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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Houston Geological Society Bulletin
Abstract
Abstract: Structural Arrays and Depositional Geometries in Hydrocarbon Provinces:
A View from Orbit
By
Lockheed Martin Space Operation Geologist
NASA Office of Earth Sciences
Exploration success, whether for resources on Earth or on
neighboring planets, depends on an explorer's skill in
three-dimensional visualization and pattern recognition. In
some provinces, fault
and fracture patterns replicate from the
scale of an entire orogen down to the scale of a thin-section. In
repeatedly and complexly deformed regions, the challenge
becomes one of discriminating among superposed patterns-critical
for evaluating
trap
integrity and predicting
porosity/permeability distribution. Three-dimensional relationships
between structures, basin configurations, sediment-body
geometries, and volcanic vent distribution are readily
observable in photographs by astronauts. Photographic data
can be registered to maps and plots of other data and co-displayed
using off-the-shelf computer programs. Such displays
reveal details of source-reservoir juxtapositions and variations
in fracture networks over a basin.
The primary pattern of rifts, for example, is one of long, straight, steeply dipping faults bounding basins that are longer than they are wide. Basins are generally half-grabens, and the flanks with greatest structural relief are depositional sites for coalesced alluvial fans. Axial lakes with evaporites, abundant algae, and fine-grained, low-permeability sediments provide oil-prone source beds. Half-grabens are separated by transfer zones, across which the tilts of grabens reverse. Volcanic vents occur at rift/transfer-zone junctions and, less commonly, along basin-bounding faults; thermal effects on surrounding strata are minimal. Most of these attributes can be examined in single synoptic frames captured from orbit.
Geomorphologist Hoover Mackin observed that geology is rarely a science of brilliance; it is a science of wisdom. The best geologist is one who has observed a lot of rocks from every possible vantage point. Orbiting spacecraft provide an exceptional vantage point for viewing rocks at the scale of an entire tectonic province, for the eyes and minds of informed observers.
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