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Nadia S. Al-Abry1,
John R. Underhill2,
Sara J. Davies3,
Brian Glover4
(1) Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
(2) Edinburgh University
(3) University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
(4) Shell UK Exploration and Production, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Abstract: New Insights into the controls on sediment dispersal and reservoir distribution of the Magnus Sandstone Member, UK, Northern North Sea
The role of syn-rift fault activity in controlling bathymetry and sediment dispersal in a highly prospective Late Jurassic deep-water clastic depositional system form the Northern North Sea is demonstrated through interpretation of a well-calibrated three-dimensional seismic data volume. Previous interpretations of the Late Kimmeridgian-Early Volgian Magnus Sandstone Member envisaged deposition of the main reservoir sandstones in the distal part of a westerly-derived submarine fan system.
In contrast our integration of seismically derived stratigraphic geometries with core descriptions suggest a markedly different setting and provenance. the clastic succession appears to be an integral part of an axial depositional system derived from north and north-east and dominated by debris and high-density turbidity flows. Significantly, depositional slopes were formed by compaction above buried fault terraces on the margins of the linear depocentre. The syn-sedimentary, up-dip thinning and coarse clastic pinch-outs created by this marginal bathymetry create subtle stratigraphic trapping potential and help in the identification of new play fairways in the Magnus depositional system.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90914©2000 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana