Evaluating Controls on the Formation of Niagaran Pinnacle Reefs in the Michigan Basin: A Sequence Stratigraphic Approach

Anthony E. Sandomierski
Western Michigan University Carbonate Sedimentology Laboratory 
Kalamazoo, MI
[email protected]

The Silurian Niagaran pinnacle reefs of the Michigan Basin have been prolific producers of hydrocarbons for 60 years, producing approximately 350 million barrels of oil and 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. Recent estimates suggest future recovery potentials are nearly equal to this amount. Even though significant economic importance has been placed on the Silurian for its oil and gas production, and more recently as a gas storage facility for the Northeastern United States, there have been few studies using modern advances and stratigraphic techniques applied to understanding the formation of the Niagaran pinnacle reefs and their subsequent reservoir architecture.

This research will result in understanding the controlling mechanisms that were involved with the development of Silurian pinnacle reefs in the Michigan Basin. An integrated sequence stratigraphic framework established within the constraints of the subsidence history of the Michigan Basin will be developed to enhance our understanding of the variability in these pinnacle reefs. Utilizing 800 feet of core, analyzed and tied to wireline logs, facies will be characterized and organized by vertical stacking patterns. Stacking patterns and cycle stratigraphy will be used to characterize the vertical variability in the reservoir architecture. Understanding porosity distribution and facies characterization tied to cyclic sequence stratigraphy will enhance prediction of reservoir architecture throughout the Michigan Basin. Fundamental understanding of the facies distribution and subsequent reservoir architecture of the Niagaran pinnacle reefs within the Michigan Basin, established within a sequence stratigraphic framework, may lead to better understanding of compartmentalization in other pinnacle reef-type reservoirs.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90033©2004 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid