Seismic stratigraphy

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Seismic stratigraphy is a method for studying sedimentary rock in the deep subsurface based on seismic data acquisition. [1]

Contents

History

The term Seismic stratigraphy was introduced in 1977 by Vail [2] as an integrated stratigraphic and sedimentologic technique to interpret seismic reflection data for stratigraphic correlation and to predict depositional environments and lithology. This technique was initially employed for petroleum exploration and subsequently evolved into sequence stratigraphy by academic institutes. [3]

Basic Concept

Seismic reflection is generated at interfaces that separate media with different acoustic properties, and traditionally these interfaces have been interpreted as the lithological boundaries. Vail in 1977, however, recognized that these reflections were, in fact, parallel to the bedding surfaces, and therefore time equivalent surfaces. Interruption of reflections indicates the disappearance of bedding surfaces. Hence, onlap, down lap and top lap and other depositional features observed on surface outcrops have been demonstrated on seismic profiles. This revolutionary interpretation has been substantiated by Vail’s associated industrial drilling results and extensive multichannel seismic data. Furthermore, the most indisputable evidence comes from the progradational dipping reflection pattern associated with the advancing delta deposition in shallow marine environments. Lithological boundaries associated with delta front and slope are nearly horizontal, but are not represented by reflections. Instead, the dipping reflections are a clear indication of depositional surfaces, hence time plane equivalents. [4]

Methodology

Establishing Sequence Boundary

Sequence boundaries are defined as an erosional unconformity recognized on the seismic profile as a reflection surface with reflection termination features such as truncation below and onlap above the surface, The sequence boundary, therefore, represents a marine regression event, during which continental shelf is partially exposed to subaerial erosion processes.

A seismic sequence is defined as the stratigraphic interval between two consecutive sequence boundaries, representing two marine regression events with a marine transgression event at the middle. Thus a seismic sequence is further subdivided with a basal unit of regressive systems tract, a transgressive systems tract at the middle, and a regressive systems tract at the top. The transgressive systems tract is marked at the top by a maximum flooding surface. [5]

Describing Seismic Facies

Within a systems tract, each seismic facies is mapped based on reflection geometry, continuity, amplitude, frequency, and interval velocity. The lithology of each facies is then predicted according to known depositional model and nearby drilling results. [6]

Estimating Relative Sea level Changes

Since onlaps on an erosional surface approximate the positions of sea level on a coastal plain, the sea level variation of a marine transgression/regression cycle could be estimated by the onlap positions on seismic profiles. The maximum sea-level rise is represented by the highest onlap position on a sequence boundary and the minimum sea-level fall by the lowest onlap position on the next younger sequence boundary. The difference in depth between the two positions represents the sea level change magnitude of the cycle. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Sedimentary rock Rock formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of material

Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock are called sediment, and may be composed of geological detritus (minerals) or biological detritus. The geological detritus originated from weathering and erosion of existing rocks, or from the solidification of molten lava blobs erupted by volcanoes. The geological detritus is transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, ice or mass movement, which are called agents of denudation. Biological detritus was formed by bodies and parts of dead aquatic organisms, as well as their fecal mass, suspended in water and slowly piling up on the floor of water bodies. Sedimentation may also occur as dissolved minerals precipitate from water solution.

Stratigraphy Study of rock layers and their formation

Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has two related subfields: lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy.

Geological formation Fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy

A geological formation, or formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguish it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region. It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers.

Facies

In geology, a facies is a body of rock with specified characteristics, which can be any observable attribute of rocks, and the changes that may occur in those attributes over a geographic area. It is the sum total characteristics of a rock including its chemical, physical, and biological features that distinguishes it from adjacent rock.

Sequence stratigraphy is a branch of geology that attempts to subdivide and link sedimentary deposits into unconformity bound units on a variety of scales and explain these stratigraphic units in terms of variations in sediment supply and variations in the rate of change in accommodation space. The essence of the method is mapping of strata based on identification of surfaces which are assumed to represent time lines, and therefore placing stratigraphy in chronostratigraphic framework. Sequence stratigraphy is a useful alternative to a lithostratigraphic approach, which emphasizes similarity of the lithology of rock units rather than time significance.

