New Perspectives on Deep-water Sandstones: Origin, Recognition, Initiation and Reservoir Quality

502 Pages·2012·74.404 MB·English

by  G. Shanmugam (Eds.)

New Perspectives on Deep-water
Sandstones
HANDBOOK OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION
AND PRODUCTION
9
Series Editor
JOHN CUBITT
Previousvolumesin theseries:
Volume1 Operational Aspects of Oiland Gas Well Testing
Volume2 Statisticsfor Petroleum Engineers and Geoscientists
Volume3 Well Test Analysis
Volume4 AGeneralized Approachto Primary Hydrocarbon
Recoveryof Petroleum Exploration andProduction
Volume5 Deep-water Processes and FaciesModels:Implications
for Sandstone Petroleum Reservoirs
Volume6 Stratigraphic Reservoir Characterization for Petroleum
Geologists, Geophysicists, andEngineers
Volume7 The Sea of Lost Opportunity
Volume8 PhysicalProperties ofRocks
Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production, 9
New Perspectives on
Deep-water Sandstones
Origin, Recognition, Initiation
and Reservoir Quality
G. Shanmugam, Ph.D.
Departmentof Earth and Environmental Sciences
The University ofTexas atArlington
Arlington,Texas
U.S.A.
AMSTERDAM(cid:1)BOSTON(cid:1)HEIDELBERG(cid:1)LONDON
NEWYORK(cid:1)OXFORD(cid:1)PARIS(cid:1)SANDIEGO
SANFRANCISCO(cid:1)SINGAPORE(cid:1)SYDNEY(cid:1)TOKYO
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In the 21st Century,
the rocks are still the sole
foundation for interpreting
depositional processes of
deep-water sandstone
petroleum reservoirs
Contents
Dedication v
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Introduction 1
1.1 WhatisDeepWater? 1
1.2 FlawedTurbiditeParadigm 9
1.2.1 LackofEmpiricalDataonSandyTurbidityCurrents 13
1.3 NewPerspectives:SMTDsandBCRS 20
1.3.1 DirectObservations 21
1.3.2 EconomicImportance 34
1.4 Database 34
1.5 ScopeandOrganization 37
1.6 ProcessSedimentology 39
1.7 Synopsis 40
2. Origin and Classification of Sandy Mass-Transport
Deposits 41
2.1 Introduction 41
2.2 Literature 45
2.3 Classification 46
2.4 LandslideVersusMassTransport 57
2.5 SubaerialProcessesBasedonTypesofMovementandMaterial 58
2.6 SubaqueousProcessesBasedonMechanicalBehaviour 59
2.6.1 SedimentConcentration 60
2.6.2 SandyMass-TransportDeposits 60
2.7 SubaqueousProcessesBasedonSediment-supportMechanism 61
2.8 SubaqueousProcessesBasedonProcessContinuum 63
2.9 SubaqueousProcessesBasedonTransportVelocity 63
2.10 Synopsis 65
3. Recognition of Sandy Mass-Transport Deposits 67
3.1 Introduction 67
3.2 SandySlide 69
3.3 SandySlump 75
3.4 SandyDebrite 85
3.5 OriginofMassiveSandstone 112
3.6 ProblemswithInterpretationofWirelineLogs 116
3.7 ProblemswithInterpretationofSeismicFacies 118
vii
viii Contents
3.8 ProblemsAssociatedwithInterpretationofSeismicSinuous
Geometry 124
3.9 Synopsis 127
4. Bottom-Current Reworked Sands 129
4.1 Introduction 129
4.2 SurfaceCurrents,Deep-waterMasses,andBottomCurrents 129
4.2.1 SurfaceCurrents 131
4.2.2 Deep-waterMasses 132
4.2.3 BottomCurrents 134
4.3 BottomCurrentsversusTurbidityCurrents 134
4.4 GeneticNomenclature 136
4.5 Thermohaline-InducedGeostrophicBottomCurrents 139
4.5.1 AntarcticandArcticBottomCurrents 139
4.5.2 CurrentVelocity 140
4.5.3 SedimentologicalCriteria 142
4.5.4 ProblematicContouriteFaciesModel 150
4.6 Wind-DrivenBottomCurrents 153
4.6.1 TheGulfStream 153
4.6.2 TheLoopCurrent 154
4.6.3 CurrentVelocity 155
4.6.4 TheLoopCurrent(cid:1)TropicalCycloneConnection 157
4.6.5 SedimentologicalCriteria 157
4.7 DeepwaterTidalBottomCurrents 166
4.7.1 SubmarineCanyons 166
4.7.2 CurrentVelocity 175
4.7.3 SedimentologicalCriteria 177
4.7.4 FaciesAssociationsinSubmarineCanyons 188
4.8 BaroclinicCurrents(InternalTides) 194
4.8.1 NomenclatureandBackground 194
4.8.2 SubmarineCanyons 197
4.8.3 CurrentVelocity 198
4.8.4 M TidalEnergyDissipationintheDeepOcean 199
2
4.8.5 M BarotropicandBaroclinicTidesinthe
2
IndonesianSeas 201
4.8.6 SedimentologicalCriteria 206
4.9 ProblematicBedform-VelocityMatrixforDeep-waterBottom
Currents 209
4.10 ProblemswithInterpretationofSeismicFaciesandGeometries 212
4.10.1 SeismicFacies 212
4.10.2 WaveGeometry 213
4.10.3 Channel-LeveeGeometry 217
4.10.4 SheetGeometry 219
4.11 Synopsis 219
5. Initiation of Deep-Water Sediment Failures 221
5.1 Introduction 221
5.2 Short-termTriggeringEvents 221
Contents ix
5.2.1 Earthquakes 221
5.2.2 MeteoriteImpacts 231
