Imaging Reservoir Quality: Seismic Signatures of Geologic Processes

Lithofacies successions from diverse depositional environments show distinctive patterns in various rock-physics planes (velocity-porosity, velocity-density and porosity-clay). Four clear examples of decameter-scale lithofacies sequences are documented in this study: (1) Micocene fluvial deposits show an inverted-V pattern indicative of dispersed fabric, (2) a fining-upward sequence of mud-rich deep deposits shows a linear trend associated with laminated sand-clay mixtures, (3) sand-rich deposits show a pattern resulting from the scarcity of mixed lithofacies, and (4) a coarsening-upward sequence shows evidence of both dispersed and horizontally laminated mixed lithofacies, with predominating dispersed mixtures generated by bioturbation. It was observed that carbonate-cemented sandstones are extremely heterogeneous in the project deep-water study area. Those from the base of incisions are usually associated with lower shaliness, lower porosity and higher P-impedance, while from the top of flooding surfaces exhibit higher shaliness, higher porosity and lower P-impedance. One rock physics model that captures the observed impedance-porosity trend is the 'stiff-sand model'. For this model, the high-porosity end-member is unconsolidated sand whose initial porosity is a function of sorting and shaliness, while the low-porosity end-member is solid mineral. These two end points are joined with a Hashin-Shtrikman equation. A systematic variation of quartz:clay ratio from proximal to distal locations was observed in the study area even within a single facies. The quartz:clay ratio changes from [0.5:0.5] to [1:0] along the direction of flow, based on the trends of P-impedance vs. porosity as predicted by the rock model for uncemented sands. The results are in agreement with spill-and-fill sequence stratigraphic model in mini-basin setting. In addition, porosity at the distal location ({approx}25 % to 35%) is higher than the porosity at the proximal location ({approx}20 % to 23%). This trend is explained by a sequence stratigraphic model which predicts progressive increase in sorting by turbidity current along the flow, as well as, quantified by a rock model that heuristically accounts for sorting. The results can be applied to improve quantitative predication of sediment parameters from seismic impedance, away from well locations

Quaternary Rhyolite from the Mineral Mountains, Utah, U.S.A.

A suite of silicic volcanic rocks is associated with the Roosevelt Hot Springs geothermal area in southwestern Utah. The volcanic sequence includes Tertiary rhyolite 8 m.y. old and obsidian, ash and rhyolite of Quaternary age. The Quaternary lavas are characterized by high silica content (76.5% SiO2) and total alkalies in excess of 9 percent. Obsidians commonly contain greater amounts of flourine than water. Two older flows (0.8 m.y.) can be distinguished from younger dome and pyroclastic material (approximately 0.5 m.y.) by subtle differences in their chemistry. The mineralogy of the rhyolites consists of alkali feldspar, plagioclase, and small amounts of Fe-Ti oxides, biotite, hornblende and rare allanite. Fe-Ti oxide temperatures are 740-785 degrees Celsius for the flows and 635-665 degrees Celsius for the domes; two feldspar temperature give similar results. The phase relationships of bulk rock, glass and feldspar compositions demonstrate that the younger Quaternary rhyolites could have been derived from the earlier magma type, represented by the obsidian flows, by a process of crystal fractionation. The major phases which must fractionate are alkali feldspar, plagioclase and quartz with minor amounts of biotite, magnetite and ilmenite participating also. Trace element patterns support this scheme as well. The Tertiary lavas cannot be related to the Quaternary rhyolites and are thought to represent a separate event

EM survey, South Bay Reclamation Project, South Bay, Ontario.

A geophysical survey was carried out in March, 1992 in the vicinity of the Town of South Bay, Ontario. The purpose of the survey was to detect the presence of contaminants and abandoned structures at the South Bay mine site. The work was authorized by M. Kahn of Boojum Research Limited

Practical formulas for the refraction coefficient

Knowledge of the actual refraction coefficient is essential in leveling surveys and precise electromagnetic distance measurement reduction. The most common method followed by the surveyor for its determination is based on the use of simultaneous reciprocal zenith observations. The commonly used formula is only an approximation valid for approximately horizontal sightings, whereas the exact geometric solution turns out to be very complicated so that an iterative computation procedure is suggested instead. In the present paper, the goal is to derive a compact formula from the complete solution that is easy to implement and retains the necessary accuracy for horizontal and slanted sightings. In addition, the paper will also focus on the common situation for the surveyor where isolated observations have to be done and no partially compensating procedures—e.g., leap-frog or middle point—are possible. If temperature vertical profiles are unknown then the refraction coefficient cannot be reliably determined. Some surveyors may customarily use then an average value, e.g., k 5 0:13, perhaps being unaware of the risks involved in such simplistic assumption. In the present paper, it is also a goal to present a useful and simple formula for approximately estimating the refraction coefficient in terms of easily accessible parameters to correct the bulk of the refraction effect in single observations, always bearing in mind that determination of the refraction coefficient by means of a model may turn out to be somewhat inaccurate, but still better than the blind use of a universal k.The authors are grateful to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions, corrections, and comments that helped improve the original manuscript. This research is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant No. AYA2011-23232).Baselga Moreno, S.; García-Asenjo Villamayor, L.; Garrigues Talens, P. (2014). Practical formulas for the refraction coefficient. Journal of Surveying Engineering. 140(2):1-5. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)SU.1943-5428.0000124S15140

