Three-Dimensional Forward Stratigraphic Modelling of Early Cretaceous Sedimentation on the Leveque and Yampi Shelves, Browse Basin

Abstract

Early Cretaceous clastic sedimentation on the Leveque and Yampi Shelf areas of the Browse Basin has been brought sharply into focus recently as a result of exploration success at Gwydion and Cornea. The changing nature of clastic sedimentation patterns in the shallow-to-deep marine environments during C. delicata to upper S. areolata times is of increasing exploration interest. This study was designed to address the following questions: Could the conceptual geological model discussed by Spry and Ward (1997) generate potential reservoir sands in the region from Leveque-1 to Yampi-1?What would be the geometry and depositional environment of such sands?SEDSIM is a three-dimensional stratigraphic forward modelling program developed at Stanford University. The program models sediment erosion, transport, and deposition, and predicts clastic sediment distribution on a given bathymetric surface. SEDSIM was used to simulate one million years of deposition on the Leveque and Yampi Shelves from approximately 145 Ma. The model illustrates the use of 3D stratigraphic forward modelling in illustrating and testing stratigraphic play fairway concepts and the development of sedimentation patterns. Reprocessed seismic data from Seismic Australia were used together with a depth-converted near Base Cretaceous surface provided by Woodside Offshore Petroleum. Input data include; a high resolution relative sea-level curve, an understanding of wind and wave directions throughout the modelled period, tectonic movements throughout the modelled area, the nature of the underlying strata, sediment input points, and grain-size distributions. The simulation clearly shows the development of linear shelfal sands on the C. delicata flooding surface during the following regression. Further work will extend the study to early M. australis times.

Multi‐scale stratigraphic forward modelling of the Surat Basin for geological storage of CO2

“…Sedsim is a 3D numerical hydraulic process‐response SFM package that simulates transport, deposition and erosion by solving approximations to the Navier‐Stokes fluid‐flow equations. Sedsim has seen extensive use in research and industry, from hydrocarbon exploration to predicting the effects of climate change (Tetzlaff and Harbaugh, ; Griffiths and Paraschivoiu, ; Griffiths and Dyt, ; Griffiths et al ., ; Wijns et al ., ; Salles et al ., ; Huang et al ., ).…”

Numerical forward modelling of ‘fluxoturbidite’ flume experiments using Sedsim

“…A series of Sedsim modules simulating sediment transport, subsidence, flexural isostatic loading, compaction, slope failure and other processes, are represented by Tetzlaff and Harbaugh (1989), Griffiths and Paraschivoiu (1998), Griffiths et al (2001), Liang et al (2005), Li et al (2004Li et al ( , 2006Li et al ( , 2007Li et al ( , 2008 and Salles et al (2010). Sedsim is controlled by a number of input parameters, for example, relative sea level/base-level curve, initial topography/ bathymetry, tectonic movement, sediment input rates etc.…”

“…Since 1994 Sedsim has been widely applied in hydrocarbon exploration and prediction (e.g., Griffiths and Paraschivoiu, 1998;Griffiths et al, 2001), and numerous researchers have adopted Sedsim to simulate and evaluate a variety of depositional systems.…”

“…The aim of this study is to show the application of stratigraphic forward modelling and in particular the ability of the Sedsim computer program (Tetzlaff and Harbaugh, 1989;Griffiths and Paraschivoiu, 1998) to capture some of the significant features of sand avalanches at flume tank scale, and investigate potential causal processes such as topographic slope, water level fluctuation and wave action. Reference examples of the modelling potential and capabilities are illustrated by numerically replicating physical flume experiments.…”

Interactive inverse methodology applied to stratigraphic forward modelling

“…The results reflect possible changes in sediment distribution over time as a function of the changing depositional environment. Past studies have demonstrated the value of this approach Griffiths & Paraschivoiu 1998;Koltermann & Gorelick 1992;Martinez & Harbaugh 1993). Any computer modelling is only as good as the validity of the input data and the algorithms used in the program.…”