Stratigraphy of an Interbasinal Deep-Water Conduit: Lessons Learned from the
Bouroullec, Renaud1,
Mark Tomasso1, David, R. Pyles2, Keumsuk
Lee1 (1) The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (2) Colorado
School of Mines, Golden,
Salt withdrawal mini basins contain
significant petroleum reservoirs in the deep northern
Stratigraphic data in the Grand Coyer
area reveal that the paleo-conduit was 5-6 km wide,
10-12 km long and 450 m thick at its axis. The conduit was laterally and
longitudinally asymmetric, narrowing and steepening
toward the distal sub-basin. The external shape of the conduit is inherently
related to the stratigraphic architecture and
net-to-gross distribution. The conduit early fill is composed of MTCs and very coarse-grained channelized
strata, while the later fill is showing a fining upward trend and a decrease in
local confinement. The proximal part of the conduit axis contains laterally
offset, or stacked, non-amalgamated channels, while the distal part of the
conduit shows amalgamated, vertically stacked channels. Strata in axial
positions of the conduit contain upwards of ~80% sandstone, regardless of
position in a proximal to distal transect through the conduit. The lateral
margins of the conduit contain strata with ~30% sandstone, and show a mixed
association of lobe-shaped finer-grained strata, slumps and growth faults. The
lessons learned from Grand Coyer paleo-conduit could
be used to better predict sand distribution and reservoir geometry within interbasinal conduit.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California