Application of Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy for Delineating Mishrif Prospects in Western Onshore, Abu Dhabi, UAE

In Abu Dhabi, the Mishrif Formation is developed in the eastern and western parts conformably above the Shilaif Formation and forms several commercial discoveries. The present study was carried out to understand the development of the Mishrif Formation over a large area in western onshore Abu Dhabi and to identify possible Mishrif sweet spots as future drilling locations. To achieve this objective, seismic mapping of various reflectors below, above, and within the Mishrif Formation was attempted. From drilled wells all the available wireline data and cores were studied. Detailed seismic sequence stratigraphic analysis was carried out to understand the evolution of the Mishrif Formation and places where the good porosity-permeability development and oil accumulation might have happened. The seismic characters of the Mishrif Formation in dry and successful wells were studied and were calibrated with well data. The Mishrif Formation was deposited during Late Cretaceous Cenomanian time. In the study area it has a gross thickness ranging from 532 to 1,269 ft as derived from the drilled wells; the thickness rapidly decreases eastward toward the shelf edge and approaching the Shilaif basin. The Mishrif was divided into three third-order sequences based on core observations from seven wells and log signatures from 25 wells. The bottom-most sequence Mishrif 1.0 was identified is the thickest unit but was also found dry. The next identified sequence Mishrif 2.0 was also dry. The next and the uppermost sequence identified as Mishrif 3.0 shows a thickness from 123 to 328 ft. All the tested oil-bearing intervals lie within this sequence. This sequence was further subdivided into three fourth-order sequences based on log and core signatures; namely, Mishrif 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3. In six selected seismic lines of 181 Line Km (LKM) cutting across the depositional axis, seismic sequence stratigraphic analysis was carried out. In those sections all the visible seismic reflectors were picked using a stratigraphic interpretation software. Reflector groups were made to identify lowstand systems tract, transgressive systems tract, maximum flooding surface, and highstand systems tract by tying with the observations of log and core at the wells and by seismic signature. Wheeler diagrams were generated in all these six sections to understand the lateral disposition of these events and locales of their development. Based on stratigraphic analysis, a zone with likely grainy porous facies development was identified in Mishrif 3.0. Paleotopography at the top of Mishrif was reconstructed to help delineate areas where sea-level fall generated leaching-related sweet spots. Analysis of measured permeability data identified the presence of local permeability baffles affecting the reservoir quality and hydrocarbon accumulation. This study helped to identify several drilling locations based on a generic understanding of the Mishrif Formation. Such stratigraphic techniques can be successfully applied in similar carbonate reservoirs to identify the prospect areas.

Seismic reflections from a lithospheric suture zone below the Archaean Yilgarn Craton

Seismic reflectors in the uppermost mantle, which can indicate past plate tectonic subduction, are exceedingly rare below Archaean cratons, and restricted to the Neoarchaean. Here we present reprocessed seismic reflection profiles from the northwest Archaean Yilgarn Craton and the Palaeoproterozoic Capricorn Orogen of western Australia that reveal the existence of a ~4 km thick south-dipping band of seismic reflectors that extends from the base of the Archaean crust to at least 60 km depth. We interpret these reflectors, which lie south of a ~50 km deep crustal root, as a relict suture zone within the lithosphere. We suggest that the mantle reflectors were created either by subduction of an oceanic plate along the northern edge of the Yilgarn Craton, which started in the Mesoarchaean and produced the rocks in northern Yilgarn greenstone belts that formed in a supra-subduction zone setting, or, alternatively, by underthrusting of continental crust deep into the lithosphere during the Palaeoproterozoic.

The dynamic coastal evidence of Jakarta Bay during Late Pleistocene-Recent

Some significant indication identifying a coastal dynamic during Late Pleistocene to Recent is the evolution of isochrone patterns throughout glacial-interglacial stages. This study aims to identify the sediments stratification of Jakarta Bay during the Late Pleistocene – Recent in the framework of coastal dynamic triggered by the sea-level changes of last prominent climatic stages. The several high-resolution seismic records in Jakarta Bay lines were interpreted to illustrate the different sequences from the top down to the oldest by line-drawing the more robust seismic reflectors as a sequence limit surface. Furthermore, the isochrone map series of unit boundary (UB) were reconstructed to delineate isochrone contour patterns from the oldest until modern. The selected isochrones map of UB-3 and UB-5 with their unit facies are somehow favorable to be compared for observing the coastal dynamic of Jakarta Bay during the last climatic variability. Finally, the coastal dynamic of Jakarta Bay is discovered by the movement series of isochrones contour patterns that correspond to the sea-level changes during the last prominent glacial-interglacial stages.

