-’ ●

SPE
SPE 18154

Facies Modeling and the Flow Unit Concept as a

Sedimentological Tool in Reservoir Description:
A Case Study
by A. Rodriguez, Maraven S.A.

This peper wee prepered for gwsentetbn ●l tho LUrd Annual Teohnlcd Conference and Exhibition of the Sodety of Petrobwm Englnem held in
Woueton, TX, Ootober 2-s, 1sss.

ThbPOWweedeoted
hrpre$enmtbn
by●nSPEPrqun Commlltee fdowlng review of Information contained in en ebetraot @rmMod by Ihe
wthor(s). Oontente ot ttw paper, ee peeented, hove not been reviewed by the Soobty of Petroleum Englneere end are ewbjeot to ooweotbn by the
NAhof@). The metwbl, U preWnted, doee m neMoowliy reltect my poeklon ot the Society of Petrdoum Engineere, Itaotfbers, or rnernbw$. PeperD
preeefWdat SPEmeeUngeare ~topublbetbn rev&w by Editorial ComnWec olthe Sooktyot Petmieum En@mm. Perrnketontocopyle
reetrbWtoen wactolrlot rnorothUlmworde. lwuetr-mey not bm. Theebetreot *ti Mtein~~d
ati WWK~k~. WbP@Wti MW, WtP,O. h_, R~, ~ ~, Tehx, 720SSSSPEOAL.

Barly reccgnitialof pormity SmS pemaability p~ valid@y hietcqrarte

ami cross-plots
obta~
caitrast in a raserwoir
has eaxmic inplicatimein fra tlm pstrqhysical data. Bicstratigraghic
reservoir ~* -- reservoir analysisalsoSqport SlisS@divisia.
Mtemgmeity deacripticmis * key fcx axal
Sime th Clabinatim of eedimmtolcgi=ll,
racognitial. Prcbl-m.r maemmlbarofblccke to
petxcPWaical d bicetratigraphic dumctarietice
h Uea3 in SiaulaticmXxiellimgcan k minimised
●qport a de.iler aublayerirgOfmcc red
wiVI a prcper ux3ersts@ing of * reservoir.
sedimentaryeecticm,the Sedimntery Units We
several techniques,including “Blice-technique, “1
takenas representative of main flcavmits. Facies
“ifiningam COarsening-upwmde”lSqumces, ami
maps cmetruct& for each hit, ehM a sequential
li~cgical transgreesive/regressive cemcepm,have
deltaicdevel.qmntwithdifferent sandgemetriea.
beenusedforreeervc ir deecripticm.
facies X)delling, Resultsobtainedwith this faciesapproach*
W* the ~~ ~
have introduced that ky Cmbiniq irdepsdmt lime of evi~ it
Sedimentoltqiosl etudiee
is pnmible to have an objectiveand quantifiable
faciea-scmes,SIXIfaciesasscciatimsas flewuniks
Iriethcdolcgy far reservoir heterogeneity
for reemmir stiayeriq. Sut, in the literature,
deecripticm A ecimtific tool for ltlhildZ~
tkm is a lack of objectiveparameters wi* which
nuaber of blocks to be utilizedin simlaticm
to place bamdaries between adjrxent product km
studiesis given~ grcupixx~ of facieswith similar
intermla. TIM objectiveof this paper,therefore,
is to premmt a meEhcdclo3Y whichallowssubdivisi~ Imrmeability characteristics withina well defined
Flw Unit.
of a sedimentary ~=m for re~-~r de~ripti~~
based cm quantifiablerockcharacteristics. Chief lkdmid Cmtritutbts of * ●
~c
ml atlrsyof * cored Secticm of tb Eocenec
1. Objective * quantifiable
nwMcklof reserwoir
IWsrvdr, Block111,I&e Maracaibo, allwed facies
description+
*aoterizaticm wi* physical, dlelllioal,
@
2. Mltitie+limry aIWcsch of flw tit
biacqical pSr-WS. By Mmtifiying major
delineat
im.
changes in the related depoeiticmaleequames,
3. Ssqmntial develcfpmt of prCmes-relatademd
faciesunits tme characterized
with porosityad
gemw3tries.
PemesbilityVemas. ~ m defimd intervals
were
465
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= 18154

