WHAT IS SHALE?
INTRODUCTION
"Shales" are the most abundant of all
sedimentary rocks, but are the least well
known (perhaps most misunderstood),
mainly due to lack of study. The fineness of
grain size makes mineralogical and textural
analyses of shales difficult, they are poorly
exposed compared to more resistant
sandstones and limestones, and there is
generally insufficient economic justification
for their study. As a result, definitions and
terminology applied to shales are not
standardized and are generally inconsistent,
and methods of analysis have evolved
slowly.
DEFINITION OF SHALE
"Shale" is the generally accepted name for
the general class of fine-grained sedimentary
rocks, of equal standing with Sandstone and
Carbonate as names for major sedimentary
rock groups. The only criteria for
identifying these rocks are a grain size
smaller than sand and the clastic nature of
the rock.
The need for a standardized definition and
nomenclature for the fine-grained
sedimentary rocks has long been recognized,
as evidenced by the numerous classification
schemes which have been proposed. Most
classifications are based on size, specifying
certain proportions of sand, silt and clay-
sized material as boundaries with
terminology denoting a predominance of a
given size. Thus, claystone would have
greater than 50% clay-sized material,
siltstone greater than 50% silt sized material,
and mudstone being a mixture where neither
clay nor silt is predominant. The specific
term shale is restricted to those rocks which
have observable lamination or fissility.
Daniel B. Shaw (Sr. Scientist) 1 Fluids Engineering
Common usage in the oil industry defines
shale as fine-grained, more or less
compacted and dehydrated, and composed
predominantly of clay minerals. Thus
composition and physical state are added to
the criteria for identification. The general
term "shale" implies a fine-grained
argillaceous rock and includes claystones,
mudstones and siltstones.
MINERALOGY
The mineralogy of sedimentary rocks is a
reflection of the composition of rocks in the
source area and the processes by which the
sediments are transported, deposited and
lithified. Shales are characterized by an
abundance of clay minerals which are highly
susceptible to modification by these
processes. The mineralogical composition
of a shale is the result of weathering of the
parent rock, alteration and segregation
during transport, the chemical and physical
environment of the depositional site, and
post depositional alteration and lithification
processes. Therefore, no two shales should
be expected to have identical mineralogical
compositions.
Analyses of many thousands of shale
samples during the past few decades have
shown that most clay mineral species are
present in all shales. The determinative
mineralogy of shales is difficult because of
the fineness of size and complexity of
composition, especially among the clay
minerals. X-ray diffraction is the most
reliable method for clay mineral
determinations and comparative procedures
can be used to provide estimations of
mineralogical composition of these rocks.
X-ray powder diffraction methods provide
rapid semi-quantitative mineralogical
analyses of shales, since each component
has a distinctive x-ray pattern with peak
intensities being a function of the amount
present. Comparison of unknown sample
patterns to those obtained from samples of
known composition along with patterns for
various size fractions, chemical and heating
treatments, etc., as required for identification
and measurement of clay mineral species,
provide a means for determination of
mineral abundance.
Mineralogical analyses of shales, especially
determination of the type and abundance of
clay minerals, can provide considerable
information for estimating stability
relationships among these rocks. As an
example, it is well known that expandable
lattice clay minerals are subject to hydration
and that these minerals are predominantly
mixed-layer types. The proportion of
expandable to non-expandable layers can be
estimated using x-ray diffraction methods so
that the effects of hydration can be predicted
from mineralogical analyses.
SHALE FABRIC
The structure of argillaceous sedimentary
rocks can have considerable influence on
borehole stability, and since clay minerals
are predominant in these rocks, fabric
(particle orientation) is an important factor
governing structural properties. For
example, massive claystones and mudstones
tend to have irregular fracture patterns
resulting in sloughing of large pieces of
formation, whereas laminated, shaly rocks
have fracture patterns which result in
flaking, splintering and parting along
laminations.
The fabric of argillacous rocks may be
defined by the degree of preferred
orientation of the clay particles. The degree
of orientation can readily be determined by
Daniel B. Shaw (Sr. Scientist) 2 Fluids Engineering
using x-ray diffraction methods wherein
intensity ratios of selected diffraction peaks
of a clay mineral species are calculated from
measurements on polished sections cut
parallel and perpendicular to laminations.
Orientation calculations result in an
orientation ratio where 1.0 denotes complete
randomness and perfect parallelism by a
very large number. As a basis for
comparison. a ratio of less than 5 is
generally associated with massive structure
and greater than 5 with shaly structure, while
fissile structure would have a ratio greater
than 20.