Lithostratigraphy

Lithostratigraphy is a sub-discipline of stratigraphy, the geological science associated with the study of strata or rock layers. Major focuses include geochronology, comparative geology, and petrology.

Marine transgression Geologic event in which sea level rises relative to the land

A marine transgression is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, which results in flooding. Transgressions can be caused by the land sinking or by the ocean basins filling with water or decreasing in capacity. Transgressions and regressions may be caused by tectonic events such as orogenies, severe climate change such as ice ages or isostatic adjustments following removal of ice or sediment load.

The Absaroka sequence was a cratonic sequence that extended from the end of the Mississippian through the Permian periods. It is the unconformity between this sequence and the preceding Kaskaskia that divides the Carboniferous into the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods in North America.

Cyclothems Alternating sequences of marine and non-marine sediments

In geology, cyclothems are alternating stratigraphic sequences of marine and non-marine sediments, sometimes interbedded with coal seams. Historically, the term was defined by the European coal geologists who worked in coal basins formed during the Carboniferous and earliest Permian periods. The cyclothems consist of repeated sequences, each typically several meters thick, of sandstone resting upon an erosional surface, passing upwards to pelites and topped by coal.

Cyclic sediments are sequences of sedimentary rocks that are characterised by repetitive patterns of different rock types (strata) or facies within the sequence. Processes that generate sedimentary cyclicity can be either autocyclic or allocyclic, and can result in piles of sedimentary cycles hundreds or even thousands of metres thick. The study of sequence stratigraphy was developed from controversies over the causes of cyclic sedimentation.

Henry W. Posamentier

Henry William Posamentier is an American geologist. He helped pioneer and develop the modern approach to sequence stratigraphy, blending the disciplines of sedimentology, stratigraphy, and depositional systems analysis, largely within the context of oil and gas exploration. During the past decade he pioneered and popularized the discipline of seismic geomorphology, which, when integrated with seismic stratigraphy, leverages both 2D and 3D seismic data to better understand the paleogeographic distribution of lithologies.

Straight Cliffs Formation

The Straight Cliffs Formation is a stratigraphic unit in the Kaiparowits Plateau of south central Utah. It is Late Cretaceous in age and contains fluvial, paralic, and marginal marine (shoreline) siliciclastic strata. It is well exposed around the margin of the Kaiparowits Plateau in the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument in south central Utah. The formation is named after the Straight Cliffs, a long band of cliffs creating the topographic feature Fiftymile Mountain.

In geology, a horizon refers to either a bedding surface where there is marked change in the lithology within a sequence of sedimentary or volcanic rocks, or a distinctive layer or thin bed with a characteristic lithology or fossil content within a sequence. Examples of the former can include things such as volcanic eruptions as well as things such as meteorite impacts and tsunamis. Examples of the latter include things such as ice ages and other large climate events, as well as large but temporary geological features and changes such as inland oceans. In the interpretation of seismic reflection data, horizons are the reflectors picked on individual profiles. These reflectors represent a change in rock properties across a boundary between two layers of rock, particularly seismic velocity and density. It can also represent changes in the density of the material and the composition of it and the pressure under which it was produced. Thus, not only do the properties change but so too do the conditions of formation and other differences in the rock. The horizons can sometimes be very prominent, such as visible changes in cliff sides, to extremely subtle chemical differences.

Nias Basin

The Nias Basin is a forearc basin located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the Indian Ocean. The name is derived from the island that bounds its western edge, the island of Nias. The Nias Basin, the island of Nias, and the offshore, submarine accretionary complex, together form a Forearc region on the Sunda Plate/Indo-Australian Plate collisional/subduction boundary. The Forearc region is the area between an oceanic trench and its associated volcanic arc. The oceanic trench associated with the Nias Basin is the Sunda Trench, and the associated volcanic arc is the Sunda Arc.

Middle Magdalena Valley

The Middle Magdalena Valley, Middle Magdalena Basin or Middle Magdalena Valley Basin is an intermontane basin, located in north-central Colombia between the Central and Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The basin, covering an area of 34,000 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), is situated in the departments of Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Tolima.

