Turbidite-reservoir architecture in complex foredeep-margin and wedge-top depocenters,Tertiary Molasse foreland basin system,Austria

We employ an integrated subsurface dataset, including >400 m of drill cores and three-dimensional (3D) seismic-reflection data from >530 km² of the Tertiary Molasse foreland basin system in Austria, to characterize turbidite-system architecture across structurally complex foredeep-margin and wedge-top depocenters and to interpret the influence of tectonic deformation and submarine topography on hydrocarbon-reservoir quality and distribution. Turbidite-system architecture and depositional processes were correlated with associated topographic features in order to identify zones of preferential sediment gravity-flow convergence or divergence. Zones of flow convergence facilitate flow acceleration and accumulative flow behavior, whereas zones of flow divergence facilitate deceleration and depletion. Zones of preferential flow convergence include narrow (<2 km) and steep (<20°) foredeep-margin slope channels along thrust front-segmenting tear faults, and steep, unchannelized piggyback-basin and foredeep margins (local gradients as great as 40° across piggyback-basin margins). The foredeep-margin gradient is exaggerated principally by tectonic deformation that post-dates turbidite-system development, based on a paucity of growth strata. Piggyback-basin-margin gradients are exaggerated as a result of deformation synchronous with and following turbidite-system development, judging from the presence of growth strata. Slope-channel topography facilitated the development of relatively coarse-grained, amalgamated turbidite reservoirs, whereas unchannelized basin-margin topography facilitated deposition of fine-grained, chaotic non-reservoirs. Zones of preferential flow divergence are flat (<1°), unconfined (i.e., large in comparison to sediment gravity flows) piggyback-basin floors, which facilitated the development of relatively coarse-grained, non-amalgamated, upward fining turbidite reservoirs, stratigraphically partitioned by fine-grained mass transport-complex deposits. The results of this study elucidate the influence of foredeep-margin and wedge-top tectonic deformation and topography on turbidite-system and associated reservoir character and distribution across the Molasse foreland basin system in Austria, and can be applied to oil and gas exploration in analogous, structurally complex settings.     

世界著名深水油气盆地的构造特征及对我国南海北部深水油气勘探的启示

介绍世界著名深水油气盆地的主要特征,着重构造特征,并与南海北部深水区进行了对比。世界著名深水油气盆地产出的大地构造条件具多样性,虽然大多数位于开阔大洋被动陆缘（南大西洋裂谷系、北海、澳大利亚西北陆架盆地）,但边缘海的被动陆缘（墨西哥湾盆地）、转换大陆边缘（洛杉矶盆地）、主动陆缘（南沙海槽盆地）也可形成极佳的深水含油气盆地。南海北部深水区具有世界某些重要深水含油气盆地类似的特征,如位于被动陆缘和大河出口下方,以裂陷期的湖相富有机质页岩为主要生油岩,白云凹陷发育上下叠置的6层深水扇等,这都是有利的石油地质条件。但南海北部深水区盐层和盐构造不发育,构造圈闭相对较不发育,使深水油气系统的研究更加困难,也更具开拓意义。      

Stratal attributes and evolution of asymmetric inner- and outer-bend levee deposits associated with an ancient deep-water channel-levee complex within the Isaac Formation, southern Canada

Isaac Channel 3 is a rare outcrop example of a perpendicular cut through a sinuous deep-water channel, and also where levee deposits formed on opposite sides of the channel are well exposed. Strata flanking the outer- and inner-bend margin of the channel show important differences in lithofacies, architecture and association with channel-fill strata. Proximal outer-bend levee deposits are sand-rich (N:G up to 0.68) and comprise medium- to thick-bedded, T_a-d turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded, T_cd turbidites. The thicker-bedded deposits show lateral variation in grain size and thickness over hundreds of meters whereas thin-bedded strata thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. The distal outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) consists predominantly of thin-bedded turbidites interstratified with up to 5 m thick coarse-grained splay deposits. In contrast to the outer-bend, the inner-bend levee deposits are significantly more mud-rich (N:G as low as 0.15) and consist mostly of thin-bedded, T_cd turbidites with less common thicker-bedded, T_a-d turbidites. Lateral thinning and fining trends associated with these less common thicker-bedded deposits occur more rapidly than their outer-bend counterparts.Erosion associated with lateral migration of the channel axis produced a sharp contact along the outer-bend channel margin causing coarse-grained channel-fill deposits to be in erosional contact with levee deposits. This suggests that the crest of the outer-bend levee was elevated above the channel floor and produced a channel margin upon which channel-fill strata onlapped. Positive topography is interpreted to have developed by overspilling processes that deposited abundant sand on the outer-bend levee while the majority of the flow continued through the channel bend and bypassed to areas further downslope. In contrast, some thick-bedded, amalgamated channel-fill deposits in the axial channel area grade laterally over 140 m into thinly-bedded turbidites on the inner-bend levee. The lack of channel-fill on lap relationships implies that topography along the inner bend was sufficiently subtle that at least some flows were able to expand laterally and over the overbank area without becoming separated from the main throughgoing channel flow.Stratal relationships observed in Isaac Channel Complex 3 suggests three main episodes of channel-levee growth that were each initiated by a period of increased levee relief followed by channel filling and distal levee deposition. This consistent depositional history points to the regular variations, in both time and space, of sediment transport and deposition in a deep-marine sinuous channel-levee system.     

