Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems are common in the sedimentary record, such as the Triassic of the Barents Sea, but have received little scientific attention compared to their sandstonerich counterparts. However, mudstone-rich fluvial systems often have large river channels which are easily imaged on s...
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The University of Bergen
2019
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/18614 2023-05-15T15:39:11+02:00 Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah Løvestad, Aasmund Olav 2019-09-19 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/18614 eng eng The University of Bergen https://hdl.handle.net/1956/18614 Copyright the Author. All rights reserved Morrison Formation Distributary fluvial systems Colorado Plateau Virtual outcrop Mudstone-rich fluvial systems Brushy Basin Member Crevasse-splays Mudstone Fluvial sedimentologi Fluviale prosesser Sedimentære bergarter https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c005603 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c006354 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c013254 756199 Master thesis 2019 ftunivbergen 2023-03-14T17:39:42Z Mudstone-rich fluvial systems are common in the sedimentary record, such as the Triassic of the Barents Sea, but have received little scientific attention compared to their sandstonerich counterparts. However, mudstone-rich fluvial systems often have large river channels which are easily imaged on seismic data, and thus make good exploration targets. The late stages of the Jurassic sedimentary succession of Utah, USA, comprise of a collection of lowgradient, mudstone-rich fluvial continental deposits known as the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. This thesis investigates the Jurassic Brushy Basin Member as an analogue to mudstone-rich fluvial reservoirs and offers new insight into distributary fluvial systems. Fieldwork was done on a 2x2 km, v-shaped outcrop which offers a high degree of threedimensionality. Data acquisition was done through combining traditional fieldwork techniques with modern digital acquisition techniques and a virtual model of the outcrop was constructed. Through interpreting and correlating logs with the virtual-outcrop, facies associations and their spatial organization was identified and understood. A conceptual geological model was constructed which schematically captures the upwards changes in the fluvial system. A reservoir model based on the geological model was then built with the goal of flow-simulating oil production from the reservoir model. The results from studying the Brushy Basin Member implies a retrograding distributary fluvial system, with an upwards decrease in channel-belt width, thickness, amalgamation and interconnection. This interpretation has not been described in previous work. Production results from flow simulating the reservoir model shows that a mudstone-rich fluvial system highly depend on channel-to-channel connection which can be established through crevasse-splays. In exploration of new and poorly understood mudstone-rich fluvial systems, sub-seismic channels and crevasse-splays should be considered an upside in terms of connectivity and ... Master Thesis Barents Sea University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Barents Sea Morrison ENVELOPE(-63.533,-63.533,-66.167,-66.167) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
topic |
Morrison Formation Distributary fluvial systems Colorado Plateau Virtual outcrop Mudstone-rich fluvial systems Brushy Basin Member Crevasse-splays Mudstone Fluvial sedimentologi Fluviale prosesser Sedimentære bergarter https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c005603 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c006354 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c013254 756199 |
spellingShingle |
Morrison Formation Distributary fluvial systems Colorado Plateau Virtual outcrop Mudstone-rich fluvial systems Brushy Basin Member Crevasse-splays Mudstone Fluvial sedimentologi Fluviale prosesser Sedimentære bergarter https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c005603 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c006354 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c013254 756199 Løvestad, Aasmund Olav Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
topic_facet |
Morrison Formation Distributary fluvial systems Colorado Plateau Virtual outcrop Mudstone-rich fluvial systems Brushy Basin Member Crevasse-splays Mudstone Fluvial sedimentologi Fluviale prosesser Sedimentære bergarter https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c005603 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c006354 https://data.ub.uio.no/realfagstermer/c013254 756199 |
description |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems are common in the sedimentary record, such as the Triassic of the Barents Sea, but have received little scientific attention compared to their sandstonerich counterparts. However, mudstone-rich fluvial systems often have large river channels which are easily imaged on seismic data, and thus make good exploration targets. The late stages of the Jurassic sedimentary succession of Utah, USA, comprise of a collection of lowgradient, mudstone-rich fluvial continental deposits known as the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. This thesis investigates the Jurassic Brushy Basin Member as an analogue to mudstone-rich fluvial reservoirs and offers new insight into distributary fluvial systems. Fieldwork was done on a 2x2 km, v-shaped outcrop which offers a high degree of threedimensionality. Data acquisition was done through combining traditional fieldwork techniques with modern digital acquisition techniques and a virtual model of the outcrop was constructed. Through interpreting and correlating logs with the virtual-outcrop, facies associations and their spatial organization was identified and understood. A conceptual geological model was constructed which schematically captures the upwards changes in the fluvial system. A reservoir model based on the geological model was then built with the goal of flow-simulating oil production from the reservoir model. The results from studying the Brushy Basin Member implies a retrograding distributary fluvial system, with an upwards decrease in channel-belt width, thickness, amalgamation and interconnection. This interpretation has not been described in previous work. Production results from flow simulating the reservoir model shows that a mudstone-rich fluvial system highly depend on channel-to-channel connection which can be established through crevasse-splays. In exploration of new and poorly understood mudstone-rich fluvial systems, sub-seismic channels and crevasse-splays should be considered an upside in terms of connectivity and ... |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Løvestad, Aasmund Olav |
author_facet |
Løvestad, Aasmund Olav |
author_sort |
Løvestad, Aasmund Olav |
title |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
title_short |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
title_full |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
title_fullStr |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: The Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Eastern Utah |
title_sort |
mudstone-rich fluvial systems as reservoirs: the brushy basin member of the morrison formation, eastern utah |
publisher |
The University of Bergen |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/18614 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.533,-63.533,-66.167,-66.167) |
geographic |
Barents Sea Morrison |
geographic_facet |
Barents Sea Morrison |
genre |
Barents Sea |
genre_facet |
Barents Sea |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/18614 |
op_rights |
Copyright the Author. All rights reserved |
_version_ |
1766370662069305344 |