--> Sequence Stratigraphy and Modelling Carbonate Heterogenity

AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition

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Sequence Stratigraphy and Modelling Carbonate Heterogenity

Abstract

Predicting and modelling the variabilty of carbonate rocks is commonly considered a challenge. Heterogeneities in carbonate rock properties occur at all scales, spanning from the pore to the basin scale. Heterogeneities result from depositional processes and later diagenetic imprint and are therefore not random, but genetically linked to the depositional history. A fundamental aspect of sequence stratigraphy, not always honored in its full potential, is that it provides a conceptual tool to interpret stratigraphic data across scales and to generate predictive frameworks for the variation of depositional facies, their vertical successions and stacking patterns and their distribution in the basin. Sequence stratigraphic concepts have not yet been routinely applied in subsurface modelling. We will showcase selected examples, where we have implemented sequence stratihraphic concepts to better capture and model scale-dependent carbonate heterogeneities. Outcrop based modelling studies studies have shown that the use of one single simulation technique is unlikely to correctly model the natural patterns and variability of carbonate rocks. The selection and implementation of different modelling techniques customized for different levels of the sequence stratigraphic hierarchy can provide the essential computing flexibility to realistically model carbonate settings. These case studies demonstrate why the integration of sequence stratigraphic concepts is essential to establish a scale-dependent modeling approach and results in more realistic models. This should be a common procedure when building subsurface and outcrop models.