Simulating a Large Wasatch Front, Utah, Earthquake Using Small Earthquake Recordings as Green\u27s Functions

Several earthquake recordings at Golden, Colorado in the magnitude range 4-6, were digitized and were used to investigate the feasibility of adding them together to simulate a larger earthquake (magnitude 7.0-7.5). The test path of the Wasatch Front, Utah to the WWSSN station at Golden was selected (distance=400-500 km). The hypothetical causative fault was given dimensions on the order of 45 km long by 20 km wide and was divided into cells, representative in size to the seed events rupture dimensions and with other variations. The results were evaluated by total energy and amplitude criteria. The final waveforms were judged to be adequate predictions at the lower frequency end of the spectra. The high frequency content was controlled by the spectra of the seed earthquakes whose magnitudes were too large to adequately reproduce the Green\u27s function response at these frequencies. It is recommended that this technique be used at smaller distance ranges or at stations whose sensitivity is set high enough so as to record the smaller magnitude earthquakes, more representative of impulse responses at all frequencies

The Gediz River fluvial archive: A benchmark for Quaternary research in Western Anatolia

The Gediz River, one of the principal rivers of Western Anatolia, has an extensive Pleistocene fluvial archive that potentially offers a unique window into fluvial system behaviour on the western margins of Asia during the Quaternary. In this paper we review our work on the Quaternary Gediz River Project (2001–2010) and present new data which leads to a revised stratigraphical model for the Early Pleistocene development of this fluvial system. In previous work we confirmed the preservation of eleven buried Early Pleistocene fluvial terraces of the Gediz River (designated GT11, the oldest and highest, to GT1, the youngest and lowest) which lie beneath the basalt-covered plateaux of the Kula Volcanic Province. Deciphering the information locked in this fluvial archive requires the construction of a robust geochronology. Fortunately, the Gediz archive provides ample opportunity for age-constraint based upon age estimates derived from basaltic lava flows that repeatedly entered the palaeo-Gediz valley floors. In this paper we present, for the first time, our complete dataset of 40Ar/39Ar age estimates and associated palaeomagnetic measurements. These data, which can be directly related to the underlying fluvial deposits, provide age constraints critical to our understanding of this sequence. The new chronology establishes the onset of Quaternary volcanism at ∼1320ka (MIS42). This volcanism, which is associated with GT6, confirms a pre-MIS42 age for terraces GT11-GT7. Evidence from the colluvial sequences directly overlying these early terraces suggests that they formed in response to hydrological and sediment budget changes forced by climate-driven vegetation change. The cyclic formation of terraces and their timing suggests they represent the obliquity-driven climate changes of the Early Pleistocene. By way of contrast the GT5-GT1 terrace sequence, constrained by a lava flow with an age estimate of ∼1247ka, span the time-interval MIS42 – MIS38 and therefore do not match the frequency of climate change as previously suggested. The onset of volcanism breaks the simple linkage of terracing to climate-driven change. These younger terraces more likely reflect a localized terracing process triggered by base level changes forced by volcanic eruptions and associated reactivation of pre-existing faults, lava dam construction, landsliding and subsequent lava-dammed lake drainage. Establishing a firm stratigraphy and geochronology for the Early Pleistocene archive provides a secure framework for future exploitation of this part of the archive and sets the standard as we begin our work on the Middle-Late Pleistocene sequence. We believe this work forms a benchmark study for detailed Quaternary research in Turkey

A geophysical study of Mesquite Valley: Nevada-California border

This paper reports the results of a geophysical investigation of a sedimentary basin, Mesquite Valley, and its surrounding area in the Basin and Range province of the western United States. Mesquite Valley is located about 40 km south-southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, and straddles the border between Nevada and California (Figure 1). It is surrounded on three sides by mountains in which Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and Precambrian granites and gneisses crop out (Figure 1) [Burchfiel et al., 1974; Durchfiel and Davis, 1971; Hewett, 1956]. Unlike most basins in the Basin and Range province, however, there are no clearly active, range-bounding normal faults, and, in general, the surrounding topography is more subdued than in the regions farther west or north