Impact of mechanical stratification on the structural style of the Lublin Basin, SE Poland: results of seismic interpretation and implications for quantification of deformation within the frontal parts of thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts

We demonstrate how lithological and mechanical stratification of Ediacaran–Carboniferous sedimentary package governs strain partitioning in the Lublin Basin (LB) which was incorporated in the marginal portion of the Variscan fold-and-thrust belt. Based on the geometry of seismic reflectors, the pre-Permian–Mesozoic sedimentary sequence was subdivided into two structural complexes differing in structural style. The lower one reveals forelandward-vergent imbrication, while the upper one comprises fold train, second-order deformations, and multiple local detachments. Lithological composition of the upper structural complex controlled geometry, kinematics, and position of compressional deformations in stratigraphic profile. System of foreland-vergent thrusts which links lower and upper detachment developed due to efficiency of simple shear operating in heterogeneous clastic-carbonate-evaporitic strata of the Lower–Upper Devonian age. Internal homogeneity promoted the formation of conjugate sets of thrusts in Silurian shales and Upper Devonian limestones. Structural seismic interpretation combined with sequential restoration revealed localised thickening of Devonian strata and up to 5% difference in length of Devonian horizons. This mismatch is interpreted as a manifestation of distributed shortening, including layer-parallel shortening (LPS), which operated before or synchronously to the initiation of folding. The amount of distributed strain is comparable with numbers obtained in external parts of other fold-and-thrust belts. The outcomes derived from this study may act as a benchmark for studying variability in a structural style of multilayered sequences which were incorporated in the external portion of other fold-and-thrust belts.

First Evidence of Contourite Drifts in the North-Western Sicilian Active Continental Margin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

We present the results of an integrated geomorphological and seismo-stratigraphic study based on high resolution marine data acquired in the north-western Sicilian continental margin. We document for the first time five contourite drifts (marked as EM1a, EM2b, EM2, EM3a, and EM3b), located in the continental slope at depths between ca. 400 and 1500 m. EM1a,b have been interpreted as elongated mounded drifts. EM1a,b are ca. 3 km long, 1.3 km wide, and have a maximum thickness of 36 m in their center that thins northwards, while EM1b is smaller with a thickness up to 24 m. They are internally characterized by mounded seismic packages dominated by continuous and parallel reflectors. EM2 is located in the upper slope at a depth of ca. 1470 m, and it is ca. 9.3 km long, more than 3.9 km wide, and has a maximum thickness of ca. 65 m. It consists of an internal aggradational stacking pattern with elongated mounded packages of continuous, moderate to high amplitude seismic reflectors. EM2 is internally composed by a mix of contourite deposits (Holocene) interbedded with turbiditic and/or mass flow deposits. EM1a,b and EM2 are deposited at the top of an erosional truncation aged at 11.5 ka, so they mostly formed during the Holocene. EM3a,b are ca. 16 km long, more than 6.7 km wide, and have a thickness up to 350 m. Both EM2 and EM3a,b have been interpreted as sheeted drift due to their morphology and seismic features. The spatial distribution of the contourite drifts suggests that the drifts are likely generated by the interaction of the LIW, and deep Tyrrhenian water (TDW) on the seafloor, playing an important role in the shaping this continental margin since the late Pleistocene-Holocene. The results may help to understand the deep oceanic processes affecting the north-western Sicilian continental margin.

