Fluvial morphology and reservoir sand-body architecture in lacustrine rift basins with axial and lateral sediment supplies: Oligocene fluvial–lacustrine succession in the Xihu sag,East China Sea Shelf Basin

Abstract

The Xihu sag, which is the largest petroliferous sub-basin of the East China Sea Shelf Basin, formed in a continental back-arc setting. The Oligocene Huagang Formation consisting of a fluvial–lacustrine succession deposited during the compressional stage is the prime hydrocarbon-bearing interval in the Xihu sag. A third-order sequence-stratigraphic framework has been built, and component sand-body characteristics were investigated based on seismic attribute analysis and well-log correlation. Two overall upward-fining sequences, and an internal low-accommodation systems tract (LAST) (fluvial successions characterised by amalgamated fluvial channel sand bodies interlayered with rare overbank deposits) and high-accommodation systems tract (HAST) (intervals dominated by overbank or lacustrine deposits) have been identified. The thick, multi-storied channel-fill sandstone bodies deposited along the central depression belt, capped by extensive overbank or lacustrine mud deposits, characterise each sequence and form favourable reservoir–seal associations. Proximal-to-distal changes in lithofacies associations were also analysed. The sequence-stratigraphic and lithofacies analysis suggest the existence of an axial, large-scale river channel system in the Oligocene Xihu sag. On the basis of the restoration of basin geomorphology and seismic facies analysis, the depositional architectures of the axial paleodrainage system have been reconstructed. Overall, the Huagang sequences represent the sedimentary evolution of a large-scale fluvial system sourced from axial and lateral supply areas, to form river deltas into an interior-draining basin-centre lake. Two major fluvio-lacustrine transgression–regression cycles have been recorded. During the transgression cycle, the fluvial morphology was dominated by braided fluvial style; whereas during the regression cycle, the fluvial morphology was characterised by a combination of multiple fluvial channel styles in the LAST, from upstream to downstream low-sinuosity braided, high-sinuosity braided and anastomosing fluvial channel patterns were distributed and then replaced by large-scale lake flooding in the HAST. The braided channel centre, paleobathymetric lows of channel networks and delta-front bodies are sand-prone units. The fluvial sedimentation was governed by multiple parameters: tectonics, paleogeomorphology and climate fluctuations. This integrated study on fluvial sedimentation and evolution of the Oligocene drainage system enable us to propose a conceptual model depicting fluvial channel styles and component sand-body architecture in lacustrine rift basins with axial plus transverse sediment supplies. This model can serve as a reference to illustrate channel-sand-body and associated reservoir architecture in similar types of drainage systems in terrestrial basins.     

Bayesian uncertainty quantification for flows in heterogeneous porous media using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

In this paper, we study the uncertainty quantification in inverse problems for flows in heterogeneous porous media. Reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms (MCMC) are used for hierarchical modeling of channelized permeability fields. Within each channel, the permeability is assumed to have a log-normal distribution. Uncertainty quantification in history matching is carried out hierarchically by constructing geologic facies boundaries as well as permeability fields within each facies using dynamic data such as production data. The search with Metropolis–Hastings algorithm results in very low acceptance rate, and consequently, the computations are CPU demanding. To speed-up the computations, we use a two-stage MCMC that utilizes upscaled models to screen the proposals. In our numerical results, we assume that the channels intersect the wells and the intersection locations are known. Our results show that the proposed algorithms are capable of capturing the channel boundaries and describe the permeability variations within the channels using dynamic production history at the wells.     

The massive star binary fraction in young open clusters – I. NGC 6231 revisited

We present the results of a long-term high-resolution spectroscopy campaign on the O-type stars in NGC 6231. We revise the spectral classification and multiplicity of these objects and we constrain the fundamental properties of the O-star population. Almost three quarters of the O-type stars in the cluster are members of a binary system. The minimum binary fraction is 0.63, with half the O-type binaries having an orbital period of the order of a few days. The eccentricities of all the short-period binaries are revised downward, and henceforth match a normal period–eccentricity distribution. The mass ratio distribution shows a large preference for O + OB binaries, ruling out the possibility that, in NGC 6231, the companion of an O-type star is randomly drawn from a standard initial mass function. Obtained from a complete and homogeneous population of O-type stars, our conclusions provide interesting observational constraints to be confronted with the formation and early evolution theories of O-stars.     

A robust statistical estimation of the basic parameters of single stellar populations – I. Method

The colour–magnitude diagrams of resolved single stellar populations, such as open and globular clusters, have provided the best natural laboratories to test stellar evolution theory. Whilst a variety of techniques have been used to infer the basic properties of these simple populations, systematic uncertainties arise from the purely geometrical degeneracy produced by the similar shape of isochrones of different ages and metallicities. Here we present an objective and robust statistical technique which lifts this degeneracy to a great extent through the use of a key observable: the number of stars along the isochrone. Through extensive Monte Carlo simulations we show that, for instance, we can infer the four main parameters (age, metallicity, distance and reddening) in an objective way, along with robust confidence intervals and their full covariance matrix. We show that systematic uncertainties due to field contamination, unresolved binaries, initial or present-day stellar mass function are either negligible or well under control. This technique provides, for the first time, a proper way to infer with unprecedented accuracy the fundamental properties of simple stellar populations, in an easy-to-implement algorithm.     