MTmcamzal Ws paper the problem of faciea tilling br

r’eaenmir deeoripticn~ ie aMreaead fra a
IWOervoirpm~e pr6@.ictima dapmda, to a SeKUsmtological pint of view,wing tk definitim
greatextent,on * !xK5ulip appliedh subdivi& of flw tit Ccmcepta.
productionintervals,SIsiul * Characterization
Wxl quantificutimof 13WIae aeotiala.lha crucial BWlz06am
step in reservoir descriptim then is the
delinestial of aedimantary intervals; tbae l’hieatIMY attenpts to w aubaurface baain
intervals will ccmatitute thsbaae fora analyaia tschniqm to Wild q? a edimentary mkl
aedinwntolcqical reservoirdescription.Recognition forthe@2ana Caaqwncein Lake Maraoailxl.It is
Of ~~ity SIXipermeability ~traet within *= lxIsd cm eramixultial of tw CcxltinuouacoredWlls
aectims can be &ma cbjectiwly . totalling 1200 feet ( 400 m) of Section, ruxlmre
than20 Ws.11 logs.
Differsmt
~a haba keen~lied in orderto
autdivide a aedimsntarycxiham for reaerwir The prccadureused in gatheringaml analyaing
deacriptiapuqxxes. ‘lhaaeomcapta have evolved tk Sedimentolqicaldata for tlxsBlock’111 area
f- the “slim technique,”1
in ti~ a ~i~ Wa * follcwing:
inhmml is wed aa a sta@ard aecticmof reference
*t allataSUWVMCM of b aedimsntarysection 1. Kk&iled ked-b@xEl ~ripticn of
in equallydivi&@ pmductim intervals, to Ihs tie Oore-lithology,M thickmaa, faciea
@VemcSd “OUMmantary cyclea;”lwith this laat ccmtacts,inorganic
d organiceeWMntq
technique, mrkez bada * aa mel or tranagreaaiva atructurea,and minsralcgicalaaaQYIMages
Sendsareuaeldtodefine top and bottallofaectiala incltiing
typaof clay.
of intersat.To such diviaicneEiabp (1%0) gave
thenameof “cperatitiunita.“I ‘1’IYs
litlwlogieapresentin ths aedimntary
columnsmnaiat of sand,shale,siltatone,
Ikxsntly,the ~aulic unit arrlthe flow unit ml, urrlerlyi~the &cenE rocks,limsatma
coxxxpthaa been introduced with the cbjectiveof beds of PaleQcene W* sedimentary
subdividing a aedimantarycolumn for reserwir atructurea present are cross-keddirq,
description (Ebanka19B7). This mam makea we of ripple-bedding,aoft sediment.
deformation,
the possibility of correlating shale Ma xxi bioturtaticm atructurea. Textural
regionally, theseahalesare nameddeterministic ~ enalyaiaekowa that eand depoeitarange
&ldXSen @ Lake (1964).Anotherway of defini~ frcm very fine-grai~ to very
flm units haa been done with the definitionof coarseqrained,rcumledto subroundadlcd
facies-rmes, WX3 faciea asaociat ions. But, pxxly to well sorted. Clay mineralogical
unfortunately, there aesma to ~ a lack of analyaia,made ~sible the identification
recognizableparameter with thich to place of kaolinite,illite,and the mixed-layer
boundaries
betweenadjacent
production
intervala. clay iUite/amectite aa the msjor
ccqxxentsof theclaymineralogy.
In the 12xeneC Reservoirin Block 111, Lake
Maracaibo, faciea recogni tkm with physiml, 2. Faciea were identifiedwing type of
chamical,and biologicalps?nmeters,theirgrcuping lithology, sedimentary atructuresl
into aedimentazy units accordiq to the sedimentary textures S173 amunt of
identificationof msjorchangesin the depositional Eightfaciea were recqnized.
bioturkation.
prcowsea,rxovidadthe base for the sukdivisimof
the cored E&ens C aaquenc8into four genetically 3. Facies here aasembledinto four Facies
relatedproduction intervalsor flrx units. Thse Assemblagesor SedimentaryUnits, wing
unitshere laterusd for aimulaticm modelling.In attributessuch as the fir$t~snce of
46
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●

