Prof. Phil Ashworth
Prof. Jim Best
1st October 1997 - 30th September 2001
This research is a NERC case award funded project in collaboration with ARCO British Ltd.
Alluvial architecture is the stratigraphic and geometric arrangement of depositional niches creating heterogeneous sediments deposited by rivers as they aggrade. Heterogeneity is the occurrence and spatial distribution of coarse- and fine-grained depositonal niches. Fluvial deposits have found to be a good host for hydrocarbon reservoirs, and therefore valuable targets for exploration companies. The quantification and prediction of alluvial architecture is paramount to the successful targeting of hydrocarbon reservoirs.
The enormous cost of drilling projects forces important decisions on reservoir management to be made using limited reservoir data, this pushes computer simulation modelling to the forefront of reservoir evaluation and appraisal.
Quantification of the spatial distribution of coarse- and fine-grained units within these hydrocarbon reservoirs is necessary for reducing uncertainties within computer reservoir simulations. Quantification of the various autocyclic and allocyclic controls on fluvial deposits is needed to determine process-form relationships and to isolate the individual principal controls of alluvial architectural elements, including stacking patterns, net : gross, interconnectedness of sandbodies, lateral continuity and distribution of discontinuous shales; important parameters for modelling hydrocarbon flow through reservoirs. Controls on alluvial architectural are addressed in this, an integrated core, field and flume approach.