Depositional Environments

Heterogeneity
g y and Sedimentology
m gy

1
 Aims for today

The importance of sedimentology:

1 Relate well observations to 3-D
1. 3D
depositional facies model:
Appreciation
A i ti off th
the th
three-dimensional
di i l
arrangement of facies deposited in different
environments
i t ((we will
ill use thi
this llater),
t ) and d
determine depositional environment from
well/core/wireline
ll/ / i li data
d t

2
 Aims for today

2. Predict the likely geometry of reservoir

and non-reservoir bodies ((facies)) in the
various depositional environments.
3 Can summarize the main features of
3.
aeolian, fluvial, deltaic, shallow marine
and deep marine siliciclastic
environments, and understand the
differences between these and shallow
marine carbonate environments.
3
Whyy do we need to know about
the depositional environment?
• An understanding of the 3D distribution of
porosity
p y and p
permeability
y is vital to the
efficient development of an oilfield
• Sandbody (or any sediment body)
geometry is different in each depositional
environment.
• We can predicted reservoir geometry
much better if we understand the
environment of deposition
4
Whyy do we need to know about
the depositional environment?
• When trying to determine the extent of a
reservoir unit detected in wells,, it is
necessary to have an understanding of the
potential geometry of that unit
unit, and
therefore the depositional environment of
the unit and the surrounding units.
units
• This becomes important
p when attemptingp g
to correlate units between wells.

5
 Lecture structure
• Geometry and heterogeneity of reservoir bodies
• Facies ((what, where, how),
) and facies analysis
y
• Depositional Environments:
– Aeolian
– Fluvial (briefly cover alluvial and lacustrine)
– Deltaic
– Shallow marine (clastic)
– Deep marine
– Carbonate shallow marine
• Summary
6
 Sandbody Geometry
Sheet
Different
shapes of
fluvial
sandbodies
Ribbon

Sheet-like shallow
marine/shoreface sandbodies can
be traced many kilometres
Aeolian dune sandstones may occur in laterally
extensive sheets separated by non-reservoir
non reservoir or
poorer quality reservoir
7
Sandbody Geometry

8
Prediction of Sandbody
G
Geometry
t

An understanding
of the origin of a
sandbody,
derived from core
or wireline logs,
may be used to
infer its 3D
geometry

9
 Sandbody y stacking
g and
internal heterogeneity
• Sandbodies can be isolated or stack together….

• And have distinctive internal heterogeneity

6.5 m

1.9 m

oil water 10
 Use in Reservoir Models
Geological
g Petrophysical
model model
Well data +
conceptual
model

Reservoir
properties

11
Understanding the Depositional
S t
System

3-D modelling
of fluvial
channels,
constrained
by outcrop
panel

12
 Facies

• Sandstone is a particular facies.

– What is facies?

• Idea is linked to lithology

• Facies maps, and logs of facies are

compared d tto idealised
id li d models
d l off ffacies
i
that occur in depositional environments…
13
 Facies

• Usage has extended into other areas of

p
rock description – we now have lithofacies
(the original meaning), biofacies (the
distinct assemblage of biota from a rock
unit, or a specific environment), and you
will become familiar with the term seismic
facies (distinct patterns on seismic lines,
linked to specific lithologies or rock
p p
properties).)
14
 Why?
• Facies change,
change vertically and horizontally
horizontally. Different
facies imply different environments of deposition.
• Aim of analysing
y g facies is to develop p three-
dimensional models of reservoir variability
• Environmental facies analysis integrates all aspects
off sedimentology
di t l and
d applies
li th
them tto th
the
recognition of environments of deposition
• Sedimentological models are developed from the
recognition of depositional environments, from
which an understanding g of reservoir character can
be gained
• Most of this has to be done from one-dimensional
d t – borehole
data b h l geophysics
h i and d core
15
Controls on the Nature and
D
Distributions
b of
f Facies
F

