Data-driven identification of stratigraphic units in 3D seismic data using hierarchical density-based clustering

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. IM15-IM26
Author(s):  
Aina Juell Bugge ◽  
Jan Erik Lie ◽  
Andreas K. Evensen ◽  
Espen H. Nilsen ◽  
Odd Kolbjørnsen ◽  
...  

Seismic sequences are stratigraphic units of relatively conformable seismic reflections. These units are intervals of similar sedimentation conditions, governed by sediment supply and relative sea level, and they are key elements in understanding the evolution of sedimentary basins. Conventional seismic sequence analyses typically rely on human interpretation; consequently, they are time-consuming. We have developed a new data-driven method to identify first-order stratigraphic units based on the assumption that the seismic units honor a layer-cake earth model, with layers that can be discriminated by the differences in seismic reflection properties, such as amplitude, continuity, and density. To identify stratigraphic units in a seismic volume, we compute feature vectors that describe the distribution of amplitudes, texture, and two-way traveltime for small seismic subvolumes. Here, the seismic texture is described with a novel texture descriptor that quantifies a simplified 3D local binary pattern around each pixel in the seismic volume. The feature vectors are preprocessed and clustered using a hierarchical density-based cluster algorithm in which each cluster is assumed to represent one stratigraphic unit. Field examples from the Barents Sea and the North Sea demonstrate that the proposed data-driven method can identify major 3D stratigraphic units without the need for manual interpretation, labeling, or prior geologic knowledge.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Albanese Valore ◽  
Christian Haug Eide ◽  
Tor Oftedal Sømme

<p>The source-to-sink approach to sedimentology has become an increasingly valuable approach for addressing how external and internal forcing mechanisms are tied together in time and space. Processes that are initiated deep within the lower mantle can eventually propagate and affect shallow crustal sedimentary systems. This is important to predict the presence of reservoirs in areas of little data, and to interpret the sedimentary record in terms of climate and tectonic settings during deposition. To address this issue, we will study the Early Palaeogene succession of the East Shetland Platform in the North Sea, which was deposited during the emplacement of the Icelandic Plume. The plume’s activity is hypothesized to be the cause of a major uplift cycle in the continental source areas, which is coeval to a sharp increase in sedimentation rates recorded in the East Shetland Platform during the Palaeocene. However, this relationship is still in need of accurate constraints derived from data with better spatial and temporal resolution, particularly due to overlapping climatic and tectonic controls, regional-to-local variations in sediment supply systems and overall gaps in the sedimentary record. This correlation can benefit from high-quality 3D seismic data on the platform, especially due to an exceptional preservation of shelf-edge geometries that are absent elsewhere. Using different 3D and 2D seismic surveys, well data and biostratigraphic data from the Shetland Platform and the North Sea, we will quantify sediment volumes supplied through time. The observed sediment volumes will be investigated using models of dynamic topography, plume activity and paleoclimatic data to closely relate supplied volumes to changes in relief, catchment geometries, precipitation and other key forcing parameters. Ultimately, we aim to investigate the relative influence of both tectonics and climate, as both long term (mantle dynamics) and short term (Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) have been interpreted to play an important role in this system.</p><p> </p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simin Jin ◽  
David Kemp ◽  
David Jolley ◽  
Manuel Vieira ◽  
Chunju Huang

<p>The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ~56 Ma) was the most marked climate warming event of the Cenozoic, and a potentially useful deep time analogue for understanding environmental responses to anthropogenic carbon emissions and associated warming. The response of sedimentary systems to the large-scale climate changes of the PETM are, however, still uncertain. Here, we present an extremely thick (~140 m) record of the PETM in cores from a well in the North Sea, offshore UK. In this well, a thick Paleocene-Eocene interval is developed owing to uplift of the East Shetland Platform in the late Paleocene. Carbon isotope data through this well, coupled with detailed sedimentological analysis, show that the PETM interval is contemporaneous with >200 sandstone turbidites layers. Mud deposition without turbidites dominated sedimentation below and above the PETM. These observations support previous work from other localities highlighting how climate warming during the PETM likely drove substantial changes in hydrological cycling, erosion and sediment supply. Spectral analysis of turbidite recurrence in the PETM interval suggests that the abundance of turbidites was modulated in part by ~21 kyr astronomical precession climate cycles, further emphasizing a potential climatic control on turbidite sedimentation. In detail, we note a kiloyear-scale time lag between onset of the PETM carbon isotope excursion and the appearance of turbidites in the succession, highlighting a delay between PETM carbon release and warming and the basin-wide response in sediment supply.</p>


