Submarine-fan systems i: characterization and stratigraphic prediction

Submarine-fan and related deep-marine clastic systems such as submarine ramps and slope aprons are important hydrocarbon reservoirs in many parts of the world. The origin and character of these systems reflect a complex interplay between a range of autocyclic and allocyclic controls including sea-level fluctuations, basinal tectonics and the rate, type and nature of sediment supply. These controls are commonly interdependent. This paper reviews the characteristics which distinguish different submarine-fans and their subsurface prediction, then proposes a classification framework for fans which discriminates between different systems on the basis of their fundamental controls. The proposed classification is discussed in terms of its value as a predictive tool in hydrocarbon exploration, development and production. A modus operandi is developed which uses the classification for reservoir description and prediction and involves three stages of investigation: basin screening, fan delineation and fan characterization. Each stage demands the integration of a range of tools and techniques including sequence stratigraphy, seismic facies analysis, seismic redisplay and geophysical modeling. These stages of analysis are linked, in turn, with core and wireline log data to constrain the range of possible fan types within a basin-fill and assess the implications for reservoir seal and trap development. This structured approach to stratigraphic analysis is also valuable in constraining the range of reservoir architectural options in appraisal, development and production.

[1]  E. Mutti.  Turbidite Systems and Their Relations to Depositional Sequences , 1985 .

[2]  J. Damuth,et al.  Amazon Fan, Atlantic Ocean , 1985 .

[3]  F. Surlyk.  Mid-Mesozoic syn-rift turbidite systems: controls and predictions , 1989 .

[4]  H. Reading.  The classification of deep-sea depositional systems by sediment caliber and feeder system , 1991, Journal of the Geological Society.

[5]  K. Glennie.  Introduction to the petroleum geology of the North Sea , 1986 .

[6]  P. Vail,et al.  Well Log-Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy: An Integrated Tool for the 90’s , 1991 .

[7]  B. E. Haner.  Morphology and Sediments of Redondo Submarine Fan, Southern California , 1971 .

[8]  F. Surlyk.  Slope and Deep Shelf Gully Sandstones, Upper Jurassic, East Greenland , 1987 .

[9]  J. Sarg,et al.  Stratigraphic Traps in Paleocene Sands in the Balder Area, North Sea , 1982 .

[10]  T. Nilsen.  Modern and Ancient Submarine Fans: Discussion of Papers by R. G. Walker and W. R. Normark , 1980 .

[11]  W. Nemec,et al.  Fan deltas: Sedimentology and tectonic settings , 1988 .

[12]  A. Bouma,et al.  Submarine fans and related turbidite systems , 1985 .

[13]  M. Field,et al.  Small-Scale Slumps and Slides and Their Significance for Basin Slope Processes, Southern California Borderland , 1979 .

[14]  Martha Lou Broussard,et al.  Deltas : models for exploration , 1975 .

[15]  J. M. Coleman,et al.  Deltaic Influences on Shelfedge Instability Processes , 1983 .

[16]  W. A. Wescott,et al.  Eocene fan delta-submarine fan deposition in the Wagwater Trough, east-central Jamaica , 1983 .

[17]  W. CAMPBELL SMITH,et al.  The Geological Society of London , 1958, Nature.

[18]  G. Papatheodorou,et al.  Sediment Transport processes on an active submarine fault escarpment: Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 1988 .

[19]  D. Woodrow,et al.  Fades, topography, and sedimentary processes in the Catskill Sea (Devonian), New York and Pennsylvania , 1983 .

[20]  C. Garland.  Miller Field: reservoir stratigraphy and its impact on development , 1993 .

[21]  N. Kenyon,et al.  A `braided' distributary system on the Orinoco Deep-Sea Fan , 1984 .

[22]  L. Droz.  L'éventail sous-marin profond du Rhône (Golfe du Lion) : grands traits morphologiques et structure semi-profonde , 1983 .

[23]  C. Nelson,et al.  Ebro Fan, Mediterranean , 1985 .

[24]  D. Piper,et al.  Distributary channels, sand lobes, and mesotopography of Navy Submarine Fan, California Borderland, with applications to ancient fan sediments , 1979 .

[25]  H. Reading,et al.  Variability of deltaic processes in terms of sediment supply, with particular emphasis on grain size , 1993 .

[26]  D. B. Prior,et al.  Coarse-grained deltas , 1990 .

[27]  Kevin T. Pickering,et al.  Drilling Results on the Lower Mississippi Fan , 1985 .

[28]  J. Damuth.  Use of high-frequency (3.5–12 kHz) echograms in the study of near-bottom sedimentation processes in the deep-sea: A review☆ , 1980 .

[29]  G. Chronis,et al.  Modern fan deltas in the western Gulf of Corinth, Greece , 1990 .

[30]  W. Normark.  Submarine Canyons and Fan Valleys Factors Affecting Growth Patterns of Deep-Sea Fans , 1974 .

[31]  J. M. Wills.  The Forties Field, Block 21/10, 22/6a, UK North Sea , 1991, Geological Society, London, Memoirs.

[32]  D. Bottjer,et al.  Sedimentary Environments and Facies , 1978 .

[33]  A. Bouma,et al.  Channel systems and lobe construction in the Mississippi Fan , 1982 .

[34]  T. Nilsen,et al.  Modern and ancient deep-sea fan sedimentation , 1984 .

[35]  D. G. Moore,et al.  Sedimentary and Tectonic Processes in the Bengal Deep-Sea Fan and Geosyncline , 1974 .

[36]  W. Ayrton.  Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists: GEOLOGIC NOTES , 1977 .

[37]  F. Surlyk.  Fan-Delta to Submarine Fan Conglomerates of the Volgian-Valanginian Wollaston Forland Group, East Greenland , 1984 .

[38]  M. Richards,et al.  Submarine fans and related depositional systems II: Variability in reservoir architecture and wireline log character , 1998 .

[39]  K. Pickering.  Transitional submarine fan deposits from the late Precambrian Kongsfjord Formats submarine fan, NE Finnmark, N. Norway , 1983 .

[40]  P. Lossel,et al.  Frigg Field--Large Submarine-Fan Trap in Lower Eocene Rocks of North Sea Viking Graben , 1979 .

[41]  W. Normark,et al.  Comparing Examples of Modern and Ancient Turbidite Systems: Problems and Concepts , 1987 .

[42]  K. Glennie,et al.  Petroleum geology of North West Europe : proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Petroleum Geology of North West Europe held at the Barbican Centre, London, 26-29 October 1986 , 1987 .

[43]  J. E. Case.  Major Basins Along the Continental Margin of Northern South America , 1974 .

[44]  D. Stow.  Deep-sea clastics: where are we and where are we going? , 1985, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[45]  William E. Galloway,et al.  Process Framework for Describing the Morphologic and Stratigraphic Evolution of Deltaic Depositional Systems , 1975 .