Simulating the effect of subseismic fault tails and process zones in a siliciclastic reservoir analogue: Implications for aquifer support and trap definition

Marine and Petroleum Geology

Volumn 28, Issue 9, 2011, Pages

  Rotevatn, Atle ^a,b   Fossen, Haakon ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN   (Norway)

^b Uni Research   (Norway)

Author keywords

Fault tip; Fluid flow; Process zone; Prospect evaluation; Reservoir modelling; Sandstone reservoirs

Indexed keywords

AQUIFERS; FLOW OF FLUIDS; NATURAL RESOURCES EXPLORATION; OIL WELL FLOODING; SANDSTONE;

FAULT DISPLACEMENT; FAULT INTERPRETATION; PROCESS ZONE; PROSPECT EVALUATION; RESERVOIR MODELLING; SANDSTONE RESERVOIRS; SILICICLASTIC RESERVOIRS; WATER BREAKTHROUGH;

RESERVOIRS (WATER);

COMPARTMENTALIZATION; COMPUTER SIMULATION; FAULT DISPLACEMENT; FLUID FLOW; GEOLOGICAL MAPPING; HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION; HYDROCARBON RESERVOIR; RESERVOIR ROCK; SANDSTONE; SEISMIC ZONE; SEISMOLOGY;

EID: 80051787362     PISSN: 02648172     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.07.005     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Allan U.S. Model for hydrocarbon migration and entrapment within faulted structures. AAPG Bulletin 1989, 73:803-811.
2. Anders M.H., Schlische R.W. Overlapping faults, intrabasin highs, and the growth of normal faults. Journal of Geology 1994, 102:165-180.
3. Antonellini M., Aydin A. Effect of faulting on fluid flow in porous sandstones: petrophysical properties. AAPG Bulletin 1994, 78(3):355-377.
4. Antonellini M., Aydin A. Effect of faulting on fluid flow in porous sandstones: geometry and spatial distribution. AAPG Bulletin 1995, 79(5):642-671.
5. Antonellini M., Aydin A., Pollard D.D. Microstructure of deformation bands in porous sandstones at Arches National Park, Utah. Journal of Structural Geology 1994, 16(7):941-959.
6. Aydin A. Fractures, faults, and hydrocarbon entrapment, migration and flow. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2000, 17:797-814.
7. Aydin A., Johnson A.M. Development of faults as zones of deformation bands and as slip surfaces in sandstone. Pageoph 1978, 116:931-942.
8. Bastesen E., Braathen A. Extensional faults in fine grained carbonates - analysis of fault core lithology and thickness-displacement relationships. Journal of Structural Geology 2010, 32:1609-1628.
9. Bentley M.R., Barry J.J. Representation of fault sealing in a reservoir simulation: cormorant block IV UK North Sea. 66th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers 1991, 119-126. Texas, Dallas.
10. Berg S.S., Skar T. Controls on damage zone asymmetry of a normal fault zone: outcrop analyses of a segment of the Moab fault, SE Utah. Journal of Structural Geology 2005, 27(10):1803-1822.
11. Blenkinsop T.G. Cataclasis and processes of particle size reduction. Pageoph 1991, 136(1):59-86.
12. Braathen A., Tveranger J., Fossen H., Skar T., Cardozo N., Semshaug S.E., Bastesen E., Sverdrup E. Fault facies and its application to sandstone reservoirs. AAPG Bulletin 2009, 93(7):891-917.
13. Bump A.P., Davis G.H. Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary Laramide deformation of the northern Colorado Plateau, Utah and Colorado. Journal of Structural Geology 2003, 25:421-440.
14. Caine J.S., Evans J.P., Forster C.B. Fault zone architecture and permeability structure. Geology 1996, 24:1025-1028.
15. Cartwright J.A., Mansfield C.S., Trudgill B.D. Fault growth by segment linkage. Modern Developments in Structural Interpretations 1996, vol. 99:163-177. Special Publications, Geological Society, London. P.C. Buchanan, D.A. Nieuwland (Eds.).
16. Childs C., Walsh J.J., Watterson J. Complexity in fault zone structure and implications for fault seal prediction. Hydrocarbon Seals: Importance for Exploration and Production 1997, vol. 7:61-72. Norwegian Petroleum Society, Special Publication. P. Møller-Pedersen, A.G. Koestler (Eds.).
17. Childs C., Watterson J., Walsh J.J. Fault overlap zones within developing normal fault systems. Journal of the Geological Society, London 1995, 152:535-549.
18. Cocco M., Bizzarri A. On the slip-weakening behavior of rate- and state dependent constitutive laws. Geophysical Research Letters 2002, 29(11):1516.
19. Cowie P.A., Scholz C.H. Physical explanation for the displacement-length relationship of faults, using a post-yield fracture mechanics model. Journal of Structural Geology 1992, 14:1133-1148.
