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Abstract
Moore, Jessica, Andrew Taylor, Cari Johnson, Bradley D. Ritts, and Rosalind Archer,
DOI:10.1306/13291389M953449
2012 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Facies Analysis, Reservoir Characterization, and LIDAR Modeling of an Eocene Lacustrine Delta, Green River Formation, Southwest Uinta Basin, Utah
Jessica Moore,1 Andrew Taylor,2 Cari Johnson,3 Bradley D. Ritts,4 Rosalind Archer5
1Chevron, Bakersfield, California, U.S.A.
2Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
3University of Utah, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
4Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production, Chevron House, Singapore
5University of Auckland, Department of Engineering Science, Auckland, New Zealand
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to the generous funding provided by the Community-University Research Initiative Grant funded by Utah State University to Dr. Bradley D. Ritts for the LIDAR part of this study. Thanks also to Renaud Bouroullec and the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology for LIDAR technical support. J. P. Smoot and D. Keighley are noted for their helpful reviews of this chapter. Financial assistance is thankfully acknowledged from a Cooper Hansen Research Fellowship and a National Science Foundation WEST graduate fellowship from the University of Utah. We would also like to acknowledge and thank AAPG, the Colorado Scientific Society, the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, and the GSA for their generous graduate research grants. Optech and InnovMetric are recognized and appreciated for their assistance with and access to the Polyworks software.
ABSTRACT
This study presents facies descriptions and interpretations of the Eocene Sunnyside delta interval of the Green River Formation in Nine Mile Canyon, Utah, to document and constrain reservoir architecture and heterogeneity in lacustrine strata. Detailed measurement of vertical outcrop sections, paleocurrent directions, lithologic descriptions, and facies mapping of photopanoramas and digital Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data were completed to define and interpret stratigraphic architecture at centimeter to meter scales. Results favor a depositional setting that fluctuated among delta plain (overbank, distributary channel, and mouth bar), marginal lacustrine, shoal water, and offshore lacustrine deposits. These strata were deposited at a distributary-dominated shoal-water deltaic margin and form four prograding parasequences that coarsen upward over the approximately 150 m (492 ft) thick study package. Measured channel dimensions and calculated sinuosities indicate a meandering fluvial system
, and channel deposits include isolated lenticular, amalgamated lenticular, and amalgamated undulatory sandstones. Along with distributary mouth bar deposits, these channelized sandstone bodies represent the most promising reservoir units based on their lateral continuity and stacking geometries (ranging from
40- to 115-m [
130- to 377-ft] wide
4- to 6.5-m [13- to 20-ft] thick), as well as measured porosity and permeability relationships. Quantified dimensions of sandstone bodies and characterization of their lateral and vertical connectivity are significantly aided by a digital outcrop model. This model was generated by ground-based LIDAR, and results were exported as spatial and geologic constraints for geocellular modeling. Such quantitative outcrop-based modeling provides guidelines for predicting subsurface reservoir quality and dimensions, and may be extrapolated to analogous fluviodeltaic and lacustrine hydrocarbon prospects.
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