Hypothesis
Testing Using Fuzzy Logic Simulations to Constrain the Domains of the Stratigraphic Variables that Control Reservoir Distribution
and Character
Bartek, Louis R.1,
Jeffery D. Warren2 (1) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Chapel Hlll, NC (2) University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Development of continental margin stratigraphic architecture for systems with extremely wide
shelf, low gradient and deep shelf edge and depositional conditions that
include variable, but relatively high sediment input, variable rates and
amplitudes of eustatic change, and variable rates of
subsidence were simulated using Fuzzy Logic. This type of system is rare today,
but mimics conditions found in ramp settings such foreland basins and other epicontinental seas, which were widespread in the past and
comprise a significant component of the stratigraphic
record. The output of the Stratigraphic Fuzzy Logic
models is geometric. Rather than directly simulating the actual flow processes
responsible for the sediment distribution, the model distributes sediments
beneath profiles of equilibrium across the continental margin based on
empirical or observational data to approximate the results of sedimentation as
geometries, which in turn creates a stratigraphic
framework of reservoirs.
This is an appropriate tool to use to
delineate relationships between depositional processes, eustatic
change, tectonic activity and stratal architecture
(geometries) when one is attempting to understand which processes exert the
most control in producing the stratigraphic
architecture seen in remotely sensed data such as seismic profiles. Seismic
profiles are a composite of geometries in which there is often limited insight
into the role of the processes that created the geometries. When combined with
seismic profiles and limited lithofacies and chronostratigraphic data from core, Fuzzy Logic simulations
provide an opportunity test hypotheses about how variables exert control on the
stratigraphic geometries that influence reservoir
characteristics. An example of application of this approach is presented using
seismic and core data from the
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California