Petrobowl geology
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1. Absolute The measurement of the permeability, or
permeability ability to flow or transmit fluids through a
rock, conducted when a single fluid, or
phase, is present in the rock.
2. Absolute The measurement of pressure relative to the
pressure pressure in a vacuum, equal to the sum of
the pressure shown on a pressure gauge and
atmospheric pressure.
3. Abyss It is known as the deepest area of the ocean
basins. In this area the depositional energy is
low and fine-grained sediments are
deposited slowly by waning turbidity
currents or from suspension in the water.
4. Abyssal Pertaining to the depositional environment
of the deepest area of the ocean basins, the
abyss.
5. Accomodation Sequence stratigraphic term for the amount
of space available for sediment
accumulation.
6. Accomodation Place where personnel spend their off-duty
time on a rig.
7. Accumulation The phase in the development of a
petroleum system during which
hydrocarbons migrate into and remain
trapped in a reservoir.
8. Aggradation The accumulation of stratigraphic sequences
by deposition that stacks beds atop each
other, building upwards during periods of
balance between sediment supply and
accommodation.
9. Alidade A telescopic device used to construct
surface topographic and geologic maps in
the field. It is mounted in a plane table,
which has a sheet of paper on which to draw
the map, and an object or location is sighted
through it.
10. Alloctthon A rock mass formed somewhere other than
its present location, which was transported
by fault movements, large-scale gravity
sliding, or similar processes.
11. Alluvial Pertaining to the subaerial environment,
action and products of a stream or river on
its floodplain usually consisting of detrital
clastic sediments.
12. Anhydrite A member of the evaporate group of
minerals formed by precipitation of calcium
sulfate [CaSO4] from evaporation of
seawater.
13. Anisotropic Having directionally dependent
properties. For a crystal of a
mineral, variation in physical
properties observed in different
directions.
14. Anisotropy/Aelotropy Predictable direction of a property
of a material with the direction in
which it is measured, which can
occur at all scales. This variation is
common in shales.
15. Anticline An arch-shaped fold in rock in which
rock layers are upwardly convex.
The oldest rock layers form the core
of the fold, and outward from the
core progressively younger rocks
occur.
16. Antithetic fault A minor, secondary fault, usually
one of a set, whose sense of
displacement is opposite to its
associated major and synthetic
faults.
17. Apparent dip The maximum inclination of a
bedding plane, fault plane or other
geological surface measured from a
vertical cross section that is not
perpendicular to the strike of the
feature.
18. Aquifer A water-bearing portion of a
petroleum reservoir with a water
drive.
19. Asthenosphere The relatively plastic layer of the
upper mantle of the Earth on which
the tectonic plates of the litosphere
move.
20. Attitude The orientation of a planar or linear
feature in three-dimensional space.
21. Autochthon Materials, especially rock masses,
that formed in their present location
and have not been transported.
22. Azimuth The angle between the vertical
projection of a line of interest onto a
horizontal surface and true north or
magnetic north measured in
horizontal plane, typically measured
clockwise from north.
23. Basin A depression in the crust of the
Earth, caused by plate tectonic
activity and subsidence, in which
sediments accumulate.
24. Bathyal Pertaining to the environment of
deposition and the organisms of the
ocean between depths of 200 m [656
ft], the edge of the continental shelf, and
2000 m [6560 ft].
25. Bed A layer of sediment or sedimentary
rock, or stratum.
26. Bed rock The first solid rock under loose
sediments.
27. Benioff Zone A zone of the upper mantle in which
earthquakes occur when a lithospheric
plate is subducted, named in honor of
seismologists Kiyoo Wadati and Hugo
Benioff.
28. Benthic/Benthonic Pertaining to the environment and
conditions of organisms living at the
water bottom, or benthos.
29. Bentonite A material composed of clay minerals,
predominantly montmorillonite with
minor amounts of other smectite group
minerals, commonly used in drilling
mud.
30. Bitumen Naturally ocurring, inflammable organic
matter formed from kerogen in the
process of petroleum generation that is
soluble in carbon bisulfide. It includes
hydrocarbons such as asphalt and
mineral wax.
