A cyclostratigraphic framework of the Upper Carboniferous Westoe and Cleaver formations in the southern North Sea Basin as a methodology for stratigraphic reservoir characterisation

Orbital driven climate control on sedimentation produces regional, stratigraphically repetitive characters and so cyclostratigraphic correlation can improve correlation and identify stratigraphic trends in borehole sections. This concept is commonly used to correlate marine and lacustrine strata. However, in the alluvial domain, its use is more...

Sandstone body character and river planform styles of the lower Eocene Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA

ABSTRACT The lower Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA, is an alluvial succession with a sand content varying around 25 palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates, as well as sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis. Channel dynamics were studied at a relatively low resolution throughout the basin over the geological time...

Impact of the lower Jurassic Dunlin Group depositional elements on the Aurora CO₂ storage site, EL001, northern North Sea, Norway

Northern Lights is the CO₂ transport and storage component of Longship, the Norwegian full-scale CCS project. Injection is planned into an under-explored sloping saline aquifer in the northern North Sea, the Johansen and Cook formations of the Lower Jurassic Dunlin Group. To bridge the information gap, well 31/5-7 (Eos) was drilled...

Origin and distribution of grain-coating and pore-filling chlorite in deltaic sandstones for reservoir quality assessment

Grain-coating chlorite preserves porosity and permeability through the inhibition of quartz cement whereas pore-filling chlorite blocks pore-throats and diminishes reservoir quality. The aim of this study is to determine the origin and principal mechanisms which govern the distribution of grain-coating and pore-filling chlorite in Jurassic...

Evaluating alluvial stratigraphic response to cyclic and non-cyclic upstream forcing through process-based alluvial architecture modelling

Formation of alluvial stratigraphy is controlled by autogenic processes that mix their imprints with allogenic forcing. In some alluvial successions, sedimentary cycles have been linked to astronomically-driven, cyclic climate changes. However, it remains challenging to define how such cyclic allogenic forcing leads to sedimentary cycles when...

Grain size fractionation by process-driven sorting in sandy to muddy deltas

Modern and ancient analogues are often consulted by geologists to help understand subsurface systems. While modern analogues provide information on the areal relationship between facies, ancient systems provide detailed data on the vertical facies variations, typically along a two-dimensional outcrop. Combining data from modern and ancient...

Predictable patterns in stacking and distribution of channelized fluvial sand bodies linked to channel mobility and avulsion processes

Despite the importance of channel avulsion in constructing fluvial stratigraphy, it is unclear how contrasting avulsion processes are reflected in stratigraphic-stacking patterns of channelized fluvial sand bodies, as a proxy for how river depocenters shifted in time and space. Using an integrated, geospatially referenced, three-dimensional...

Impact of reservoir heterogeneity on oil migration and the origin of oil-water contacts: McMurray Formation type section, Alberta, Canada

This study documents and attempts to describe the processes leading to the formation and preservation of exposed oil, water, and paleo-gas contacts at the McMurray Formation type section, Alberta, Canada. The McMurray Formation type section, a part of the Athabasca Oil Sands Deposit (AOSD), the largest exhumed oil reservoir on Earth, is...