef accumulation.
C
Cable lift A device that uses a cable, often from a tower, instead
of a walking beam to lift the sucker rods.
Calcite/aragonite Depth in the sea below which the rate of calcite or
compensation depth aragonite dissolution exceeds their rates of
deposition.
Caliche Authigenic deposit of calcium carbonate, generally
low-magnesium calcite, that forms at the expense of
(i.e., replacing) preexisting sediments, soils, or rocks.
Syn: Soilstone crust, Calcrete.
Calcification Term describing the process of calcite or calcrete
formation.
Caliper log Determination of the inside diameter of a wellbore or
casing
Capillarity The action by which a fluid, such as water, is drawn
up (or depressed) in small interstices or tubes as a
result of surface tension. Syn: Capillary action.
Capillary The minute openings between rock particles through
which fluids are drawn.
Capillary action The upward and outward movement of fluids through
the porous rock as a direct result of surface properties
of rock.
Caprock An impervious body of a rock that forms a vertical
seal against hydrocarbon migration. In a salt dome,
an impervious body of anhydrite and gypsum, with
minor calcite and sulfur, which overlies the top of the
salt body, or plug. It probably results from
accumulation of the less soluble minerals of the salt
body during leaching of its top in the course of its
ascent.
Carbonate rock A rock consisting chiefly of carbonate minerals, such
as limestone, dolomite, or carbonatite; especially a