• Sedimentary processes Controlled by depositional

environment
– autocyclic processes
• Sediment supply
– sediment availability
• Tectonics
• Sea Level change
• Climate
• Biological Activity
• Water Chemistry
16
 Facies in Time and Space
• One of the basic tenets of sedimentology is WaltherWalther’ss Law:
“The various deposits of the same [environmental] area
and, similarly, the sum of the rocks of different
[environmental] areas were formed beside each other in
time and space, but in crustal profile we can see them
lying on top of each other . . . it is a basic statement of far
reaching significance that only those [environmental]
p p
areas can be superimposed, ,pprimarily,y, that can be
observed side by side at the present time.”
• In other words, we only see in a conformable vertical
s ccession sedimentary
succession sedimentar facies that were ere once side b by side
during deposition. (It is more important to appreciate that
this relationship
p onlyy applies
pp when there are no major j
breaks in the stratigraphic succession, either stratigraphic or
17
structural.)
 A simple demonstration…
demonstration
Well A All vertical facies transitions
are the same as the original
TIME 7 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5 horizontal transitions

TIME 6 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 5 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 4 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 3 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4

TIME 2 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 1 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

Channels Floodplain Shoreline Shallow marine Deepmarine

Adjacent depositional environments…
18
 A simple demonstration…
demonstration
Well B One vertical facies transition
is not the same as the
TIME 7 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5 original horizontal transitions

TIME 6 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 5 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 4 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 3 unconformity Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4

TIME 2 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

TIME 1 Facies 1 Facies 2 Facies 3 Facies 4 Facies 5

Channels Floodplain Shoreline Shallow marine Deepmarine

Adjacent depositional environments…
19
A more complex
p example…
p

20
A more complex
p example…
p

21
 Sedimentary
y Facies
Sequences
• Analysis of a single sedimentary rock type is
insufficient for a full description of the
environment
i t off deposition
d iti and d th
the llarger scale
l
depositional system
• Environmental
En ironmental interpretation req requires
ires the
analysis of depositional facies sequences
• Sedimentary facies are often superimposed on
top of one another in quite specific sequences
(in other words
words, the interrelationships of facies
are not random, but conform to a limited
number of geological patterns)
22
 Graphic Logs

• Facies sequences are analysed

initially through the development of
graphic logs
• These record such characteristics as
graini size,
i sedimentary
di structures,
palaeocurrent direction, fossil content
• Because
B sediments
di accumulate
l
vertically, sedimentary logs are
developed from the base upwards

23
 Coarsening-upward and
fi i
fining-upward
d sequences*
*

• Graphic logs often highlight vertical trends

in grain size
• These are referred to as:
– upward-coarsening
d i sequences
(commonly known as coarsening-upward
sequences or CUS)
sequences,
– upward-fining sequences
(commonly known as fining
fining-upward
upward
sequences, or FUS)
* ‘sequence’ is not used here in the sequence stratigraphic sense
24
Delta deposits
p –
coarsening-up
25
succession
Turbidite beds – fining upwards
26
 Depositional Systems and
F
Facies Models
d l
• A facies model is a Facies model for a
general summary of braided fluvial
the sequence of
sedimentary facies
system
produced
p oduced by a ggiven
e
depositional system

• Facies
F i modelsd l are
distilled from an
analysis of facies
relationships in both
modern and ancient
examples
p of
depositional systems
27
 Facies Associations and
G
Genetic
ti UUnits
it
• Facies
F i associations
i ti are commonly
l grouped
d iinto:
t
– Genetic Sedimentary Units (or Architectural Elements)
• Valuable concept for identifying fundamental
building blocks of reservoirs
• Facies and Genetic Sedimentary Units are non-
unique
q

28
Genetic Sedimentary Units

• Challenge for Geo - Engineers

– Identification in subsurface
– Prediction or modelling in interwell volume:
• Spatial distribution
• Form
• Petrophysical properties
– Influence on reservoir performance

29
 Summary
• F
Facies
i are distinctive
di ti ti d descriptive
i ti units
it – that
th t
often have genetic connotations (a particular
lithofacies is deposited in a particular
depositional environment)
• The distribution of facies both verticallyy and
horizontally can be used to identify the
depositional environment – knowing the
depositional environment can help predict the
location of particular facies, which enables
accurate geological modelling
• Vertical distribution of facies provides clues to
basin history (subsidence, sea-level change)
30
Depositional Environments
Non-marine