SK 18154
—-

Xmglmeratic Se@ with erosiveheal contactwith Fmlm ~xmol

m UXlerlyim PaleaWme carbmate eaqllence,
presemaeofaqf~a~ti squence!witi Detailedexazlinat.
h of m Sedimmtaryesctial
aontinwus shale interad.aticns,and the first reveals that iecwzim lithlcgical typs are
~ of an IE?temlithicSan4shale esquance preesntin aust Wlls. In C=U=PU=I * c=ed
(predainantly
shale)witimidsraMe &ickmss. EocemeC irkervelcan be represented
axkfdescribed
in term of eight facies. M facies is
4. Cc&relation
of coreswith thezlechani@l.
or cWIGacterizd by ita lithclcgy, sedimentary
9e@Wsiml logs of each cored hell, and structures,colcmr,J:ain size, ard presenceard
correlaticm
of loge fran cord Wlls Witi ion. ‘lMeefacieeare described
degreeof bioturbat
thenearest*11 withat core. below with an or&izaticnal wroach which takes
intoocnsiderat~qrainsizeml shaleinterbedding.
:“
5* Porosityand penzeabilitymeasImment in
M szukl faciesin orderto Patrqihysically mciee s Cberaeto very QlarSS—GMnd
characterize
** SarU5S+a.

6. W facies correlation witiin the sendstcim3sof facies “s”1 Ccaroe-to ~~

Stratigraphic
units. Coaree-graimd?locallyccnglcmsratic#
eukengularto
Rlbrclmied,ard sderately to pccrtly emted.
7. FW!iesZUq, were laterconstructed
within Planer crcae-tE&ling,
erceiw aIX3ablapt contacts
tlwl.kratigrephic
units. witi tierlying ties of Facies L am be
Cbee-. AMW3ant plantfragalents
eI13clay cleats
~SIUIY are also present. Fbrceity alll peramebility
meaeureUWltarangefrczl1*14% d fraz 1s0 to 260
Faciesanalysisin thisstuiyfollowsa sequence md, respectively.
of ste~ whi&Iccntrilmte to the goal of reservoir
description fcx s:hulationstudies. The gaEherin3 ln@Qretatial
MX3 integrationof differentdata is the firststep
in this sttrlyl
it is accmpliehadty recognitiona@ The oaarsest grain-size fracticn of the
int&pretation of itiividual. facies, inclixling skndetom depositsstudiedin the cored wells is
faciescontacts. MS first step cmstitutesthe representedin Facies S. This attrikutecould
bass of the faciesamlysis. The ~xt step is tk irdicateclosenessto input-area
and/orhigh energy
groupingof faciesunits,the studyof tieirlateral of the depcdticmalmdium. Planarcress-bedding,
and verticalrelationshipand theirinterpretation; akurxlamplant fragmsnts~clay Clast% ard its
the importance of thesegrqings is tit specific stratigraphic
pzeiticn,below tie first appearams
facies assaciaticne dtaracterize particular of nwro82cpic marine ccxditionein the cored
depositional environments (Miall’ 19s4) ● An intervals,supportsa rm marineoriginfor Facies
interpretative weighirqaxriblanci~ of all the s. Facies S is interpretedas a distributary
datagatheredthroughthesestepsare lateruzed in charneldeposit.
theerect ionof a faciesmodel.
Facies S3 mdim-tc CkYxaa4raimxl -tam
R2rcsityard permeability
measurements
of the
facies within each unit alloWd Facies S3 is ccmpcsadof ~tOeS _8kCMI
-acterirat ion of main flowunitsti rsccqnit
icm rnsdium
to oosrsqrained,sukangularto .subrcmded,
of permeability
contrastsbetweenitrlividual
facies tierately-to well-sorted,
locallywith shalebeds
arrl
betweenStatigraphic
Units. W cleats inter-ated. QlaXtz is the daaimt
in this facies.
grain-framswrxk-mineral ‘Thw
sandstones are very cGzmxXLy oil saturated,
 . *