Unreciprocated sedimentation along a mud-dominated continental margin,Gulf of Mexico,U.S.A.: Implications for sequence stratigraphy in muddy settings devoid of depositional sequences

According to widely accepted sequence stratigraphic and fill-and-spill models, sedimentary cyclicity along continental margins is modulated by relative sea-level change, whereas smaller-scale intraslope accommodation is controlled by the filling of pre-existing bathymetric depressions. Although these concepts are presumed to apply to shelf-to-slope settings regardless of grain size, we have tested both hypotheses in the mud-prone lower Pliocene to Holocene of offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, and reach different conclusions. We determine that over the last ∼3.7 Myr, differential accumulation and accompanying salt tectonism dislocated the fine-grained shelf and slope, prevented the development of sedimentary reciprocity at 10–100 kyr time scales, and inhibited fill-and-spill accumulation. We show that only 3% of “lowstand” mass transport deposits can be correlated to low stands in relative sea level, whereas approximately 30% of the deposits are related to transgressions and high stands; the remaining 67% are poorly constrained. Mass transport deposits also show no clear evidence of up-section increases in bypass. Based on our results, we conclude that the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture in offshore Louisiana was not relative sea-level change or patterns of accommodation, but rather differential deposition and concomitant salt-related subsidence, which controlled the distribution of facies, timing and location of mass transport deposits, and rates of sediment accumulation. Our conclusions highlight the importance of sediment supply and local tectonism, and caution against a priori use of conventional sequence stratigraphic and fill-and-spill models to decipher the stratigraphic evolution of actively-deforming mud-dominated continental margins. We therefore recommend treating stratigraphic models as testable hypotheses, rather than as methods of interpretation, particularly in fine-grained areas devoid of well-developed depositional sequences and in settings lacking intraslope ponded-to-perched accumulations.     

湖南桃江奥陶系磨刀溪组锰质岩的内碎屑结构和重力流沉积

湖南桃江一带的奥陶纪锰质碳酸盐岩,具有清晰的内碎屑结构和一些粒度递变沉积构造。锰质岩或锰矿层呈薄层或条带夹在含有笔石的黑色泥页岩中,表现出它们在成因或沉积环境方面的极不协调。以砂屑和藻屑为主组成的白色、灰白色锰质碳酸盐岩是清洁、浅水、碱性环境中的产物;以细粉砂级颗粒为主并含有硅质、碳质的泥页岩则是污浊、深水、酸性环境中的沉积。这种不协调的沉积组合是由于浅水锰质碳酸盐沉积物以重力流方式进入深水盆地与黑色泥质沉积物混合、交互沉积结果。     

A Brief Introduction to Deep-Water Mass-Transport Complexes: Structures,Genetic Classifications and Identification Methods

Mass-Transport Complexes (MTCs) are important components of deep-water systems, and widely distributed in continental margins and lake basins. Understanding MTCs is helpful for expanding the targets of deep-water hydrocarbon exploration and for evaluating geological risks of subsea engineering. Typical MTCs consist of three parts: the head tension area, body slip area, and toe compression area. During the transportation of MTCs, these three domains come into being successively. MTCs can be classified into three types: slide rock, slump rock, and debris rock, based on the sediment transport process and fluid properties, and they respectively correspond to elastic deformation, elastic and plastic deformation and plastic deformation stages. In 3D seismic plan, according to the direction of sediment flow (the slope direction), some depositional elements of MTCs, such as head cliffs, body folds, and toe squeeze ridges, can be clearly identified in proper order, and in seismic profiles MTCs are characterized by weak-medium amplitude reflections, mound-like shapes, and irregular top/bottom interfaces. In conventional log data, MTCs are commonly responded as abrupt shifts at their top/bottom interfaces. In outcrop data, MTCs have several kinds of sedimentary structures, such as massive textures, sliding folds, and mud lumps. Compared with turbidites, MTCs have many distinct characteristics. For example, MTCs are deposited from sediments transported through a "frozen" manner and have an "elongate-fan-like" slope morphology, a relative large thickness. Furthermore, MTCs can be characterized by no obvious features of grading differentiation and relatively large stratigraphic dips.     

