Variations of Pore Structure and Methane Adsorption of Continental Deformed Shales from Small-Scale Anticline and Syncline: Two Cases Study of the Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin and Jurassic Yaojie Formation, Minhe Basin

[Image: see text] In order to investigate the effect of tectonic compression on pore structures and methane adsorption capacity, the continental deformed shales are collected from the Rujigou section in the Ordos Basin and the Hongshawan section in the Minhe Basin as research objects. The porosity, N(2) and CO(2) adsorption, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and methane isothermal adsorption experiments are used to investigate the pore structure and methane adsorption of continuous deformation shales. Combined with formation curvature, the quantitative correlations between tectonic compression deformation and reservoir structure parameters and methane adsorption are analyzed. The interlayer pore, intergranular pore, dissolution pore, and microfracture are developed, and the amounts of microfractures are obviously higher in anticlinal cores than that of the anticlinal wings. The porosities for the Rujigou and Hongshawan sections are 2.1–4.73% (avg 3.21%) and 1.49–9.05% (avg 4.80%), respectively. The corresponding mesopore volume, specific surface area, and average diameter for the Rujigou section are 0.022–0.038 cm(3)/g, 12.35–14.30 m(2)/g, and 8.76–11.21 nm and for the Hongshawan section are 0.0033–0.0052 cm(3)/g, 0.376–0.875 m(2)/g and 21.61–36.37 nm, respectively. The corresponding micropore specific surface area and pore volume for the Rujigou section are 11.301–16.068 m(2)/g and 0.0033–0.0051 cm(3)/g and for the Hongshawan section are 10.951–15.912 m(2)/g and 0.0043–0.0058 cm(3)/g, respectively. The methane adsorption capacities for the Rujigou and Hongshawan sections are 2.76–3.82 mg/g and 1.62–2.135 mg/g, respectively. The porosity, mesopore and micropore structure parameters, and methane adsorption capacity in synclinal core are lower than those in synclinal wings. However, the above tendency is reversed for the anticline, whose adsorption capacity in the anticlinal core is higher than that in anticlinal wings. There exist high correlations between formation curvature and pore structure, physical property, and methane adsorption, indicating that formation curvature has a significant effect on the shale reservoir. By combining theoretical maximum adsorbed gas and free gas results, it implies that the anticlinal core undergoing moderate structural compression deformation can provide more methane adsorption sites and reservoir space, which is the shale gas favorable accumulation area. This study could provide beneficial references for continental shale gas exploration and evaluation in complex structure areas.