Marginal marine
Shallow marine

Deep marine

31
Depositional Systems
• Continental/non-marine:
– alluvial (alluvial fan and
fluvial)
– desert (aeolian)
– lacustrine (lake)
( )
– glacial
• Shoreline:
– deltaic
– clastic shoreline (beach)
– arid (evaporitic)
shoreline
• Marine:
– shallow clastic sea
– shallow carbonate sea
– pelagic
– deep clastic sea 32
Isn’tt this geologist territory?
Isn
• You need to understand what your
geologist is talking about…
– To
T use their
th i reports/ideas
t /id effectively
ff ti l
(understand the language and
consequences…))
– To give you information about how the
reservoir will behave
– Ask ppertinent q
questions about the
interpretation
– Make useful suggestions
suggestions, or give constructive
feedback… 33
 Aeolian Depositional Systems

What we will cover:

• Modern deserts

• Aeolian facies models (geometry of reservoir units)

• Ancient aeolian sediments and reservoirs

– (don’t
(d ’t fforgett - dunes
d occur along
l shorelines
h li ttoo!)
!)

34
Modern Deserts

35
 Modern Deserts

• Aridity (low rainfall)

– Hot or cold
– Lack of vegetation
• Depositional
D iti l sub-environments
b i t
– Aeolian sand seas (ergs)
• Dune and interdune areas
– Alluvial fans
– Playa lakes

36
 Desert Distribution
Climate control:
• Primary control is pattern of atmospheric circulation
• Secondary
S d control
t l iis di
distance
t ffrom ocean
Tectonic control:
– Preservation (subsidence) and facies patterns
• Faulted basin margins
g have alluvial fans, while
playa lakes and dune fields occur in the centre
• Intra
Intra-cratonic
cratonic basins
– e.g. Saharan and Australian deserts
– Mixed fluvio-aeolian
fluvio aeolian processes at basin margins
37
 Aeolian Bedforms
• Ripples
• Dunes
– barchans
– transverse
• Draas (‘complex dunes’)
– stellate
– longitudinal
g ((seif))

38
39
Interdunes and Sand Sheets

• Low relief areas between

major bedforms (dunes
and draas)
– coarse granular/pebble lag
– wind ripples dominant in dry
interdunes
– wet interdunes
• adhesion structures
• ponds
• small ephemeral channels
• vegetation

40
 Ripple and Dune
L i ti T
Lamination Types
• Plane bed lamination
− high wind velocities on stoss side of dunes
− rarely preserved
• Translatent-ripple lamination
− product of migrating wind ripples
− low angle climbing
− few mm thick, with slight inverse grading
• Grainfall lamination
− fine sand propelled by strong winds from dune crest into separated flow zone
− poorly defined lamination
− most common on upper parts of lee faces of dunes
− may be indistinguishable from ripple lamination
• Grainflow lamination
− lobe shaped sandflows at intervals along lee face
− steeply dipping, up to several cm thick (i.e. thicker than layers produced by other
mechanisms)
− structureless
− lenticular in horizontal section 41
Ancient Aeolian Sediments

• Recognition Criteria
– Red bed association ((alluvial fan
conglomerates, aeolian sandstones,
evaporites,
p , duricrusts and lag
g horizons))
– Aeolian sandstones (dune deposits):
• Large scale cross
cross-bedding
bedding in sandstones
• Well sorted, fine to medium sandstones
• Well rounded grains
• Lack of clay/mica

42
 Entrada Formation - Sheet
Sandbody Architecture
• Parallel to palaeowind Distribution of cross-
bedding, bounding
surfaces and interdune
deposits in sections
through the Jurassic
Entrada Formation,
Western USA.
(After Kocurek,
1981b)

