--> Abstract: Anatomy of a Coarse-Grained Turbidite, Barbados West Indies

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Anatomy of a Coarse-Grained Turbidite, Barbados West Indies

Nysha Chaderton

University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences

Austin, Texas

[email protected]

The island of Barbados is located at the eastern edge of the Caribbean plate and is the only emergent portion of the Barbados Accretionary Prism.

The Scotland Formation of Barbados is a turbidite succession comprised of coarse grained sandstones and shales. Outcrop characterization of the Scotland Formation integrates photo-mosaic architectural panels and logged sections that address the architecture of the formation, facies distributions, vertical successions, gamma response and patterns of the unit.

The Woodbourne oilfield is located in the south of Barbados. Subsurface data from this oilfield will be examined and used to assess the genetic relationships between those units characterized in outcrop and the producing reservoirs. Morphometries observed in outcrop include channelized sands with scoured bases, more extensive sand bodies that are laterally continuous for over 100 m as well as sand bodies that are dissected by large scale thrust faults. This implies that heterogeneities within the petroleum system are produced not only by the tectonic overprint of the convergent margin setting but are also controlled by the depositional environment. These observations will be integrated with well logs to form the basis for the design of a new geologic model of the subsurface reservoir units within the Woodbourne oilfield.

The geological models produced will assist in the development of fields that are producing from coarse grained turbidites and can provide a template for hydrocarbon exploration and production in accretionary prism settings.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90060©2006 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid