Tetrahedral Model for Hydrocarbon Trap
Classification: An
Aid to Prospect Generation
Robert F. Ehinger
To become more creative in prospect generation, the geologist needs to know
the various mechanisms that produce hydrocarbon traps. A review of hydrocarbon
trap
classifications from the geologic literature yields a variety of systems
based on genetic processes and/or geomorphic features. This paper will not
introduce a new classification system but will integrate the commonly accepted
trapping mechanisms into a coherent model. The proposed system depicts
hydrocarbon traps as composed of one to four components: structural,
stratigraphic,
diagenetic
, and hydrodynamic. By visualizing these four
components as end members plotted at the apexes of a tetrahedron, one can easily
describe virtually all known traps. The
diagenetic
component is special because
it can be
trap
sealing r
trap
enhancing. For the Mid-Continent, most traps would
plot along the structural-stratigraphic axis usually with some
diagenetic
component. The tetrahedral model indicates other analogs may similarly exist
along the structural-
diagenetic
axis and more rarely along the
structural-hydrodynamic axis. Because the
diagenetic
and hydrodynamic components
tend to be subtle, one can easily overlook them in prospect generation. Avoiding
this oversight is one of the advantages of the proposed three-dimensional
system.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91025©1989 AAPG Midcontinent, Sept. 24-26, 1989, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.