Subsurface Sand Remobilization and Injection

Sand injectites form during shallow-crustal deformation. Short periods of elevated pore-fluid pressure, which developed regionally, triggered formation of hydrofracture networks into which sand was sometimes injected. Sand injection complexes preserve a record of this process and sandstone intrusions are significant reservoirs in many petroleum systems. Most known subsurface sand injection complexes are from offshore NW Europe and associated with Paleogene strata. Outcrop occurrence is global. Sand injection into unconventional host rocks, including granitoid and metamorphic basement and coal seams, raises awareness of the breadth of geological environments in which sand injection may occur. Discordance between sandstone intrusions and sedimentary hosts occurs on a scale from millimetres to kilometres and is a fundamental diagnostic of intrusions. Microscale textural characterization provides new opportunities to establish possible additional criteria for differentiating intrusions from depositional sandstone. The significance of sand injection complexes in shallow crustal evolution is exemplified by the wide range of lithological hosts and diverse tectonostratigraphic settings documented in this volume. Potential for original research still remains.