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Overview of Stratigraphy and Mapping of Shale Bodies
Review Article  ·  Published: 19 October 2026
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Reservoir Science
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2027: 26-37
Review Article Open Access

Overview of Stratigraphy and Mapping of Shale Bodies

by
Soumyajit Mukherjee Soumyajit Mukherjee 1 * ORCID
Ajoy Kumar Bhaumik Ajoy Kumar Bhaumik 2
Puloma Chakrabarty Puloma Chakrabarty 3
1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
2 Department of Applied Geology, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Dhanbad 826004, India
3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
* Corresponding Author: Soumyajit Mukherjee, [email protected]
Volume 3, Issue 1
Volume 3, Issue 1 2027
Received: 06 August 2026 Revised: 12 September 2026 Accepted: 12 October 2026 Published: 19 October 2026 CrossMark
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DOI: 10.62762/RS.2026.712719
ARK: ark:/57805/rs.2026.712719
You have full access to this open access article · CC BY 4.0 License

Article Information

Published in Reservoir Science
Volume/Issue Volume 3, Issue 1, 2027
Pages 26-37

Abstract

Shales and mudstones are fine-grained sedimentary rocks of global extent and considerable economic importance. Dating them is not straightforward, because clay minerals such as illite can reset isotopic systems during diagenesis. K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr dates of shales therefore often record diagenetic events rather than deposition. Sm-Nd and detrital-zircon U-Pb data mainly constrain provenance, whereas Re-Os data from organic-rich mudrocks can give depositional ages, and Re-Os data from oils constrain hydrocarbon generation. U-Pb dating of zircon from interbedded volcanic ash provides the most direct depositional age. Carbon-isotope excursions, elemental ratios, redox-sensitive trace metals, rare earth elements and iron-sulfide systematics can be used to correlate shale successions. Fossils such as trilobites, graptolites, conodonts, cephalopods, foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton help to date, and hence correlate, shales. Shale bodies can be mapped in the field by conventional methods. In the subsurface, gamma-ray and spontaneous-potential (SP) logs identify shale intervals, unless the beds are very thin, and allow shale volume to be estimated.

Keywords

shale mudstone chronostratigraphy chemostratigraphy biostratigraphy well logs

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Funding

This work was supported without any funding.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

AI Use Statement

The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

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Mukherjee, S., Bhaumik, A. K., & Chakrabarty, P. (2026). Overview of Stratigraphy and Mapping of Shale Bodies. Reservoir Science, 3(1), 26-37. https://doi.org/10.62762/RS.2026.712719
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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mukherjee, Soumyajit
AU  - Bhaumik, Ajoy Kumar
AU  - Chakrabarty, Puloma
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
TI  - Overview of Stratigraphy and Mapping of Shale Bodies
JO  - Reservoir Science
T2  - Reservoir Science
JF  - Reservoir Science
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
SP  - 26
EP  - 37
DO  - 10.62762/RS.2026.712719
UR  - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/RS.2026.712719
KW  - shale
KW  - mudstone
KW  - chronostratigraphy
KW  - chemostratigraphy
KW  - biostratigraphy
KW  - well logs
AB  - Shales and mudstones are fine-grained sedimentary rocks of global extent and considerable economic importance. Dating them is not straightforward, because clay minerals such as illite can reset isotopic systems during diagenesis. K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr dates of shales therefore often record diagenetic events rather than deposition. Sm-Nd and detrital-zircon U-Pb data mainly constrain provenance, whereas Re-Os data from organic-rich mudrocks can give depositional ages, and Re-Os data from oils constrain hydrocarbon generation. U-Pb dating of zircon from interbedded volcanic ash provides the most direct depositional age. Carbon-isotope excursions, elemental ratios, redox-sensitive trace metals, rare earth elements and iron-sulfide systematics can be used to correlate shale successions. Fossils such as trilobites, graptolites, conodonts, cephalopods, foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton help to date, and hence correlate, shales. Shale bodies can be mapped in the field by conventional methods. In the subsurface, gamma-ray and spontaneous-potential (SP) logs identify shale intervals, unless the beds are very thin, and allow shale volume to be estimated.
SN  - 3070-2356
PB  - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge
LA  - English
ER  -
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@article{Mukherjee2026Overview,
  author = {Soumyajit Mukherjee and Ajoy Kumar Bhaumik and Puloma Chakrabarty},
  title = {Overview of Stratigraphy and Mapping of Shale Bodies},
  journal = {Reservoir Science},
  year = {2026},
  volume = {3},
  number = {1},
  pages = {26-37},
  doi = {10.62762/RS.2026.712719},
  url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/RS.2026.712719},
  abstract = {Shales and mudstones are fine-grained sedimentary rocks of global extent and considerable economic importance. Dating them is not straightforward, because clay minerals such as illite can reset isotopic systems during diagenesis. K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr dates of shales therefore often record diagenetic events rather than deposition. Sm-Nd and detrital-zircon U-Pb data mainly constrain provenance, whereas Re-Os data from organic-rich mudrocks can give depositional ages, and Re-Os data from oils constrain hydrocarbon generation. U-Pb dating of zircon from interbedded volcanic ash provides the most direct depositional age. Carbon-isotope excursions, elemental ratios, redox-sensitive trace metals, rare earth elements and iron-sulfide systematics can be used to correlate shale successions. Fossils such as trilobites, graptolites, conodonts, cephalopods, foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton help to date, and hence correlate, shales. Shale bodies can be mapped in the field by conventional methods. In the subsurface, gamma-ray and spontaneous-potential (SP) logs identify shale intervals, unless the beds are very thin, and allow shale volume to be estimated.},
  keywords = {shale, mudstone, chronostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, well logs},
  issn = {3070-2356},
  publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}

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CC BY Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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