Uterefore cmetitut~a the prima cbjective for oil & Miss S1.
e%pkratim and S%p’’itationo
FaciesS1 is interpreted
as bsirq formedin a
l%K!ies S3 sbwe tw dif ferult facies 1- delta plain probabbly by switohixq lower
onsooiatims,rntiase it is over and ~lain by distributary
channels
or by orevaseeSplay~ese.
Rziee S,cxky Esciee~aId S2. l’he~
Miosoaslallyeh cuabruptlp per S@lamr F@iee Sll Fim to *= graimd—aadeam
mtaots. RXoeity range frcm 10-15% ad Witluut dUlo ktarbde
PMmeabilityfrm 20 m S2 S&
Is texturallyd Ccqxx#iticnally
similarto
~ticsl FW%S S1; t- ~ differentiate~ the pre~
of tie interbsdein E%cies S1. It is usually
~ quartroee, ahmet mommineralicattributeof asecciatedwi’. Facies S3 and SL. PtWosityis
the sad Imdies, We mderately to W&l eorted -btely la Wile Pem=bility values range
propertiesof these sediments,- the ~ frcnl3 .7to 20 S&
&m4me of shaleintarbede, irxlicates
thatFaciess3
me dqweitedby moderateto highmergydagmeiticsstl ~tial
-~~ ~~ ~ ~e aineralm,
-ted ~ition of ~i~ -e int~, lhe quartzoee dlaracteri8tic & tlmee
mndprcWidsdoanditicne for* deWqsmt Ofgcod eanddmsa, -abesnca of shale interbedesml the
sorting. ‘h tm differentfacies aeeociati~ - Srxting Obeervsd, suggest -retS-to
~,andtha abllptmntacts of tlh -ice high+mrgy dqmeitimal proceaeseat * tise of
Su99eSt that Miss S3 we forasd in an envlr~t Clapaitial of fecies S1l. Its associatim Wim
raqiq frcm a lwar delta plain to dd- fruit FaciesS3er@Sl euggeettlustFdee SllvRSkssd
Endramsnt of dspwitia. in a lwar delta plain probably as distributary
channeldeposits.
Fades S1 F- to ti~mxl ~
withCbntinwue-e Mterbede. miss S2 very FirxrtO Silty+aimd smdatam.

JhciesS1.is ccepoaitimallysimilarto Facies Sandstmes of Facies S2 are shaly, locally

s31 texturallyFaciesS1 is fineto mediungrained,
Bukangularto Wl&UXm3edal%lwell sorted. Xts met
iistinctivscharacteristicis the preeance of
regularly Spaced continuous shale interbsds.
Locallyshcwacrw13-ke&ling, Porosityrangesfrom7
to L*, m ~ility is very low, frcm 1.9 to
6.9m.
M OrkXetatial
bioturbated,very fine-to+lty-grained, sttengular
to subroundsd,very well sorted,with dhoontinus
shale intercalations. Ri@e-bedding is
characteristicof this facies,also present are
“iflasaer-bediiing”,
and loadstructures.EhcieaS2 i8
fca@ associated with FaciesS1 and S3 with abrupt
lwer W ~r ccmtacts.Porosityardpsrmability
values in this faciesare the lowest,thy range
fran8.9 to 10%,SM fran,0.1 to 2 rd.