One of the major depositional strata in the Himalaya is the Lesser Himalayan Strata from the Paleozoic to Mesozoic eras. It had a quite different marine succession during the Paleozoic, as most parts of it are sparsely fossiliferous or even devoid of any well-defined fossils. Moreover, it consists of many varied lithofacies, making correlation work more difficult. This article describes the major formations of the Paleozoic – Mesozoic Lesser Himalayan Strata, including the Tal Formation, Gondwana Strata, Singtali Formation and Subathu Formation.

Val Verde Basin Foreland basin

The Val Verde Basin is a marginal foreland basin located in West Texas, just southeast of the Midland Basin. The Val Verde is a sub-basin of the larger Permian Basin and is roughly 24–40 km wide by 240 km long. It is an unconventional system and its sediments were deposited during a long period of flooding during the Middle to Late Cretaceous. This flooding event is referred to as the Western Interior Seaway, and many basins in the Western United States can attribute their oil and gas producing basins to carbonate deposition during this time period.

Drzewica Formation

The Drzewica Formation is a geologic formation in Szydłowiec, Poland. It is Pliensbachian in age. Vertebrate fossils have been uncovered from this formation, including dinosaur tracks. The Drzewica Formation is part of the Depositional sequence IV-VII of the late lower Jurassic Polish Basin, with the IV showing the presence of local Alluvial deposits, with possible meandriform deposition origin, dominated in Jagodne and Szydłowiec, while delta system occurred through the zone of the modern Budki. The sequence V shows a reduction of the erosion in the Zychorzyn borehole of the Drzewica Formation, showing changes on the extension of the marine facies, where upper deposits change from Alluvial to Deltaic-Seashore depositional settings. VI-VII facies were recovered on the Brody-Lubienia borehole, with a lower part exposed on the village of Śmiłów that shows a small fall of the Sea level. The stathigraphic setting of the dinosaur tracks reported from the formation suggest a Seashore or Deltaic barrier. Body fossils reported include bivalves, palynology, fossil trunks, roots. Trunks of coniferous wood, especially Cheirolepidiaceae and Araucariaceae trees show the occurrence of vast coniferous forests around the tracksite. The association of forests and dinosaur megafauna on the Pliensbachian suggests also a colder and specially dry ecosystem. Drzewica deposits where in part to be a gigantic shore barrel, setting at the time where the Polish basin sea was at its lowest point. Other related units are Fjerritslev or Gassum Formation, Hasle & Sorthat Formation (Bornholm), upper Neringa Formation (Lithuania). Abandoned informal units in Poland: upper Sawêcin beds, Wieluñ series or Bronów series.

In sequence stratigraphy, a maximum flooding surface is the surface that marks the transition from a transgression to a regression. Maximum flooding surfaces are abbreviated by mfs, synonyms for them include final transgressive surface, surface of maximum transgression and maximum transgressive surface.

In sequence stratigraphy, a sub discipline of geology, type 1 sequences and type 2 sequences are special sequences that are defined by having by distinct types of sequence boundaries. In modern literature, the distinction in type 1 sequences and type 2 sequences was abandoned.

References

  1. "Seismic Stratigraphy - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  2. Vail, P.R., et al. 1977 Seismic Stratigraphy and Global Changes of Sea Level in AAPG Memoir 26(DOI:https://doi.org/10.1306/M26490C3)
  3. Sheriff, R.E., and Sheriff, M.S., 1980. Seismic Stratigraphy. ISBN 978-0-934634-51-9, DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-6395-8
  4. Payton, C.E., 1977 Seismic stratigraphy- — Applications to Hydrocarbon Exploration. AAPG memoir 26. ISBN 9781629812052
  5. Berg, O.R. and Woolverton, D.G., 1985.Seismic Stratigraphy II: An Integrated Approach to Hydrocarbon Exploration.AAPG Memoir 39. ISBN 13: 9780891813163
  6. Ramsayer, G.R., 1979.Seismic Stratigraphy, a Fundamental Exploration Tool. Paper presented at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, April 1979. Paper Number: OTC-3568-MS https://doi.org/10.4043/3568-MS
  7. Wilgus C.K. et al ., 1988. Sea-Level Changes: An Integrated Approach SEPM special publication #42. ISBN 978-0-918985-74-3