Blumentritt, Charles H.1, Kurt J. Marfurt1, E. Charlotte Sullivan1,
Alfred Lacazette2, Michael Murphy1
(1) University of Houston, Houston, TX
(2) Consulting Geologist, Houston, TX
ABSTRACT: Early Paleozoic Tectonics and Stress Fields from 3-D Seismic Attributes, Central Basin Platform, West Texas
Early Paleozoic Tectonics and Stress Fields from 3-D Seismic Attributes, Central Basin
Platform, West Texas
Charles H. Blumentritt1, Kurt J. Marfurt1, E. Charlotte Sullivan1, Michael Murphy1, and
Alfred Lacazette2
Because the early Paleozoic section on the Central Basin Platform in West Texas is not
exposed and is decoupled from the overlying section by a major unconformity, the regional
tectonics and stress fields of that zone are inferred from well data and 2-D seismic data.
At the University of Houston, we are developing attributes for 3-D seismic data to improve
the visibility and resolution of lineations related to local and regional stress fields.
Such attributes are viewed best on seismic time or horizon slices. These attributes differ
from conventional seismic attributes in that they 1.) are based on multi-trace rather than
single trace calculations, 2.) compute dips directly from the data volume, rather than
from interpreted horizons, and obtain various measurements of curvature from those dips.
With an example from a large (~120 mi2, ~300 km2) 3-D survey, we show left lateral offset
of obvious north trending faults by minor faults, extensions of those minor faults past
the major faults, small scale rotations of trends, and otherwise unobservable fracture
patterns. The continuity of the lineations and the imaging of new patterns, combined with
the detailed isopachs calculated from the 3-D seismic data set, allow us to document
elements of the poly-phase tectonic history of the Central Basin Platform.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.