Ths quartzoaenature of the sad deposits Interkn

assuresagain~t amderateto high-energy processes
wtre active in the degositicnof the sandstone
bodies, kut Preeeme of shale interbedsalso
nqgests that lW energyccxxlitions mre prevalent
N. ~riodic intervalsforthe formsticmof h Shale
Me. ‘lhrefore,alternatinghigh and low energy
3spositional
ooWtione exia= durirqthe formatia
Statial
Ths very fine-grainedto the pressnos of
ripplerbedling
caald itiicatewave activityin a
Shallw matinssetting.Siltynatureof FaciesS2,
atxiths presenceof abudant discontinuesshale
intertmdssqgest lcw energyof dspcdting amxliwn.
* Occurm of “flasaerba&i@’i is also iMlica-
,.oa

!W 1$154
iwoflcua msrgyofd apoeiticstsua aecanbs interdistributary
area * a slwllw bay djacent to
omdintidsl flatcringoneraltuder subtidalto a diatrhkary dhamsl.
ntertidalanvi~ of depoeitial. Therefore
kies S2 ia interpreted as being deposited as miss St GrmslMlGrqy to Grsy Siltatoln.
oming gtsrtof a tidal flat omplex of a microtidal
o ~idal slxmscms prokehlyasscciatsdwith Facies St ameiats of a graeniah gray to gray
@Xlarineaxxiitions. locally fossiliferous
amf bioturkatadsiltsttxm
_ ~ 9~titi =~ are usuallypresent.
hot- H very Firmly Iadrnlted Grq to
Sraeiish
e was. IntqKwatiat

Shalesof FaciesH are branifi gray to grey, The pr~ of till fragmentsitiioatesa
w firdy laminated,witi silty layers. These da ..= of Dlarim influencein Facies St. The
.ay8irsshow wticular structures and ahwt qimr ccxurrencc of bi~~ti~ st=ur~ et
@ 1- axltacts. hxally burrcxstructures
are estuarim cxmiitione.FaciesSt is interpreted
as
~. ‘It-a? mmlctl oaurence of lenticwlar bsb formedin an estuarineS&tidal-to-intertidal
Itrwtws dwacteriza FaciemH. snvi~ of dspoaition.

btemmatiai

The finelyM-td *acteristic of faciesH Gsmtic relaticmehip

asmq vsricus tiividual
.ndicates *t t&ss edinmta m dspasitadUr3sr ~ *i- - ~~e qh
.W emrgy, quiet-tar 0Ur3iticmer h pr~ d physical,-cd cc biolqicel attrihtes vW%
lilty layxs fomirq lenticular structures are * facies have in ~ Snatidlbsarupm
.xdicativa of ~iodic influxesof moderateenergy interpretatimof theirdapoeiticmal
envircmant.
m the envimmmnt of dspiticn. Facies H is
mterpretadas being formsdin an interdsltaic
key The importance
of theseattributes are mt cnly
n a tidalflatenvirxxmmtof deposition;the silty that acanbeueedaamarkar Imrizme for
layerswith abrupt ccn~cts could representthe stiividi?qa sedimentarycolunm,kut also thattti
Lnf
luerceof distantdistributarynrmthbars (Miall interpretatiadrawn frcm ‘-ss data have a straq
1.979)
. influenoecm the geanstry,orientationard scaleof
the resemmir that ma has to visualizefor
Facies L FinelyIaminatedDark Gray to Gray reservoirdescriptiafor productionor simulation
Smle. W:P=S. -es of ~~ attri~es =e cit~ in
ths followingparagraphs.l’k firstappearanceof
SM.ea of faciesL are very fim?lylaminated, the siliciclasticsedimentscan lx usedas a marker
ukl locallycontain thin silty interlaminaticr-m.tiriranto indicatetb baginni~ of continental
3ideriticbandsad miules are 100allypresent. influence.This obsarvaticmallcavedifferentiation
between tlm Palaocene (carbcmate)arxl Sccarm
lntemreta tiaa (siliciclastic)
eecticms.‘M c=uwnce of facies
S1, which is fins to media grainedsandstonewith
The presenoeof siltylayersti sidsritic bands thin continuousscale intercalaticms, omstitut~
in a generallyfinely laminatedshale lithology “anatherObvkals itiicatorof an iu&Ortantmajox
itiicatesthat Fa+es L was deposited tier charqe in W pmxss of sedimentation. Thn
akauow-water, low energy, mildyredusirqoonditicms alternsti~ presence of la+ and high energy
thich at timesh@ the intermittent influenceof CUXiitione as Slmal in facies S1 ~ *
higher enerw renditions for W aq.ilacementof interlayeringof ti ad ehale, is taken as a
silty layws. - an snvircmsnt cculd be an marker bad b it first smears in the cnml
 ..*