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Reza Jahangiri ◽  
Carwyn Adler ◽  
Shawn Shirzadi ◽  
Richard Bailey ◽  
Eric Ziegel ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Bjarte O. Kvamme ◽  
Adekunle P. Orimolade ◽  
Sverre K. Haver ◽  
Ove T. Gudmestad

A study of the wave conditions in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea is presented in this paper. For each region, one reference location for which there are buoy measurements is selected. For the selected locations, WAM10 hindcast data are obtained from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET Norway). The hindcast data for each location cover the period from 1957 to 2014. First, the hindcast datasets were validated against available buoy measurements — both for extreme value predictions and for application of hindcast data for planning of marine operations. The validation was carried out considering the winter season and the summer season separately. For each season, the datasets for two consecutive months were used. A comparison of the time-series of the hindcast datasets against the buoy measurements showed that the hindcast datasets compared relatively well with the buoy measurements. However, a comparison of the statistical parameters of the hindcast datasets against the buoy measurements showed that the hindcast datasets are slightly conservative in the estimate of the significant wave height for the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Overall, the data compared well, and the hindcast datasets are therefore considered in the following analysis. Hindcast data from these 57 years show that the wave conditions in the selected Norwegian Sea location is harsher than the wave conditions in both the North Sea and the Barents Sea locations. This is in agreement with the general expected spatial trend in the wave climate on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). It was also observed that the wave conditions in the selected Barents Sea location are harsher than the wave conditions in the North Sea. These findings are also reflected in the NORSOK N-003 standard on “Actions and Action effects” (NORSOK, 2015). The weather windows for weather-sensitive marine operations, that is, operations with operational reference period not exceeding 72 hours, were established from the hindcast dataset for each of the locations. It was observed that the Norwegian Sea has shorter weather windows, especially in the winter seasons, compared to both the Barents Sea and the North Sea. It was expected that the operational windows would be shorter in the winter seasons in the Barents Sea, due to the occurrence of polar lows. However, the polar lows are few and cause more concern related to forecasting of the weather conditions to start actual marine operations. Generally, the month with the highest probability of weather windows exceeding 72 hours was found to be July for all three locations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Becker ◽  
Are Olsen ◽  
Peter Landschützer ◽  
Abdirhaman Omar ◽  
Gregor Rehder ◽  
...  

Abstract. We developed a simple method to refine existing open ocean maps towards different coastal seas. Using a multi linear regression we produced monthly maps of surface ocean fCO2 in the northern European coastal seas (North Sea, Baltic Sea, Norwegian Coast and in the Barents Sea) covering a time period from 1998 to 2016. A comparison with gridded SOCAT v5 data revealed standard deviations of the residuals 0 ± 26 μatm in the North Sea, 0 ± 16 μatm along the Norwegian Coast, 0 ± 19 μatm in the Barents Sea, and 2 ± 42 μatm in the Baltic Sea.We used these maps as basis to investigate trends in fCO2, pH and air-sea CO2 flux. The surface ocean fCO2 trends are smaller than the atmospheric trend in most of the studied region. Only the western part of the North Sea is showing an increase in fCO2 close to 2 μatm yr−1, which is similar to the atmospheric trend. The Baltic Sea does not show a significant trend. Here, the variability was much larger than possibly observable trends. Consistently, the pH trends were smaller than expected for an increase of fCO2 in pace with the rise of atmospheric CO2 levels. The calculated air-sea CO2 fluxes revealed that most regions were net sinks for CO2. Only the southern North Sea and the Baltic Sea emitted CO2 to the atmosphere. Especially in the northern regions the sink strength increased during the studied period.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1127-1147
Author(s):  
Meike Becker ◽  
Are Olsen ◽  
Peter Landschützer ◽  
Abdirhaman Omar ◽  
Gregor Rehder ◽  
...  

