Print this pageAAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA
Sun to Sink: Impact on Exploration Strategy in Rift Basins
(1) Chevron Energy Technology Company, Houston, TX.
Orbital cycles alter insolation, which produces climate, sediment yield, lake & sea level cycles. The greatest insolation changes occur at the scale of precession (~20 kyrs) during periods of high eccentricity. Within a hemisphere, the climatic response of a specific region is a function of the phase of the insolation cycle & the paleogeography of the region. Some areas can become wetter while others become drier at the same point in an insolation cycle.
Using paleoclimate changes in context with paleodrainage patterns provides an understanding of the relationship of sediment supply & lake level, & the resulting stratigraphic variability of a system. Exploration areas that are prone to the development of sand-rich sublacustrine fans or deltas, or carbonate banks can be forecast & high graded. The same approach can be used for marine margins. This information improves basic seismic stratigraphic interpretation & provides critical input into numerical depositional models, thereby reducing the uncertainty associated with exploration analyses.
The impact of this approach on the interpretation of the fundamental seismic architecture & the forecast of the distribution of likely reservoir intervals is demonstrated for an African Cretaceous lacustrine rift basin.