20. Cowie P.A., Shipton Z.K. Fault tip displacement gradients and process zone dimensions. Journal of Structural Geology 1998, 20:983-997.
21. Cowie P.A., Underhill J.R., Behn M.D., Lin J., Gill C.E. Spatio-temporal evolution of strain accumulation derived from multi-scale observations of Late Jurassic rifting in the northern North Sea: a critical test of models for lithospheric extension. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2005, 234(3-4):401-419.
22. Crabaugh M., Kocurek G. Entrada Sandstone: an example of a wet aeolian system 1993, 72. Geological Society, London, 1 Special Publications103-126.
23. Cruikshank K.M., Aydin A. Unweaving the joints in Entrada sandstone, Arches National Park, Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Structural Geology 1995, 17:409-421.
24. Davatzes N.C., Aydin A. Overprinting faulting mechanisms in high porosity sandstones of SE Utah. Journal of Structural Geology 2003, 25:1795-1813.
25. Davis G.H. Structural geology of the Colorado Plateau Region of Southern Utah, with special emphasis on deformation bands 1999, The Geological Society of America, 157 pp.
26. Dawers N.H., Anders M.H., Scholz C.H. Growth of normal faults: displacement-length scaling. Geology 1993, 21(12):1107-1110.
27. Doelling H.H. Geologic map of the Moab and eastern part of the San Rafael desert 30'x60' quadrangles, Grand and Emery Counties, Utah, and Mesa County, Colorado 2001, Utah Geological Survey, Map 180.
28. Dreyer T., Falt L.M., Hoy T., Knarud R., Steel R., Cuevas J.L. Sedimentary architecture of field analogues for reservoir information (SAFARI); a case study of the fluvial Escanilla formation, Spanish Pyrenees. The geological modelling of hydrocarbon reservoirs and outcrop analogues 1993, vol. 15:57-80. Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists. S.S. Flint, I.D. Bryant (Eds.).
29. Engelder J.T. Cataclasis and the generation of fault gouge. GSA Bulletin 1974, 85:1515-1522.
30. Evans J.P., Forster C.B., Goddard J.V. Permeability of fault-related rocks, and implications for hydraulic structure of fault zones. Journal of Structural Geology 1997, 19:1393-1404.
31. Faulkner D.R., Jackson C.A.L., Lunn R.L., Schlische R.W., Shipton Z.K., Wibberley C.A.J., Withjack M.O. A review of recent developments concerning the structure, mechanics and fluid flow properties of fault zones. Journal of Structural Geology 2010, 32:1557-1575.
32. Fisher Q.J., Casey M., Harris S.D., Knipe R.J. Fluid-flow properties of faults in sandstone: the importance of temperature history. Geology 2003, 31:965-968.
33. Fisher Q.J., Knipe R.J. Fault sealing processes in siliciclastic sediments. Faulting, Fault Sealing and Fluid Flow in Hydrocarbon Reservoirs 1998, vol. 147:117-134. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. G. Jones, Q.J. Fisher, R.J. Knipe (Eds.).
34. Fisher Q.J., Knipe R.J. The permeability of faults within siliciclastic petroleum reservoirs of the North Sea and Norwegian Continental Shelf. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2001, 18:1063-1081.
35. Flodin E., Aydin A. Faults with asymmetric damage zones in sandstone, Valley of Fire State Park, southern Nevada. Journal of Structural Geology 2004, 26:983-988.
36. Fossen H. Structural Geology 2010, Cambridge University Press, New York, 463 pp.
37. Fossen H., Bale A. Deformation bands and their influence on fluid flow. AAPG Bulletin 2007, 91:1685-1700.
38. Fossen H., Hesthammer J. Geometric analysis and scaling relations of deformation bands in porous sandstone. Journal of Structural Geology 1997, 19:1479-1493.
39. Fossen H., Hesthammer J. Deformation bands and their significance in porous sandstone reservoirs. First Break 1998, 16:21-25.
40. Fossen H., Johansen T.E.S., Hesthammer J., Rotevatn A. Fault interaction in porous sandstone and implications for reservoir management; examples from Southern Utah. AAPG Bulletin 2005, 89:1593-1606.
41. Fossen H., Schultz R.A., Shipton Z.K., Mair K. Deformation bands in sandstone - a review. Journal of the Geological Society, London 2007, 164:755-769.
42. Færseth R.B. Shale smear along large faults: continuity of smear and the fault seal capacity. Journal of the Geological Society 2006, 163:741-751. London.
43. Garden I.R., Guscott S.C., Burley S.D., Foxford K.A., Walsh J.J., Marshall J. An exhumed palaeo-hydrocarbon migration fairway in a faulted carrier system, Entrada Sandstone of SE Utah, USA. Geofluids 2001, 1(3):195-213.