31. Buoma sequence A characteristic sequence of
sedimentary structures occurring in
sedimentary rocks deposited in areas of
deep-water sedimentation by turbidity
currents, which forms deposits called
turbidities.
32. Calcite The crystalline form of calcium
carbonate and chief constituent of
limestone and chalk.
33. Caliche A crust of coarse sediments or
weathered soil rich in calcium
carbonate.
34. Cap rock A relatively impermeable rock,
commonly shale, anhydrite or salt, that
forms a barrier or seal above and
around reservoir rock, so that fluids
cannot migrate beyond the reservoir.
35. Cataclastic Pertaining to a type of metamorphic
rock with shearing and granulation of
minerals caused by high mechanical
stress during faulting or dynamic
metamorphism, typically during
episodes of plate tectonic activity.
36. Catagenesis The physical and chemical alteration of
sediments and pore fluids at
temperatures (50° to 150° C or 122° to
302° F) and pressures higher than those
of diagenesis.
37. Channel A linear, commonly concave-based
depression through which water and
sediment flow and into which sediment
can be deposited in distinctive, often
elongated bodies.
38. Chert A sedimentary rock and a variety of
quartz made of extremely fine-grained,
or cryptocrystalline, silica, also called
chalcedony.
39. Chronostratigraphy The study of the ages of strata. The
comparison, or correlation, of
separated strata can include study of
their relative or absolute ages.
40. Clay Fine-grained sediments less than
0.0039mm in size.
41. Closure The vertical distance from the apex of a
structure to the lowest structural
contour that contains the structure.
42. Coal A carbon-rich sedimentary rock that
form the remains of plants deposited
as peat in swampy environments
43. Coal Sedimentary rock, often highly naturally
fractured, composed of thermally
modified plant remains.
44. Collision An interaction of lithospheric plates
that can result in the formation of
mountain belts and subduction zones.
45. Compaction The physical process by which
sediments are consolidated, resulting in
the reduction of pore space as grains
are packed closer together. A crushing
of the matrix structure as overburden
loads press down on the rock, reducing
the pore space.
46. Condensate A low-density, high-API gravity liquid
hydrocarbon phase that generally occurs in
association with natural gas. The part of the
hydrocarbon stream that is a vapor in the
formation and condenses to a liquid after
being cooled.
47. Condensate A relative permeability effect where
Banking condensate, usually hydrocarbon, drops out
of the vapor phase around the wellbore
when the pressure drops below the dew
point in response to drawdown or depletion.
48. Conformity A bedding surface separating younger from
older strata, along which there is no
evidence of subaerial or submarine erosion
or of nondeposition, and along which there is
no evidence of a significant hiatus.
49. Connate The water trapped in the pores of a rock
water during formation of the rock.
50. Consolidation Compaction and cementation of sediments
to the degree that they become coherent,
relatively solid rock.
51. Convection The density- and heat-driven cycling, transfer
or circulation of energy through which
material initially warms up and becomes
relatively less dense, then rises, cools and
becomes relatively more dense, and finally
sinks.
52. Conventional A reservoir in which buoyant forces keep
reservoir hydrocarbons in place below a sealing
caprock.
53. Convergent Pertaining to the movement of tectonic
plates toward each other, generating
compressional forces and ultimately resulting
in collision, and in some cases subduction, of
tectonic plates.
54. Craton A stable area of continental crust that has
not undergone much plate tectonic or
orogenic activity for a long period.
55. Crop out In the case of a body of rock, to be exposed
at the surface of the Earth.
56. Cross section A diagram of a vertical section through a
volume, as opposed to the surface, "bird's
eye," or plan view of a map.
57. Crust The thin, outermost shell of the Earth that is
typically 5 km to 75 km thick [3 to 46 miles].
A thin, brittle layer of hard soil that forms on
the surface of many soils when they are dry.
58. Cubic packing The arrangement in space of uniform
spheres (atoms and molecules in mineral
crystals, or grains in clastic sedimentary
rock) that results in a cubic material
structure.