WE 18154
nterwll threfore, & first appuame of facies D~~
)1is Usd as amther Correlating horiam. TIW *
ulcer txxiis ti first ocurrence of faoiesH. ‘llIe The first anf probably essentialstep in
)re~ of “fleeer”.bedding,mm fJU=tues# and reeermir deecriptiafoz productionad sinulaticm
~ lenticular bsddirqare beirq int~rete3 as p- in W ~iw of ~jetive criteria
representinginterdeltaickay to tidal flat with whi~ to place boundariesbetween me
Xrxlitials.This”interpretaticm assumes amther stratigraphicunit ml another. After boundaries
mjor changein Ens processof sedimentation Wm have been prqerly establish remgniticn of
Ul turn Wxld be reflectedin a dwge in the pxoeity ard permeabilityantrests can be dealt
pometry aml qualityof the associatedeandetcme Witi, Sr.d in m ~ a =r=t re==~ir
mdies. Iv2terogeneity
descriptiacanbe atteaq?ted.

Usingattriimteseuda as the a?wve as a basis Different techniqtssshave been applied to

Eor division, me can assemble & variaas sukdivide a sedimentaryeectia for resanmir
xurrexE@ of the eight sedimentary facieswithin descriptim an3 sarmfgaamtry delineaticsvthe
* cored sections iti f- distinct facies mathcde met widely used are Bis@’s (lW),
~s or stratigra@dctits. Prooading - Dickey’s (1961), arrl ths @e cmcept. 14xeI
Er(mt3eb eeeofUISc orede@sW-XY section, the recentlyCant (1964) pmpcx&i three awtlds of
Eiretappearance of U@ -~ faciesis takenas Correlatiul:marker beds, esqlWrX analysis,d
Uwaqofth afiretmitorWitlt atxweit Wms Slicetechique.
-rams of mltistor~ eml depceitsis demtd as
Jnit11, whichterminates qwana with * ocur~ The settirqof mappablebundariee,laterused
>f facies S1. = ~s Unit 111, W* is ~r eservoirdeaxipticehthroughth constructicm
yedDminantlycmQoaadoffaciae Sl@wititW of croee-sscticmwJingsizplelog mat- can h,
presenceof fsCiSSS3 * S2. At & tq Of the acoardi~to Biehq (1960),th firststq in fades
mecticmis Unit IV, which begins wifi tlm firat analysis.These bamdariee oan be establisbdw
WP=~ Of faciesH. “purely Qemtioml surfaces, Whidl Zay be
racogni~ mkers m geqihysicel legs,or they may
m Siqificanceof grouping* Sedimentary repreeetislicesof an arbitrarythichss withina
facies into four distinctfacies assemblagesis rocklxxly”i
(Biskp 1960,p. 101).‘ha stratigraghic
tit, as pointedout W Mill (19S4),specificfacies intervals l%tween bcmdaries are termed
aeeociaticms are diagnostic
of specificsnvircmsnts “cperaticnally
-fined mits.”~ l’heae“cperatiWdly
Df depceiticel,ti in mWsqWnm Iheseaamlnblagss definad units”lcan be interpretadas refleotirq
cculd form the basis f= identifyitqSIXIdef i.ning in diti-
-s of dqxeiticna(BiShq 1960) ●