44. Gawthorpe R.L., Sharp I., Underhill J.R., Gupta S. Linked sequence stratigraphic and structural evolution of propagating normal faults. Geology 1997, 25(9):795-798.
45. Harris S.D., McAllister E., Knipe R.J., Odling N.E. Predicting three-dimensional population characteristics of fault zones: a study using stochastic models. Journal of Structural Geology 2003, 25:1281-1299.
46. Hesthammer J., Bjørkum P.A., Watts L. The effect of temperature on sealing capacity of faults in sandstone reservoirs: examples from the Gullfaks and Gullfaks Sør fields, North Sea. AAPG Bulletin 2002, 86:1733-1751.
47. Hesthammer J., Fossen H. Uncertainties associated with fault sealing analysis. Petroleum Geoscience 2000, 6:37-45.
48. Hesthammer J., Landrø M., Fossen H. Use and abuse of seismic data in reservoir characterisation. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2001, 18(5):635-655.
49. Hoffman K.S., Taylor D.R., Schnell R.T. 3-D improves/speeds up fault plane analysis. Leading Edge 1996, 15:117-122.
50. Howell J.A., Vassel Å, Aune T. Modelling of dipping clinoform barriers within deltaic outcrop analogues from the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin USA 309 2006, Geological Society, London, pp. 99-121. Special Publications.
51. Johansen T.E.S., Fossen H., Kluge R. The impact of syn-faulting porosity reduction on damage zone architecture in porous sandstone: an outcrop example from the Moab Fault, Utah. Journal of Structural Geology 2005, 27:1469-1485.
52. Kane K.E., Jackson C.A.L., Larsen E. Normal fault growth and fault-related folding in a salt influenced rift basin: south Viking Graben, offshore Norway. Journal of Structural Geology 2010, 32:490-506.
53. Kaproth B.M., Cashman S.M., Marone C. Deformation band formation and strength evolution in unlithified sand: the role of grain breakage. Journal of Geophysical Research 2010, 115(B12):B12103.
54. Kim Y.-S., Peacock D.C.P., Sanderson D.J. Fault damage zones. Journal of Structural Geology 2004, 26:503-517.
55. Knapp R.W. Vertical resolution of thick beds, thin beds, and thin-bed cyclothems. Geophysics 1990, 55(9):1183-1190.
56. Knipe R.J. The influence on fault zone processes and diagenesis on fluid flow. Diagenesis and Basin Development 1993, vol. 36:135-154. AAPG Studies in Geology. A.D. Horbury, A.G. Robinson (Eds.).
57. Knipe R.J. Juxtaposition and seal diagrams to help analyze fault seals in hydrocarbon reservoirs. AAPG Bulletin 1997, 81:187-195.
58. Kocurek G., Robinson N.I., Sharp J.M. The response of the water table in coastal aeolian systems to changes in sea level. Sedimentary Geology 2001, 139(1):1-13.
59. Lindsay N.G., Murphy F.C., Walsh J.J., Watterson J. Outcrop studies of shale smears on fault surfaces. International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publication 1993, 15:113-123.
60. Manzocchi T., Walsh J.J., Nell P., Yielding G. Fault transmissibility multipliers for flow simulation models. Petroleum Geoscience 1999, 5:53-63.
61. Marchal D., Guiraud M., Rives T., van den Driessche J. Space and Time Propagation Processes of Normal Faults 1998, vol. 147. Geological Society, London 1, pp. 51-70. Special Publications.
62. Marrett R., Allmendinger R.W. Estimates of strain due to brittle faulting: sampling of fault populations. Journal of Structural Geology 1991, 13(6):735-738.
63. McGrath A.G., Davidson I. Damage zone geometry around fault tips. Journal of Structural Geology 1995, 17:1011-1024.
64. Micarelli L., Moretti I., Jaubert M., Moulouel H. Fracture analysis in the south-western Corinth rift (Greece) and implications on fault hydraulic behavior. Tectonophysics 2006, 426:31-59.
65. Nuccio V.F., Condon S.M. Burial and thermal history of the Paradox Basin, Utah and Colorado, and Petroleum Potential of the Middle Pennsylvanian Paradox Basin 1996, US Geological Survey, Reston, VA.
66. Peacock D.C.P., Fisher Q.J., Willlemse E.J.M., Aydin A. The relationship between faults and pressure solution seams in carbonate rocks and the implications for fluid flow. Faulting, Fault Sealing and Fluid Flow in Hydrocarbon Reservoirs 1998, vol. 147:105-115. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. G. Jones, Q.J. Fisher, R.J. Knipe (Eds.).
67. Peacock D.C.P., Sanderson D.J. Displacements, segment linkage and relay ramps in normal fault zones. Journal of Structural Geology 1991, 13:721-733.