59. Dead oil Oil at sufficiently low pressure that it
contains no dissolved gas or a relatively
thick oil or residue that has lost its volatile
components
60. Diagenesis The physical, chemical or biological
alteration of sediments into a sedimentary
rock at relatively low temperatures and
pressures that can result in changes to the
rock's original mineralogy and texture.
61. Diapir A relatively mobile mass that intrudes
vertically through more dense rocks
because of buoyancy forces associated with
relatively low-density rock types such as
salt, shale and hot magma
62. Dip It is the magnitude of the inclination of a
plane from horizontal. True, or maximum, it
is measured perpendicular to strike.
63. Dolomitization The geochemical process in supratidal
Sabkha areas where magnesium [Mg] ions
from the evaporation of seawater replace
calcium [Ca] ions in calcite, forming the
mineral dolomite.
64. Effective The interconnected pore volume or void
porosity space in a rock that contributes to fluid flow
or permeability in a reservoir.
65. Erosion The process of denudation of rocks
including physical, chemical and biological
breakdown and transportation.
66. Eustasy Changes in the sea level can result from
movement of tectonic plates altering the
volume of ocean basins, or when changes in
climate affect the volume of water stored in
glaciers and in polar icecaps. What is the
name of these global sea variations?
67. Facies The overall characteristics of a rock unit that
reflect its origin and differentiate the unit
from others around it. They are distinguished
form another by the mineralogy,
sedimentary source, fossil content,
sedimentary structures and texture.
68. Fault A break or planar surface in brittle rocks
across which there is observable a
displacement.
69. Fold A wave-like geological structure that forms
when rocks deform by bending instead of
breaking under compressional stress.
70. Geologic A map showing the type and spatial
map distribution of rocks at the surface to the
Earth. Rock formations are color-coded and
symbols for geological structures are
annotated, so age relationships are evident.
71. Geophone Name the device used both onshore and on
the seabed to detect the ground velocity of
seismic waves.
72. Horst A block of the formation that has been raised
between two faults.
73. Horst A relatively high-standing area formed by the
movement of normal faults that dip away from
each other. They occur between low-standing
fault blocks called graben.
74. Igneous This type of rocks crystallize from molten
rocks rock, or magma with interlocking mineral
crystals.
75. Isopach map A contour that connects points of equal
thickness. It displays the stratigraphic
thickness of a rock unit as opposed to the true
vertical thickness.
76. Isostasy The state of gravitational equilibrium between
the lithosphere and the asthenosphere of the
Earth such that lithospheric plates "float" at a
given elevation depending on their thickness.
77. Lag The delay or difference in the arrival time of
seismic events that can result from weathering
of the rocks or variations in geologic
structures in the subsurface.
78. Limestone It consists about the 10% of the sedimentary
rocks and being an essential component of
concrete. A carbonate [CaCO3] sedimentary
rock predominantly composed by calcite of
organic, chemical or detrital origin.
79. Lithology Collection of rock composition and type.
80. Lithology It is known as the macroscopic nature of the
mineral content, texture and color of rocks.
81. Magma The molten rock in the Earth that can either
rise to the surface as lava and form extrusive
igneous rocks or cool within the Earth to form
plutonic igneous rock.
82. Metagenesis The last stage of maturation and conservation
of organic matter to hydrocarbons. It occurs
at temperatures of 150° to 200°C (302° to
392°F).
83. Metamorphism The process by which the characteristics of
rocks are altered or the rock is
recrystallized.
84. Midoceanic The mountainous, linear axis of ocean
ridges basins along which rifting occurs and new
oceanic crust forms as magma wells up
and solidifies. The most prominent are
those of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
85. Mohorovicic The boundary, recognized in 1909 by
discontinuity Andrija Mohorovicic between the crust and
the mantle of the Earth, which varies from
approximately 5 km (3 miles) under de
midoceanic ridges to 75 km (46 miles) deep
under the continents.
86. Plate tectonics The unifying geologic theory developed to
explain observations that interactions of the
brittle plates of the lithosphere with each
other and with the softer underlying
asthenosphere result in large-scale changes
in the Earth.