43
 Internal Structure of Aeolian
Sheet
h Sandbodies
db d
• Sets and cosets typically m’s
m s to 10
10’s
s of m thick
• At outcrop, hierarchies of bounding surfaces are
recognisable
i bl
– first order - very extensive, low angle
– second order - concave up parallel to palaeowind
– third order - discontinuities between bundles of foresets
First-, second- and third-order
bounding surfaces in idealised
aeolian cross-bedding. The second
order surfaces may be inclined either
up wind or down wind depending on
whether or not they are superimposed
on a larger, draa-scale form (based on
Brookfield, 1977).
44
 Interdune Deposits
• Major cause of aeolian reservoir
heterogeneity
• Thinly bedded sandstones associated with
first order bounding surfaces
– ripple cross lamination
– desiccation
d i ti cracks
k
– bioturbation
– deformed laminae
• Wind and water processes
45
Cross-bedded dune sandstones from a dry aeolian
system

46
Aeolian dune cross bedding overlain by interdune facies
0153_27

47
Interdune facies overlying aeolian dune cross bedding
0153_26

48
Wind-ripple lamination in aeolian dune cross bedding
0153_28

49
 Impact of lamina-scale hetrogeneity on
hydrocarbon recovery in an aeolian reservoir

Waterflood through an outcrop

outcrop-derived
derived aeolian dune
model, showing the effect of capillary imbibition in
the low ppermeability
y laminae. Note the trapping
pp g of
oil near the base of high-permeability foresets.
65m
6.5

1.9 m

oil
il water
50
 Aeolian reservoirs
• Reservoir and seal lithofacies
– Aeolian dune - best reservoir quality in grainflow
foreset facies (large-scale cross-bedding), sheet-like
geometry of dune facies and interdune facies.
– Subordinate
S b di t reservoirs i iin flfluvial
i l ffacies
i
– Interdune and sabkha facies tend to form barriers and
baffles
– Lacustrine or evaporitic facies may form regional seals

• Directional drilling may allow individual dune

sandbodies
db di tto b be ffollowed
ll d
51
Examples of aeolian reservoirs
Permian Rotliegend of Southern North Sea (similar
to Moray Firth example)
• Gas
G reservoirs i
• Reservoir lithofacies
– Aeolian dune
– Interdune and sabkha
– Fluvial
– Lacustrine
• Strong lithofacies control on reservoir quality
(also diagenesis)
52
53
 Got that?

• Lets see what you’ve remembered.

• Make a list of the important features of

aeolian
li systems…
t

• Compare your list to your neighbours…

54
 Important things…
things
• Tabular or sheet-like bodies of dune
facies, well sorted fine to medium sand,
lack of mica and clayclay, strongly internally
heterogeneous with large scale cross-
bedding bounded by erosional surfaces
bedding,
and interbedded with less well sorted
interdune facies.
facies
• Other facies include ‘red-bed association’
off fluvial,
fl i l alluvial
ll i l ffan, evaporitic
i i or
lacustrine (lower quality reservoir and seal
facies). 55
Fluvial Depositional Systems

• Rivers or
channels
• Floodplains
• Lakes
• Alluvial Fans

56
 Channel morphology
Channel types:
Straight, Meandering, Braided, Anastomosing

Type depends on:

– Grainsize of sediment load, Bedload vs. suspended load,
Bank stability or cohesion of sediment
sediment, Gradient of the stream
stream,
Stream bed roughness, Flow rate (capacity or discharge) and
Fluctuations or variability of flow rate

57
 Floodplains
• Area of land adjacent to the river that is
commonly inundated during floods.
• During floods deposition of fine sediment occurs
on natural levees and in adjacent
j floodplain
basins. Sediments are fine grained, and tend to
be bioturbated and organic rich.
• Crevasse-splay deposits occur where
floodwaters breach natural levees, this may
result in avulsion of the channel into a new path.