Reservoir prediction of deep-water turbidite sandstones with seismic lithofacies control —A case study in the C block of lower Congo basin

Currently, conventional forecasting methods of well-to-seismic integration are unable to identify turbidite channel sandstones due to scarcity of well data in deepwater areas, small geophysical differences between sandstones and mudstones of turbidite channels and strong sandstones heterogeneity. The reservoir prediction of deep-water turbidite channels is still a difficult issue in deep-water research. On the basis of previous studies, we propose a new technology named “reservoir prediction of deep-water turbidite sandstones with seismic lithofacies control” in view of the characteristics of deep-water turbidite sandstones. This new technology improves the reservoir prediction of complex sedimentary systems after classifying seismic lithofacies and connecting lithofacies with rock-physics. Furthermore, it can accomplish the genetic classification statistics of rock-physics, improve conversion accuracy of seismic elastic parameters/reservoir parameters and achieve the quantitative reservoir prediction under the double control of seismic geomorphology and seismic lithofacies. The C block of Lower Congo Basin is characterized by few well data, complex lithology but high resolution-seismic. We use the technology to predict the reservoirs of this area and have achieved excellent results. This has great significance for the later exploration.     

Reconstructing large-scale remobilisation of deep-water deposits and its impact on sand-body architecture from cored wells: The Lower Cretaceous Britannia Sandstone Formation,UK North Sea

The Lower Cretaceous Britannia Sandstone Formation comprises deep-water sandstones deposited in the Witch Ground Graben, Outer Moray Firth, UK North Sea. The sandstones form a major gas condensate reservoir stratigraphically trapped against the Fladen Ground Spur. Although the first-order architecture is a simple northwards-thinning wedge, the lower part of the reservoir has a high degree of internal heterogeneity. The presence of thick debrites interleaved with or replacing sandstone units suggests that large-scale remobilisation has significantly impacted the sandstone distribution. This paper aims to reconstruct the style, geometry and history of the remobilisation over a 20 km², densely drilled area of the Britannia Field, focussing on the lower reservoir interval where remobilisation is thought to be prevalent. The study is based on documentation of approximately 2000 ft (610 m) of high quality core from 11 wells, together with wireline data from an additional 26 wells. Two main phases of remobilisation are recognised, each associated with excision surfaces removing up to 45 m of previously deposited stratigraphy. These surfaces are overlain by debrites that can be an order of magnitude thinner than the inferred excision depths, so that up to 40 m of differential topography was created as a consequence of the remobilisation. Subsequent sandstone intervals are shown to heal this differential topography, giving rise to a simple layer-like, large-scale architecture despite the complex internal remobilisation-induced heterogeneity. Remobilisation has thus affected the sand-body geometry both by removing previously deposited sand intervals and by controlling the thickness distribution of subsequent sandstones. Integration of the model with data from uncored wells shows that spatial variability may in some areas occur on distances smaller than current core-spacing (450 m), diminishing the geometric predictive value of the model in these areas. The fully mixed nature of the debrites is interpreted to indicate efficient transformation of the remobilised mass into a debris flow, controlling the highly evacuated morphology of the failure area. This link between morphology and process is used to characterise the Britannia remobilisation morphotype and place it into existing mass wasting classifications.     

南海北部深水区盆地热历史及烃源岩热演化研究

南海北部深水区是中国重要的油气潜力区.本文在前人对其现今地温场和正演热史研究的基础上,利用磷灰石(U-Th)/He和镜质体反射率(R_o)数据对根据拉张盆地模型正演获得的热历史进行了进一步约束,并在此基础上对南海北部深水区的烃源岩热演化进行了研究.研究结果表明基于盆地构造演化模型的正演热历史可以作为烃源岩热演化计算的热史基础,而盆地内主力烃源岩热演化计算结果显示:南海北部深水区存在4个生烃中心,即珠江口盆地的白云凹陷和琼东南盆地的乐东凹陷、陵水凹陷和松南凹陷,生烃中心烃源岩有机质现今处于过成熟状态,以生气为主;受盆地基底热流显著升高的影响,32~23.3 Ma时段为南海北部深水区烃源岩快速成熟阶段,琼东南盆地烃源岩有机质现今(2.48 Ma后)还存在一期加速成熟过程,而珠江口盆地则不存在此期快速成熟过程.     

中国油气勘探的一个新领域——深水牵引流沉积

深水牵引流沉积主要分为等深流沉积和内波内潮汐沉积两类。前者可形成巨大的堆积体——等深积岩丘,其规模可与海底扇相比拟。现代海洋大陆坡及陆隆地带等深积岩丘非常发育;古代地层记录中也有等深积岩丘,如已开采数十年的阿拉伯克拉通白垩系等深积岩丘油田。后者则不仅可形成分选极好的砂级沉积物,而且可形成规模巨大的“沉积物波”,并成群成带地出现。海洋中沉积物波的迁移可形成巨大的沉积体。在世界各大洋深盆海底,均有大范围分布的现代大型沉积物波。中国地层记录中的大型沉积物波,首先在塔里木盆地塔中地区中一上奥陶统中被识别出来,并有良好油气显示。认为中国的广大地区发育有多个时代的海相深水沉积,深水牵引流沉积储集层是中国21世纪油气勘探具巨大潜力和现实可行性的新领域。其油气勘探首选地区是塔里木盆地、扬子地台南缘和鄂尔多斯西缘。