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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
2009. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
DOI:10.1306/08040909110
Complex fracture development related to stratigraphic architecture: Challenges for structural deformation prediction, Tensleep Sandstone at the Alcova anticline, Wyoming
Christopher K. Zahm,1 Peter H. Hennings2
1Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; [email protected]
2ConocoPhillips Subsurface Technology, 600 N. Dairy Ashford Rd., Houston, Texas; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Fracture prediction in subsurface reservoirs is critical for exploration through exploitation of hydrocarbons. Methods of predicting fractures commonly neglect to include the stratigraphic architecture as part of the prediction or characterization process. This omission is a critical mistake. We have documented a complex heterogeneous fracture development within the eolian Tensleep Sandstone in Wyoming, which arguably is one of the least complex reservoir facies. Fractures develop at four scales of observation: lamina-bound, facies-bound, sequence-bound, and throughgoing fractures that span the formation. We documented a detailed facies and fracture-intensity model using LIDAR-scanned outcrops located at the Alcova anticline in central Wyoming. Through this characterization, we reveal the existence of a striking variability in fracture intensity caused by original depositional architecture, overall structural deformation, and diagenetic alteration of the host rock.
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