Simultaneously computing the 3D dip attributes for all the time samples of a seismic trace

The seismic dip attribute is regularly used to aid structural interpretation and is commonly adopted as a compulsory input for computing other seismic geometric attributes. One disadvantage of current dip computation algorithms is that interpreters compute the dip attribute time sample by time sample and do not consider the relationship between dip values of nearby samples. The classic convolution theory suggests one formation boundary should have the corresponding seismic event. However, the seismic wavelet always has a certain time duration. As a result, one formation boundary has a corresponding seismic event that consists of several time samples. Ideally, the time samples, which belong to the same boundary, should have approximately the same dip attributes. In this research, a sample by sample computation procedure is treated as an independent optimisation procedure. Then, simultaneously computing the seismic dip of time samples of one seismic trace can be regarded as a multi-objective optimisation procedure. The proposed method is based on analysing features of seismic waveform within user-defined windows. Considering that nearby time samples should have continuous dip values, we the dynamic time warping to simultaneously compute seismic reflectors’ dip values of a seismic trace. We applied our method to a field seismic data to demonstrate its effectiveness.

A 2D Seismic Reflection and Interpretation Study of the Khan Al-Baghdadi area within the Palaeozoic Era (western Iraq)

This research deals with a 2D seismic structural and stratigraphic interpretation of Khan Al-Baghdadi area which is located in the western part of Iraq in Anbar governorate. Two main seismic reflectors are identified within the Silurian and Ordovician; these are the Hot_shale_1 within Akkas Formation and the Top Khabour Formation, which were deposited during the Paleozoic, based on synthetic seismogram of Akk_3 well near the study area. Time, depth, and velocity maps show the presence of two anticline structures trending east-west and located on the west side of the study area. The first is the Tulul structure (here denoted as A) and the second is denoted as B. Also, the maps show the increase in time towards the eastern side of the study area. The general slope of the reflectors is towards the southeast and the increase in the thickness of formations is gradually to the southwest and the northwest sides of the study area. The direct hydrocarbon indicator (DHI) was identified as sand lenses and flat spots on the studied reflectors, when applying seismic attributes like the instantaneous phase and the instantaneous Frequency), which give indicators of potential hydrocarbon accumulations. The primary reservoir in the study area is sandstone within the Khabour Formation, while the source and seal rocks are in the Hot_shale within Akkas Formation. They are interpreted to be present throughout Akkas Field, as gas-condensate accumulations, 100 km to the west of the study area and demonstrate the viability of the Paleozoic petroleum system in the Western Desert of Iraq.

Well-to-Seismic Tie of a Field Onshore of the Nigerian Delta

This work presents a modern procedure for understanding seismic data wavelets through well-toseismic tie on an onshore field in the Nigerian Delta using the state-of-the-art techniques. The purpose of this work is the correlation of formation tops and seismic reflectors in the field. The objectives among others include the calibration of the seismic data in terms of polarity and phase, as well as to ensure that the seismic data is descriptive to well markers and discoveries, extending knowledge from the well location to rest of the field and reducing uncertainties. Logs from the two wells on the field and also logs from three wells on neighbouring fields were used to establish lateral continuity of the reservoirs H1000 and H4000. Their results show that the top, base and thickness of both reservoirs are quite variable laterally and this posed some challenges in the correlation from well to well. The field does not have checkshot data, so checkshot data from one of the wells on the neighbouring field was borrowed. Calibrated sonic and density logs of well01 and well-02 were used to assess the seismic ties at the well locations. Strong correlations at the wells are fundamental to the evaluation of the spatial extent of the horizons around the wells from the seismic data. Seismic-to-well ties are a very important part of the interpreter’s business as they provide a means of correctly identifying horizons to pick, and estimating the wavelet for inverting seismic data to impedance and rock property indicators. Keywords: Seismic, horizons, correlation, synthetics

Kinematics of Cenozoic shortening across the foothills of the Western Kunlun Range (Xinjiang, China): the case of the Hotan anticline