Abstract. We developed a simple method to refine existing open-ocean maps and extend them towards different coastal seas. Using a multi-linear regression we produced monthly maps of surface ocean fCO2 in the northern European coastal seas (the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian Coast and the Barents Sea) covering a time period from 1998 to 2016. A comparison with gridded Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) v5 data revealed mean biases and standard deviations of 0 ± 26 µatm in the North Sea, 0 ± 16 µatm along the Norwegian Coast, 0 ± 19 µatm in the Barents Sea and 2 ± 42 µatm in the Baltic Sea. We used these maps to investigate trends in fCO2, pH and air–sea CO2 flux. The surface ocean fCO2 trends are smaller than the atmospheric trend in most of the studied regions. The only exception to this is the western part of the North Sea, where sea surface fCO2 increases by 2 µatm yr−1, which is similar to the atmospheric trend. The Baltic Sea does not show a significant trend. Here, the variability was much larger than the expected trends. Consistently, the pH trends were smaller than expected for an increase in fCO2 in pace with the rise of atmospheric CO2 levels. The calculated air–sea CO2 fluxes revealed that most regions were net sinks for CO2. Only the southern North Sea and the Baltic Sea emitted CO2 to the atmosphere. Especially in the northern regions the sink strength increased during the studied period.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Arild Saasen ◽  
Benny Poedjono ◽  
Geir Olav Ånesbug ◽  
Nicholas Zachman

Abstract Magnetic debris in a drilling fluid have a significant influence on the ability of the drilling fluid to maintain its function. Down hole logging can suffer from poor signal to noise ratios. Directional drilling in areas close to the magnetic North Pole, such as in the Barents Sea, Northern Canada or Russia can suffer because of magnetic contamination in the drilling fluid. Magnetic particles in the drilling fluid introduce additional errors to the magnetic surveying compared to those normally included in the ellipsoid of uncertainty calculation. On many offshore drilling rigs, there are mounted ditch magnets to remove metallic swarf from the drilling fluid. These magnets normally only remove the coarser swarf. In this project, we use a combination of strong magnets and flow directors to significantly improve the performance of the ditch magnets. This combination, together with proper routines for cleaning the ditch magnets, significantly helps to clean the drilling fluid. Through the combined use of flow directors and ditch magnets, it was possible to extract more than five times as much magnetic contamination from the drilling fluid as normal compared with other proper ditch magnet systems. This is verified by comparing the ditch magnet efficiencies from two drilling rigs drilling ERD wells in the North Sea area. In the paper, it is discussed how the accuracy of directional drilling and well position effected by various interferences can be improved by the use of a drilling fluid with minimal effect to the MWD measurement.


Author(s):  
Christopher P. Lynam ◽  
Stephen J. Hay ◽  
Andrew S. Brierley

Jellyfish medusae prey on zooplankton and may impact fish recruitment both directly (top-down control) and indirectly (through competition). Abundances of Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii and Cyanea capillata medusae (Scyphozoa) in the North Sea appear to be linked to large-scale inter-annual climatic change, as quantified by the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI), the Barents Sea-Ice Index (BSII) and changes in the latitude of the Gulf Stream North Wall (GSNW). Hydroclimatic forcing may thus be an important factor influencing the abundance of gelatinous zooplankton and may modulate the scale of any ecosystem impact of jellyfish. The population responses are probably also affected by local variability in the environment manifested in intra-annual changes in temperature, salinity, current strength/direction and prey abundance. Aurelia aurita and C. lamarckii in the north-west and south-east North Sea exhibited contrasting relationships to change in the NAOI and BSII: north of Scotland, where the North Sea borders the Atlantic, positive relationships were evident between the abundance of scyphomedusae (data from 1974 to 1986, except 1975) and the indices; whereas west of northern Denmark, a region much less affected by Atlantic inflow, negative relationships were found (data from 1973 to 1983, except 1974). Weaker negative relationships with the NAOI were also found in an intermediate region, east of Scotland, for the abundance of A. aurita and C. capillata medusae (1971 to 1982). East of Shetland, the abundance of jellyfish was not correlated directly with the NAOI but, in contrast to all other regions, the abundances of A. aurita and C. lamarckii (1971 to 1986, not 1984) were found to correlate negatively with changes in the GSNW, which itself was significantly positively correlated to the NAOI with a two year lag. On this evidence, we suggest that, for jellyfish, there exist three regions of the North Sea with distinct environmental processes governing species abundance: one north of Scotland, another east of Shetland, and a more southerly group (i.e. east of Scotland and west of northern Denmark). Impacts by jellyfish are likely to vary regionally, and ecosystem management may benefit from considering this spatial variability.


2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Fernández Viejo ◽  
Mireille Laigle ◽  
César R Ranero

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