Seismic Stratigraphy

Every little wiggle has a meaning all its own. This is our underlying faith, that details of seismic waveshapes can tell us the details of the nature of the earth. But their voices are obscured by many irrelevancies. They speak in a high-noise environment, and we have been able to decipher only a small portion. However, things are looking up: better tech niques are lessening the irrelevancies, and we are learning to read. In exploration of unknown areas, determining the nature of the rocks present is often the difficult aspect. Most of the properties of rocks that can be measured at a distance are not distinctive enough to identify the rock unambiguously. Con ventionally, seismic data are used to determine aspects of the structure. Stratigraphic pictures are inferred from the struc ture, the nature of rocks exposed for examination in the sur rounding area, and regional concepts. Three points make seismic stratigraphy feasible now: (1) we have better data quality, (2) we have begun to sys tematize analysis procedures, and (3) we believe in the geologic significance of waveshape details.

The innovation and refinement of the techniques and concepts ofsequence stratigraphy has been one of the most exciting andprofound developments in geology over the past thirty years.Seismic stratigraphy has now become one of the standard tools ofthe geoscientist, and there is a pressing need for an introductorytext on sequence stratigraphy. This new book sets out to define andexplain the concepts, principles and applications of thisremarkably influential approach to the study of sedimentary strata.The authors take a rigorous objective stance in evaluating thetechniques and interpretation of sequence stratigraphy - basing thetext on an internal training course developed by British Petroleum(BP). A new text on this increasingly important field A practical guide based on the experience of practisingsequence stratigraphers Based on a highly successful BP training course

"This Memoir is the result of plans made after the first Research Symposium on Seismic Stratigraphy presented at the 1975 national convention of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Selected reports from technical meetings since that time are also included."--Foreword.

Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy, Second Edition presents principles to practical workflow that guide applications in a consistent manner that is independent of model, geological setting and the types and resolution of the data available. The book explains the points of agreement and difference between the various approaches to sequence stratigraphy, while also defining the common ground that affords the standard application of the method. This enables the practitioner to avoid nomenclatural and methodological confusions and apply sequence stratigraphy. The text is richly illustrated with hundreds of full-color diagrams and examples of outcrop, borehole and seismic data. The book's balanced approach helps students and professionals acquire a sound understanding of the concepts and methodology. It will appeal to geologists, geophysicists and engineers with interest in basin analysis, stratigraphy and sedimentology, as well as in all economic applications that concern the exploration and production of natural resources, including water, hydrocarbons, coal and sediment-hosted mineral deposits. Updates the award-winning first edition in all aspects of sequence stratigraphy, from the underlying theory to the practical applications Presents the standard approach to sequence stratigraphic methodology, nomenclature, and classification; the role of modeling in sequence stratigraphy, and the difference between modeling and methodology Discusses the roles of scale and stratigraphic resolution in sequence stratigraphy, and the workflow that affords a consistent application of the method irrespective of the types of data available Describes the three-dimensional nature of the stratigraphic architecture, and the variability of stratigraphic sequences with the tectonic setting, depositional setting, and the climatic regime Illustrates all concepts with high-quality, full-color diagrams, outcrop photographs, and subsurface well data and seismic images

The interest in seismic stratigraphic techniques to interpret reflection datasets is well established. The advent of sophisticated subsurface reservoir studies and 4D monitoring, for optimising the hydrocarbon production in existing fields, does demonstrate the importance of the 3D seismic methodology. The added value of reflection seismics to the petroleum industry has clearly been proven over the last decades. Seismic profiles and 3D cubes form a vast and robust data source to unravel the structure of the subsurface. It gets nowadays exploited in ever greater detail. Larger offsets and velocity anisotropy effects give for instance access to more details on reservoir flow properties like fracture density, porosity and permeability distribution, Elastic inversion and modelling may tell something about the change in petrophysical parameters. Seismic investigations provide a vital tool for the delineation of subtle hydrocarbon traps. They are the basis for understanding the regional basin framework and the stratigraphic subdivision. Seismic stratigraphy combines two very different scales of observation: the seismic and well-control. The systematic approach applied in seismic stratigraphy explains why many workers are using the principles to evaluate their seismic observations. The here presented modern geophysical techniques allow more accurate prediction of the changes in subsurface geology. Dynamics of sedimentary environments are discussed with its relation to global controling factors and a link is made to high-resolution sequence stratigraphy. ‘Seismic Stratigraphy Basin Analysis and Reservoir Characterisation’ summarizes basic seismic interpretation techniques and demonstrates the benefits of intergrated reservoir studies for hydrocarbon exploration. Topics are presented from a practical point of view and are supported by well-illustrated case histories. The reader (student as well as professional geophysicists, geologists and reservoir engineers) is taken from a basic level to more advanced study techniques. * Overview reflection seismic methods and its limitations. * Link between basic seismic stratigraphic principles and high resolution sequence stratigraphy. * Description of various techniques for seismic reservoir characterization and synthetic modelling. * Overview nversion techniques, AVO and seismic attributes analysis.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are neighbors yet distinctly separate entities within the earth sciences. Sedimentology searches for the common traits of sedimentary rocks regardless of age as it reconstructs environments and processes of deposition and erosion from the sediment record. Stratigraphy, by contrast, concentrates on changes with time, on measuring time and correlating coeval events. Sequence stratigraphy straddles the boundary between the two fields. This book, dedicated to carbonate rocks, approaches sequence stratigraphy from its sedimentologic background. This book attempts to communicate by combining different specialities and different lines of reasoning, and by searching for principles underlying the bewildering diversity of carbonate rocks. It provides enough general background, in introductory chapters and appendices, to be easily digestible for sedimentologists and stratigraphers as well as earth scientists at large.

This book contains six chapters dealing with the investigation of seismic and sequence stratigraphy and integrated stratigraphy, including the stratigraphic unconformities, in different geological settings and using several techniques and methods, including the seismostratigraphic and the sequence stratigraphic analysis, the field geological survey, the well log stratigraphic interpretation, and the lithologic and paleobotanical data. Book chapters are separated into two main sections: (i) seismic and sequence stratigraphy and (ii) integrated stratigraphy. There are three chapters in the first section, including the application of sequence and seismic stratigraphy to the fine-grained shales, to the fluvial facies and depositional environments, and to the Late Miocene geological structures offshore of Taiwan. In the second section, there are three chapters dealing with the integrated stratigraphic investigation of Jurassic deposits of the southern Siberian platform, with the stratigraphic unconformities, reviewing the related geological concepts and studying examples from Middle-Upper Paleozoic successions; and, finally, with the integrated stratigraphy of the Cenozoic deposits of the Andean foreland basin (northwestern Argentina).