--> ABSTRACT: Six Years of Sedsim Exploration Applications, by Cedric M. Griffiths and Chris Dyt; #90906(2001)

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Cedric M Griffiths1, Chris Dyt2

(1) CSIRO, Adelaide, Australia
(2) CSIRO, Perth, Australia

ABSTRACT: Six years of Sedsim exploration applications

Although the forward stratigraphic modelling of basin fill has been of interest to small groups of mathematical geologists since the 1940's it has not really become accessible to applied geologists until the 1990's. There are several reasons for this. Perhaps the prime reason is improved access to powerful computational facilities, and graphics engines that enable results to be visualised, and therefore communicated, in seconds rather than minutes or hours. Recent developments in code stability have also brought the code into the exploration environment. SEDSIM is a hydraulic-process-based three-dimensional stratigraphic forward modelling program that was initially developed by graduate students under the supervision of Prof. John Harbaugh at Stanford University. Since 1994 the program has been under development and modification in Australia and has been applied to a number of regional scale exploration problems with the support of several major oil companies.

On the NW Shelf of Australia it has been used to predict sand location and quality in passive margin settings. It has been used to predict sediment distribution on Base Cretaceous surfaces over areas up to 60000 km2 (Browse and Yampi Shelves). It has predicted sand distribution in hanging wall fans and basin-floor fans (Kendrew Trough). It has been used to examine gold distribution in buried river channels (West Australia). It has been used to predict toe-ramp sand bodies in the Neocomian Barrow Delta over a modelled area of over 130000 km2 . These models and their exploration consequences are discussed as well as the model modifications that have made them possible.

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