~iticnal mo5els;elm UISse faciesaseenblages A similarprocedureof log-matchi!q w ued b~

can form an objectiw besis for earriqxxnetry Dickey (1981 ); k ~flt~ mt that Pri=itY ~~
aelineaticm be gi%en to dividi~ a reserwir stretigraphicall
into itiividual-s =ies by ocrrelatingwell
In the Block111 ctxed sedimentary sectionthe logs;san3thickness m otM pertinent datam lx
fmr Stmtigrawc wits have fonmd tb base far gatheredfrcinthis oarrelaticnan-lat laterstage
reservoir sinullatia,pmxsity an5 panmability qe can b profuosdtrcmthwsedata.Dickey(1%11
valueswithinthesestratigraphic sectionsare taken p. 126, 377) elm Zwlntialathat p31eosJlvircmenta.1
as represmtative of each prcductim interval.. identificatia oan be dam at a laterphase in tlm
Averqiw or re-groupirq of itiividual
facieswithin project*
the limits of each unit allwed minimizingthe
nmbsr of blmke to be usedin eimdlatimstudies. Extra faoi- variabilityis very ~ ir
q depoeiticnalenvironmstisOespsoially il
ins facies,as occur in W
deltaicto Shalbw—mar
AM
Uock m Wserwir heterogeneity
a)!sa. suet be equence maycutacrcea facies kaxdaries (Csnt
mpect~ in tiistyp of eettm. Tbrefore,eectia 19S4),anf that in tzansgreseive
~its m single
nt,chi~ witlcut ti aid of objective marker @Xern of lcg respcneeis usuallypresentthat
orisms is very -t ad difficult.The CxX1.ld
be consider- characteristic(Reinacn1%) ●

OneqWn@s of Sua doirq d be an unlimited cent’s “Slice techniw”t.mneists of arbitrarily

