Barium Isotopes Track the Source of Dissolved Solids in Produced Water from the Unconventional Marcellus Shale Gas Play

Waters coproduced with hydrocarbons from unconventional oil and gas reservoirs such as the hydraulically fractured Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, USA, contain high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), including Ba, which has been variously ascribed to drilling mud dissolution, interaction with pore fluids or shale exchangeable sites, or fluid migration through fractures. Here, we show that Marcellus Shale produced waters contain some of the heaviest Ba (high Ba-138/Ba-134) measured to date (delta Ba-138 = +0.36 parts per thousand, to +1.49 parts per thousand +/- 0.06 parts per thousand) and are distinct from overlying Upper Devonian/Lower Mississippian reservoirs (delta Ba-138 = -0.83 parts per thousand to -0.52 parts per thousand). Marcellus Shale produced water values do not overlap with drilling mud barite (delta Ba-138 approximate to 0.0 parts per thousand) and are significantly offset from Ba reservoirs within the producing portion of the Marcellus Shale, including exchangeable sites and carbonate cement. Precipitation, desorption, and diffusion processes are insufficient or in the wrong direction to produce observed enrichments in heavy Ba. We hypothesize that the produced water is derived primarily from brines adjacent to and most likely below the Marcellus Shale, although such deep brines have not yet been obtained for Ba isotope analysis. Barium isotopes show promise for tracking formation waters and for understanding water-rock interaction under downhole conditions.