68. Pevear D.R., Vrolijk P.J., Longstaffe F.J. Timing of Moab fault displacement and fluid movement integrated with burial history using radiogenic and stable isotopes. Geofluids II '97. Contributions to the second international conference on fluid evolution, migration and interaction in sedimentary basins and orogenic belts 1997, 10-14. Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, March 1997, 42-45. J.P. Hendry, P.F. Carey, J. Parnell (Eds.).
69. Rotevatn A., Buckley S.J., Howell J.A., Fossen H. Overlapping faults and their effect on fluid flow in different reservoir types: a LIDAR-based outcrop modeling and flow simulation study. AAPG Bulletin 2009, 93. 10.1306/09300807092.
70. Rotevatn A., Fossen H., Hesthammer J., Aas T.E., Howell J.A. Are relay ramps conduits for fluid flow? Structural analysis of a relay ramp in Arches National Park, Utah. Fractured Reservoirs 2007, vol. 270:55-71. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. L. Lonergan, R.J.H. Jolly, D.J. Sanderson, K. Rawnsley (Eds.).
71. Rotevatn A., Tveranger J., Howell J.A., Fossen H. Dynamic investigation of the effect of a relay ramp on simulated fluid flow: geocellular modelling of the Delicate Arch Ramp, Utah. Petroleum Geoscience 2009, 15. 10.1144/1354-079309-779.
72. Schlische R.W. Geometry and origin of fault-related folds in extensional settings. AAPG Bulletin 1995, 79(11):1661-1678.
73. Schlische R.W., Young S.S., Ackermann R.V., Gupta A. Geometry and scaling relations of a population of very small rift-related normal faults. Geology 1996, 24(8):683-686.
74. Scholz C.H., Dawers N.H., Yu J.Z., Anders M.H., Cowie P.A. Fault growth and fault scaling laws: preliminary results. Journal of Geophysical Research 1993, 98(B12):21951-21961.
75. Shipton Z.K., Cowie P.A. A conceptual model for the origin of fault damage zone structures in high-porosity sandstone. Journal of Structural Geology 2003, 25:333-344.
76. Shipton Z.K., Evans J.P., Robeson K.R., Forster C.B., Snelgrove S. Structural heterogeneity and permeability in faulted aeolian sandstone: implication for subsurface modeling of faults. AAPG Bulletin 2002, 86:863-883.
77. Shipton Z.K., Evans J.P., Thompson L.B. The geometry and thickness of deformation-band fault core and its influence on sealing characteristics of deformation-band fault zones. Faults, Fluid Flow and Petroleum Traps 2005, vol. 85:181-195. AAPG Memoir. R. Sorkhabi, Y. Tsuji (Eds.).
78. Solum J.G., van der Pluijm B.A., Peacor D.R. Neocrystallization, fabrics and age of clay minerals from an exposure of the Moab Fault, Utah. Journal of Structural Geology 2005, 27(9):1563-1576.
79. Sorkhabi R., Tsuji Y. Faults, fluid flow and petroleum traps. AAPG Memoir 2005, 85:342.
80. Sperrevik S., Færseth R.B., Gabrielsen R.H. Experiments on clay smear formation along faults. Petroleum Geoscience 2000, 6(2):113-123.
81. Stephen K.D., Dalrymple M. Reservoir simulations developed from an outcrop of incised valley fill strata. AAPG Bulletin 2002, 86:797-822.
82. Sverdrup E., Bjørlykke K. Fault properties and the development of cemented fault zones in sedimentary basins. Hydrocarbon Seals: Importance for Exploration and Production 1997, vol. 7:91-106. Norwegian Petroleum Society, Special Publication. P. Møller-Pedersen, A.G. Koestler (Eds.).
83. Trudgill B.D. Evolution of salt structures in the northern Paradox Basin: controls on evaporite deposition, salt wall growth and supra-salt stratigraphic architecture. Basin Research 2010, (no-no).
84. Trudgill B.D., Cartwright J.A. Relay ramp forms and normal fault linkages, Canyonlands National Park, Utah. GSA Bulletin 1994, 106:1143-1157.
85. Walsh J.J., Watterson J. Analysis of the relationship between displacements and dimensions of faults. Journal of Structural Geology 1988, 10(3):239-247.
86. Walsh J.J., Watterson J., Heath A.E., Childs C. Representation and scaling of faults in fluid flow models. Petroleum Geoscience 1998, 4:241-251.
87. Wibberley C.A.J., Petit J.-P., Rives T. Mechanics of cataclastic 'deformation band' faulting in high-porosity sandstone, Provence. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences 2000, 331:419-425.
88. Withjack M.O., Olson J., Peterson E. Experimental models of extensional forced folds. AAPG Bulletin 1990, 74(7):1038-1054.
89. Yielding G., Freeman B., Needham D.T. Quantitative fault seal prediction. AAPG Bulletin 1997, 81:897-917.