<p>Quantitative constraints on the Cenozoic deformation of the northwestern edge of the Tibetan Plateau remain limited, in particular in terms of shortening rates and of their possible evolution over time. This is indeed the case for the Western Kunlun Range, along the southwestern rim of the Tarim Basin, even though surface geological data and an extensive database of seismic profiles allow to explore the sedimentary record of Cenozoic deformation. Here, we take advantage of these data to document the structural geometry and Cenozoic kinematics of the large scale east-west striking Hotan anticline along the mountain front. Four balanced cross-sections are constructed, and the temporal evolution of deformation is deciphered from the exceptionally seismically well imaged growth strata on the forelimb of the anticline.</p><p>The fold results from a broad unfaulted basement ramp anticline, subsequently deformed by a duplex structure that developed in the footwall units. The total shortening of the Hotan thrust system is relatively constant along strike, from ~40 to ~32 km. The shortening accommodated by the duplex varies laterally from west to east, from ~50-40 % to 0 % of the total shortening. </p><p>Two distinct successive patterns of growth strata are recognised in the forelimb, and are interpreted to be representative of deformation on the basement ramp, followed by deformation related to the growth of the underlying duplex. Deformation on the basement ramp initiated by ~17 Ma, when calibrating growth seismic reflectors on surface magnetostratigraphic sections. Deformation of the underlying duplex began at ~12 Ma to the west and subsequently propagated eastward.</p><p>From these results on shortening and timing of deformation, we determine a shortening rate of 4-3 mm/yr from ~17 to ~7 Ma across the Hotan anticline. We find a significant subsequent decrease in shortening rates, possibly down to <0.5 mm/yr since the uppermost Miocene. These rates are compared to existing values and their regional significance is discussed.</p>

Collisional Orogeny in the Scandinavian Caledonides (COSC): Some preliminary results from drilling of the 2.276 km deep COSC-2 borehole, central Sweden

<p>COSC investigations and drilling activities are focused in the Åre-Mörsil area (Sweden) of central Scandinavia. COSC-2 was drilled with nearly 100% core recovery in 2020 to 2.276 km depth with drilling ongoing from mid-April to early August. Drilling targets for COSC-2 included (1) the highly conductive Alum shale, (2) the Caledonian décollement, the major detachment that separates the Caledonian allochthons from the autochthonous basement of the Fennoscandian Shield, and (3) the strong seismic reflectors in the Precambrian basement.</p><p>Combined seismic, magnetotelluric (MT) and magnetic data were used to site the COSC-2 borehole about 20 km east-southeast of COSC-1. Based on these data it was predicted that the uppermost, tectonic occurrence of Cambrian Alum shale would be penetrated at about 800 m, the main décollement in Alum shale at its stratigraphic level at about 1200 m and the uppermost high amplitude basement reflector at about 1600 m. Paleozoic turbidites and greywackes were expected to be drilled down to 800 m depth. Below this depth, Ordovician limestone and shale with imbricates of Alum shale were interpreted to be present. Directly below the main décollement, magnetite rich Precambrian basement was expected to be encountered with a composition similar to that of magnetic granitic rocks found east of the Caledonian Front. The actual depths of the main contacts turned out to agree very well with the predictions based on the geophysical data. However, the geology below the uppermost occurrence of Alum shale is quite different from the expected model. Alum shale was only clearly encountered as a highly deformed, about 30 m thick unit, starting at about 790 m. Between about 820 and 1200 m, preliminary interpretations are that the rocks mainly consist of Neo-Proterozoic to Early Cambrian tuffs. Further below, Precambrian porphyries are present. The high amplitude reflections within the Precambrian sequence appear to be generated by dolerite sheets with the uppermost top penetrated at about 1600 m. Several deformed sheets of dolerite may be present down to about 1930 m. Below this depth the rocks are again porphyries.</p><p>A preliminary conclusion concerning the tectonic model is that the main décollement is at about 800 m and not at 1200 m. Also the thickness of the lowermost Cambrian/uppermost Neoproterozoic sediments on top of the basement is much greater than expected (hundreds of meters instead of tens of meters) and likely to have been thickened tectonically. Detailed studies are required to assess the actual importance of the “main décollement” and the degree, type and age of deformation in its footwall. We can also conclude that the Precambrian basement is very similar to the Dala porphyries succession that are typically present farther south.</p><p>An extensive set of downhole logging data was acquired directly after drilling. Borehole seismic measurements in 2021 will help to define and correlate seismic boundaries with lithology and structures in the core. Unfortunately, work for describing the geology of the drill core in detail is still on hold due to Covid-19.</p>