ABSTRACT

Sequence stratigraphic methodology is well suited to correlating stratigraphic units as thin as 100 msec or less and delineating reservoir rock fairways through the integration of biostratigraphic, well log, and seismic data. Stratigraphic sequences are subdivided into depositional systems tracts, revealing many interpreted horizons. These numerous horizons are correlated areawide based on seismic and well-log character and are interpreted with careful attention to balancing depositional thicknesses across faults and structures. Thickness and structure maps constructed from this detailed method of interpretation provide the basis for establishing depositional fairways.

In the Green Canyon area, sediments were deposited in lowstand systems tracts as turbidites and hemipelagic muds. At least three productive deep-water sandstone fairways exist within the 1.4- to 4.2-m.y. sedimentary rock section in this basin. Some of the productive sandstones were found in two thin slope fan intervals (less than 100 msec thick) of a stacked condensed section deposited during a period of low sedimentation rates (1.4 to 2.4 m.y.). These thin intervals could have been regionally miscorrelated or even overlooked without a sequence stratigraphic analysis. Sequence stratigraphic analysis within the Green Canyon area enabled recognition and delineation of these thin, yet productive, reservoir rock intervals and additional reservoir rock trends.