PRECHT, WILLIAM F., Reef Resources, Miami, FL; and KEVIN A. MAILLET, RSMAS, University of Miami, Miami, FL

ABSTRACT: Controls on Reef Location and Configuration in Belize, Central America: Application of a Fractal Model for Petroleum Exploration and Production

The reef complexes of the Belize shelf are excellent examples of reefs whose locations are directly controlled by antecedent topography. It has been documented that these Holocene reefs sit directly on a Pleistocene surface which in most cases are also reefs. There has been much debate as to whether the antecedent underpinnings of these reefs are controlled by; (1) regional structural configurations (basement blocks), (2) an underlying karst surface, (3) a siliciclastic coastal plain developed during lowstands of sea level which locally develops differential topographic relief, or (4) a combination of the above. The study of these reefs from Belize therefore, offers an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate the processes and products responsible for the distribution and location of the e reef structures, and to elaborate on the causal factors which control reef initiation.

Remote sensing methods coupled with seismic and sparker profiles across the length and width of the Belize Shelf clearly favor the structural control model. In addition, the orientation and self-similarity of these reef complexes on a variety of scales appear to be fractally related. The fractal patterns of these reefs in space and size are related to structural patterns that are self-organized and contain many degrees of freedom. Utilizing the methodology of fractal geometry we can quantify this self-similarity and accurately express and predict the locations of reefs on the Belize shelf both temporally and spatially.

The application of this technique in resource assessment of reefs through time should greatly increase the our odds at finding additional fields. Thus, if we can relate structural controls to the locations of already known hydrocarbon bearing reef sequences, using fractal probability distributions, we can predict on the basis of fields already discovered, the number offields and a range of sizes that remain undiscovered.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.