Long-term performance of a mudrock seal in natural CO2 storage

The ability of mudrock seals to prevent CO₂ leakage is a major concern for geological storage of anthropogenic CO₂. The long-term performance of a mudrock seal, which provides a natural analogue, in the North Sea Miller oil field has been evaluated. This mudrock seal is immediately above a natural CO₂-rich reservoir. The paper reports the stable isotopes of carbon from carbonate minerals in the mudrock that have precipitated in contact with CO₂ during 4 km of burial. A well-defined linear trend of upward-decreasing δ¹³C traces the progressive penetration of free-phase CO₂ causing dissolution and reprecipitation of carbonate minerals. The CO₂ was emplaced ca. 70–80 Ma, and has only penetrated 12 m vertically in this case. The infiltration rate is estimated as ~9.8 × 10⁻⁷g cm⁻² yr⁻¹. Engineered CO₂ storage under this type of mudrock seal will have a considerable safety margin.