58
59
 In the floodplain
vegetation & roots, fields and soil
lakes (lacustrine depositional environment)
swampy areas (peat which is converted to coal)

60
 Arid fluvial systems
• In a semi-arid to arid depositional
p environment,, streams
and rivers may not flow all year around, and vegetation
may be sparse in the floodplain.
– very little clay deposition
– very little organic matter in floodplain
– caliche or calcrete formation in soils
– high levels of bank erosion
– flash floods,, resulting
g in p
poorly
y stratified coarse g
grained
sediments in the channels with internal erosion surfaces.

61
 River Profiles
• Mountains
– weathering and erosion
• Alluvial fans
– g
gravity
ypprocesses and small streams
• River and floodplain systems
– Including lakes
• Shoreline

River ‘tries’ to maintain

the ideal profile… 62
Sand bed Braided Rivers
Sand-bed

63
• Braided gravel river
– Waimakariri River,
Canterbury New
Canterbury,
Zealand

64
Migration of bars results in
complex patterns of cross-
bedding caused by bar
migration
i i and d channel
h l fill
current deposited cross-
bedding, with erosional basal
surfaces
f andd fifining-upwards
i d
sucessions

65
Individual channels tend to have a
relatively stable position over time,
and so accumulate a much larger
and thicker sand body called a
‘braid-belt’. Braid-belts then also
cluster together, creating a
relatively high net-to-gross system,
but with fine grained floodplain
deposits between each braid-belt.

66
 Anastomosing Rivers

Tend to be mud-rich, not necessarily good reservoir deposits. Channel fills

more isolated than in braided fluvial systems.
67
 Anastomosing river pattern in an avulsion belt of the
Saskatchewan River
http://www.geo.uu.nl/fg/palaeogeography/results/avulsions

68
 Coarse-grained (Sand/Gravel)
Meandering Rivers

Reservoir deposits occur in channels but also in point-bars (the accretion

deposits inside the curves/meanders of the river.
69
70
How water flows and is deflected by
channel banks determines meander
formation and migration

71
Lateral-Accretion
or Point Bar
Deposits

72
Meander loop cut-offs – oxbow lakes

73
River avulsion

Crevasse-splay deposit, Columbia

River, Canada

74
Scales of Heterogeneity
y in
Meander Belt Sandstones

75
 Relationship between Channel
Geometry and Sandbody Geometry

Diagram to show the lack of

relationship between the
geometry of an individual
active channel and the
geometry of resulting
channel-fill
channel fill sand bodies.
Numbers above each channel
are the width/depth ratios of
the sand bodies. A,D Simple
Channels; B,E, F, broad
channel-fill complexes
formed by lateral channel
migration or switchng with
little contemporaneous
subsidence; C stacked
channel complex formed by
vertical aggradation. (Miall,
1985)

76
Fluvial channel sandstone with sharply erosive
base, cutting into interbedded floodplain
sandstones
d t and
d mudstones
d t

77
 Stacked channel sandstones with sharply
erosive bases, cutting into finer interbedded
fl d l i sandstones
floodplain d t andd mudstones
d t

78
Isolated fluvial channel ribbon sandbody

79
 Alluvial architecture - channel
di
dimensions
i
Blue Cove Eas t Sandbody Thicknes s es
(perimeter corrected)

70
Channel thickness 100.00%

90.00%
60
80.00%

50 70 00%
70.00%
Fre que ncy Blue Cove Eas t Sandbody Widths
60.00%
Cumula tive % (perimeter corrected)
Channel width
40
Frequency

50.00%
70 100.00%
30
40.00%
90.00%
60
20 30.00%
80.00%

20.00%
20 00%
50 Frequency 70.00% Blue Cove Eas t Sandbody As pect Ratios
10
Cumula tive %
10.00% (perimeter corrected)
40
60.00%
Channel aspect ratio
Frequency

0 .00% 90 100.00%
50.00%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

More
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

30 90.00%
80
40.00%
Thic knes s (m)
30.00% 80.00%
20 70

20.00% 70.00%
60
10 Frequency
10.00% 60.00%
Cumulative %

Frequency
50

0 .00% 50.00%
40
0

More
100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300
40.00%
Width (m) 30
30.00%

20
20.00%

10 10.00%

0 .00%

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240
As pect Ratio

80
 3-D modelling of fluvial channels,
constrained by outcrop panel

Need to be aware of direction of flow ((channel orientation)) and size/shape

p of
channels (range of likely aspect ratios)…
81
 Fluvial reservoirs
• Reservoir lithofacies
– Channels/channel belts and p pointbar lenses
– Subordinate reservoir facies include
• levees
• crevasse splays
• floodplain sandstones
• Interbedded with floodplain mudstones or
shales, coals, soils, lacustrine faces.

