Reconstruction of meander‐bend migration from associated channel‐belt architecture recorded in successions of ancient meandering rivers: A case study from the Cretaceous Songliao Basin, China

Seismic processing and interpretation techniques provide important tools for the oil and gas exploration of the Songliao Basin in eastern China, which is dominated by terrestrial facies. In the Songliao Basin, a large number of thin-sand reservoirs are widely distributed, which are the primary targets of potential oil and gas exploration and exploitation. An important job of the exploration in the Songliao Basin is to accurately describe the distribution of these thin-sand belts and the sand-body shapes. However, the thickness of these thin-sand reservoirs are generally below the resolution of the conventional seismic processing. Most of the reservoirs are thin-interbeds of sand and mudstones with strong vertical and lateral variations. This makes it difficult to accurately predict the vertical and horizontal distribution of the thin-sand bodies using the conventional seismic processing and interpretation methods. Additionally, these lithologic traps are difficult to identify due to the complex controlling factor and distribution characteristics, and strong concealment. These challenges motivate us to improve the seismic data quality to help delineate the thin-sand reservoirs. In this paper, we use the broadband, wide-azimuth, and high-density integrated seismic exploration technique to help delineate the thin-reservoirs. We first use field single-point excitation and single-point receiver acquisition to obtain seismic data with wide frequency-bands, wide-azimuth angles, and high folds, which contain rich geological information. Next, we perform the near-surface Q-compensation, viscoelastic prestack time migration, seismic attributes, and seismic waveform indication inversion on the new acquired seismic data. The 3D case study indicates the benefits of improving the imaging of thin-sand body and the accuracy of inversion and reservoir characterization using the method in this paper.

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Similar curvature-to-width ratios for channels and channel belts: Implications for paleo-hydraulics of fluvial ridges on Mars

Geology ◽

10.1130/g48370.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alistair T. Hayden ◽

Michael P. Lamb ◽

Alexander J. Carney

Keyword(s):

Coarse Grained ◽

Scaling Relations ◽

Radius Of Curvature ◽

Finite Width ◽

Lateral Migration ◽

River Channels ◽

Meandering Rivers ◽

Channel Belt ◽

Stacking Patterns ◽

Geometric Consequence

The surface of Mars contains abundant sinuous ridges that appear similar to river channels in planform, but they stand as topographic highs. Ridges have similar curvature-to-width ratios as terrestrial meandering rivers, which has been used to support the hypothesis that ridges are inverted channels that directly reflect channel geometry. Anomalously wide ridges, in turn, have been interpreted as evidence for larger rivers on Mars compared to Earth. However, an alternate hypothesis is that ridges are exhumed channel-belt deposits—a larger zone of relatively coarse-grained deposits formed from channel lateral migration and aggradation. Here, we measured landform wavelength, radius of curvature, and width to compare terrestrial channels, terrestrial channel belts, and martian ridges. We found that all three landforms follow similar scaling relations, in which ratios of radius of curvature to width range from 1.7 to 7.3, and wavelength-to-width ratios range from 5.8 to 13. We interpret this similarity to be a geometric consequence of a sinuous curved line of finite width. Combined with observations of ridge-stacking patterns, our results suggest that wide ridges on Mars could indicate fluvial channel belts that formed over significant time rather than anomalously large rivers.

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