5.2.3 VolcanicActivity 231
5.2.4 TsunamiWaves 234
5.2.5 RogueWaves 240
5.2.6 CyclonicWaves 242
5.2.7 MonsoonFlooding 251
5.2.8 EbbTidalCurrents 252
5.2.9 Wildfire 253
5.3 Intermediate-termTriggeringEvents 253
5.3.1 TectonicOversteepening 253
5.3.2 GlacialMaximaandLoading 253
5.3.3 SaltMovements 254
5.3.4 DepositionalLoading 255
5.3.5 HydrostaticLoading 256
5.3.6 Ocean-bottomCurrents 257
5.3.7 BiologicalErosion 258
5.3.8 GasHydrateDecomposition 259
5.4 Long-termTriggeringEvents 260
5.4.1 Sea-levelLowstand 260
5.4.2 TheObsolescenceofSea-levelLowstandModel 261
5.5 Synopsis 270
6. Implications for Deep-water Sandstone Reservoirs 271
6.1 Grain-SizeDistribution 271
6.2 DimensionsandGeometries 271
6.2.1 SlidesandSlumps 271
6.2.2 Debrites 275
6.3 Long-RunoutMTD 278
6.4 TurbiditesversusDebrites 280
6.5 TurbiditesversusTidalites 283
6.6 SMTDandBCRS,GulfofMexico 284
6.7 ChicxulubMeteoriteImpact,GulfofMexico 287
6.8 SandInjection 288
6.8.1 Recognition 288
6.8.2 TriggeringMechanisms 291
6.8.3 Seismicity-InducedInjection 292
6.8.4 Deposition-InducedInjection 293
6.8.5 GryphonField,U.K.NorthSea 294
6.8.6 EdopField,OffshoreNigeria 306
6.9 SequenceStratigraphy 307
6.9.1 ProblematicSequenceBoundaries 314
6.10 Synopsis 320
7. Reservoir Quality—Global Examples 321
7.1 OffshoreCalifornia 321
7.2 OffshoreNigeria 322
x Contents
7.3 GulfofMexico 323
7.4 StraitsofFlorida 327
7.5 U.K.NorthSea 330
7.6 Krishna(cid:1)GodavariBasin,BayofBengal 331
7.6.1 Introduction 331
7.6.2 DepositionalFacies 333
7.6.3 ReservoirGeometry 337
7.6.4 ReservoirQuality 337
7.7 Synopsis 342
8. Epilogue 343
AppendixA: Concepts,Glossary,andMethodology 345
References 425
Index 479
About theAuthor 487
Color Plates 489
Preface
This volume is a follow-up to my earlier book “Deep-Water Processes and
Facies Models: Implications for Sandstone Petroleum Reservoirs,” published
under Elsevier’s “Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production”
series (Volume 5). In that book and in my other publications, I have dis-
cussed the obsolescence of turbidite facies models and have advocated the
importance of sandy mass-transport deposits (SMTDs) and bottom-current
reworked sands (BCRSs) as deep-water reservoir facies. Although my views
were considered “dissident” not so long ago, these views are becoming
increasingly “mainstream” today. In advancing this new perspective, the pri-
mary goal of this book is to consolidate the rock data and convince the
reader of the importance of SMTD and BCRS in petroleum geology. This
book is an antidote to the current complacency-ridden interpretation of deep-
water sands based on turbidite andcontourite facies models.
In describing deep-water lithofacies using conventional core and outcrop,
my experience (1978(cid:1)2000) with Mobil Oil Corporation (now ExxonMobil,
USA) and subsequent consulting experience with the petroleum industry
worldwide (2002(cid:1)2010), including Reliance Industries Limited (India), Oil
and Natural Gas Corporation (India), Hardy Exploration and Production
(India) Inc., and Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development (RIPED) of PetroChina (China) have provided me a unique
opportunity to examine the rock data and acquire an appreciation for the
complexity of deep-water marine and lacustrine facies. I have included ex-
amples from published core studies conducted for Reliance. By design, this
book is a cumulative reflection of my experience over the past 50 years.
To maintain conceptual continuity, I have repeated critical portions from my
previouspublications.
Although this volume is intended for a wide range of knowledge levels,
including students, academics, researchers, and professional petroleum geos-
cientists, it is written mostly with the student in mind. Therefore, I have (1)
adopted bulleted or numbered text format, (2) included copious number of
color images of modern and ancient examples in an atlas format, (3) offered
solutions to lingering nomenclatural and conceptual problems, (4) explained
the practical implications of new perspectives from a petroleum reservoir
viewpoint, and (5) included an illustrated appendix on concepts, glossary,
and methodology. In reflecting the proliferation of online publications, I
have cited apt websites. The book contains 367 figures and 992 references.
xi