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Volume 29, Issue 3
  • E-ISSN: 1365-2117

Abstract

Abstract

Deciphering the role slope topography plays in partitioning sediment on siliciclastic continental slope and base‐of‐slope systems helps our understanding of slope depositional processes in significant ways: (1) by validation of large‐scale depositional process models for continental margins, (2) by validation of numerical basin‐scale stratigraphic forward models used to test and deploy source‐to‐sink (S2S) concepts and (3) by creating models for setting reservoir presence and quality expectations in frontier areas poorly constrained by wells and seismic. A global database consisting of >700 km of drilled stratigraphy provide empirical rock data lacking from most S2S studies. Analysis of calibrated seismic stratigraphic units characterised using the contextual framework laid out in this paper show that both gross depositional environments (GDEs) and sand content occur across slope profiles in systematic ways. The challenge in using these observations to quantify reservoir risk and uncertainty lies with relating the observations to depositional processes that can be used to characterise frontier basins that lack calibration. Depositional process‐based understanding encoded in 3D stratigraphic forward models (SFM) can simulate both lithologies and GDEs providing broad predictions for exploration at the scale of an entire basin or slope system. Stratigraphic forward models allow the integration of S2S understanding and provide a framework for testing sediment‐partitioning hypotheses in frontier settings. Valid S2S models must balance sediment yield from the source catchments with sinks, and be consistent with basin specific observations. The proportions of GDEs across the slope provide additional validation criteria to ensure the models are plausible.

Basin Research © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers and International Association of Sedimentologists © 2016 Shell Oil Company Basin Research © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers and International Association of Sedimentologists
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2016-03-12
2024-04-20

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Sediment partitioning, continental slopes and base‐of‐slope systems
Basin Research 29, 394 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12190
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Thickness percentage distributions of environments of deposition down the slope profile.

Mudrock types from slope environments of deposition (a) apron, (b) valley, (c) MTC, (d) hemipelagic wedge and (e) drape.

Mud and sand thickness percentage distribution as a function of environments of deposition from (a) graded, (b) ponded and (c) stepped profile types.

Sand percentage distribution down each of three slope profiles a) graded, b) stepped and c) ponded.

Sand partitioning on slopes of (a) mud‐rich (b) mixed and (c) sand‐rich slope systems.

Distribution of GDE, sand and mud from (a) mud‐rich (b) mixed and (c) sand‐rich slope systems.

Producing reservoir distributions from graded, stepped and ponded profile types.

Downslope sand partitioning patterns from the Gulf of Mexico for the a) lower, b) middle and c) upper Miocene.

GDE comparison between a) modelled GDE distributions and those from b) graded/out‐of‐grade and c) stepped slopes.

Summary of seismic facies classes as used in this study.

Summary of system‐scale sand content measured used to characterize gross sediment calibre. 1Liu and Galloway (1997); 2OTER (2011); 3shelf estimates from maps by Bebout . (1981) numbers quoted as km3; 4shelf estimates based on Shell proprietary study Grant and Steele (2010); 5shelf estimates based on Mineral Management Services data (2006) but the Middle and Lower Miocene are under sampled as wells generally reached total depth too shallow for complete penetration; 6calculated from Carvajal and Steel (2012) numbers quoted in ×109 tons.

Summary of seismic facies assemblages observed form identification of gross depositional environment.

 

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