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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 83 (1999), No. (January 1999), P. 128-154.

Depositional Origin and Facies Variability of a Middle Triassic Barrier Island Complex, Peejay Field, Northeastern British Columbia1

Mark L. Caplan2 and Thomas F. Moslow3
 

©Copyright 1999.  The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.  All Rights Reserved
 

1Manuscript received December 9, 1996; revised manuscript received March 20, 1998; final acceptance April 15, 1998.
2Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada. Present address: Total, Scientific and Technical Centre, Route de Versailles, 784 70, Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse, France; e-mail: [email protected]
3Ulster Petroleums Ltd., 1900, 144-4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 3N4, Canada. Also at Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4; e-mail: [email protected]
 

Financial support for this study was provided by UNOCAL Canada Exploration Limited, Norcen Energy Canada Limited, and an NSERC Operating Grant to T. F. Moslow. Peter Aukes, Leon Halwa, Dave Johnson, Doug Glass, Reg MacLaughlin, John MacRae, Linda Moet, Murray Nunns, and Pauli Wong are especially thanked for their assistance. This manuscript has benefited greatly from discussions with a number of people, including Isabelle Chanoine-Caplan, Graham Davies, Dave Gibson, Charlie Stelck, and Andrew Willis. Finally, we thank Kevin Biddle, Ashton Embry, John Hogg, and D. Spear for their insightful reviews.

ABSTRACT

Middle Triassic strata of the Peejay field in northeastern British Columbia are composed of four regressive shorefaces, the youngest having been reworked by tidal inlets. Tidal-inlet sublitharenites and bioclastic grainstones form the best reservoir facies. These deposits form a series of shoreline-parallel, narrow, sharp-based, linear sand bodies that eroded the paleoshoreface. The orientation, geometry, and internal sedimentology of these tidal-inlet facies suggest that the paleoshoreline was subjected to a wave-dominated paleohydrographic regime.

Determining the processes responsible for forming a specific tidal inlet can provide information regarding waves, tides, and storms characteristic of the depositional setting. Knowledge of this paleohydrographic regime can aid in predicting the orientation and internal characteristics of tidal-inlet reservoir facies. Improved predictability of reservoir facies geometry and quality can have direct implications on hydrocarbon exploration and development strategies of these and similarly formed hydrocarbon plays of the Triassic in the Western Canada sedimentary basin and elsewhere. 

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