Stellar contents and star formation in the young star cluster Be 59

We present   UBV  I _c   CCD photometry of the young open cluster Be 59 with the aim to study the star formation scenario in the cluster. The radial extent of the cluster is found to be ∼10 arcmin (2.9 pc). The interstellar extinction in the cluster region varies between   E ( B − V ) ≃ 1.4  to 1.8 mag. The ratio of total-to-selective extinction in the cluster region is estimated as  3.7 ± 0.3  . The distance of the cluster is found to be  1.00 ± 0.05 kpc  . Using near-infrared (NIR) colours and slitless spectroscopy, we have identified young stellar objects (YSOs) in the open cluster Be 59 region. The ages of these YSOs range between <1 and ∼2 Myr, whereas the mean age of the massive stars in the cluster region is found to be ∼2 Myr. There is evidence for second-generation star formation outside the boundary of the cluster, which may be triggered by massive stars in the cluster. The slope of the initial mass function, Γ, in the mass range  2.5 < M /M_⊙≤ 28  is found to be  −1.01 ± 0.11  which is shallower than the Salpeter value (−1.35), whereas in the mass range  1.5 < M /M_⊙≤ 2.5  the slope is almost flat. The slope of the K -band luminosity function is estimated as  0.27 ± 0.02  , which is smaller than the average value (∼0.4) reported for young embedded clusters. Approximately 32 per cent of Hα emission stars of Be 59 exhibit NIR excess indicating that inner discs of the T Tauri star (TTS) population have not dissipated. The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) and IRAS-HIRES images around the cluster region are also used to study the emission from unidentified infrared bands and to estimate the spatial distribution of optical depth of warm and cold interstellar dust.     

L dwarfs in the Hyades

We present the results of a proper motion survey of the Hyades to search for brown dwarfs, based on UKIRT Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) data. This survey covers  ∼275 deg²  to a depth of   K ∼ 15  mag, equivalent to a mass of  ∼0.05 M_⊙  assuming a cluster age of 625 Myr. The discovery of 12 L dwarf Hyades members is reported. These members are also brown dwarfs, with masses between  0.05 < M < 0.075 M_⊙  . A high proportion of these L dwarfs appear to be photometric binaries.     

Galactic clusters with associated Cepheid variables – VII. Berkeley 58 and CG Cassiopeiae

Photoelectric, photographic and CCD UBV photometry, spectroscopic observations and star counts are presented for the open cluster Berkeley 58 to examine a possible association with the 4.37 d Cepheid CG Cas. The cluster is difficult to separate from the early-type stars belonging to the Perseus spiral arm, in which it is located, but has reasonably well-defined parameters: an evolutionary age of ∼10⁸ yr, a mean reddening of   E ( B − V ) (B0) = 0.70 ± 0.03  s.e. and a distance of  3.03 ± 0.17 kpc ( V ₀− M _V = 12.40 ± 0.12  s.d.). CG Cas is a likely cluster coronal member on the basis of radial velocity, and its period increase of  +0.170 ± 0.014 s yr⁻¹  and large light amplitude describe a Cepheid in the third crossing of the instability strip lying slightly blueward of strip centre. Its inferred reddening and luminosity are   E ( B − V ) = 0.64 ± 0.02  s.e. and  〈 M _V 〉=−3.06 ± 0.12  . A possible K supergiant may also be a cluster member.     

The initial–final mass relationship of white dwarfs revisited: effect on the luminosity function and mass distribution

The initial–final mass relationship connects the mass of a white dwarf with the mass of its progenitor in the main sequence. Although this function is of fundamental importance to several fields in modern astrophysics, it is not well constrained either from the theoretical or from the observational points of view. In this work, we revise the present semi-empirical initial–final mass relationship by re-evaluating the available data. The distribution obtained from grouping all our results presents a considerable dispersion, which is larger than the uncertainties. We have carried out a weighted least-squares linear fit of these data and a careful analysis to give some clues on the dependence of this relationship on some parameters such as metallicity or rotation. The semi-empirical initial–final mass relationship arising from our study covers the range of initial masses from 1.0 to  6.5 M_⊙  , including in this way the low-mass domain, poorly studied until recently. Finally, we have also performed a test of the initial–final mass relationship by studying its effect on the luminosity function and on the mass distribution of white dwarfs. This was done by using different initial–final mass relationships from the literature, including the expression derived in this work, and comparing the results obtained with the observational data from the Palomar Green Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the semi-empirical initial–final mass relationship derived here gives results in good agreement with the observational data, especially in the case of the white dwarf mass distribution.