82
 Fluvial reservoirs
• Points to note
– Mappable/correlatable reservoir units are often channel belts rather
than individual channels
– Reservoir geometries range from ribbons (channels and channel
belts), to lenses or pods (point bar deposits) to sheets (finer
grained deposits in the floodplain)
– In immature meander belts, individual point bar sands may be
wholly or partly isolated from each other - channel fill may be non-
reservoir
– General fining-upwards
fining upwards trend as eroded channels fill and are
abandoned.
– Internal heterogeneity reflects the fluctuating flow conditions –
alternating mud/sand, and mud drapes.
– In low net-to-gross systems, floodplain sandstones may be
important in improving connectivity between the main
channel/channel-belt reservoirs 83
Examples of fluvial reservoirs

• Prudhoe Bay (braided)

• Little Creek, Mississippi (meander belt)

• Brent Group, North Sea (Ness Formation delta top)

• Gamba, Gabon

• Senlac Heavy Oil Pool Saskatchewan

(estuarine/incised valley)
84
 Incised Valley System
“Fluvially-eroded
Fluvially eroded, elongate topographic low that is
typically larger than a single channel form, and is
characterised by an abrupt seaward shift of
depositional facies across a regionally mappable
sequence boundary at its base.”
Zaitlin 1994
Fall in base-level (sea-level)
( )
results in incision as the river
attempts to maintain the same
‘long profile’.
Sea-level 1
Sea-level 2

85
Depositional Environments

86
 Significance
g of Incised
Valley Systems
• Association between incised valleys and regionally
mappable unconformities (sequence boundaries)
improves understanding of reservoir distribution
• Economicallyy significant
g q
quantities of hydrocarbons
y
are produced from reservoirs hosted in incised
valleys
y
• ~25% of all “off structure” clastic reservoirs world-
wide are produced from lowstand to transgressive
incised-valley deposits (Brown, 1993)

87
 Criteria for Recognition
g of
Incised Valley Systems
• Valley is an erosional feature which truncates
underlying
y g strata,, including
g regional
g markers
• Base and walls of IVS represent a sequence
boundary that can be correlated regionally
regionally,
across interfluves
• Base of the incised valley exhibits more proximal
deposits erosionally overlying more distal
deposits (i
(i.e.
e a “basinward
basinward shift in facies”)
facies )
• Onlap of surfaces/markers within valley fill onto
valley
ll walls.
ll
88
Simple and Compound Valley-
F ll Systems
Fill

89
 Still awake?
• Can you answer these questions?

1 Are braided or meandering fluvial systems

1.
likely to produce the highest net-to-gross
deposits?
2. What reservoir geometries do you expect to
find in fluvial systems?
3. What seal or barrier lithofacies would you
expectt to
t occur ini a fluvial
fl i l system?
t ? Wh
Where are
these deposited?
90
 Answers
1. Braided fluvial systems
y are more likelyy to produce
p the
highest net-to-gross deposits, because the wide channels
commonly stack into braid belts that represent a
considerable time with minimal movement of the river
position, before a large flood event shifts the location of the
river by a significant amount.
2. Geometries that we expect to find in fluvial systems include
ribbons (channels, channel belts), lenses or pods (point bar
deposits and braid belts)
belts), wedges (crevasse-splays)
(crevasse splays) and
sheets (floodplain silts or sands).
3. Seal or barrier lithofacies are deposited in the floodplain, or
within abandoned channels, or in lakes (including oxbow
lakes), including fine muds, clay, peat (which becomes coal),
andd possibly
ibl evaporites
it (i
(in arid
id conditions).
diti )
91