Stochastic evaluation of fluvial to marginal marine sealing facies

Hydrocarbon top seal analyses are particularly difficult in fluvial and marginal marine settings. Although these settings often contain beds comprised of a low-permeability, clay-rich lithology associated with high quality seals, their presence does not guarantee an effective seal because individual beds within the stratal unit may be laterally discontinuous. Lateral facies changes, truncation of fine-grained beds, or the presence of crevasse splays may provide cross-stratal migration pathways, reducing the effective sealing capacity to a magnitude less than the closure height.     

Modeling an atypical petroleum system: A case study of hydrocarbon generation,migration and accumulation related to igneous intrusions in the Neuquen Basin,Argentina

In the Altiplanicie del Payún area (Neuquen Basin, Argentina), immature source rock sections intruded by up to 600 m thick Tertiary laccoliths show full spectrum maturity aureoles over hundreds of meters from the contacts. Commercial oil accumulations (20–33°API) and oil shows are located along the entire column, both in sandstone/carbonate and fractured igneous reservoirs. A challenging numerical model that included the emplacement of the intrusive bodies, with extreme temperature ranges and unusually short calculation time steps, has been done with the aim to better understand hydrocarbon generation and migration processes related to these thermal anomalies.     

A control-volume finite-element method for three-dimensional multiphase basin modeling

In this paper we describe a 3D control-volume finite-element method to solve numerically the coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) governing geological processes involved in the evolution of sedimentary basins. These processes include sediment deposition and deformation, hydrocarbon generation, multiphase fluid flow, and heat transfer in deforming porous media.     

北部湾盆地涠西南凹陷C洼烃源岩热史及成熟史模拟

北部湾盆地涠西南凹陷C洼流沙港组烃源岩热史及成熟史研究,对C洼深水油气勘探具有指导意义。在恢复涠西南凹陷C洼地史和热史的基础上,利用EASY%Ro模型计算了流沙港组烃源岩的成熟度史。研究结果表明,在涠西南凹陷发展的裂陷阶段初始期热流值较高,最大值约为77mW/m2,其后热流值逐渐减小,现今热流值约为54mW/m2;涠西南凹陷C洼流沙港组烃源岩开始生烃(Ro=0.5%)时间为51MaBP,达到生烃高峰(Ro=1%)时间为42MaBP,达到高成熟演化阶段(Ro=1.3%)时间为17MaBP;对比涠1井流沙港组烃源岩演化特征,处于C洼深水勘探区的流沙港组烃源岩成熟度较高,生烃能力较强,拥有广阔的油气勘探前景。     

端元分析模型在长江口邻近海域沉积物粒度数据反演方面的应用

海洋沉积物粒度分布曲线往往同时具有多个峰,而且同一类型沉积物因时间和空间上的不同其粒度分布曲线峰的位置也不同,沉积物粒度分布多峰的特点反映了沉积物不同的输运形式和沉降过程[1,2].因此,在沉积物的粒度分布数据中保存了有关沉积物输运和沉降的信息,而获得这些信息对于揭示沉积区域水动力特性、沉积物输运和沉降规律具有重要的意义.     

Ocean current estimation using a Multi-Model Ensemble Kalman Filter during the Grand Lagrangian Deployment experiment (GLAD)

In the summer and fall of 2012, during the GLAD experiment in the Gulf of Mexico, the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) used several ocean models to assist the deployment of more than 300 surface drifters. The Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) at 1 km and 3 km resolutions, the US Navy operational NCOM at 3 km resolution (AMSEAS), and two versions of the Hybrid Coordinates Ocean Model (HYCOM) set at 4 km were running daily and delivering 72-h range forecasts. They all assimilated remote sensing and local profile data but they were not assimilating the drifter’s observations. This work presents a non-intrusive methodology named Multi-Model Ensemble Kalman Filter that allows assimilating the local drifter data into such a set of models, to produce improved ocean currents forecasts. The filter is to be used when several modeling systems or ensembles are available and/or observations are not entirely handled by the operational data assimilation process. It allows using generic in situ measurements over short time windows to improve the predictability of local ocean dynamics and associated high-resolution parameters of interest for which a forward model exists (e.g. oil spill plumes). Results can be used for operational applications or to derive enhanced background fields for other data assimilation systems, thus providing an expedite method to non-intrusively assimilate local observations of variables with complex operators. Results for the GLAD experiment show the method can improve water velocity predictions along the observed drifter trajectories, hence enhancing the skills of the models to predict individual trajectories.     

Investigation of drag crisis phenomenon using CFD methods

When fluid flow passes a cylinder, the drag crisis phenomenon occurs between the sub-critical and the super-critical Reynolds numbers. The focus of the present studies was on the numerical prediction of the drag crisis based on CFD methods. In this work, block structured meshes with refined grids near the cylinder surface and in the downstream were employed. Both 2D and 3D simulations were performed using various turbulence models, including the SST k − ω model, the k − ϵ model, the SST with LCTM, the DES model, and the LES model. In the convergence studies, the effects of the grid size, the time step, the first grid size and the aspect ratio (for 3D simulations) on the solutions were examined. The errors due to spatial and time discretizations were quantified according to a V&V procedure. Validation studies were carried out for various Reynolds numbers between Re = 6.31 × 10⁴ and 7.57 × 10⁵. The averaged drag force, the RMS of lift force and the Strouhal number were compared with experimental data. The studies indicated that standard 2D and 3D RANS methods were inadequate to capture the drag crisis phenomenon. The LES method however has the potential to address the problem.     

A System for Fast Cartographic Sounding Selection

Soundings on nautical charts provide information about the shape of the ocean bottom between chart depth curves. A single chart may have thousands of soundings posted on it. This article describes a system for automatic cartographic sounding selection. In this system, a new algorithm for automated selecting soundings is developed. The algorithm is employed in such a way that it can guarantee (a) fast and accurate selecting sounding, (b) processing the circular depth curves, (c) solving the overplotting problems between depth curves and soundings, and (d) keeping selected soundings “prettier.” The system was intensively tested using real data sets, and its superiority has been revealed by the testing results.     

Identifying Rocky Seabed Using GIS-Modeled Predictor Variables

Mapping the seabed along the Norwegian coast is costly and time consuming. Hence, finding a modeling method to separate rocky seabed from other substrate types will provide digital maps that may be used to develop cost-effective sampling designs to predict species and habitat distribution. Our approach was to use geophysical data that were quantitative and objectively defined, generalized additive models (GAMs), and Akaike information criterion (AIC) to develop statistical models and select among them. We found that slope, terrain curvature, wave exposure, and depth predicted rocky seabed occurrence with a high degree of certainty.