X of blocks in sinmilaticn
nndelling
withcatW sukdividiq + itiervalW eetablishirq slice of
aal justifimtion. stratigraphic
eecticneitherof constanttiickness
or of thickmaeee guXportionalto th entire
Tb overcome MS difficultythe c@icity interval;this meUud is very dmilar to that
KZXX@mbeSMuXbY~ wcrkersaeen WC%O~ W Bfs~ (1%0) ti its limitation
Lternativetechniquefor reeerwir descriptim. consistsin the arbitraryeelectia of sliceswhich
bctxrding to this concqt, a ~ %iw ti~ a May crossthroughfacies@ depositional units.
,ranagressive ean5 ad ends with a marsh facies
epreeentedby a coal bad. ‘lb subdivision of the The use of genetic sedimntolcgical principles
.ittvlcgical cOluun i- cycles allows reeertiir ~ litbetmtigraphic Sublivisial m latex
leecripticmin ea~ cycle. Characteri?zlticrl
with pccceity d permeability
valus, follcwefby regicmalwll-lcg Correlatb,
This tahniqw has been suaeeeful in w offers a &tar alternative~ fix reeerwir
,~s; for exmple, in mn+eltaic coastal deesripticn- d-gamttry delineaticm. A x~
tnvi~s of dapceitia -e mal bade can be vhich irmrpmatea these principles is *
brinedin ma- marehs ad lateroverlainby a SuMivisicm d tlm SGmtigmphic eectim iti
muxsgrsssive sard,fcrsdrgin mmquama, a cycle. stratigraghicunits using Wsioml, &emical ad
m other-s (’ssin deltaic- coastalare?m)coal biological Characteril!kice. Mter thee
mde can be fcs!nd in differentfacieera@rq fran eulxlivisimeare eetabli~, @ within tha,
2astqper deltaplainto tk back-barri=lqconel avarqirq of porosityad pernmability ~ers
Eacies(Home ard Fem 197S).In thielattercasea are permittedin order to representblocks or
IOSlk d will have differentfaciesaeeociatione prcductia itiervalsin reesmoir addling. TWs
Iepxiingin thichof * deltaicmaatal f=iea it the mmbar of blocks to he @ in a simulaticm
me formed. ‘l’kmcyclicity techniquedose !mt study can be raduce3sime porosity,permeability
resider ti “variaticmain coal fcrmaticn, an5 thicknees’of ti intervalof interestcan be
:hereforeinvalidatirqtke applicability
of this takenas representativeof tke Stratigraphic Mit.
:echniqua
to all Situatiale. lhese unite elmuldhave b depceite5ty a maj~
ewk of sedimentation,or ty a repetitifmeeriesof
The techniqueof “tirkerbede’iI
for regional similar ewmts, SIXI should, therefore,psrfcem
faciestiyais, as pointed out W Cant (19S4), hrqaneously withina fieldwidearea (I.asseter et.
crmeistsof r~zi~ distinctivelog reepmee al. 19S5).
fran a bed or seriesof bede an usi~ tlmse as
correlationIwrizcne.Cant (19S4)also ackmwl%es CwmBxas
that this metkd is mst useful in sediments
depceitadin low energy enviranents, amf that in Franthedataprese%kedit is mncludad~t r
fluvialauxlnearshxe sedimentsit might not be
reliable ~USS dapceiticnalprCCSSSSS could 1. I@Cq’llitiCm of porosity ard permeability
dispersediekimtivesedimenttyps. The methcdof mntraets betwaam productionintervalsis a
“eeqmnce analysie”i. is basedon & recognition
and crucialstep in resermir description.Nimkm
correlationof finirqupwardor coareeniq- upward & blocks to be used in simlaticm etudie8
eeqwnces (C&N.1964);in q cases*se eeqnmme dapanis hastilyon su~ reccgniticm.
can easily b remgnimd end matched ovw wide
areas.llm limitatimof this mathcd is that such
2. ~ir &lhtion depenseon * tedlnique ~ Mm, A*D., 1979
ued f- eukd.ividti the euhdary mlum, Weeadc ‘lkmtiary
anil Geologyof Barb Islarrl,
d techliquehae - *id macceaefullyin cram
ArtieCelndao m Hietczyof an Unetahl.e
~al imtm2e 8, but *ir objectivity
is very Margin;. GeologicalSurvey of Canada,~ir
dabt~ in maqy oaees.Facieemdellirg ueiq 3s7.
~sioal, -c& erd biological~nmeters
for faciesidentification, their groupitw into * -, &&, L9S4
*i- =-%-’ d *~r -t=~= Principles of sedimentaryBaein Analysis.
Oharaoterizaticxi
with poroeiq alxlp?snlaabiliiy Spz@er+erlq, p. 49D.
veluee,offere a eotuxlscientifictnsis fcr
reeemir delineation
atrldescription. * REIN=, G.E., 19S4
Barriw Islard ad Aeeociated Stratxl-Plain
~m Sykem. In Welker,RG. E%L, tiiea Madals.
GaoeoiemceCamda, Iqxint Seriee 1, p. 119-14D.
k B-P, M.S., 1%0
Subsurface
ming. * Wiley d Sone, k.
1- p*

k CMT, D.J., 19S4

S@xurface Faoiee Analyeie. MI Wlkat, R.G.,
wia mdeb, p* 297-317* @oe2ieme Camu3a
~int Serie1.

k DICXEY,P.A. , 196.I
petrole~ Mnalogetent-Ogy. ~11 Pub.
co.,up.

k PSMKS, W. J., 19S7

The Plow unit &xlcept- An integratedApproach
to Paeervoir Mlcription for R@Mering
Projqctta.A.A.P.G. Anmal Ccnventicm
June,1987.

b ~, H. H., ti I.WE,L.W.,1964
ANew A&proad to Shale Mans_t in
Field-scale~la. Sot. Pet. ~. J., p.
447-457.

* IZXUE, J. C., d J.C., 1987

F’ERA,
Carboniferau DepAtional IWironmentstEw5tern
Kentucky W SoutherniWt Virginia. De@. of
Geology,lhiv. of -th Carolina,Coluabia,
southCerolina.

* MSSEIER, T.S., WAZXSRI J,R,, W W, L.W.

1s5
keerwir Mterqeneitieeand Kheirhfl~ cn
ultiMtelytiwry. WeervoirCharaoteri~tion
Tedulical
Ccnfaerlce,
April19s5.