BALANCED CROSS SECTIONS IN COMPRESSIONAL AND EXTENSIONAL TERRANES

BALANCED CROSS SECTION IN COMPRESSIONAL AND EXTENSIONAL TERRANES

Who should Attend:

Exploration and Production Geologists and Geophysicists. The course is designed for

geoscientists working in complex structural provinces (extensional and compressional), who need to apply balanced cross sections, reconstructions , and 3-D balanced models, to improve interpretations for prospect evaluation and field development.

Objectives:

The course discusses the use of balanced cross sections to improve interpretations of regional

and field or prospect-scale structures in complex compressional and extensional provinces. Methods of balancing including construction methods, restoration, kinematic reconstruction, and forward modeling are discussed in detail, with applications to subsurface structures. Common pitfalls in structural interpretation for different types of structures are also discussed. The use of

3-D interpretations based on serial sections and the application to interpretation of major fields is presented. Problem sets provide hands on experience in the construction and restoration of balanced sections and the validation of subsurface interpretations using surface, seismic, and well data.

COURSE CONTENT :

1         INTRODUCTION

•        Definition and Importance of Balanced Cross Sections in Structural and Seismic Interpretations .

•        Examples of balanced and unbalanced sections and key pitfalls in structural interpretation.

•        Basic methods of balancing: Construction using balanced models, Restoration, Kinematic

•        Reconstruction and Forward Modeling, 3-D Interpretation and Modeling.

2 FOLD-THRUST BELTS

•        Balanced structural models of common fold-thrust structures including fold- accommodation faults, detachment and faulted detachment folds, fault-propagation folds, fault-bend folds, duplexes, fold-thrust systems and growth-structures.

•        Examples of trap-forming structures from the Alberta Foothills, the Utah-Wyoming belt, SubAndean fold belts, Campeche Bay, Mexico, and the Dinaride, Carpathian, Zagros and Papua-New Guinea fold belts, and various Deepwater fold-thrust Belts.

3 BASEMENT-INVOLVED AND INVERSION STRUCTURES

•        Structural models of basement involved structures (Trishear), and inversion structures.

•        Examples of trap-forming structures from compressional basement structures and inversion structures, including foreland basins, the Southern Gas Basin, the Taranaki Basin, and Indonesian Basins.

4 RIFT STRUCTURES

•        Structural models of rift structures including graben, half-graben, rotational tilt blocks, and drape folds

•        Map-scale balancing in divergent, convergent, and synthetic transfer zones.

•        Examples of interpretations from rift settings including the North Sea, Gulf of Suez, and Sirte basin.

5 LISTRIC GROWTH FAULTS

•        Balanced models of listric growth faults and rollover folds; use of inclined shear in modeling.

•        Examples of balanced interpretations from passive margins including Gulf of Mexico and Niger Delta

6 RESTORATION, KINEMATIC RECONSTRUCTION, AND FORWARD MODELING

•        Basic Principles of Cross Section Restoration

•        Line-Length Restoration

•        Area Restoration

•        Multiple Interpretations and Choice of Solutions

•        Restoring and Balancing Salt in Extensional Structures

•        Application to Compressional and Extensional Structures

•        Kinematic Reconstructions

•        Forward Modeling

7 THREE-DIMENSIONAL BALANCED INTERPRETATIONS – APPLICATION TO MAJOR FIELDS

•        Basic Methods of Balanced 3-D Interpretations

•        Application of 3-D Modeling to Major Fields

•        Rhourde-el Baguel Field, Algeria

•        Painter and East Painter Fields, Wyoming

•        Cantarell and Kumaza Fields, Mexico

•        Ek Balam Field , Mexico