中国大规模的砂岩型铀矿勘查起始于20世纪90年代,这期间适逢层序地层、沉积体系、砂体内部构成单位和等级界面等技术的成熟与完善时期,这为沉积学家研究砂岩型铀矿床带来了新的切入点。在吐哈盆地和鄂尔多斯盆地的勘查实践发现,结构和规模适中的大型骨架砂体是砂岩型铀矿的储层(简称铀储层),它不仅能提供铀成矿流体的运移空间(输导通道),同时也为铀矿的储存提供了空间。铀储层研究的主要内容包括铀储层的识别、铀储层的空间定位与形态描述、铀储层的内部特征结构与品质评价、铀储层的成因分析以及沉积作用控制下的铀成矿机理等。沉积盆地分析和砂岩型铀矿地质学是铀储层研究的重要理论支撑点,其中层序地层分析、沉积体系分析、砂体内部构成分析是铀储层分析的关键技术。由于铀储层是砂岩型铀矿勘查和开发的目标层,所以针对铀储层的研究将能更好地服务于砂岩型铀矿的勘查预测与地浸开发。
Large scale prospection and exploration of sandstone-type uranium deposits started at 1990's in China, when the technologies such as sequences stratigraphy? depositional system analysis? internal architecture of sandstones and graded interfaces studies became perfect. This provides new opportunities for sedimentologists to research sandstone-type uranium deposits. Owing to the research in Turpan-Hami basin and Ordos basin, the authors find that the skeleton sandstones of medium structure and scale are the best reservoirs of sandstone-type uranium deposits or uranium reservoir for short. They provide not only the migration pathway for uranium metallogenetic fluids, but also the space for uranium deposition. Uranium reservoir sedimentology mainly includes the identification, space orientation and configuration description, internal architecture and quality analysis and genesis of uranium reservoirs and uranium metallogenetic mechanism controlled by depositional process. Sedimentary basin analysis and sandstone-type uranium geology are the important theoretical basis of uranium reservoir research. While sequence stratigraphy analysis, depositional systems analysis, internal architecture of sandstones and graded interfaces analysis are the key technologies for uranium reservoir research. Because uranium reservoirs are the target for the exploration and exploitation of sandstone-type uranium deposits, they will be of great significance for the exploration forecast and in-situ leaching exploitation of sandstone-type uranium deposits.