--> How Dunes Move and the Record They Leave Behind

2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition:

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How Dunes Move and the Record They Leave Behind

Abstract

Theme 1/Siliciclastic systems/continental sedimentary systems dynamics/aeolian system dynamics – what have we learnt in the last 50 years?

How Dunes Move and the Record They Leave Behind…

David Cousins, Caroline Hern, Sam Brooke, Mark Nightingale, Gareth Morgan, Robin Westerman, Dominic Tatum, Gary Kocurek & Steve Fryberger

Time-lapse high-resolution satellite imagery over two complete annual wind cycles in the Wahiba Sand Sea, Oman, shows how crestlines of the superposed dunes deform as they translate in response to opposing summer to winter winds. The degree of change in crestline sinuosity has been quantified using a newly formulated automated approach and, observable changes in dune morphology have been linked to a time-constrained architectural record. Given the spatial distribution of primary strata types on slipfaces is a product of the wind incidence angle with respect to the crestline, changes in sinuosity of the crestline cause deflection of the wind vector which results in modification of the primary strata type distribution. Since reservoir quality is driven, in the first instance, by primary strata types, determination of the proportion and distribution - both perpendicular and parallel to the crestline – is of paramount importance if flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs is to be appropriately predicted. We show how our deterministic models perform with respect to standardized modeling approaches.

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