Fabric analyses provide a means for
evaluating the structural stability and
breaking characteristics of shales. When
used in conjunction with other factors such
as mineralogy, cementation, etc., fabric
analyses can provide considerable
information for determining the causes of
shale instability.
SHALE HYDRATION
Shales will react to a fluid environment by
imbibition of the fluid, which in some cases
will cause borehole instability. This
reaction, commonly called "shale swelling",
may result in actual expansion or hydration
of the expandable lattice clay minerals. In
the so-called hard shales, which commonly
contain minimal amounts of expandable
lattice clay minerals, the reaction is most
often observed as migration of fluid into
fractures and laminations with subsequent
hydration of these surfaces resulting in
sloughing and caving. A measure of
hydration effects and the potential for a
particular shale to be unstable can be
obtained using strain gauge instrumentation
to determine the amount of dimensional
change with time on test samples immersed
in a fluid.
The most obvious utility of the strain gauge
test is to provide a comparison of reactions
to various fluids by samples cut from the
same shale core. Hence, one can predict
whether a given fluid may be better or worse
than another for drilling the shale section. It
should be noted that because of the many
variables in the mineralogical and
petrological character of the rocks, direct
comparison among shales of diverse origin
cannot be made.
An additional observation is the fact that
expansion data used as measurement of
instability should not be utilized without
considering such contributory factors as
mineralogy, orientation, cementation, grain
size, attitude of beds, fracturing, etc. Thus,
measurement of expandability should not be
used alone to predict stability of a shale.
GUMBO
Despite widespread belief and usage,
"Gumbo Shale" is not a rock classification.
"Gumbo" is a term applied to an observed
phenomenon: the tendency of certain
argillaceous sediments to become sticky
under appropriate conditions of hydration.
Within the limitations of the definition of
shale, these argillaceous rocks are most
likely to be claystones, siltstones and
mudstones.
Gumbos reportedly contain some 25%
moisture. Following Burst's* compaction
model, this approximates the first stage of
dewatering where overburden pressure
(compaction) is the main force acting on the
sediment. Using customary hydrostatic
pressure approximations, this force is
probably in a range up to 2500-3000 psi.
Temperature, in a range around 150 F.,
should probably have minimal effect. Under
these conditions one may deduce that the
state of hydration of the rock is such that the
clays are near their plastic limit and very
little additional water is required to render
them sticky. The water of hydration acts as
an interparticle bond which is quite strong
Daniel B. Shaw (Sr. Scientist) 3 Fluids Engineering
and a small amount of additional water adds
to the plasticity, but does not provide the
shear needed to break the bond.
Another belief (assumption) which in some
cases has been elevated to dogma is that the
main cause of gumbo is a very large smectite
content. In fact, most smectite in sediments
occurs as a component of mixed-layer clays.
Since illite and mixed-layer clays are the
predominant minerals in gumbos, the
smectite component certainly contributes to
the gumbo phenomenon but is not
necessarily the controlling factor.
CONCLUSIONS
Shales are sedimentary rocks, hence they are
the product of the action of sedimentary
processes on the origin, transport, deposition
and lithification of the clastic material. In
order to interpret these rocks it is important
to know how the sediments were produced
and subsequently modified during the
formation of the rock. The tests and
measurements discussed in this report
provide considerable information to further
this knowledge, but it cannot be overly
emphasized that all factors influencing the
sediments during their geologic history must
be considered in order to make a valid
interpretation. For example, consider the
effect of the chemical and physical character
of the environment during deposition of the
clay rich sediments, the effect of pressure
and temperature on the diagenetic alterations
of clay minerals and the effect of tectonic
activity as an agent of postdepositional
alteration of shales.
The more that can be learned about shale,
directly by measurement or indirectly by
inference, the better our position will be in
interpreting and understanding the causes of
instability. This knowledge can lead to more
realistic application of technology and
product development to the problem of
controlling unstable shales.
APPENDIX

REFERENCES
*J.F. Burst, Bull. A.A.P.G., Vol.53, No. 1,
Pg. 73-93,1969.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS:
Argillaceous- containing clay or clay
minerals.
Clastic- made up of fragments of
preexisting rocks.
Diagenesis- all chemical and physical
changes a sediment undergoes from the time
of deposition to the formation of a rock.
Fissile- splitting into thin parallel layers.
Lithification- conversion of a sediment to a
rock by geologic processes.
Petrology- the science dealing with the
origin, history, occurance, structure,
chemical composition and classification of
rocks.
Plastic Limit- lowest moisture content that
permits clay to form a coherent mass.

Daniel B. Shaw (Sr. Scientist) 4 Fluids Engineering