87. Progradation The accumulation of sequences by
deposition in which beds are deposited
successively basinward because sediment
supply exceeds accommodation.
88. Pyrolysis A type of geochemical analysis in which a
rock sample is subject to controlled heating
in an inert gas to or past the point of
generating hydrocarbons in order to assess
its quality as a source rock.
89. Quartz An abundant rock-forming mineral
composed of silicon and oxygen, also
called silica. It is one of the major
constituents of sandstone and other clastic
sedimentary rocks.
90. Reef A mount, ridge, or buildup of sediment or
sedimentary rock, most commonly
produced by organisms that secrete shells
such as corals.
91. Regression The migration of shoreline into a basin
during progradation due to fall in a relative
sea level.
92. Reservoir A subsurface body of rock having sufficient
porosity and permeability to store and
transmit fluids
93. Retrogradation The accumulation of sequences by
deposition in which beds are deposited
successively landward because sediment
supply is limited and cannot fill the
available accommodation.
94. Rheology Generally the study of how matter deforms 107. Superposition The stratigraphic principle that states that, in
and flows, including its elasticity, plasticity the case of undeformed, flat-lying strata,
and viscosity. younger layers are deposited atop older
ones, such that the top layer is youngest and
95. Sabkha Name the environment of coastal
underlying layers increase in age with depth.
sedimentation characterized by arid or
semiarid conditions above the level of high 108. Syncline Basin- or trough-shaped fold in rock in
tide and by the absence of vegetation. which rock layers are downwardly convex.
The youngest rock layers form the core of
96. Salt dome An usually large movement or intrusion of salt
the fold and outward from the core
that gradually flows through the rock.
progressively older rocks occur.
97. Salt dome They are formed as a consequence of the
109. Synthetic A type of minor fault whose sense of
relative buoyancy of salt when buried beneath
fault displacement is similar to its associated
other types of sediment. Mushroom-shaped or
major fault.
plug-shaped diapir made of salt, commonly
having an overlying cap rock. 110. Tectonic map A geologic map showing the structure of the
Earth's crust.
98. Sand A detrital grain between 0.0625 mm and 2 mm
in diameter. It is larger than silt but smaller 111. Topographic A contour map that displays the elevation of
than a granule. map the Earth's surface. It is commonly used as
the base map for surface geological
99. Sandstone A clastic sedimentary rock whose grains are
mapping.
predominantly sand-sized. The term is
commonly used to imply consolidated sand 112. Transgression The migration of a shoreline out of a basin
or a rock made of predominantly quartz sand. and onto land during retrogradation.
100. Secondary The further movement of the hydrocarbons, 113. Trap The configuration of rocks suitable for
migration after their expulsion, into reservoir rock in a containing hydrocarbons and sealed by a
hydrocarbon trap or other area of relatively impermeable formation through
accumulation. which hydrocarbons will not migrate.
101. Sequence A field of study in which basin-filling 114. Vitrinite A type of woody kerogen that is relatively
stratigraphy sedimentary deposits, called sequences, are uniform in composition. Its refelctance is a
interpreted in a framework of eustasy, useful measurement of source rock maturity.
sedimentation and subsidence through time in
115. Weathering The physical, chemical and biological
order to correlate strata and predict the
processes that decompose rock at and
stratigraphy or relatively unknown areas.
below the surface of the Earth through low
102. Shale A fine-grained, fissile, detrital sedimentary pressures and temperatures and the
rock formed by consolidation of clay and silt- presence of air and water.
sized particles into thin, relatively
impermeable layers. It is the most abundant
sedimentary rock.
103. Source rock A rock rich in organic matter which, if heated
sufficiently, will generate oir or gas.
104. Strain The permanent deformation evident in rocks
and other solid bodies that have experienced
a sufficiently high applied stress.
105. Stress The force applied to a body that can result in
deformation, or strain, usually described in
terms of magnitude per unit of area, or
intensity
106. Subsidence Compaction of a zone (vertical height
shrinkage) created by compaction of the
matrix after some load supporting fluids have
been produced.