SALT TECTONICS CONTROL ON RESERVOIR GEOMETRY, VOLVE FIELD, NORTH SEA
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Abstract
This study was undertaken to investigate mobile salt and its control on reservoir geometry in the Volve Field, North Sea by using 3D seismic and well data. During the Triassic – Cretaceous, structures and stratigraphy develop in the Volve Field, SW margins of Utsira High, North Sea, resulting in the formation of a minibasin and halokinesis of the Zechstein Supergroup. The subsequent continental, fluvial, deltaic and marine sediments were deposited into the accommodation space formed by salt movement. The movement of salt in combination with the rift-related fault system has complicated the distribution and geometry of the reservoirs. The Triassic minibasins developed because of the mobilization of Zechstein Supergroup, Upper Permian. Consequently, the series of Jurassic minibasins formed due to the collapse of the underlying salt ridges. Early Cretaceous reservoirs are slightly affected by salt withdrawal caused by high compaction. However, movement of salt was not related to the formation of Late Cretaceous reservoirs. The salt movement would have been related to: (a) the salt dissolution due to groundwater and changes in relative sea level, (b) differential erosion of salt bodies and Triassic-cored highs, (c) the salt withdrawal due to the extension resulting in high accommodation space and sediment loading leading to high compaction. The study gives the detailed insights into the structural evolution of the minibasin on the Volve Field and has implications for reservoir geometry and distribution of Zechstein salt within the North Sea rift systems and the development process of depositional system of reservoirs from Triassic to Cretaceous.
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Copyright © 2008 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. Parts of an article can be photocopied or reproduced without prior written permission from the author(s), but due acknowledgments should be stated or cited accordingly.
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