Print this pageData Base Management for Sedimentary 
Depositional
Systems:
Expert System Approach
Glenn S. Visher, Peter G. Sutterlin
A realistic goal of sedimentologists is to be able to determine the
depositional origin for stratigraphic sequences. Detailed analysis of Holocene
depositional processes has provided the observational base for inferring the
depositional origin for ancient stratigraphic units. Single response criteria do
not exist to uniquely identify a depositional system. The synthesis of many
hundreds of response characteristics requires the organization of a data base
that can be readily accessed for comparison. Artificial
intelligence--specifically, expert systems--is structured so that relative
importance and percentage confidence can be incorporated into the data base. The
user can interact with response patterns most commonly associated with each
depositional system to determine th likelihood of a specific interpretation.
The data base requires the careful analysis of physical, chemical, and
biologic processes from Holocene depositional systems to determine the
probability for the development of specific response patterns. The value of the
expert system approach is that response characteristics can be easily adjusted
to fit changed tectonic, biologic, or climatic conditions. Since the data base
is multivariant, differing types and patterns of response characteristics are
available to identify the origin of uninterpreted stratigraphic intervals. It is
possible to use differing characteristics from seismic, petrophysical logs, and
sample logs to provide the unique interpretation of a depositional system.
Detailed core, outcrop, paleontologic, grain-size distribution, or geochemistry
data may be needed on y to confirm the interpretation. The economic value of
this analysis is in the prediction of the geometry of depositional
units,
sequences, and intervals prior to extensive drilling.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91022©1989 AAPG Annual Convention, April 23-26, 1989, San Antonio, Texas.