--> ABSTRACT: Testing the Utility of Ground-penetrating Radar for Outcrop Reservoir Analog Studies: An Example from Pennsylvanian Carbonate Strata in Kansas, by Evan K. Franseen, Jianghai Xia, Alan P. Byrnes, Richard Miller, Thomas Weis, and Edward Washburn; #90906(2001)

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Evan K. Franseen1, Jianghai Xia1, Alan P. Byrnes1, Richard Miller1, Thomas Weis1, Edward Washburn1

(1) University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

ABSTRACT: Testing the Utility of Ground-penetrating Radar for Outcrop Reservoir Analog Studies: An Example from Pennsylvanian Carbonate Strata in Kansas

A Pennsylvanian reservoir analog exposed in a NE Kansas quarry was selected to test the utility of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to accurately depict 3-D geometry, heterogeneity, and measure petrophysical properties. Multifrequency (50-400 MHz) GPR profiles were obtained on a 5-m line spacing within a 30 m x 30 m grid on a 3-4 m thick bench of predominantly phylloid algal beds (< 15-90 cm-thick) and thin (<1-25 cm-thick) shale interbeds. Groundtruth was established with twelve cores obtained within the grid prior to quarrying, and sedimentologic, stratigraphic, petrophysical, water saturation, and additional GPR data from four successively exposed quarry faces.

Conductive steel bars, inserted into horizontal drillholes on faces provide critical information for: 1) source of geologic reflection events in GPR data, 2) resolution limits, and 3) validating the success and necessity of a wavelet suppression procedure for GPR data, which improves resolution by > 50% and spatial accuracy of imaged geologic features. As a result, stratigraphic features as close as 15 cm apart are distinct and clearly imaged. Core petrophysical data indicate that porosity, permeability, grain density and dielectric constant in all layers are highly correlated, thus making possible attribute analysis of the high-quality GPR data for development of models that predict rock properties from GPR response. Our results indicate that wavelet (deterministic deconvolution) processing is critical in providing the accurate, high-resolution GPR data necessary for integration with stratigraphic and petrophysical data to gain detailed (sub-meter scale) quantitative information on reservoir properties and heterogeneity within reservoir analogs.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado