3-D sedimentological and geophysical studies of clastic reservoir analogs: Facies architecture, reservoir properties, and flow behavior within delta front facies elements of the Cretaceous Wall Creek Member, Frontier Formation, Wyoming

Bhattacharya, Janok P. ; McMechan, George A.

University of Texas at Dallas

关键词: Origin;    Cements;    River Deltas;    Fluid Flow;    Radar;   

DOI  :  10.2172/899829
RP-ID  :  DOEER151661
RP-ID  :  FG03-01ER15166
RP-ID  :  899829

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This project examined the internal architecture of delta front sandstones at two locations within the Turonian-age Wall Creek Member of the Frontier Formation, in Wyoming. The project involved traditional outcrop field work integrated with core-data, and 2D and 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) imaging from behind the outcrops. The fluid-flow engineering work, handled through a collaborative grant given to PI Chris White at LSU, focused on effects on fluid flow of late-stage calcite cement nodules in 3D. In addition to the extensive field component, the work funded 2 PhD students (Gani and Lee) and resulted in publication of 10 technical papers, 17 abstracts, and 4 internal field guides. PI Bhattacharya also funded an additional 3 PhD students that worked on the Wall Creek sandstone funded separately through an industrial consortium, two of whom graduated in the fall 2006 ((Sadeque and Vakarelov). These additional funds provided significant leverage to expand the work to include a regional stratigraphic synthesis of the Wall Creek Member of the Frontier Formation, in addition to the reservoir-scale studies that DOE directly funded. Awards given to PI Bhattacharya included the prestigious AAPG Distinguished Lecture Award, which involved a tour of about 25 Universities and Geological Societies in the US and Canada in the fall of 2005 and Spring of 2006. Bhattacharya gave two talks, one entitled “Applying Deltaic and Shallow Marine Outcrop Analogs to the Subsurface”, which highlighted the DOE sponsored work and the other titled “Martian River Deltas and the Origin of Life”. The outcrop analog talk was given at about 1/2 of the venues visited.